Soft errors in Flash-based FPGAs: Analysis methodologies and first results

Reconfigurable platforms are getting more and more interesting for space applications due to their flexibility and low cost, along with high performance and low power dissipation that new devices provide. However, space environment is rich in radiation that can induce soft errors in electronic parts. Last years have been characterized by the increase of interest in Commercial-Off-The-Shelf COTS) FPGAs with respect to radiation hardened ones, because of their higher performance and the cost of the latter, one or two order of magnitude higher. However, electronic devices operating in space live in a harsh environment characterized by high charged particles such as heavy ions, which can induce modifications in the correct circuit behavior (soft errors) leading to failures. Radiation has two major effects on such devices: Single Event Effects (SEEs), soft errors caused by a single particle, and Total Ionizing Dose (TID), the effect of radiation accumulation.