Reconfigurable Processor-Centric Accelerators for Safety-Critical Applications

The increasing complexity of modern electronic systems deployed in harsh environments with stringent safety-critical requirements demands robust mechanisms to ensure safety and to provide fault-tolerance capabilities. These systems must operate effectively under adverse conditions, addressing challenges such as single-event upsets and common mode failures in applications such as IoT, aerospace, and automotive industries. This paper presents a flexible processor-centric accelerator platform tailored for safety-critical applications. Based on the RISC-V ISA, the cores of the platform support four operational modes: Single, Triple-Core LockStep (TCLS), Dual-Core LockStep (DCLS), and DCLS with classic staggering, enabling adaptable safety-oriented configurations to meet diverse critical application profiles. A fault injection campaign has been conducted to characterize the performance and fault tolerance of the platform, demonstrating its ability to ensure reliable operation while providing the required computing power.