SEGP-Finder: Tool for identification of Soft Error Glitch-Propagating paths at gate level

An increase in vulnerability to soft errors has affected the reliability of both synchronous and asynchronous nanometer scale integrated circuits. Hence in such circuits there is a growing need to identify the soft error glitch propagation possibility before their physical design implementation. This paper proposes a new tool, the Soft Error Glitch-Propagating path Finder (SEGP-Finder), able to analyze the propagation of soft errors at gate level. In SEGP-Finder, soft error modeling is accomplished via Multiway Decision Graphs (MDGs) and Glitch Propagation sets (GP sets). To demonstrate the effectiveness of our tool, several ISCAS89 sequential benchmark circuits, 4-bit and 8-bit adders, 4-bit multiplier, and the Self-timed multiple-group pipeline asynchronous handshake circuit have been analyzed. Results indicate that SEGP-Finder is on average more than 5 times faster, without compromising on the accuracy, in comparison with simulation-based and SAT (satisfiability analysis) based techniques.