Designs of Two Quadruple-Node-Upset Self-Recoverable Latches for Highly Robust Computing in Harsh Radiation Environments
Aibin Yan, Zhixing Li, Jie Cui, Zhengfeng Huang, Tianming Ni, Patrick Girard, Xiaoqing Wen
Abstract
This article proposes two quadruple node upset (QNU) recoverable latches, namely QNU-recoverable and high-impedance-state (HIS)-insensitive latch (QRHIL) and QRHIL-LC (low-cost version of the QRHIL), for highly robust computing in harsh radiation environments. First, the QRHIL that mainly consists of a 5×5 looped C-element matrix is proposed. Then, to reduce overhead, the QRHIL-LC that mainly uses 24 interlocking C-elements is proposed. Both latches can self-recover from any QNU, while the QRHIL-LC has a low cost compared to the QRHIL. Simulation waveforms show the QNU-recoverability of the proposed QRHIL and QRHIL-LC latches. Moreover, compared with the QRHIL latch, the QRHIL-LC can approximately save power dissipation by 16% and silicon area by 5%.