Critical issues regarding SEU in avionics

Conference · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1993 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:5826489

Normand, E ^[1]; McNulty, P J ^[2]

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1. Boeing Aerospace, Seattle, WA (United States)
2. Clemson Univ., SC (United States)

The energetic neutrons in the atmosphere cause microelectronics in avionic system to malfunction through a mechanism called single-event upsets (SEUs), and single-event latchup is a potential threat. Data from military and experimental flights as well as laboratory testing indicate that typical non-radiation-hardened 64K and 256K static random access memories (SRAMs) can experience a significant SEU rate at aircraft altitudes. Microelectronics in avionics systems have been demonstrated to be susceptible to SEU. Of all device types, RAMs are the most sensitive because they have the largest number of bits on a chip (e.g., an SRAM may have from 64K to 1M bits, a microprocessor 3K to 10K bits, and a logic device like an analog-to-digital converter, 12 bits). Avionics designers will need to take this susceptibility into account in current and future designs. A number of techniques are available for dealing with SEU: EDAC, redundancy, use of SEU-hard parts, reset and/or watchdog timer capability, etc. Specifications should be developed to guide avionics vendors in the analysis, prevention, and verification of neutron-induced SEU. Areas for additional research include better definition of the atmospheric neutrons and protons, development of better calculational models (e.g., those used for protons[sup 11]), and better characterization of neutron-induced latchup.

• OSTI ID: 5826489
• Report Number(s): CONF-930601-; CODEN: TANSAO
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Vol. 68; Conference: American Nuclear Society (ANS) annual meeting, San Diego, CA (United States), 20-24 Jun 1993; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
AIRCRAFT COMPONENTS
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
FAILURES
COSMIC RADIATION
DAMAGING NEUTRON FLUENCE
DATA COMPILATION
FLIGHT TESTING
MICROCOMPUTERS
RADIATION HARDENING
COMPUTERS
DATA
DIGITAL COMPUTERS
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
HARDENING
INFORMATION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
NEUTRON FLUENCE
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
TESTING
426000* - Engineering- Components
Electron Devices & Circuits- (1990-)
360605 - Materials- Radiation Effects