Comparison diagnosis in large multiprocessor systems

Abstract

We present the bounded symmetric comparison (BSC) model for comparison-based system-level diagnosis. It is based on the symmetric comparison model of Chwa and Hakimi but includes a limit on the number of PEs that can produce identical, faulty results that are used in the syndrome of the diagnosis. We contribute a theorem with necessary and sufficient conditions for one-step diagnosability of a system under the BSC model. We show that previous characterizations for one-step diagnosability under the symmetric (Chwa/Hakimi) and asymmetric (Malek) comparison models are in fact special-case characterizations for the BSC model.