Comparing fail-safe microcontroller architectures in light of IEC 61508

Abstract

In this paper, an overview is given on the main architectures used in the automotive to implement fail-safe microcontrollers. The concept of a new HW-centric, distributed and optimized architecture is also presented. In light of the IEC 61508 norm for safety related electronic systems, a comparisons between these different architectures is done based on a reference design. The paper concludes discussing how the presented architectures can be extended to become fail-functional