Safe configurations of replica voting processes in fault-resilient data collection services

Abstract

Voting among replicated sensor devices achieves a timely delivery of correct data to the end-user in a hostile environment. Enforcement of this safety prescription by the voting system depends on the hostility of environment, system parameters & resources (network bandwidth and device replication), and input data characteristics. How severely the faulty devices induce data corruptions and timeliness errors impacts the quality of information (QoI) in data delivery. We consider situations where the network bandwidth varies dynamically, device replication faces operational constraints, and environment parameters change unpredictably. An adaptation management module H exercises control of the voting system based on application context and external threats. H determines the safe configurations of voting system: i.e., the device replication and system resource allocation, to sustain an acceptable QoI.