Reliability on ARM Processors Against Soft Errors Through SIHFT Techniques

ARM processors are leaders in embedded systems, delivering high-performance computing, power efficiency, and reduced cost. For this reason, there is a relevant interest for its use in the aerospace industry. However, the use of sub-micron technologies has increased the sensitivity to radiation-induced transient faults. Thus, the mitigation of soft errors has become a major concern. Software-Implemented Hardware Fault Tolerance (SIHFT) techniques are a low-cost way to protect processors against soft errors. On the other hand, they cause high overheads in the execution time and memory, which consequently increase the energy consumption. In this work, we implement a set of software techniques based on different redundancy and checking rules. Furthermore, a low-overhead technique to protect the program execution flow is included. Tests are performed using the ARM Cortex-A9 processor. Simulated fault injection campaigns and radiation test with heavy ions have been performed. Results evaluate the trade-offs among fault detection, execution time, and memory footprint. They show significant improvements of the overheads when compared to previously reported techniques.This work was supported in part by CNPq and CAPES, Brazilian agencies

Analysis of SRAM-Based FPGA SEU Sensitivity to Combined EMI and TID-Imprinted Effects

This work proposes a novel methodology to evaluate SRAM-based FPGA's susceptibility with respect to Single-Event Upset (SEU) as a function of noise on VDD power pins, Total-Ionizing Dose (TID) and TID-imprinted effect on BlockRAM cells. The proposed procedure is demonstrated for SEU measurements on a Xilinx Spartan 3E FPGA operating in an 8 MV Pelletron accelerator for the SEU test with heavy-ions, whereas TID was deposited by means of a Shimadzu XRD-7000 X-ray diffractometer. In order to observe the TID-induced imprint effect inside the BlockRAM cells, a second SEU test with neutrons was performed with Americium/Beryllium (241 AmBe). The noise was injected into the power supply bus according to the IEC 61.000-4-29 standard and consisted of voltage dips with 16.67% and 25% of the FPGA's VDD at frequencies of 10 Hz and 5 kHz, respectively. At the end of the experiment, the combined SEU failure rate, given in error/bit.day, is calculated for the FPGA's BlockRAM cells. The combined failure rate is defined as the average SEU failure rate computed before and after exposition of the FPGA to the TID.Fil: Benfica, Juliano. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Green, Bruno. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Porcher, Bruno C.. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Bolzani Poehls, Letícia. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Vargas, Fabian. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Medina, Nilberto H.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Added, Nemitala. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: P. de Aguiar, Vitor A.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Macchione, Eduardo L. A.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Aguirre, Fernando. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Silveira. Marcilei A.G.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Pérez, Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Area de Investigación y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia de Física (Centro Atómico Bariloche). División Bajas Temperaturas; ArgentinaFil: Sofo Haro, Miguel Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Area de Investigación y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia de Física (Centro Atómico Bariloche). División Bajas Temperaturas; ArgentinaFil: Sidelnik, Iván Pedro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Gerencia de Ingeniería Nuclear (CAB). División Neutrones y Reactores; ArgentinaFil: Blostein, Juan Jeronimo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Gerencia de Ingeniería Nuclear (CAB). División Neutrones y Reactores; ArgentinaFil: Lipovetzky, José. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Area de Investigación y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia de Física (Centro Atómico Bariloche). División Bajas Temperaturas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; ArgentinaFil: Bezerra Cabral, Antonio Eduardo. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; Brasi