Microprocessor Error Diagnosis by Trace Monitoring Under Laser Testing

• Published in: IEEE transactions on nuclear science Vol. 68; no. 8; pp. 1651 - 1659
• Main Authors: Pena-Fernandez, M., Lindoso, A., Entrena, L., Lopes, I., Pouget, V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-08-2021; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: ARM; Circuit faults; Computer architecture; Diagnosis; Electronics; Engineering Sciences; error diagnosis; fault tolerance; Injection; IP networks; laser fault injection; Lasers; Micro and nanotechnologies; Microelectronics; microprocessor trace; Microprocessors; Monitoring; Neutron radiation; Proton irradiation; Radiation; Radiation effects; Semiconductor lasers; Subsystems
• ISSN: 0018-9499; 1558-1578
• DOI: 10.1109/TNS.2021.3067554

This work explores the diagnosis capabilities of the enriched information provided by microprocessors trace subsystem combined with laser fault injection. Laser fault injection campaigns with delimited architectural regions have been accomplished on an ARM Cortex-A9 device. Experimental results demonstrate the capability of the presented technique to provide additional information of the various error mechanisms that can happen in a microprocessor. A comparison with radiation campaigns presented in previous work is also discussed, showing that laser fault injection results are in good agreement with neutron and proton radiation results.