Events Calendar

CENG Seminar

Speaker: Daniel Limbrick, Ph.D. candidate, Vanderbilt University

Talk Title: “Impact of Logic Synthesis on Soft Error Rate of Digital Integrated Circuits”

Abstract: Radiation-induced soft errors are becoming a dominant reliability-failure mechanism in modern CMOS technologies. In nanometer technologies, the effects are not limited to the storage elements of a digital system, but also include vulnerabilities in the combinational logic. Reliability-aware synthesis has emerged as a method to mitigate the effects of soft errors in combinational logic. Few studies have focused on the inherent impact that non-reliability-related synthesis algorithms have on circuit topology, and therefore reliability. My work investigates the impact that area and delay optimizations, computational effort, and standard cell availability have on the error propagation probability of individual circuit nodes. Additionally, I will present circuit characteristics that can be used during synthesis that help in choosing the most reliable circuit implementation. Finally, I will present the broader implications that my findings have on reliability-aware synthesis.

Biography: Mr. Daniel B. Limbrick is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Vanderbilt University. Mr. Limbrick is a member of the Radiation Effects and Reliability (RER) Group, where his research has been conducted under the advisement of Dr. William H. Robinson. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University in May 2007 and his Masters of Science degree in the same field at Vanderbilt University in December 2009. His research interests include computer architecture, logic synthesis, and reliability of microelectronics.

Host: Dr. Timothy Pinkston

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Estela Lopez