Effects of Soft Error to System Reliability

Soft errors on hardware could affect the reliability of computer system. To estimate system reliability, it is important to know the effects of soft errors to system reliability. This paper explores the effects of soft errors to computer system reliability. We propose a new approach to measure system reliability for soft error factor. In our approach, hardware components reliability is concerned first. Then, system reliability which shows the ability to perform required function is concerned. We equal system reliability to software reliability based on the mechanism that soft errors affect system reliability. We build a software reliability model under soft errors condition. In our software model, we analyze the state of software combining with the state of hardware. For program errors which are resulted from soft errors, we give an analysis of error mask. These real errors which could lead to software failure are distinguished. Finally, our experiments illustrate our analyses and validate our approach.

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