Radiation-Induced Upset Circumvention & Recovery for Modern Electronic Systems

C&R is a system-level approach to hardening electronics to nuclear weapon high dose rate effects. It enables a high-level system function to meet specified radiation requirements even though certain lower level subsystem functions are implemented with components having lower hardness levels. A typical C&R scheme may involve the use of a high-performance central processor unit (CPU) that does not meet the system level radiation requirements for upset, or even latch-up, threshold, but is provided rapid and orderly error handling, fault isolation, and power-down/reset functions that are managed by upper radiation-hardened parts. Established concepts for C&R and their hardware implementations have not kept paced with advances in semiconductor technology. We are proposing a comprehensive effort to modernize the C&R paradigm for hardening advanced electronics technologies to nuclear radiation-induced upset.