Strength violation effect on soft-error detection in sub-micron technology

Abstract

In nanometer technologies, circuits are increasingly sensitive to various kinds of perturbations. Alpha particles and atmospheric neutrons induce single-event upsets (SEU), affecting memory cells, latches, and flip-flops. In addition, single-event transients (SET) can be initiated in the combinational logic and captured by the latches and flip-flop associated with the logic outputs. Designers cannot control the sources of soft-errors, but their effects can be mitigated through soft-error detection techniques. This paper proposes an algorithm to detect soft-errors at the switch-level caused by current spikes which can affect the driving strength. The offered approach uses a novel coding system to be applied in certain functions that are sensitive to strength variations. It is able to detect even the slight changes in signal strength caused by both cosmic rays and alpha particle from package contamination. Most soft-error detection techniques sense the logic changes in the circuit while this paper proves that a wide range of soft-errors are the result of strength violation in switch-level. Experimental results illustrate the importance of accurate simulation methods and stress the effect of driving strength changes in switch-level for soft-error detection in today’s technology.