Reliability challenges in avionics due to silicon aging

Abstract

Today's aviation systems are strongly dependent on electronics. Avionics (i.e., aviation electronics) should be highly reliable due to the nature of their applications. CMOS technology, which is widely used in the fabrication of integrated circuits, is continuously scaled to achieve higher performance and higher integration density (i.e., the wellknown Moore's law). This scaling property creates new challenges in reliability of avionics. As an example, the aging process is speeded up resulting in shorter time to wear-out. This paper investigates reliability challenges in design of avionics caused by silicon aging. It is shown that in the circuits and systems designed in modern CMOS technology, aging phenomenon have to be considered as a serious concern.