In-Field Debugging: Diagnosing Software Problems While Maintaining System Availability

February 2012
7 pages

In-Field Debugging: Diagnosing Software Problems While Maintaining System Availability

Software bugs that make it to market not only cause incorrect system behavior and low system availability but also result in unhappy (and fewer) customers. Unfortunately, conventional debugging methods can themselves interfere with the availability, performance, and correct behavior of the affected system. This paper examines debug and information-gathering techniques that can maintain system availability while generating artifacts that help diagnose and resolve software failure.

Contents

Introduction — Gaining Visibility Through System Tracing — Isolating Memory Access Violations — Uploading the Fix — Using Time Partitioning to Diagnose Problems While Maintaining System Availability [+]

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Author
Paul Leroux
paull@qnx.com

Paul Leroux

Paul Leroux is an award-winning writer, technology analyst, and public relations manager. He has been with QNX Software Systems for more than 20 years, where he is particularly valued for his knowledge of the embedded industry and for his ability to explain complex technical issues to both specialists and non-specialists.

Leroux maintains the blog On Q, which he describes as "a personal mashup of QNX, cars, embedded systems, M2M, and photography."

When he is not writing whitepapers or blogging, Leroux is an avid snowshoer and wildlife photographer. He holds a B.A. and an M.A., both from Concordia University in Montreal.