Active replication : towards a truly SRAM-based FPGA on-line concurrent testing

• Main Author: Manuel G. Gericota
• Publication Date: 2002
• Other Authors: Gustavo R. Alves, Miguel L. Silva, José M. Ferreira
• Format: Book
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/handle/10216/84977
• topic: Engenharia electrotécnica, Engenharia electrotécnica, electrónica e informática; Electrical engineering, Electrical engineering, Electronic engineering, Information engineering

The reusing of the same hardware resources to implement speed-critical algorithms, without interrupting system operation, is one of the main reasons for the increasing use of reconfigurable computing platforms, employing complex SRAM-based FPGAs. However, new semiconductor manufacturing technologies increases FPGAs probability of lifetime operation failures, requiring new on?line testing / fault-tolerance methods able to improve the dependability of the systems where they are included. The Active Replication technique present in this paper is a set of procedures that enables the implementation of a truly non-intrusive structural on-line concurrent testing approach, detecting and avoiding permanent faults and correcting errors due to transient faults.In relation to a previous technique proposed by the authors as part of the DRAFT FPGA concurrent test methodology, the Active Replication technique extends the range of circuits that can be replicated, by introducing a novel method with very low silicon overhead.