A Framework for Architecture-Level Lifetime Reliability Modeling

This paper tackles the issue of modeling chip lifetime reliability at the architecture level. We propose a new and robust structure-aware lifetime reliability model at the architecture-level, where devices only vulnerable to failure mechanisms and the effective stress condition of these devices are taken into account for the failure rate of microarchitecture structures. In addition, we present this reliability analysis framework based on a new concept, called the FIT of reference circuit or FORC, which allows architects to quantify failure rates without having to delve into low-level circuit- and technology-specific details of the implemented architecture. This is done through a onetime characterization of a reference circuit needed to quantify the reference FITs for each class of modeled failure mechanisms for a given technology and implementation style. With this new reliability modeling framework, architects are empowered to proceed with architecture-level reliability analysis independent of technological and environmental parameters.