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 state-of-the-art literature, with the objective of facilitating the choice of right fault-mitigation solution for any given soft-core processor.
Highlights
One of the most significant and complex environmental remediation tasks in the whole of Europe is the cleaningup process of the legacy nuclear waste, which is projected to cost more than £115bn and perhaps as high as £220bn, over the 120 years [1]
Soft-core processors which are implemented in an FPGA fabric are an attractive option for applications to be employed in radiation environments by virtue of their flexibility, relatively-low application development costs, and reconfigurability features applicable when deployed on an SRAMbased FPGA – that is, the FPGA fabric hosting the soft-core processor can be reprogrammed in order to accommodate the evolving mission goals or amend possible errors in the design
Various techniques for protecting the configuration and user memories of LEON3 soft processors on SRAM-based FPGAs were thoroughly discussed in this survey through a number of prominent research papers, all of which employ one or more forms of redundancy, such as spatial redundancy, temporal redundancy, software redundancy or information redundancy in order to develop resilience against transient faults induced by energetic particles or electromagnetic waves striking the semiconductor substrate of transistors in radiation environments
Summary
One of the most significant and complex environmental remediation tasks in the whole of Europe is the cleaningup process of the legacy nuclear waste, which is projected to cost more than £115bn and perhaps as high as £220bn, over the 120 years [1]. Kasap et al.: Survey of SEM Techniques Applied to LEON3 Soft Processors on SRAM-Based FPGAs is to manage (move, dispose of) nuclear waste generated by nuclear plants, and the second is the case of a nuclear disaster In both cases, using robots instead of human beings is still a much more rational solution. A number of mission critical applications have been recently implemented in Systems-on-Chips (SoCs) built on SRAM-based FPGAs which offer the benefits of higher flexibility, lower cost, reduced time-to-market and capability of dynamic hardware reconfiguration [5] This kind of highlyintegrated circuits involving several hard-core or soft-core processors are very prone to transient faults which can cause overall system failures.
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