Static and Dynamic Tests of Single-Event Effect in SRAM-Based FPGA

Reconfigurable SRAM-based FPGA is an appealing solution for space electronic designs. However, the large amount of SRAM cells are very vulnerable to radiation induced single-event upsets (SEUs). The upsets in the configurable memory may alter the circuit description and bring severe problem to the reliability of the space applications. Therefore, it is necessary to perform ground radiation test to study the SEU sensitivity and predict the system failure rate of typical designs. Static and dynamic tests of Xilinx Virtex device were carried out at heavy ion accelerators. The upset cross section of the device was measured. The dynamic test of the three benchmark circuits illustrates that the system failure rate is much lower than the configuration upsets and is highly correlative to the resource utilization.