ABSTRACT Segment Protection for Embedded Systems Using Run-time Checks

The lack of virtual memory protection is a serious source of unreliability in many embedded systems. Without the segment-level protection it provides, these systems are subject to memory access violations, stemming from programmer error, whose results can be dangerous and catastrophic in safety-critical systems. The traditional method of testing embedded software before its deployment is an insufficient means of detecting and debugging all software errors, and the reliance on this practice is a severe gamble when the reliable performance of the embedded device is critical. Additionally, the use of safe languages and programming semantic restrictions as prevention mechanisms is often infeasible when considering the adoptability and compatibility of these languages since most embedded applications are written in C and C++. This work improves system reliability by providing a completely automatic software technique for guaranteeing segment protectio