A Virtual Device for Simulation-Based Fault Injection

Abstract

This paper describes the design and implementation of a virtual device to perform simulation-based fault injection campaigns. The virtual device is fully compatible with the same user software that is already being used to perform fault injection campaigns in existing FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array)-based hardware devices. Multiple instances of the virtual device can be launched in parallel in order to speed-up the fault injection campaigns, without any preexisting limitations on number, such as available license seats, since the virtual device can be compiled with the open-source simulator GHDL. This virtual device also allows one to find bugs in both software and firmware, and to reproduce in simulation, with total visibility of the internal states, corner cases that may have occurred in the real hardware.