Circumvention against Logic Upset in Ballistic Missile Defense Multi-Computer Systems

BMD mission objectives can currently be satisfied only by MIMD and SIMD computer architectures. Environmental constraints usually limit the choice of component processing elements to microcomputers. To protect multi-microprocessor systems from ionizing radiation to which they will be exposed, circumvention must be used. However, circumvention of multi-computer systems entails novel problems for operating system and tactical software. Unless effective techniques for resolving circumvention-related problems are developed, BMD multicomputer systems will be vulnerable to inoperability by gamma dose rates sufficient to trigger the circumvention mechanism.