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A Framework for Automated Detection of Power-related Software Errors in Industrial Verification Processes

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Abstract

The complexity of cell phones is continually increasing, with regards to both hardware and software parts. As many complex devices, their components are usually designed and verified separately by specialized teams of engineers and programmers. However, even if each isolated part is working flawlessly, it often happens that bugs in one software application arise due to the interaction with other modules. Those software misbehaviors become particularly critical when they affect the residual battery life, causing power dissipation. An automatic approach to detect power-affecting software defects is proposed. The approach is intended to be part of a qualifying verification plan and complete human expertise. Motorola, always at the forefront of researching innovations in the product development chain, experimented the approach on a mobile phone prototype during a partnership with Politecnico di Torino. Software errors unrevealed by all human-designed tests have been detected by the proposed framework, two out of three critical from the power consumption point of view, thus enabling Motorola to further improve its verification plans. Details of the tests and experimental results are presented.

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Acknowledgments

Our thanks to Simone Loiacono, Alessio Moscatello, Alessandro Salomone and Massimiliano Schillaci for the invaluable advice and the development of constraints files and hardware involved in the experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Motorola Italia, Via Muzio Attendolo said Sforza 13, 20141, Milan, Italy

    Stefano Gandini & Walter Ruzzarin

  2. Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino, Italy

    Ernesto Sanchez, Giovanni Squillero & Alberto Tonda

Authors
  1. Stefano Gandini
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  2. Walter Ruzzarin
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  3. Ernesto Sanchez
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  4. Giovanni Squillero
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  5. Alberto Tonda
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alberto Tonda.

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Responsible Editor: B. Al-Hashimi

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Gandini, S., Ruzzarin, W., Sanchez, E. et al. A Framework for Automated Detection of Power-related Software Errors in Industrial Verification Processes. J Electron Test 26, 689–697 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10836-010-5184-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10836-010-5184-5

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