Operating System Influence on VLSI Radiation Resistance

The article presents a comparative analysis of radiation resistance levels of complex-functional VLSI when using an operating system (OS) for software development in comparison with the traditional approach based on a superloop. The applied OSs and objects of the research are presented. The features of the program code for functional control tests when using and not using OS are described. Algorithms of conducting experiments in the studies of absorbed dose affects and dose rate effects are presented. Comparisons were made of radiation resistance levels to total ionizing dose (TID) effects and dose rate effects in the presence and in the absence of OS. The obtained results of studies on TID effects demonstrate that the presence of OS can change the radiation resistance level up to ~30% both up and down compared to the traditional case in the absence of OS. Based on the results of dose rate effects studies, it was concluded that the use of OS can reduce the level of fault-tolerant operation by 43% compared to the case in the absence of OS. The results also show that the type of OS also affects the fault-tolerant operation level. Possible explanations of difference in radiation resistance levels are proposed. Directions for futher research are outlined