Faults diagnosis method using hardware performance counter and execution information

Abstract

When faults are detected, it is hard for testers to locate the faults caused by either hardware (HW) or software (SW), especially in an embedded system such as a mobile AP, where hardware and software operate tightly coupled. We propose a method to diagnose fault by analyzing Hardware Performance Counter (HPC) and execution information. This approach collects data for the purpose of diagnosing faults by hooking the kernel system calls accessing the hardware, which minimizes the overhead on the real-time environment without any special hardware components. We describe our method, mainly focusing on the CPU faults, and present a case study. © 2015 SERSC.