A PARALLEL PROBABILISTIC SYSTEM-LEVEL FAULT DIAGNOSIS APPROACH FOR LARGE MULTIPROCESSOR SYSTEMS

In this paper, we present a system-level fault identification algorithm, using a parallel genetic algorithm, for diagnosing faulty nodes in large heterogeneous systems. The algorithm is based on a probabilistic model where individual node fails with an a priori probability p. The assumptions concerning test outcomes are the same as in the PMC model, that is, fault-free testers always give correct test outcomes and faulty testers are totally unpredictable. The parallel diagnosis algorithm was implemented and simulated on randomly generated large systems. The proposed parallelization is intended to speed up the performance of the evolutionary diagnosis approach, hence reducing the computation time by evolving various sub-populations in parallel. Simulation results are provided showing that the parallel diagnosis did improve the efficiency of the evolutionary diagnosis approach, in that it allowed faster diagnosis of faulty situations, making it a viable alternative to existing techniques of diagnosis. Moreover, the evolutionary approach still provide good results even when extreme non-diagnosable faulty situations are considered.