Detailed analysis of compilation options for robust software-based embedded systems

International audienceSeveral criteria can be used to evaluate the criticality of registers and memory locations at compile time. This evaluation is useful to guide optimizations with respect to robustness constraints and soft error mitigation. In this paper, we analyze in detail the impact of compilation optimizations on the system dependability, using four different criteria. We show that optimizations enabled by default lead to criticality increase. However, selectively picking optimizations may increase the robustness of a system even if the consequences of a given optimization option may vary from a program to another. We also identify some optimizations that induce a significant increase in criticality and must be used with care