Transient fault behavior in a microprocessor-A case study

The authors describe an experimental analysis to study the susceptibility of a microprocessor-based jet engine controller (an HS 1602) to upsets caused by current and voltage transients. A design automation environment which allows the run-time injection of transients and their tracing from the device to the pin-level is described. The resulting error data are categorized by the charge levels of the injected transients by location and by their potential to cause logic upsets, latched errors, and pin errors. The results show a 3-pC threshold below which the transients have little impact. An ALU (arithmetic logic unit) transient is most likely to result in logic upsets and pin errors (i.e. impact the external environment). The transients in the countdown unit are serious since they can result in latched errors thus causing latent faults