A message-based fault diagnosis procedure

A new diagnostic message protocol that provides fault diagnosis capabilities for the communications in a distributed system environment is described. The protocol is designed to operate in conjunction with a standard end-to-end communication protocol and uses special messages to determine the system fault state. A diagnosis message is represented using a test dependency model that is derived from the system topology. These messages are used by an adaptive strategy designed to achieve specific objectives such as reduced testing cost. Using the test dependency model, a general purpose algorithm is developed for generating these strategies based on an information theory criterion. Specific properties of the protocol are discussed, and several examples of strategies for a distributed system topology are provided.

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