A low-cost SEE mitigation solution for soft-processors embedded in systems on programmable chips

Abstract

The availability of multimillion Commercial-Off-The Shelf (COTS)Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs)is making now possible the implementation on a single device of complex systems embedding processor cores as well as huge memories and ad-hoc hardware accelerators exploiting the programmable logic (Systems on Programmable Chip, or SoPCs). When deployed in safety- or mission-critical applications, as avionic- and space-oriented ones, Singe Event Effects (SEEs) affecting COTS FPGA, which may have catastrophic effects if neglected, have to be considered and SEE mitigation techniques have to be employed. In this paper we explore the adoption of known techniques (such as lockstep, checkpointing and rollback recovery) for SEE mitigation to processors cores embedded in SoPCs, and propose their customization, specifically addressing the characteristics of programmable devices.Since the resulting design flow can easily be supported by automation tools, its adoption is particularly suitable to reduce the design and validation costs. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach when compared to conventional TMR-based solutions.