Modular Redundancy Memory with Majority Feedback for SEU Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic systems exposed to radiation face challenges in maintaining data integrity due to Single Event Upsets (SEUs), where redundancy alone is insufficient to protect against multiple SEUs occurring over extended periods, especially in circuits with gated clocks.
Innovation Solution
A self-correcting modular-redundancy-memory device with an odd number of bistable-memory elements and a majority voter in the feedback path, which provides a feedback signal indicative of the majority output, enhancing robustness against SEUs and incorporating single-event-transient filters to remove glitches caused by radiation-induced transients.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If redundancy of bistable-memory elements is used to protect against SEUs, then data integrity is improved, but multiple SEUs occurring over extended periods can still affect the majority of redundant memory elements making redundancy insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the output of the majority voter is fed back to all bistable-memory elements. This continuous feedback allows the system to self-correct by constantly comparing the stored values and forcing all elements to match the majority value, thereby maintaining data integrity over extended periods even when multiple SEUs occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-correction automatically without external intervention. The majority voter continuously monitors the outputs of all bistable-memory elements and the feedback mechanism automatically corrects any deviations, enabling the system to service itself and maintain reliability over time.
2Reliability
If multiple redundant memory elements are used to protect against SEUs, then robustness is improved, but the size and complexity of the memory device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the feedback paths of all bistable-memory elements into a single unified feedback loop controlled by one majority voter. Instead of having separate correction mechanisms for each memory element, the system combines them into a shared feedback structure, reducing overall complexity while maintaining the protective benefits of redundancy.
Solution Approach 2:
The single majority voter serves all bistable-memory elements universally, performing the correction function for the entire array rather than requiring dedicated correction logic for each element. This multi-functional approach reduces device complexity while maintaining robustness.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention is directed to a self-correcting modular-redundancy-memory device (100), comprising three bistable-memory elements (120, 140, 160) and a majority voter (180). The bistable-memory elements receive respective binary data signal (102), clock signal (104), and a feedback signal (182). Each of the bistable-memory elements is configured, in response to the clock signal assuming a first value, to provide a binary output signal (122, 142, 162) with an output-signal value correlated to a data-signal value of the data signal (102), and in response to the clock signal assuming a second clock-signal value, to provide the output signal with the output-signal value indicative of a current feedback-signal value of the feedback signal. The majority voter receives the output signals each of the bistable-memory elements and is configured to provide the feedback signal with the feedback-signal value indicative of that output-signal value taken on by a majority of the currently received output signals.