Considerations Surrounding Single Event Effects in FPGAs, ASICs, and Processors

Abstract

Single event effects (SEEs) are of a growing concern in high-reliability system development, yet there is much disparity among users of ASICs and FPGAs with regard to understanding how susceptible their designs might be. The avionics and industrial system development guidance that currently exists is only broadly beginning to consider SEEs and their impact on system reliability. Unfortunately, standards such as DO-254, DO-178, ARP 4754, ARP 4761, and IEC 61508 provide little or no guidance on how to handle SEEs. This white paper highlights concerns regarding effects of SEEs on ASICs and FPGAs and points to analysis and mitigation techniques for handling SEEs.