Duplex fault tolerant system and method using dma

Abstract

A duplex fault tolerant system and method uses a direct memory access (DMA) scheme to mirror the storage of data in the memories of active and standby circuits. The active circuit includes a monitoring unit to detect a write operation on a system bus, a DMA trigger circuit to generate a trigger signal in response to detection of the write operation, and a FIFO unit to store an address in an active-side memory of where data associated with the write operation is stored. A DMA transfer unit then transfers the data and address to the standby circuit in response to the trigger signal.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention generally relates to fault detection in electronic systems. Background technique [0002] A fault-tolerant system is a system that can continue to operate without interruption of service when one of its many parts fails. Traditionally, this is achieved by replacing the failed part with a spare part or by performing preparatory measures. Fault-tolerant systems are often used when designing components of computer systems, control systems, etc. In some cases, fault-tolerant systems are implemented in software only. In other examples, they are implemented in hardware or as a combination of hardware and software. Fault-tolerant systems implemented in hardware are usually implemented by duplexing the hardware part. [0003] In a duplex fault-tolerant system, data stored in memory is mirrored. The multiple processors are then cascade-linked to each other, and the results produced by each are compared. When the system fails, the fau...

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Problems solved by technology

[0014] Another question has to do with raising hardware requirements

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