Fault Injection of TMR Open Source RISC-V Processors using Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration on SRAM-based FPGAs

SRAM-based FPGAs are frequently used for critical functions in space applications. Soft processors implemented within these FPGAs are often needed to satisfy the mission requirements. The open ISA, RISC-V, has allowed for the development of a wide range of open source processors. Like all SRAM-based FPGA digital designs, these soft processors are susceptible to SEUs. This paper presents an investigation of the performances and relative SEU sensitivity of a selection of newly available open source RISC-V processors. Utilizing dynamic partial reconfiguration, this novel automatic test equipment rapidly deployed different implementations and evaluated SEU sensitivity through fault injection. Using BYU’s new SpyDrNet tools, fine-grain TMR was also applied to each processor with results ranging from a 20× to 500× reduction in sensitivity.