Reliability Analysis And Reinforcement Study For CACHE System Of Processor

With the gradual introduction of nanometer for the processor's manufacturing processes, the integrated circuit feature sizes become smaller, making the processor more sensitive to electromagnetic interference and radiation noise, which may cause the error occurs and the entire system runs incorrect. Also, for the processor working in radiation environment in space, it is easy to cause the single event effect on circuits and the system failures, due to cosmic rays and high energy particle radiation. Therefore, the reliability of the processor has become an increasingly serious issue.The prototype study in this paper is the cache system of a processor, and the object study in this paper is the soft error induced by single event effect. Using the simulation-based fault injection method, the reliability of the cache system has been assessed and the reinforcement technology for it has been discussed and implemented. Meanwhile, the simulation has been done to verify the effect of the reinforced design. It has some theoretical significance for the reliability design of cache system and is a useful exploration for the processor in nanometer manufacturing process.The main contents and results study in this paper include the following:(1) The radiation environment in space and its impact on the processor has been studied. And the common types of space radiation effects have been summed up. Also, the generation mechanism of single event upset has been analyzed.(2) The methods of the assessment for the reliability of circuits have been studied. Two of these methods are focused on. One is based on fault injection, and the other is based on analytical models. Also, the reliability evaluation platform for the prototype has been presented and the soft error sensitivity of the prototype has been analyzed.(3) The technology of reliability hardened for circuits has been studied, especially for the cache system. Also, the prototype has been reinforced by the methods in this paper, and its validity has been verified in use of simulator.