Today computing systems are more and more complex and they assume more and more responsibilities in all sectors of human activity. Unfortunately, many faults can harm the development or the use of these products. Destructive mechanisms transform faults into errors and finally failures altering the delivered service. For critical systems, the consequences of these failures can be catastrophic, but for most non-critical systems, failures are nowadays unacceptable. Hence, it is necessary to take dependability attributes into account, along the product lifecycle. This book aims at providing a...

Embedded systems encompass a variety of hardware and software components which perform specific functions in host systems, for example, satellites, washing machines, hand-held telephones and automobiles. Embedded systems have become increasingly digital with a non-digital periphery (analog power) and therefore, both hardware and software codesign are relevant. The vast majority of computers manufactured are used in such systems. They are called embedded' to distinguish them from standard mainframes, workstations, and PCs. Athough the design of embedded systems has been used in industrial...