The analysis and synthesis of dependable digital systems.

The 'dependability' of a system refers to a collective group of inter-related properties and attributes used to describe amongst other things, the performance of the reliability, maintainability, safety and performance of the system. The concept of a dependable system, is one which encompasses a sub-set, if not all, of the dependability factors, not just during its operation but throughout every stage of its creation and implementation. In this investigation, some of the established techniques for reliable systems design are considered and evaluated. The particular advantage and disadvantages of each of these schemes are discussed and compared, and the relative merits of each are emphasised. New models for the evaluation of the schemes are also presented, where appropriate. These models are necessary due to the fact that, very often, as is the case for triple modular redundant (TMR) systems, they were originally conceived as a general method for reliable system implementation, not specifically for digital systems. A state description language, named RDL, which was developed at The Robert Gordon University, is also evaluated as regards its viability for modelling digital systems, both in terms of the existing schemes, and those that were developed as part of this investigation. To overcome the particular deficiencies that were found to exist with the existing reliability improvement schemes, a new method of system design, titled Comparative Redundancy, is presented and analysed. A new concept named Self Test and Reconfiguration in Idle Time (STRIT), is also developed, and its performance evaluated. Ultimately a design environment entitled Reliability Improvement Through SPECtral Coefficients (RITSPECT) is presented, which may be used to design and evaluate a new form of self test, based upon the notion of a compact test that utilises the Hademard spectral coefficients for the circuit. The development and the efficiency of the compact testing procedure is also described.

Author dc:creator

• Philp, Kenneth

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• N.D. Deans and A.J. Miller

• Dependable systems design
• Reliability and fault tolerance
• Redundant architectures
• Digital system modelling
• Self-test and reconfiguration
• Reliability evaluation methods

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:2807527
https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-2807527

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:2807527