A novel self-routing reconfigurable fault-tolerant cell array

There are a number of examples of reconfigurable, fault- tolerant hardware consisting of cells that have the same hardware structure. The arithmetic or logical functions of the cells can be configured to implement specific functions. The interconnection of these configured cells then allow the system to implement any complex task. If some cells become faulty, the function and routing of other cells have to be reconfigured to restore the normal system function. This paper presents a self-routing, reconfigurable and fault-tolerant cell array. If one or more cells are faulty, spare cells can replace the faulty cells automatically and the rerouting can also be achieved automatically. The cell array achieves fault tolerance without the aid of external software or hardware.