TC:Small:Improving Lifetime Reliability for Reconfigurable Embedded Systems

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are used in a variety of embedded applications in communication, space, automotive, medical devices and industrial control. Due to the safety-critical nature of many of these applications, the trustworthiness of the underlying hardware platform is imperative. FPGA-based embedded systems offer lower cost and reduced power consumption by aggressively embracing newer deep sub-micron technology process, which brings lifetime reliability concerns of the systems to the forefront. The impact of performance degradation is more significant in new technologies, resulting in accelerated aging and premature failures. Further, the reconfigurable nature of FPGAs and the heterogeneous components embedded in a FPGA make the reliability degradation and possible solutions to mitigate them different from those employed for application specific integrated circuits and microprocessors. Consequently, techniques to mitigate the impact of aging mechanisms are vital to ensure the trustworthiness of reconfigurable embedded systems, and are the focus of this research. The tools and techniques developed as part of this research will serve as a foundation for designing life-time aware reliable embedded systems and for catalyzing further research in this area. Due to the pervasiveness of embedded systems, providing solutions to improve lifetime reliability is anticipated to have a broad impact on the society. The project will involve both undergraduate and graduate students in all aspects of this research. The PIs will actively promote the projects to under-represented communities to improve student diversity. In addition, the PIs will integrate the research results in existing courses on VLSI design and reconfigurable systems.