A FAULT-TOLERANT SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE FOR NAVY APPLICATIONS

A description is given of the architecture of a computer system, being designed and built for the U. S. Navy, that is expected to be the standard Navy shipboard computer for the next twenty years or so. It has a requirement for very high system reliability, which is addressed by a multiprocessor system configuration that can recover dynamically from hardware faults and support on-line repair of failed hardware elements. The overall system architecture and a number of significant new features designed to support fault-tolerant operation are discussed, including a duplex control bus, a computer interconnection system, a technique for remote diagnostics, a single-button maintenance procedure, and special fault-handling software.