The VIPER Microprocessor

Abstract : Most accidents are caused by human error. Computer control systems in aircraft, chemical plant, nuclear reactors and so on could in principle prevent many accidents, but in practice they are not reliable enough to be put in charge of human lives. This Report describes some of the developments in computer hardware and software which are needed before this situation can change, and introduces the VIPER microprocessor which has been designed specifically for ultra-reliable systems. In conjunction with a number of other RSRE Publications (see references) it defines the VIPER architecture formally and describes some of its supporting software.