Survey of Soft Error Mitigation Techniques Applied to LEON3 Soft Processors on SRAM-Based FPGAs

Abstract

Soft-core processors implemented in SRAM-based FPGAs are an attractive option for applications to be employed in radiation environments due to their flexibility, relatively-low application development costs, and reconfigurability features enabling them to adapt to the evolving mission needs. Despite the advantages soft-core processors possess, they are seldom used in critical applications because they are more sensitive to radiation than their hard-core counterparts. For instance, both the logic and signal routing circuitry of a soft-core processor as well as its user memory are susceptible to radiation-induced faults. Therefore, soft-core processors must be appropriately hardened against ionizing-radiation to become a feasible design choice for harsh environments and thus to reap all their benefits. This survey henceforth discusses various techniques to protect the configuration and user memories of an LEON3 soft processor, which is one of the most widely used soft-core processors in radiation environments, as reported in the stateof-the-art literature, with the objective of facilitating the choice of right fault-mitigation solution for any given soft-core processor.

Using Machine Learning for Anomaly Detection on a System-on-Chip under Gamma Radiation

“…Adopting fault mitigation or fault tolerance techniques is vital if FPGAs are used in radiation environments. Fault tolerance techniques that enhance embedded processor reliability can be categorized as hardware-, softwareand hybrid-based techniques [8].…”

A two‐dimensional RC network topology for fault‐tolerant design of analog circuits

“…However, with components now reaching molecular‐scale dimensions and power density levels ever increasing, fault tolerance has become an even more important aspect in the design of integrated circuits 1 . This is a crucial issue for devices operating under harsh environmental conditions, especially those exposed to high‐energy particles or X‐ray and gamma radiation, such as satellite and space exploration vehicles, 2 robotic systems for nuclear waste disposal, 3 and detector circuits for high‐energy physics experiments 4 . In this case, the effects may range from soft errors to full system failures after long‐term exposure 5 .…”

“…Fault‐tolerant designs usually exploit one or more redundancy techniques, either in the physical or logical levels 3,9 . Different configurations can be exploited to achieve larger reliability at the expense of additional power consumption, area overhead, or reduction in performance 1 .…”

Sequential Circuit Implementation Method for Multi-Context Scrubbing Operations on FPGAs

“…Recently, because of their reconfigurability, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are used frequently for space embedded systems [1], [2], [3]. Using FPGAs, since the hardware's specification can be changed easily, the lifetime of space systems can be extended while maintaining the latest functions.…”