Sextuple Cross-Coupled-DICE Based Double-Node-Upset Recoverable and Low-Delay Flip-Flop for Aerospace Applications

This paper proposes a novel sextuple cross-coupled dual-interlocked-storage-cell (DICE) based double-node-upset (DNU) recoverable and low-delay flip-flop (FF), namely SCDRL-FF, for aerospace applications. The SCDRL-FF mainly consists of sextuple cross-coupled DICEs controlled by clock-gating. The use of clock-gating based DICEs significantly reduces the CLK-Q transmission delay of the SCDRL-FF. Through the redundant and interlocked clock-gating based DICEs, the SCDRL-FF can provide complete DNU recoverability. Simulation results demonstrate the DNU recoverability of the SCDRL-FF and a 65% delay reduction on average compared with the state-of-the-art hardened FFs. The low delay overhead makes the proposed SCDRL-FF effectively applicable to high-performance applications and the DNU recoverability makes the proposed SCDRL-FF also suitable for aerospace applications.