An Automated SEU Fault-Injection Method and Tool for HDL-Based Designs

Evaluating the sensitivity to soft-errors of integrated circuits and systems became a main issue especially if they are intended to operate in space or at high altitudes. In this paper, a new fully automated SEU fault-injection method is presented and illustrated by its application to an 8051 microcontroller. Predicted SEU error-rates are in a good agreement with results issued from radiation ground testing, thus putting in evidence the accuracy of the studied method.