Evaluating transient-fault effects on traditional C-element´s implementations

The C-element is a fundamental component in asynchronous circuits and quite used in synchronous circuits to mitigate transient faults. This work evaluates the transient-fault effects on the traditional dynamic, conventional, weak feedback, and symmetric C-element´s implementations. An evaluation methodology is developed by means of fault-injection simulations at transistor level. Unlike existing methods, the methodology in this work is able to deal with the C-element function´s particularities. In addition, C-element cells in different transient-fault robust versions are designed by using techniques based on sizing and transistor insertion. Results in terms of delay, power consumption, area, and fault-transient robustness show the best C-element options for the design of more robust systems.