Algorithm Level Error Detection in Low Voltage Systolic Array

In this brief an approach is proposed to achieve energy savings from reduced voltage operation. The solution detects timing-errors by integrating Algorithm Based Fault Tolerance (ABFT) into a digital architecture. The approach has been studied with a systolic array matrix multiplier operating at reduced voltages, detecting errors on-the-fly to avoid energy demanding memory round-trips. The analysis of the solution has been done using analog-digital co-simulation to extract the transient behavior under different voltages and clock frequencies. HSPICE simulations using $90nm$ CMOS transistor models, and experiments by reducing operation voltage of an FPGA device were carried out. HSPICE simulations, showed possibility of 10x increase in energy-efficiency by approaching near-threshold region.