Statistical-Based WCET Estimation and Validation
• SEI Report
Publisher
Software Engineering Institute
DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
10.1184/R1/6584411.v1Abstract
In this paper we present a measurement-based approach that produces both a WCET (Worst Case Execution Time) estimate, and a prediction of the probability that a future execution time will exceed our estimate. Our statistical-based approach uses extreme value theory to build a model of the tail behavior of the measured execution time value. We validate our approach using an industrial data set comprised of over 150 sampled components and nearly 200 million sample execution times. Each trace is divided into two segments, with one used to make the WCET estimate, and the second used check our prediction of the fraction of future execution time samples that exceed our WCET estimate. We show that compared to WCET estimates derived from the worst-case observed time, our WCET estimates significantly improve the ability to predict the probability that our WCET estimate is exceeded.
Cite This SEI Report
Hansen, J., Hissam, S., & Moreno, G. (2008, December 31). Statistical-Based WCET Estimation and Validation. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6584411.v1.
@techreport{hansen_2008,
author={Hansen, Jeffrey and Hissam, Scott and Moreno, Gabriel},
title={Statistical-Based WCET Estimation and Validation},
month={Dec},
year={2008},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
doi={10.1184/R1/6584411.v1},
url={https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6584411.v1},
note={Accessed: 2026-Sep-22}
}
Hansen, Jeffrey, Scott Hissam, and Gabriel Moreno. "Statistical-Based WCET Estimation and Validation." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, December 31, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6584411.v1.
J. Hansen, S. Hissam, and G. Moreno, "Statistical-Based WCET Estimation and Validation," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, 31-Dec-2008 [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6584411.v1. [Accessed: 22-Sep-2026].
Hansen, Jeffrey, Scott Hissam, and Gabriel Moreno. "Statistical-Based WCET Estimation and Validation." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 31 Dec. 2008. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6584411.v1. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.
Hansen, Jeffrey; Hissam, Scott; & Moreno, Gabriel. Statistical-Based WCET Estimation and Validation. Software Engineering Institute. 2008. DOI: 10.1184/R1/6584411.v1. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6584411.v1