R-Kernel: An operating system foundation for highly reliable networked embedded systems

Qing Cao, Xiaorui Wang, Hairong Qi, Tian He

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

In this paper, we present r-kernel, an operating system kernel foundation specifically designed to improve software reliability in networked embedded systems. The key novelty of r-kernel lies in that it exploits the time dimension of software execution to improve robustness. Specifically, r-kernel keeps track of the execution of applications through checkpoints. If one application has been determined to have failed, r-kernel performs rollback operations to restore its state to one of those checkpoints created earlier. For the second round of operation, r-kernel provides a safe mode environment to avoid triggering the same bugs. Finally, if the whole system has crashed, r-kernel relies on watchdog timers to reset the node, and develops a technique called past-run trace reconstruction to locate and report the thread that had caused the system failure. We have implemented r-kernel based on the LiteOS operating system kernel running on the popular MicaZ platform. We demonstrate that it achieves the desired goals above with acceptable overhead.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2011 Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM
Pages2507-2515
Number of pages9
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
EventIEEE INFOCOM 2011 - Shanghai, China
Duration: Apr 10 2011Apr 15 2011

Publication series

NameProceedings - IEEE INFOCOM
ISSN (Print)0743-166X

Other

OtherIEEE INFOCOM 2011
Country/TerritoryChina
CityShanghai
Period4/10/114/15/11

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