Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Test and verification of a reactor protection system application-specific integrated circuit

Conference ·
OSTI ID:474916
; ;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
  2. Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Energy Center Site
  3. Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) were utilized in the design of nuclear plant safety systems because they have certain advantages over software-based systems and analog-based systems. An advantage they have over software-based systems is that an ASIC design can be simple enough to not include branch statements and also can be thoroughly tested. A circuit card on which an ASIC is mounted can be configured to replace various versions of older analog equipment with fewer design types required. The approach to design and testing of ASICs for safety system applications is discussed in this paper. Included are discussions of the ASIC architecture, how it is structured to assist testing, and of the functional and enhanced circuit testing.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-96OR22464
OSTI ID:
474916
Report Number(s):
CONF-970649--2; ON: DE97004289
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English