File Format Evaluation Criteria

(in alphabetic order)

This section enumerates the relevant criteria to evaluate a file format for traces of side-channel leakage.

Access Speed: Speed by which consecutive or non-consecutive traces can be loaded

Backward Compatibility: The ability of tools or systems to support older versions of a file format.

Batching: Ability to store a dataset in multiple files, in order to not exceed a maximal file size.

Interoperability: The ability of tools or systems to read and process a file format created by a different tool or system.

Dataset Integrity: Ensuring the accuracy and unaltered nature of the collected records and metadata.

Extensibility: The ability of a file format to accommodate new features and extensions without requiring major changes to the tools that process the file format.

Flexibility: The ability of a file format to support new use cases.

Network Friendliness: Ability of the file format to support access to partial datasets (batches and slices).

Open: The availability of an openly published file format specification (cfr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_file_format).

Reproducibility: The ability of a file format to support replication of measurements.

Resiliency: Capability to detect and recover from file corruption (e.g. after an interrupted acquisition).

Scalability: The ability of the file format to handle increasing amounts of data effectively.

Simplicity: Ease of implementation to read, write and process the file format.

Storage density: File size as a function of the amount of data stored.

Support: The number of tools that can read or write the file format.

Versatility: Ability to perform a variety of functions or adapt to different tasks and environments. A versatile framework can meet diverse user needs or operate effectively in multiple contexts.