N-modular redundancy using the theory of error correcting codes

Abstract

Using redundancy is basic to fault-tolerant computing. N-modular redundancy (NMR) is in some ways analogous to the use of a repetition code where an information symbol is replicated as parity symbols in a codeword. Linear error-correcting codes (ECC) use linear combinations of information symbols as parity symbols to generate syndromes for error patterns. In this paper, ECC theory has been applied to derive redundant circuits that tolerate faults in both the modules and checkers. Circuits using comparators for diagnosis are derived with a non-graph-theoretic approach. Coding theoretic principles are applied directly to NMR, so that extensive diagnosis of the fault-tolerant system is achieved.