Adaptive reconfigurable voting for enhanced reliability in medium-grained fault tolerant architectures

The impact of SRAM-based FPGAs is constantly growing in aerospace industry despite the fact that their volatile configuration memory is highly susceptible to radiation effects. Therefore, strong fault-handling mechanisms have to be developed in order to protect the design and make it capable of fighting against both soft and permanent errors. In this paper, a fully reconfigurable medium-grained triple modular redundancy (TMR) architecture which forms part of a runtime adaptive on-board processor (OBP) is presented. Fault mitigation is extended to the voting mechanism by applying our reconfiguration methodology not only to domain replicas but also to the voter itself. The proposed approach takes advantage of adaptive configuration placement and modular property of the OBP, thus allowing on-line creation of different medium-grained TMRs and selection of their granularity level. Consequently, we are able to narrow down the fault-affected area thus making the error recovery process faster and less power consuming. The conventional hardware based voting is supported by the ICAP-based one in order to additionally strengthen the reconfigurable intermediate voting. In addition, the implementation methodology ensures using only one memory footprint for all voters and their voting adaptations thus saving storing resources in expensive rad-hard memories

Methods of surface ionization for the measurement of chlorine’s isotopic composition

Jedinjenja hlorata i perhlorata koja se koriste kao herbicidi, pogonska čvrsta goriva i eksplozivi, i sve češće se prepoznaju kao zagađivači podzemnih voda [1]. Perhlorati su posebno opasni jer ometaju proizvodnju hormona u štitnoj žlezdi. Hlor je podložan izotopskom frakcionisanju fizičkim i hemijskim procesima. Varijacije u atomskim masama, kao i u zastupljenosti izotopa hlora su posledica njegovog izotopskog frakcionisanja tokom fizičkih, hemijskih i bioloških procesa. Upravo, te varijacije su korisne za određivanje porekla supstance i proučavanje ekoloških, hidroloških i geoloških procesa. Takođe, analizom izotopa hlora može se utvrditi i priroda zagađivača životne sredine odnosno da li je njegovo poreklo antropogeno ili ne. Informacije mogu biti važne iz pravnih razloga i za remedijaciju kontaminiranog područja [2, 3]. Hlor se u prirodi javlja u obliku dva stabilna izotopa 35Cl i 37Cl (relativnih atomskih masa, respektivno 34,968 8527 i 36,965 9026), čiji relativni izotopski sastav je 0,7553 i 0,2547 [4]. Merenje odnosa stabilnih izotopa hlora (n(37Cl)/n(35Cl)), kao i molske frakcije 36Cl (n(36Cl)/n(Cl)) pruža korisne informacije o poreklu hlorata i perhlorata u okruženju [2, 3]. Ranija merenja promene odnosa stabilnih izotopa hlora rađena su pomoću magnetnog masenog spektrometra sa površinskom jonizacijom u negativnom modu direktnim praćenjem jona Cl- [5], ili određivanjem promena izotopskog sastava praćenjem jona jedinjenja CH3 Cl+ [6]. Danas se metodom površinske jonizacije radi ispitivanja izotopskog sastava ne prate direktno joni hlora, već jedinjenja kao što su „superalkalni” klasteri tipa M2 Cl+ (M-alkalni metali). Razlog je, vrlo niska energija jonizacije pomenutih klastera (u nekim slučajevima niža od energije jonizacije cezijuma) što omogućava njihovu vrlo jednostavnu detekciju u masenom spektru [7]. Iako je ova metoda precizna i pouzdana, vrlo je skupa. Broj analiza izotopa hlora pomoću ugljovodonika koji u sastavu imaju hlor kao što je trihloretilen je u porastu, jer su ove vrste važni zagađivači životne sredine. Analiza kontinuiranog protoka trihloretilena molekula, bilo gasnom hromatografijom/izotopskom masenom spektrometrijom (GC/IRMS) ili sa masenom spektrometrijom GC/kvadrupol (GC/qMS), je inovativno analitičko rešenje, ali uprkos ranijim implementacijama, nedostaje joj rutinska aplikacija [8]. Pored navedenih tehnika u površinske metode jonizacije spada i masenospektrometrijska metoda laserske desorpcije i jonizacije (LDI). Preliminarni rezultati ukazuju da se „superalkalni“ klasteri tipa M2 Cl+ mogu detektovati navedenom metodom. S obzirom na jednostavnost korišćenja i njenu ekonomsku isplatljivost, analiza i ispitivanje promene izotopskog sastava pomoću LDI metode može predstavljati važan korak u analitic

A run time adaptive architecture to trade-off performance for fault tolerance applied to a DVB on-board processor

Reliability is one of the key issues in space applications. Although highly flexible and generally less expensive than predominantly used ASICs, SRAM-based FPGAs are very susceptible to radiation effects. Hence, various fault tolerant techniques have to be applied in order to handle faults and protect the design. This paper presents a reconfigurable on-board processor capable of run-time adaptation to harsh environmental conditions and different functional demands. Run-time reconfigurability is achieved applying two different reconfiguration methodologies. We propose a novel self-reconfigurable architecture able to on demand duplicate or triplicate part of the design in order to form DMR and TMR structures. Moreover, we introduce two different approaches for voting the correct output. The first one is a traditional voter that adapts to different DMR/TMR domain positions whereas the second implies comparing the captured flip-flop values directly from the configuration memory read through ICAP. The comparison is done periodically by an embedded processor thus completely excluding the voting mechanism in hardware. The proposed run-time reconfiguration methodology provides savings in terms of device utilization, reconfiguration time, power consumption and significant reductions in the amount of rad-hard memory used by partial configurations

Analysis of design alternatives on using dynamic and partial reconfiguration in a space application

Some of the biggest concerns in space systems are power consumption and reliability due to the limited power generated by the system's energy harvesters and the fact that once deployed, it is almost impossible to perform maintenance or repairs. Another consideration is that during deployment, the high exposure to electromagnetic radiation can cause single event damage effects including SEUs, SEFIs, SETs and others. In order to mitigate these problems inherent to the space environment, a system with dynamic and partial reconfiguration capabilities is proposed. This approach provide s the flexibility to reconfigure parts of the FPGA while still in operation, thus making the system more flexible, fault tolerant and less power-consuming. In this paper, several partial reconfiguration approaches are proposed and compared in terms of device occupation, power consumption, reconfiguration speed and size of memory footprints

The AQUAS ECSEL Project Aggregated Quality Assurance for Systems: Co-Engineering Inside and Across the Product Life Cycle

There is an ever-increasing complexity of the systems we engineer in modern society, which includes facing the convergence of the embedded world and the open world. This complexity creates increasing difficulty with providing assurance for factors including safety, security and performance. In such a context, the AQUAS project investigates the challenges arising from e.g., the inter-dependence of safety, security and performance of systems and aims at efficient solutions for the entire product life-cycle. The project builds on knowledge of partners gained in current or former EU projects and will demonstrate the newly developed methods and techniques for co-engineering across use cases spanning Aerospace, Medicine, Transport and Industrial Control.A special thanks to all the AQUAS consortium people that have worked on the AQUAS proposal on which this paper is based, especially to Charles Robinson (TRT), the proposal coordinator. The AQUAS project is funded from the ECSEL Joint Undertaking under grant agreement n 737475, and from National funding

Reconstruction of fiber reinforcement in epoxy-based composite

Polymer matrix composites (PMCs) are very attractive materials due to a possibility to achieve versatile properties by combining with ceramic or metal reinforcement in different shapes and sizes. As a result, PMCs have found application in nearly every field, from household appliances to aerospace industry. Modern microelectronic devices contain conductive polymers with fillers that enhance their electrical properties. In addition, PMCs are being used as insulators and adhesives, contributing to the long life of electronic devices. Epoxy resins are the most commonly used insulators and adhesives. In order to improve their fracture toughness, glass fibers can be used as an efficient reinforcement. However, with the purpose of designing a composite with good mechanical properties and durability, deep knowledge of microstructure is required. In addition, microstructural analysis can be used to connect shape and size of pores or reinforcement with various physical properties. Fractal nature analysis is a valuable mathematical tool that can be employed for different shapes and forms rendering. In this manner, successful design and prediction of composite’s properties could be obtained. In this research, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images were used for fractal analysis of glass fibers, with the aim of reconstructing the shape

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE GOLD MERCAPTOTRIAZOLE COMPLEX USING THE TANDEM QUADRUPOLE MASS SPECTROMETRY (TQD)

This work is aimed to characterize the gold complexes using the electron spray ionization (ESI), and atmospheric solids analysis probe (ASAP), tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer (TQD). It is demonstrated here that the use of the ASAP is more suitable than the ESI for a rapid analysis of the gold coatings in the solid and liquid state. The mass spectra indicate that mercaptotriazole and glycine can coordinate with the gold ion and to build complexes such as [Au-2MT-Gly] and [Au-2MT-2Gly]

Theoretical and experimental evaluation of K2Br+ and K3Br+ clusters' ionization energies

In current study, a non-stoichiometric bromine-doped potassium K2Br+and K3Br+clusters are generated by combining a Knudsen effusion cell as a chemical reactor with thermal or surface ionization,and selected by a magnetic sector mass spectrometer. Furthermore, their ionization energies (IEs) are calculated for the first time using B3LYP/9-ve PP(K),cc-pVTZ-PP(Br) level of theory. Herein, presented results indicate that experimentally obtained IEs by Ionov equation, 4.10 ± 0.20 eV for K2Br+, and 4.03 ± 0.20 eV for K3Br+, are in consistence with their theoretically determined IEs.Physical chemistry 2016 : 13th international conference on fundamental and applied aspects of physical chemistry; Belgrade (Serbia); 26-30 September 2016

Negative-Mode LDI-MS of corrosion products on the surface of AgCu-X (X- Zn, Pd, In) alloys

Copper-silver alloys have widely applied in many different areas such as information and communication technology, rail transportation, power transmission lines, microelectronics, machinery manufacturing, chemical processing industries, coinage, ornamental parts, etc [1, 2]. A group of ternary Ag-Cu alloys with different elements is used for binding different materials (brazing, fillers, and pastes). For example, Ag-Cu-Pd alloys are used in dentistry, as amalgams improvers or joint fillers for different dental materials [3]. Ternary AgCuIn alloy uses as a bonding metal layer; the use of AgCuIn as the bonding metal, greatly reduces the manufacturing costs of LED chip and helps to improve the life of the LED chip. Copper and its alloys belong to the group of semi-noble metals however they are not highly resistant to corrosion in some of the environments [4, 5]. Corrosion has particularly attracted attention due to the significant impact on the performance and reliability of this industrially important material group in their applications, as well as on the economy. Standard methods for characterization of corrosion films are: X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) [6, 7]. The positive mode laser desorption ionization (LDI) mass spectrometry method can be successfully applied to analyze the composition of the corrosion film. In our previous work, it has been shown that the amount of sample required for the LDI method is much smaller than the sample quantity required for the methods mentioned above [8]. The purpose of this work was to study the possibilities of direct analysis of the corrosion films formed on Ag60Cu26Zn14, Ag58.5Cu31.5Pd10, and Ag63Cu27In10 alloys using the negative mode laser desorption ionization (LDI) mass spectrometry method. The corrosion films of Ag60Cu26Zn14, Ag58.5Cu31.5Pd10, and Ag63Cu27In10 alloys were obtained after anodic potentiostatic polarization treatment (at +0.25 V for 5 min in 3.5% wt. NaCl solution). Preliminary results show that the negative mode LDI mass spectra measured from the corrosion film of these alloys contains same ionsAgCl2 - , AgCuCl3 - , CuCl2 - , Cu2Cl3 - , Cu3Cl4 - . This result suggested that main reactions are the formation of CuCl layer on the surface of the Cu rich metallurgical phase and formation of AgCl film on the surface of Ag rich metallurgical phase. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This work is the result of the Projects OI 172019 and TR 34033, funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.VII International School and Conference on Photonics : PHOTONICA2019 : Abstracts of Tutorial, Keynote, Invited Lectures, Progress Reports and Contributed Papers; August 26-30; Belgrad