An immunological basis for high-reliability systems control.

The once-ephemeral soft error has recently caused considerable concern for manufacturers of advanced silicon technology as this phenomenon now has the potential for inducing the highest failure rate of all other reliability mechanisms combined. We briefly review the three radiation mechanisms responsible for causing soft errors in commercial electronics and the basic physical mechanism by which ionizing radiation can produce a soft error. We then focus on the soft error sensitivity trends in commercial DRAM, SRAM, and peripheral logic devices as a function of technology scaling and discuss some of the solutions used for mitigating the impact of soft errors in high reliability systems.

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Physics of Failure Based Virtual Testing of Communications Hardware

Volume 5: Electronics and Photonics ◽

10.1115/imece2009-12181 ◽

2009 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Elviz George ◽

Diganta Das ◽

Michael Osterman ◽

Michael Pecht ◽

Christopher Otte

Keyword(s):

Thermal Cycling ◽

High Reliability ◽

Simulation Software ◽

Circuit Board ◽

Thermal Dissipation ◽

Physics Of Failure ◽

Printed Circuit ◽

Operational Test ◽

Reliability Systems ◽

Cycles To Failure

Communications hardware for high reliability systems are starting to include modern low profile parts such as Quad Flat Pack No-lead (QFN) and Land Grid Array (LGA) packages to take advantage of their size and weight. In these parts, heat sinks often provide a conductive thermal dissipation path. Printed circuit assemblies with these parts will still need to meet the industry specific qualification requirements for thermal and vibration testing. It is beneficial to identify if the equipment will be able to meet the qualification test requirements during the design phase particularly when new technology insertions are being made. In this design, various surface mount packages like LGAs, QFNs and so on were used in a printed circuit board which included two stiffening layers with non-standard laminates. calcePWA is a simulation software which estimates the cycles to failure of components under various loading conditions using Physics of Failure (PoF). The cycles to failure simulation of this design using calcePWA software identified the critical interconnects that are at risk for failure under non-operational test conditions. The design was also evaluated under a long haul aircraft profile, with the assembly in operational state. In operational state simulation, the effectiveness of thermal shunts in reducing board to component thermal differentials was evaluated. Effects of degradations of the thermal shunts with time were used in the evaluation. Results showed that the vibration and shock reliability were less of a concern than thermal cycling for this board layout. Risk mitigation methods for thermal cycling durability were identified and recommended to be used in the system redesign.

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Integrating probabilistic design and rare-event simulation into the requirements engineering process for high-reliability systems

International Transactions in Operational Research ◽

10.1111/itor.12023 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 515-531 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kristin Graham Saling ◽

K. Preston White

Keyword(s):

Requirements Engineering ◽

High Reliability ◽

Rare Event ◽

Probabilistic Design ◽

Engineering Process ◽

Rare Event Simulation ◽

Event Simulation ◽

Requirements Engineering Process ◽

Reliability Systems

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A Random Onset Model for Degradation of High-Reliability Systems

Technometrics ◽

10.1198/tech.2011.09119 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 53 (2) ◽

pp. 163-172 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Scott Vander Wiel ◽

Alyson Wilson ◽

Todd Graves ◽

Shane Reese

Keyword(s):

High Reliability ◽

Reliability Systems

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Cost Assessment for Implementation of Embedded Prognostic Health Management for Electronic Systems

Volume 9: Micro- and Nano-Systems Engineering and Packaging, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/imece2012-93058 ◽

2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Pradeep Lall ◽

Ryan Lowe ◽

Kai Goebel

Keyword(s):

Health Management ◽

Financial Analysis ◽

High Reliability ◽

Human Life ◽

Circuit Board ◽

Active Management ◽

Discounted Cash Flow ◽

The Cost ◽

Reliability Systems ◽

Prognostic Health Management

Prognostic health management (PHM) is a method for assuring the reliability of a system by monitoring the system in real time as it is used in the field. As the system wears out, but before failure, information that facilitates decision making about the future use of the system is delivered to the user. In this paper, a cost justification has been developed for incorporating the additional circuitry needed to enable prognostics for electrical components directly onto a functional circuit board. Implementing PHM capability for circuit boards will add additional cost to a system, so high reliability systems where the cost of failure is high are easiest to cost justify for prognostics. Aerospace, defense and automotive, applications qualify as high reliability systems. Application domains that require high uptime, minimal amounts of unplanned maintenance, and controllable operating costs can also be cost justified for prognostics since they can benefit from the pro-active management of failures facilitated by PHM. Intangible criteria such as safety or the cost of human life also motivated the need for PHM, so often times projects are labeled strategic, and not subjected to the discipline of a financial analysis. This paper will show rigorous methods for assessing the decision to invest in PHM for electronics. The uncertain nature of research and development (R&D) and difficult to predict future economic conditions is not well captured by traditional discounted cash flow (DCF) methods. An approach known as the Datar-Mathews (DM) method will extend the DCF methods to be equivalent to a real options analysis and the Black-Scholes formula. The DM method is intuitive and uses concepts familiar to most engineers and technical managers.

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