Project coordinator :

• Laboratoire d'Analyse et d'Architecture des Systèmes du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France
  

Project partners :

• Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden
• Critical Software, Coimbra, Portugal
• Faculdade de Ciencias e Technologia da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
• Friedrich-Alexander Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
• Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK
• Universidad Politechnica de Valencia, Spain

Industrial Advisory Board (IAB)

• Miguel Bes Abizanda Programa 3D (mbes@indra.es)
• Jean-Paul Blanquart Study Engineer, Advanced Avionics studies Astrium SAS France (Jean-Paul.BLANQUART@tls.mms.fr)
• Torbjorn Hult Saab Ericsson Space (Delsjomotet torbjorn.hult@space.se)
• Philip J. Koopman Assistant Professor Carnegie Mellon University (koopman@cmu.edu)
• Jean-Michel MEIGNIEN Thales Technologies & Méthodes (jean-michel.meignien@ttm.thomson-csf.com)
• Fernando Maia ORACLE (fernando.maia@oracle.com)
• Antonio Pires ORACLE (antonio.x.pires@oracle.com)

LAAS has been investigating methods for designing and validating dependable computing systems, together with their supporting tools. The group was and is currently involved in the validation of several real-life systems, based on analytical (probabilistic) and experimental (fault injection) evaluation. It will thus naturally have a leading role in the benchmark conceptual framework definition and enabling technologies. It will also have a major role in the operating system experiment related to Windows. With respect to these topics, it has competencies both in modelling the dependability of fault-tolerant systems and fault injection in commercial micro-kernels.

Chalmers University has studied experimental validation of de-pendable systems extensively for more than ten years, having developed several fault injection tools and techniques, several of them that are now being used in industry. The group will be involved in the bench-mark framework definition of DBench, with emphasis on benchmark properties and benchmark utilisation. It will contribute to the enabling technologies, and will be playing an important role in the development of prototype benchmarks for embedded systems.

Critical Software brings its experience in system validation by fault injection in the context of industrial systems. This SME is commercialising the Xception fault injection tool. Critical Software will play an active role in the exploitation plan. It will support and disseminate the benchmark during the project and after project completion. It will be responsible for the maintenance of the web site where the benchmark prototypes will be available and, when needed, promote their regular update

University of Coimbra has developed many fault injection tools and used them for many experiments, some of them for outside use. The work performed on SWIFI injection tools is particularly adequate for most phases of the DBench project. Moreover, Coimbra brings to the project extensive experience in developing database management systems (DBMS) and web based applications, many of them now in production use. Coimbra will thus naturally handle the Database and web related benchmarks, which are crucial technologies of the Information Society, besides contributing to the conceptual framework and enabling technologies development.

University of Erlangen has done much work on software and simulation based fault injection, including techniques to speed up and evaluate experiments, to determine adequate fault models, and to model processes using UML. It will in this way contribute to the pilot dependability experi-ments, using Linux systems besides the conceptual framework and enabling technologies, with emphasis on the cross exploitation of the results of dependability benchmarks on different systems and on modelling the process of benchmarking.

Microsoft, as project Sponsor, brings its knowledge and experience in developing OSs. It has already provided the source code of Windows for the project co-ordinator. It is interested in the Conceptual Framework and in the results as well as the conduct of the experiments regarding the OS.

Technical University of Valencia brings significant experience in pin-level, software-implemented and simulation-based fault injection, used mainly in industrial control systems. It will be participating in the project, besides the framework and enabling technologies, in the experiments regarding embedded systems.