A generic approach to structuring and implementing complex fault-tolerant software

This paper addresses the practical implementation of means of tolerating residual software faults in complex software systems, especially concurrent and distributed ones. There are several inherent difficulties in implementing such fault-tolerant software systems, including the controlled use of extra redundancy and the mixture of different design concerns. In an attempt to minimise these difficulties, we present a generic implementation approach, composed of a multi-layered reference architecture, a configuration method and an architectural pattern. We evaluate our implementation approach using an industrial control application whose control software we equip with the ability to tolerate a variety of software faults. The preliminary evidence shows that our approach can simplify the implementation process, reduce repetitive development effort and provide high flexibility through a generic interface for a wide range of fault tolerance schemes.