An Efficient SER Estimation Method for Combinational Circuits

Author

Kehl, Natalja ; Rosenstiel, Wolfgang

Author_Institution

Bosch Eng. GmbH, Abstatt, Germany

Volume

60

Issue

4

fYear

2011

Firstpage

742

Lastpage

747

Abstract

Nanometer CMOS VLSI circuits are highly sensitive to soft errors due to environmental causes such as cosmic radiation, and charged particles. These phenomena, also known as single-event upsets (SEU), induce current pulses at random times and random locations in a digital circuit. In this article, we present a new soft error rate (SER) estimation method for combinational circuits. This method is more efficient than other known methods because it takes into account only those physical factors which have a significant impact on the error rate. We first present an equation for SER irrespective of masking effects in combinational circuits. Then we describe the three masking effects, and augment the SER equation according to these effects. Finally, we present the results of our SER estimation method for several CMOS technologies.

Keywords

CMOS logic circuits; VLSI; combinational circuits; logic design; nanotechnology; SER estimation method; charged particles; combinational circuits; cosmic radiation; digital circuit; nanometer CMOS VLSI circuits; single-event upsets; soft error rate estimation method; three masking effects; Combinational circuits; Error analysis; Integrated circuit modeling; Logic gates; Semiconductor device modeling; Single event transient; Single event upset; Transient analysis; Combinational logic circuits; integrated-circuit; soft error; soft error rate;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Reliability, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9529

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TR.2011.2161700

Filename

5957293