Information Assurance through Redundant Design: A Novel TNU Error-Resilient Latch for Harsh Radiation Environment

In nano-scale CMOS technologies, storage cells such as latches are becoming increasingly sensitive to triple-node-upset (TNU) errors caused by harsh radiation effects. In the context of information assurance through redundant design, this article proposes a novel low-cost and TNU on-line self-recoverable latch design which is robust against harsh radiation effects. The latch mainly consists of a series of mutually interlocked 3-input Muller C-elements (CEs) that forms a circular structure. The output of any CE in the latch respectively feeds back to one input of some specified downstream CEs, making the latch completely self-recoverable from any possible TNU, i.e., the latch is completely TNU-resilient. Simulation results demonstrate the complete TNU-resiliency of the proposed latch. In addition, due to the use of fewer transistors and a high-speed path, the proposed latch reduces the delay-power-area product by approximately 91 percent compared with the state-of-the-art TNU hardened latch (TNUHL), which cannot provide a complete TNU-resiliency.