Self-routing, reconfigurable and fault-tolerant cell array

Many examples of reconfigurable fault-tolerant hardware consist of cells that have the same hardware structure. The arithmetic or logical functions of the cells can be configured. The interconnection of the configured cells can perform a complex task. The interconnection of these cells can be configured too. When some cells are faulty, the function and routing of some cells have to be reconfigured to restore the system´s normal function. Most published fault-tolerant schemes cannot automatically achieve fault tolerance without the aid of external software and hardware, or they will require a long routing time to restore normal system function. Some published fault-tolerant schemes require a massive amount of spare cells. A self-routing, reconfigurable and fault-tolerant cell array is presented. When some cells are faulty, spare cells can automatically replace the faulty cells and rerouting can be automatically achieved. The cell array automatically achieves fault tolerance without the aid of external software or hardware, using a small amount of spare cells. In addition, the proposed cell array achieves short routing time to quickly restore normal system function.