Chips at the heart of today's advanced electronics are so small and sensitive that cosmic rays from outer space or charged particles from radioactive decay of impurities in materials can halt computing systems. The latest issue of the IBM Journal of Research and Development examines these "soft" errors, or single-event upsets (SEUs), and shows how IBM protects its systems from such failures.
The issue's nine papers review the current understanding of the soft-error rate in CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) devices, circuits, and servers.
"The reduced transistor size and low power operation of modern circuits require that greater emphasis be placed on controlling and understanding sources of soft errors in devices, circuits, and final system applications," said Tze-Chiang Chen, Vice President, Science and Technology, IBM Research Division. "Continued improvement in understanding the physics of soft errors and in devising effective mitigation strategies is of critical importance for future server systems."
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"Soft Errors in Circuits and Systems" (IBM Journal of Research and Development)