Analyzing Reduced Precision Triple Modular Redundancy Under Proton Irradiation

Abstract

This work analyzes the performance of the reduced precision redundancy (RPR) error mitigation technique using the fast Fourier transform (FFT) as a case study. To this purpose, several configurations of an FFT IP design were implemented in field-programmable gate array (FPGA) using reduced precision triple modular redundancy (RP-TMR) and tested under proton irradiation and fault injection. The cross section, the sensitivity to common-mode failures (CMFs), and the signal-to-noise ratio of these configurations were evaluated. The results of the radiation experiments and fault injection campaigns are in agreement and show that the RP-TMR technique may be used as an alternative to triple modular redundancy (TMR) if small errors can be tolerated, as it has a good performance in terms of error correction capabilities, area usage, and sensitivity to critical errors.