U-M researchers develop new approach to eliminating software deadlock

Gadara. It’s the latest buzzword at the University of Michigan. Excerpt: Software deadlocks are the Catch-22s of the computer world. These common bugs can freeze the machine when different parts of a program end up in an endless cycle of waiting for one another as they access shared data. University of Michigan researchers developed a new way around this problem with a controller that can anticipate and prevent situations that might cause deadlock. Their controller is called Gadara. It’s a plug-in that operates using feedback techniques similar to those that give us cruise control in cars and thermostats in heating systems. “This is a totally different approach to what people had done before for deadlock,” said Stéphane Lafortune, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a Gadara developer. “Previously, engineers would try to identify potential deadlocks through testing or program analysis and then go back and rewrite the program. The bug fixes were manual, and not automatic. Gadara automates the process.” Read the rest of the story here.