ON THE DESIGN AND TESTING OF SELF-DIAGNOSABLE COMPUTERS.
Abstract
A new approach for deriving self-diagnosis programs for digital computers is investigated. The derivation procedure is based on only a micro-order description of the computer to be tested. The detailed logic information is not needed. This approach is made possible by 'standardizing' computer realization techniques by means of a set of design principles. The thesis describes such a set of design principles which guarantees the existence of a relationship between the behavior of a computer under a large number of failures and alterations of the micro-order specification for that computer. The micro-order 'alterations' are than used to characterize a computer under failure for every machine instruction so that test programs can be written which check for over 93 per cent of all failures. Such programs check for 'symptoms of failure' rather than the actual component which caused the failure since the logic is not necessarily assumed to be known. This procedure can be programmed so that diagnostic programs can be generated by a computer. An experiment is also described which substantiates the theoretical findings. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0636274
Entities
People
- Ralph A. Marlett
Organizations
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign