Title :
The reliability of single-error protected computer memories
Author :
Blaum, Mario ; Goodman, Rodney ; Mceliece, Robert
Author_Institution :
IBM Almaden Res. Lab., San Jose, CA, USA
fDate :
1/1/1988 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
The lifetimes of computer memories which are protected with single-error-correcting-double-error-detecting (SEC-DED) codes are studies. The authors assume that there are five possible types of memory chip failure (single-cell, row, column, row-column and whole chip), and, after making a simplifying assumption (the Poisson assumption), have substantiated that experimentally. A simple closed-form expression is derived for the system reliability function. Using this formula and chip reliability data taken from published tables, it is possible to compute the mean time to failure for realistic memory systems
Keywords :
circuit reliability; error correction codes; error detection codes; life testing; semiconductor storage; statistical analysis; Poisson assumption; SEC-DED codes; closed-form expression; lifetimes; mean time to failure; memory chip failure; reliability; single-error correcting double-error detecting codes; single-error protected computer memories; Application software; Asynchronous circuits; Circuit simulation; Computational modeling; Protection; Random access memory; Read-write memory; Reliability theory; Switching circuits; Very large scale integration;
Journal_Title :
Computers, IEEE Transactions on
