Evaluating Reliability against SEE of Embedded Systems: A Comparison of RTOS and Bare-metal Approaches

Embedded processors are widely used in critical applications such as space missions, where reliability is mandatory for the success of missions. Due to the increasing application complexity, the number of systems using Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOSs) is quickly growing to manage the execution of multiple applications and meet timing constraints. However, whether operating systems or bare-metal applications provide higher reliability is still being determined. We present a comprehensive reliability analysis of software applications running on a device with bare-metal and FreeRTOS against the same faults based on fault models derived from a proton test. Additionally, the FreeRTOS system has been evaluated with a set of software applications dedicated to evaluating specific RTOS functions, providing an additional evaluation for operations crucial for a real-time operating system

An extended model to support detailed GPGPU reliability analysis

General Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPUs) have been used in the last decades as accelerators in high demanding data processing applications, such as multimedia processing and high-performance computing. Nowadays, these devices are becoming popular even in safety-critical applications, such as autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. However, these devices can suffer from the effects of transient faults, such as those produced by radiation effects. These effects can be represented in the system as Single Event Upsets (SEUs) and are able to generate intolerable application misbehaviors in safety critical environments. In this work, we extended the capabilities of an open-source VHDL GPGPU model (FlexGrip) in order to study and analyze in a much more detailed manner the effects of SEUs in some critical modules within a GPGPU. Simulation results showed that scheduler controller has different levels of SEU sensibility depending on the affected location. Moreover, a reduced number of execution units, in the GPGPU can decrease the system reliability