COTS - radiation effects approaches and considerations

The downscaling in VLSI systems and the use of new materials influences the reliability of components in terms of radiation more and more. The unavoidable presence of particle radiation on ground and in space leads to unwanted failures in the electronic devices. Concerning packaging materials, design and technology a lot of steps were done to avoid radiation sensitivity. Nowadays microelectronic for automotive systems are tested to withstand radiation especially SEU-single event upsets. Especially since the Toyota Prius problem [1] it is clear that SEU cannot be ignored. Another application are unmanned autonomous vehicles and systems. Nevertheless reliability testing is expensive and extreme time consuming. The use of COTS-Commercials of the shelf is the ultimate goal to reach. In this paper an overview about the main influences concerning radiation hardness and COTS will be discussed. Furthermore different simulation approaches will be presented and discussed.