Alec G. Stanculescu, Alex N.D. Zamfirescu

Fintronic USA, Inc.
1119 Chess Dr
Foster City, CA 94404
alec@fintronic.com
Tel: 650 349 0108                                             

 Design Verification Method for Radiation Hardness using Simulation Farms 


Abstract:

Digital circuits tend to malfunction when exposed to radiation. The degree to which this happens depends on the 
intensity of radiation, the technology used to implement the circuit, and the structure and redundancy of the circuit.


The design of circuits that function better in the presence of radiation, benefits from the early prediction of 
the radiation effect on the behavior of the circuit. This article presents a method for predicting radiation effects 
by associating radiation fault susceptibility to library components, and to use such information in simulations of 
circuits using such components.

The proposed method involves: (1) a new standard format for radiation fault susceptibility to be used within the 
Advanced Library Format (IEEE Std. 1603-2003) representation of library components, (2) a simulator capable of 
using generated faults based on susceptibility data, and (3) a simulation farm used to manage the large number 
of necessary simulations.

The article describes the proposed susceptibility standard and the mechanism for fault models that can be injected 
in the simulation of the circuit. The article also presents the computation on the simulation farm of efects of the faults. 

The advantage of the proposed method is the shortening of the feedback loop, by being able to test before manufacturing.
This in turn will lead to better designs and more reliable circuits, given that more then one iteration is feasible.

The proposed method has the capability to validate the performance of systems containing a mix of radiation soft, 
radiation tolerant, and radiation hardened parts, which is often encountered in modern architectures. It also  
reduces the cost related to "over design."  

The proposed methodology can be used during new technology procurement, to verify claims of error correction for 
different circuits.