A Methodology to Analyze the Fault Tolerance of Demosaicking Methods against Memory Single Event Functional Interrupts (SEFIs)

Abstract

Electronic circuits in harsh environments, such as space, are affected by soft errors produced by radiation. A single event functional interrupt (SEFI) can affect the behavior of a memory chip, with one or more rows, columns or even the whole device producing a wrong value when reading a set of stored bits. This problem may affect raw Bayer images stored in satellites and other spacecraft. In this paper, we present a methodology to analyze how different interpolation algorithms behave when they try to reconstruct the affected Bayer images into standard red, green and blue (RGB) images. This methodology can be used to compare and develop new fault-tolerant algorithms. The proposed methodology has been illustrated by studying a subset of interpolation algorithms. The results obtained from this example show that the interpolation algorithms that traditionally offer better results in a normal operation (in the absence of errors) are not always the best when SEFI errors are present in the Bayer images.

Experiment Study of Single Event Functional Interrupt in Analog-to-Digital Converters Using a Pulsed Laser

“…SEFI is a multifaceted failure phenomenon that arises when high-energy particles collide with sensitive regions, such as control registers and circuits within devices, leading to abnormal operational states such as test mode activation, reset mode engagement, or temporary functional failures [1][2][3][4]. As technology progresses, integrated circuits are growing increasingly intricate, encompassing diverse storage units, control circuits, and other complex circuitry, making them more vulnerable to SEFI [5][6][7][8]. Within Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (SDRAM), the logical state of mode register flip-flops can induce SEFI, while flip-flops in the READ latch region can also contribute to SEFI, which can be rectified through software or power cycling [9,10].…”