Modular Redundancy Memory with Majority Feedback for SEU Correction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic systems exposed to radiation face challenges in protecting memory elements from Single Event Upsets (SEUs) due to the insufficient redundancy in existing self-correcting mechanisms, especially when data is stored for extended periods.
Innovation Solution
A self-correcting modular-redundancy-memory device is designed with an odd number of bistable-memory elements and a majority voter in the feedback path, which provides robustness against SEUs by using a single majority voter to correlate output signals and filter out signal disturbances caused by single-event transients, ensuring data integrity even under prolonged exposure to radiation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple separate majority voters are used for each bistable-memory element, then each element can be independently protected against SEUs, but the device complexity and size increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate majority voters into a single shared majority voter that serves all bistable-memory elements. This single voter receives output signals from all memory elements and provides a common feedback signal to all of them, reducing the number of voter circuits from multiple separate units to one unified unit, thereby significantly reducing device complexity and size while maintaining collective protection against SEUs.
Solution Approach 2:
The single majority voter is designed to perform multiple functions by receiving output signals from all bistable-memory elements and providing feedback to all of them simultaneously. This universal voter circuit serves the entire array of memory elements, making one component perform the protective function for all elements rather than requiring dedicated voters for each element.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If redundancy of bistable-memory elements is used, then protection against single particle strikes is improved, but multiple SEUs occurring over extended periods can still affect the majority of redundant memory elements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the single majority voter continuously monitors the output signals from all bistable-memory elements and feeds back corrected signals to all of them. This feedback loop enables continuous error detection and correction, allowing the system to maintain data integrity over extended periods by constantly correcting errors as they occur, rather than relying solely on initial redundancy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-correction of errors through the majority voter that automatically identifies and corrects erroneous states in the bistable-memory elements. The redundant memory elements serve themselves by providing multiple copies of the data, and the majority voter automatically selects the correct value based on majority voting, enabling the system to self-correct without external intervention.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention is directed to a self-correcting modular-redundancy-memory device, comprising three bistable-memory elements and a majority voter. The bistable-memory elements receive respective binary data signal, clock signal, and a feedback signal. Each of the bistable-memory elements is configured, in response to the clock signal assuming a first value, to provide a binary output signal with an output-signal value correlated to a data-signal value of the data signal, 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.