A Localized Software-based approach for Fault-Tolerant Ethernet (LSFTE)

Nowadays, there are various networked systems with many computers. In most networked systems, keeping transmitting and/or receiving data continuously even though failures exist is a crucial objective. How can make a computer continue transmitting and/or receiving data even when there are some errors on a link? Fault-Tolerant Ethernet (FTE) can be a solution to this question. In this paper, we propose a Localized Software-based Fault-Tolerant Ethernet (LSFTE). Our new approach fulfills general FTE's requirements. It takes advantages of the redundant cable lines to maintain the communication in the faulty environment. A software layer which uses a simple and effective algorithm is added above LAN card driver software to detect and overcome faults. For our approach, there is no need to change for existing hardware and the end-use interfaces. Besides, the fault-detecting time is reduced significantly compared to the conventional software-based approach.