Instruction Trace Decomposition for Intermittent Bug Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional line-by-line debugging methods fail to effectively capture intermittent hardware bugs in embedded systems due to the overwhelming number of instructions in real-time instruction traces, making it difficult for developers to diagnose issues.
Innovation Solution
A method that decomposes instruction traces into contiguous segments defined by branch instructions, assigns segment identifiers, and consolidates them into a prime form for graphical representation, facilitating the identification of errors by comparing correct and incorrect execution traces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional line-by-line debugging methods are used, then the debugging process is simple, but it fails to capture intermittent hardware bugs in real-time
Solution Approach 1:
The instruction trace is segmented into contiguous instruction segments bounded by branch instructions. Each segment is then assigned a segment identifier, transforming the massive trace into a manageable sequence of identifiers that preserves execution context while reducing complexity for analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the essential information from the instruction trace by consolidating identical instruction segments into single representatives. This extraction process removes redundant information while preserving the critical execution path details needed for debugging.
2Loss of information
If the instruction trace includes all executed instructions, then the trace is complete and exhaustive, but the enormous number of instructions obscures the problem
Solution Approach 1:
Identical instruction segments are merged into single consolidated representatives. The sequence of segment identifiers is iteratively consolidated into a prime form where consecutive identical identifiers are replaced by a single identifier with a repetition count, reducing the trace size while maintaining completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a simplified copy of the instruction trace in the form of segment identifiers rather than copying every individual instruction. This representative copy preserves the execution logic and control flow while being much more readable and analyzable.
3Loss of time
If the instruction trace is processed in real-time, then the debugging is timely, but the complexity of analyzing thousands of instructions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The instruction trace is pre-processed into segment identifiers and consolidated into prime form before analysis. This preliminary transformation reduces the complexity of subsequent analysis while maintaining real-time processing capability, as the simplified structure can be quickly compared between different execution traces.
Data Source
AI summary
An instruction trace is segmented into a number of contiguous instruction segments, such that each boundary between adjacent instruction segments is defined by a branch instruction. A segment identifier is assigned to each instruction segment, such that each instruction segment having identical content is assigned a same segment identifier. Using the assigned segment identifiers, the instruction trace is translated into a sequence of segment identifiers. The sequence of segment identifiers is then iteratively consolidated into a prime form that does not include a repetition of a heterogeneous pair of consecutive segment identifiers. The prime form of the sequence of segment identifiers is then rendered in a graphical format.