096 voters exactly match a computer unit high power 13

Must be a mountaineering equipment to cosmic particles of integrated circuits, the Astep laboratory in the new vulnerability test (Altitude See single event effect Test European Platform), opened this summer on the plateau de Bure, in the Hautes-Alpes. To take advantage of a density of radiation 10 times higher than the level of the sea, its designers have chosen to install their platform to 2.552 metres altitude on a limestone base beaten by winds, snow, fog and ice. These extremes are the scientific and industrial challenge: maximum shortening time study on the effect of cosmic particle showers, to enable semiconductor engineers to rapidly design parades.

The problem is urgent: the larger circuits is reduced, most systems that use them are vulnerable to natural radiation. The researchers had intuition as early as 2000, after the inexplicable failure of several large Sun Microsystems servers. They have acquired the certainty since, noting the proliferation of soft on electronic memory errors. "Evil of the stars" is now in the heart of the concerns of the Silicon smelters. "It is the counterpart of the race for miniaturisation, summarizes Joseph Borel, who started to alert the professionals when he was Vice President of STMicroelectronics, responsible for integrated systems. Nanotechnology manipulating quantities of neighboring loads of femto-coulomb billionth Coulomb millionième, Editor's note to convey logical information. Or radiation cosmic, consisting of solar Proton, neutron and heavy ions for the most part, in lay each second tens in the volume of Silicon. "Statistically, no part of the circuit is therefore from this particle shower".

Since "Sun affair", several episodes came to prove it, to varying degrees of severity. Last year, for example, the devices of electronic voting from a Belgian village of about 250 people have posted more than 4.300 votes. Asked to investigate this mystery, mathematicians from the University of Leuven have understood that the difference (4.096 voters) exactly match a computer unit high power 13. They have concluded that external disturbance occurred at the same time where the results were transferred.

Risk of blackout

These consumer appliances are constant as question particles have no physical barrier. They can even hitting and destroying the atomic nuclei of the silicon to the point of changing the properties, say researchers, and corrupt computer calculations, telephone communications, records of medical parameters and other transfers of information. Most of the time, these disturbances are without consequences for the level of miniaturization of costly systems of "triplication" in sensitive sectors such as aeronautics, still protect the integrity of the data. But that will happen when even more miniaturized circuits (talking levels of prints to 22 nanometers in 10 years against 90 today) will be used for all sorts of sensitive transactions: mobile payment, transfer of confidential data, intranet routing, access control...

It is to precisely measure the risks as Joseph Borel, assisted by the CNRS "ultimate devices on Silicon" team of the L2 MP (lab materials and microelectronics de Provence) of Marseille, were mounted the Astep laboratory. "As the amount of energy particles that succeeds is ten times greater than that observed at the level of the sea, explains the pattern of the laboratory Jean-Luc Autran, action campaigns can detect a statistically significant number of errors on a duration of ten times shorter experience, which is decisive for the semiconductor industry."

Instead of experimentation, which occupies 20 square metres in a former Observatory, welcomes since the summer two test benches: for STMicroelectronics, directly involved in the financing of the project (EUR 1 million in total), and the Xilinx American.

The two manufacturers want to know what is the level of sensitivity of etched 130 nanometer precision, technology components that team today most electronic equipment. The results presented a few weeks ago showed that circuits (from the memories of 4 GB of data) were affected by five errors each month because of the bombing of particles. "The industry can no longer ignore the problem", summarizes Joseph Borel.

Logical filtering

This year is the turn of being the most fine, engraved circuits to 65 nanometer resolution, to pass on the test bench. To counter the radiation parasites, the engineers want test of new architectures able to respond at the moment even where the disruption occurs. "Before a decade, continues to engineer, nanotechnology will be able to produce circuits turning of propagation time of the order of the picosecond (one thousandth of billionths of a second).". Some experts believe that the risk of disruption will be multiplied by 1000. "To function without problem, they must integrate logical filtering devices calculating the duration of the signals to eliminate those fleeting impact of a particle-like".

In the meantime, the laboratory will be extended 100 m2 to offer manufacturers a platform for testing of validation in series, probably a hundred simultaneously in five years. A 2.552 meters altitude, the tobacco will be well placed to deliver a guaranteed circuits "cosmic failure safe" certification label