嵌入式存储器容错方案可靠性评估

随着工艺节点的不断降低,存储器的软错误率呈指数趋势上升,容错技术已成为存储器设计中的重要环节。依据美国NASA Rosetta实验数据,对错误检纠错码(EDAC: Error Detection and Correction)和不同的在线刷新模式组成的多种容错方案进行可靠性建模与量化评估,提出了不同工艺节点下嵌入式存储器容错技术选择的判据方法。在地面单粒子模拟实验中进行验证,结果表明,该方法预测的失效率评估结果与实验测试结果的平均偏差约为10.3%。     

超大规模FPGA的单粒子效应脉冲激光测试方法

建立了一种28 nm HPL硅工艺超大规模SRAM型FPGA的单粒子效应测试方法。采用静态测试与动态测试相结合的方式,通过ps级脉冲激光模拟辐照实验,对超大规模FPGA进行单粒子效应测试。对实验所用FPGA的各敏感单元(包括块随机读取存储器、可配置逻辑单元、可配置存储器)的单粒子闩锁效应和单粒子翻转极性进行了研究。实验结果证明了测试方法的有效性,揭示了多种单粒子闩锁效应的电流变化模式,得出了各单元的单粒子效应敏感性区别。针对块随机读取存储器、可配置逻辑单元中单粒子效应翻转极性的差异问题,从电路结构方面进行了机理分析。     

基于码流的软件控制FPGA故障注入系统

基于静态随机存储器的现场可编程逻辑门阵列应用于航天电子系统时,易受到单粒子翻转效应的影响,存储数据会发生损坏。为评估器件和电路在单粒子翻转效应下的可靠性,提出一种基于TCL脚本控制的故障注入系统,可在配置码流层面模拟单粒子翻转效应。介绍了该故障注入系统的实现机制和控制算法,并将该软件控制方法与传统硬件控制方法进行对比分析。设计了一种关键位故障模型,从设计网表中提取关键位的位置信息,缩小了故障注入的码流范围。在Virtex-5开发板XUPV5-LX110T上的故障注入实验表明,该故障注入系统能有效模拟单粒子翻转效应,与传统随机位故障注入相比,关键位故障注入的故障率提高了近5倍。     

面向航空环境的多时钟单粒子翻转故障注入方法

随着新型电子器件越来越多地被机载航电设备所采用,单粒子翻转(Single Event Upset, SEU)故障已经成为影响航空飞行安全的重大隐患。首先,针对由于单粒子翻转故障的随机性,该文对不同时刻发生的单粒子翻转故障引入了多时钟控制,构建了SEU故障注入测试系统。然后模拟真实情况下单粒子效应引发的多时间点故障,研究了单粒子效应对基于FPGA构成的时序电路的影响,并在线统计了被测模块的失效数据和失效率。实验结果表明,对于基于FPGA构建容错电路,采用多时钟沿三模冗余(Triple Modular Redundancy, TMR) 加固技术可比传统TMR技术提高约1.86倍的抗SEU性能;该多时钟SEU故障注入测试系统可以快速、准确、低成本地实现单粒子翻转故障测试,从而验证了SEU加固技术的有效性。     

SOI CMOS SRAM单元单粒子翻转效应的模拟

为简单快速模拟静态随机存储器(SRAM)的单粒子效应,在二维器件数值模拟的基础上,以经典的双指数模型为原型,通过数值拟合得到了单粒子效应瞬态电流脉冲的表达式,考虑晶体管偏压对瞬态电流的影响,得到修正的瞬态电流表达式,将其带入电路模拟软件HSPICE中进行SRAM存储单元单粒子翻转效应的电路模拟,通过与实际单粒子实验结果的对比,验证了这种模拟方法的实用性。     

一种用于ASIC内部存储器单粒子翻转效应评估的方法北大核心CSCD

本文提出了利用存储器内建自测试(MBIST)进行专用集成电路(ASIC)内部存储器的单粒子翻转(SEU)检测方法,研究并制定了MBIST的单粒子有效性辐照注量的统计方案,最后在重离子加速器上应用该方法进行了单粒子试验验证.通过与相同结构的存储器SEU结果的对比分析,结果表明,MBIST在有效辐照注量(1.27E+7icons/cm2)下,与存储器在标准辐照注量(1E+7icons/cm2)下获得的SEU在轨错误率误差小于2倍,运用MBIST方法可以方便、准确地用于评估ASIC的存储器SEU性能指标.     

新型非易失性存储器的抗辐射能力研究进展

通过研究铁电存储器、磁性随机存储器、相变存储器和阻变存储器4种新型非易失性存储器的抗辐射能力,总结了每种非易失性存储器的总剂量效应和单粒子效应。针对总剂量效应和单粒子效应进行了对比与分析,得到了目前的新型非易失性存储器的抗辐射能力仍然取决于存储单元以外的互补金属氧化物半导体(CMOS)外围电路的抗辐射能力。该结论为抗辐射非易失性存储器的研究提供了参考。     

一种静态随机存储器型现场可编程门阵列的单粒子软错误率的软件分析方法

静态随机存取存储器(SRAM)型现场可编程门阵列(FPGA)在当前空间电子设备中取得了广泛的应用,尽管它对空间辐射引起的单粒子翻转效应极其敏感。在FPGA的配置存储器中发生的单粒子翻转造成的失效机理不同于传统的存储器中的单粒子翻转。因此,如何评价这些单粒子翻转对系统造成的影响就成了一个值得研究的问题。传统的方法主要分为辐照实验和故障注入两种技术途径。本文中提出了一种新的方法,可以用来分析单粒子翻转对构建在FPGA上的系统造成的影响。这种方法基于对FPGA底层结构以及单粒子翻转带来的失效机理的深入理解,从布局布线之后的网表文件出发,寻找所有可能破坏电路结构的关键逻辑节点和路径。然后通过查询可配置资源与相应的配置数据之间关系来确定所有敏感的配置位。我们用加速器辐照实验和传统的故障注入方法验证了这种新方法的有效性。     

一种SRAM型FPGA单粒子效应故障注入方法

随着FPGA在航天领域的广泛应用,SRAM型FPGA的单粒子故障也越来越引起人们的重视,用故障注入技术模拟单粒子效应是研究单粒子效应对SRAM器件影响的重要手段,该文主要研究SRAM型FPGA单粒子翻转、单粒子瞬态脉冲的故障注入技术,并在伴随特性的基础上,提出一种单粒子瞬态脉冲故障注入技术。该方法使注入故障脉冲宽度达到...     

高速A/D转换器单粒子效应实时评估系统和方法研究

提出了一种在线实时检测评估高速A/D转换器(ADC)的单粒子效应的测试方法。基于该方法搭建了部分模块可复用的单粒子效应测试评估系统。系统由时钟生成模块、待测ADC模块、D/A转换器(DAC)转换输出模块、FPGA控制模块与上位机模块构成。对待测ADC模块进行重构,可完成对不同ADC器件的测试评估,提升了模块可复用性和测试效率。该系统通过监测电源引脚的电流变化、ADC内部寄存器值翻转情况、经过高速DAC转换输出的模拟波形,可实时测试评估ADC器件的单粒子锁定(SEL)、单粒子翻转(SEU)、单粒子瞬态(SET)、单粒子功能中断(SEFI)等效应。基于该系统对自主研发的具有JESD204B接口的12位2.6 GS/s高速ADC进行了单粒子效应试验。试验分析表明,该系统能准确高效评估高速ADC器件的单粒子效应。     

Modeling and simulation of single-event effect in CMOS circuit

This paper reviews the status of research in modeling and simulation of single-event effects (SEE) in digital devices and integrated circuits. After introducing a brief historical overview of SEE simulation, different level simulation approaches of SEE are detailed, including material-level physical simulation where two primary methods by which ionizing radiation releases charge in a semiconductor device (direct ionization and indirect ionization) are introduced, device-level simulation where the main emerging physical phenomena affecting nanometer devices (bipolar transistor effect, charge sharing effect) and the methods envisaged for taking them into account are focused on, and circuit-level simulation where the methods for predicting single-event response about the production and propagation of single-event transients (SETs) in sequential and combinatorial logic are detailed, as well as the soft error rate trends with scaling are particularly addressed.     

ELIMINATING SPEED PENALTIES IN ECC PROTECTED MEMORY DESIGNS USING “BIT BYPASSING” TECHNIQUES

In deep sub-micron ICs,growing amounts of on-die memory and scaling effects make embedded memories more vulnerable to reliability problems,such as soft errors induced by radiation.Error Correction Code （ECC） along with scrubbing is an efficient method for protecting memories against these errors.However,the latency of coding circuits brings speed penalties in high performance applications.This paper proposed a ＂bit bypassing＂ ECC protected memory by buffering the encoded data and adding an identifying address for the input data.The proposed memory design has been fabricated on a 130 nm CMOS process.According to the measurement,the proposed scheme only gives the minimum delay overhead of 22.6％,compared with other corresponding memories.Furthermore,heavy ion testing demonstrated the single event effects performance of the proposed memory achieves error rate reductions by 42.9 to 63.3 times.     

Instruction-Vulnerability-Factor-Based Reliability Analysis Model for Program Memory

Bit faults induced by single-event upsets in instruction may not cause a system to experience an error. The instruction vulnerability factor (IVF) is first defined to quantify the effect of non-effective upsets on program reliability in this paper; and the mean time to failure (MTTF) model of program memory is then derived based on IVF. Further analysis of MTTF model concludes that the MTTF of program memory using error correcting code (ECC) and scrubbing is not always better than unhardened program memory. The constraints that should be met upon utilizing ECC and scrubbing in program memory are presented for the first time, to the best of authors’ knowledge. Additionally, the proposed models and conclusions are validated by Monte Carlo simulations in MATLAB. These results show that the proposed models have a good accuracy and their margin of error is less than 3 % compared with MATLAB simulation results. It should be highlighted that our conclusions may be used to contribute to selecting the optimal fault-tolerant technique to harden the program memory.     

Testing and Reliability Techniques for High-Bandwidth Embedded RAMs

Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and high-performance processors such as Itanium and Compaq Alpha use a total of almost 75% of chip real estate for accommodating various types of embedded (or on-chip) memories. Although most of these embedded memories are single-port static (and in relatively few cases, dynamic) RAMs today, the high demand for bandwidth in digital television, fast signal processing, and high-speed networking applications will also fuel the need for on-chip multiport memories in the foreseeable future. The reliability of a complex VLSI chip will depend largely on the reliability of these embedded memory blocks. With device dimensions moving rapidly toward the ultimate physical limits of device scaling, which is in the regime of feature sizes of 50 nm or so, a host of complex failure modes is expected to occur in memory circuits. This tutorial underlines the need for appropriate testing and reliability techniques for the present to the next generation of embedded RAMs. Topics covered include: reliability and quality testing, fault modeling, advanced built-in self-test (BIST), built-in self-diagnosis (BISD), and built-in self-repair (BISR) techniques for high-bandwidth embedded RAMs.     

浮栅器件的单粒子翻转效应

基于中国原子能科学研究院的HI-13加速器,利用不同线性能量传输(LET)值的重离子束流对4款来自不同厂家的90 nm特征尺寸NOR型Flash存储器进行了重离子单粒子效应试验研究,对这些器件的单粒子翻转(SEU)效应进行了评估。试验中分别对这些器件进行了静态和动态测试,得到了它们在不同LET值下的SEU截面。结果表明高容量器件的SEU截面略大于低容量的器件;是否加偏置对器件的翻转截面几乎无影响;两款国产替代器件的SEU截面比国外商用器件高。国产替代器件SEU效应的LET阈值在12.9 MeV·cm²/mg附近,而国外商用器件SEU效应的LET阈值处于12.9~32.5 MeV·cm²/mg之间。此外,针对单粒子和总剂量效应对试验器件的协同作用也开展了试验研究,试验结果表明总剂量累积会增加Flash存储器的SEU效应敏感性,分析认为总剂量效应产生的电离作用导致了浮栅上结构中的电子丢失和晶体管阈值电压的漂移,在总剂量效应作用的基础上SEU更容易发生。     

嵌入式存储器内建自测试的原理及实现

随着集成电路设计规模的不断增大 ,在芯片中特别是在系统芯片 SOC( system on a chip)中嵌入大量存储器的设计方法正变得越来越重要。文中详细分析了嵌入式存储器内建自测试的实现原理 ,并给出了存储器内建自测试的一种典型实现。     

嵌入式可编程存储器设计中的“选择性寄存”方法

该文提出一种“选择性寄存”的方法用于解决同步双端口存储器IP同时对同一地址进行读写操作时造成的读出数据丢失的问题。利用该方法,通过使用同步双端口存储器IP和标准单元来设计嵌入式可编程存储器,可减小设计的复杂度、增强设计的可移植性,从而大大缩短嵌入式可编程存储器的开发周期。该文设计的嵌入式可编程存储器采用SMIC 0.18 μm 1P6M CMOS工艺流片。测试结果表明,与相近工艺尺寸、相同存储容量的全定制嵌入式可编程存储器相比,它们在功能上兼容,在性能上相当。     

The single-event effect evaluation technology for nano integrated circuits

Single-event effects of nano scale integrated circuits are investigated. Evaluation methods for single-event transients, single-event upsets, and single-event functional interrupts in nano circuits are summarized and classified in detail. The difficulties in SEE testing are discussed as well as the development direction of test technology, with emphasis placed on the experimental evaluation of a nano circuit under heavy ion, proton, and laser irradiation. The conclusions in this paper are based on many years of testing at accelerator facilities and our present understanding of the mechanisms for SEEs, which have been well verified experimentally.     

A method to eliminate the event accumulation problem from a memory affected by multiple bit upsets

Errors caused by radiation are a major problem for memories that have to operate in harsh environments. To evaluate the effects of radiation, memories are normally tested by exposing them to known radiation sources and measuring the number and shape of observed errors. If during the testing, errors accumulate in the memory, some of them can occur on adjacent locations and be interpreted as a multiple bit upset (MBU) instead of several independent events. This error accumulation makes difficult to characterize the number of events and error patterns that have affected the system. This paper presents an analysis of the error accumulation problem that enables the selection of radiation time values which can ensure that the effects of error accumulation are below a predetermined threshold. A method is also proposed to extract the correct error information from data that include a limited amount of error accumulation effects, therefore eliminating the event accumulation problem. Both techniques can be helpful to optimize the radiation testing of memories.