Dependable Computing and Fault Tolerance - TSF

Head: Hélène WAESELYNCK
PhD student representative : Antony DALMIERE 

The work of the team focuses on the dependability of computing systems, i.e., the ability to deliver a service that can be justifiably trusted. It encompasses the properties of availability, reliability, integrity, confidentiality, maintainability, safety, as well as security.

The computing systems of interest to us are the large, networked, evolving systems of the future, interconnecting servers, mobile computers, and embedded devices to form complex information infrastructures. The major issue is how to maintain the dependability of such ubiquitous systems, i.e., their ability to deliver service that can justifiably be trusted, in spite of continuous change. The changes can be functional, technological, or environmental, and may include or induce new threats.

In this context, our research is best situated in the context of resilience, i.e., the persistence of dependability in the face of change.

Our current research addresses four major challenges: mobility, evolvability and autonomy, openness, and reactivity, considering two complementary, and closely related, viewpoints:

• Architecture: design approaches, policies, algorithms, and mechanisms, for fault prevention and fault tolerance.
• Analysis: test and evaluation techniques for fault removal and fault forecasting.

A strong characteristic of our research is the scope of the faults addressed: accidental faults (including physical and software faults) and malicious interaction faults, i.e., intrusions. Moreover, for many years the group has conducted both conceptual and experimental work.

For further details, see Research Topics