Tool to Assess State of Digital System after Electromagnetic Disruption

ABSTRACT: Commercial off the shelf (COTS) electronic components have long been used by many companies in a wide range of industries to assist in their day to day operations. Most companies today use COTS computer workstations, servers, and networking devices in one form or fashion. While cost effective, COTS components are not required to adhere to strict Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) standards. Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) has been shown to affect the operation of essential electronic components such as the Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) of an Integrated Circuit (IC) chip. As of today, there isn't a device that has been designed to be used specifically for COTS to identify EMI events and perform a thorough diagnostics on the state of a COTS component. This type of device could be beneficial in many organizations that need to be cost efficient but still require a stable and reliable COTS. The Department of Defense could stand to benefit from this type of device as it would cost efficiently provide a mechanism to quickly identify potential issues with its COTS components.; BENEFIT: The Department of Defense could stand to benefit from such a device because their PC's, servers, and routers need to guarantee reliability and quick turnaround time in the event that an EMI event may have caused damage to their equipment. In this scenario a more cost effective solution is needed than having customized hardware for every personnel and equipment within the organization. Using a COTS component would be ideal in the way of cost savings; however COTS components are not created with the requirement of exposure to harsh environments with high levels of Electromagnetic Interference. As such, a system or device that is designed to work with COTS could benefit the DoD greatly. Companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, Rackspace, and Intel utilize hundreds of thousands of web servers to support their customer base [18]. It would be very costly for these companies to create custom hardware specifically designed to diagnose EMI events when the majority of their business does not have a requirement to rely on this functionality.