Reconfigurable Computing & Its Use in Space Applications in 20 minutes…

Reconfigurable Computing&

Its Use in Space Applicationsin 20 minutes…

Dr. Brock J. LaMeres

Associate Professor

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Reconfigurable Computing

What is Reconfigurable Computing?

A System That Alters Its Hardware as its Normal Operating Procedure• This can be done in real-time or at compile time.• This can be done on the full-chip, or just on certain portions.• Changing the hardware allows it to be optimized for the application at hand.

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The typical approach to hardware is to build everything that will ever be needed.

In Reconfigurable Computing, hardware is instead altered and re-used.


How is RC Different?

Today’s Computers are Based on a General-Purpose Processor• The GP CPU is designed to do many things.• This is the “Jack of All Trades, Master of None” approach.

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General Purpose CPU Model Reconfigurable Computing Model


Who Cares?

Our Existing Computers Seem to be Working Well. Why Change?• Our existing computers have benefited from 40 years of Moore’s Law.• In the 1960’s, Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors on a chip would

double every ~24 months.

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Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel,

holding a vacuum tube.

1959 - 1965 1971* - 2011

Note: First microprocessor introduced in 1971, the Intel 4004 with 2300 transistors.


Moore’s Law Rocks!

Why is Moore’s Law so Cool?• Our general-purpose computer model has gotten smaller, faster, and more power

efficient every 24 months.• This has allowed faster operation and more sophisticated software to be executed.• The development tools evolve coinciding with the faster/smaller transistors.• So we haven’t cared that most of the CPU sits idle since each new node is so much

better than the last, we always win!

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Replica of the First Transistor(Source: AP Photo Paul Sakuma)

Intel Xeon Phi, 22nm(Source: newsroom.intel.com)

Intel 4004, 10um(Source: newsroom.intel.com)

1947 (1 transistor) 1971 (2300 transistors) 2012 (5B transistors)


How long can we do this?

When will Moore’s Law End?• Most exponentials do come to an end.

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Clock SpeedPowerPerformance per Clock Cycle

But is transistor count what we care about?


Computation vs. Transistor Count

We Really Care About Computation

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You Are Here


The Promise of RC

A Computer Always Needs an Application• We discovered that space computers could be greatly enhanced by RC.

• They need to be light. RC reuses hardware, that saves mass.

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The Promise of RC



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The Promise of RC



• They need to be low power. RC eliminates unnecessary circuitry.

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The Promise of RC




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The Promise of RC




• They need to have high computation. RC can do that.

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The Promise of RC





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The Promise of RC





• They need to operate in the presence of harsh radiation.

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The Promise of RC





• They need to operate in the presence of harsh radiation.

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Can you repeat the question???


Where Does Radiation Come From?

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3) Trapped Radiation

1) Cosmic Rays

2) Solar Particle Events


What Types of Radiation is There?

Radiation Categories1. Ionizing Radiation

o Sufficient energy to remove electrons from atomic orbito Ex. High energy photons, charged particles

2. Non-Ionizing Radiationo Insufficient energy/charge to remove electrons from atomic orbito Ex., microwaves, radio waves

Types of Ionizing Radiation 3. Gamma & X-Rays (photons)

o Sufficient energy in the high end of the UV spectrum

4. Charged Particles o Electrons, positrons, protons, alpha, beta, heavy ions

5. Neutronso No electrical charge but ionize indirectly through collisions

What Type are Electronics Sensitive To?• Ionization which causes electrons to be displaced• Particles which collide and displace silicon crystal

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What are the Effects?

1. Total Ionizing Dose (TID)

o Cumulative long term damage due to ionization.

o Primarily due to low energy protons and electrons due to higher, more constant flux, particularly when trapped

o Problem #1 – Oxide Breakdown» Threshold Shifts» Leakage Current» Timing Changes

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What are the Effects?

2. Single Event Effects (SEE)

o Electron/hole pairs created by a single particle passing through semiconductoro Primarily due to heavy ions and high energy protonso Excess charge carriers cause current pulseso Creates a variety of destructive and non-destructive damage

“Critical Charge” = the amount of charge deposited to change the state of a gate

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But I’m Texting Right Now?

How can our computers function?

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You Are Here

Thank you atmosphere. Thank you magnetosphere


But there are computers in space?

Stuff is up there now, how does it function?

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Thank you federal government.

A-Side ComputerBAE Rad750

$200,000

B-Side ComputerBAE Rad750

$200,000


But there are computers in space?

Rad-Hard Processors Can be Made that are SLOW and EXPENSIVE

• Rad-Hard computers tend to lag commercial versions in performance by 10+ years.• They are also 100s-1000x more expensive.

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I Know You’re Going to Ask….

Shielding

• Shielding helps for protons and electrons <30MeV, but has diminishing returns after 0.25”.• This shielding is typically inherent in the satellite/spacecraft design.

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Shield Thickness vs. Dose Rate (LEO)


How Does RC Help This?

Total Ionizing Dose• TID actually diminishes as features get smaller.• This is good because we want to use the smallest transistors to get the fastest

performance.• Using off-the-shelf parts also reduces cost.

Single Event Effects• SEE gets worse! But it isn’t permanent. • So we just need a new computer architecture to handle it.

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What Technology is used for RC?

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA)• Currently the most attractive option.• SRAM-based FPGAs give the most flexibility• Riding Moore’s Law feature shrinkage but achieving

computation in a different way.

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Enter MSU

FPGA-Based, Radiation Tolerant Computing System• We have created a new computer architecture based on RC that provides tolerance to

SEE’s caused by radiation.

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Our Approach

What is needed for FPGA-Based Reconfigurable Computing?

1. SRAM-based FPGAso To support fast reconfiguration

2. Good TID Immunityo FPGAs fabricated in 45nm or less processes have acceptable TID immunity for the majority of

missions.

The Final Piece is SEE Fault Mitigation due to High Energy Ionizing Radiation

• SEEs will happen, nothing can stop this.• A computer architecture that expects and response to faults is needed.

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Our Approach

A Many-Tile Architecture

• The FPGA is divided up into Tiles• A Tile is a quantum of resources that:

o Fully contains a system (e.g., processor, accelerator)o Can be programmed via partial reconfiguration (PR)

Fault Tolerance

1. TMR + Spares

2. Spatial Avoidance of Background Repair

3. Scrubbing

4. An External Radiation Sensor

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16 MicroBlaze Soft Processors on an Virtex-6


Our Approach

1. TMR + Spares• 3 Tiles run in TMR with the rest reserved as spares.• In the event of a fault, the damaged tile is replaced

with a spare and foreground operation continues.

2. Spatial Avoidance & Repair• The damaged Tile is “repaired” in the background via

Partial Reconfiguration.• The repaired tile is reintroduced into the system as an

available spare.

3. Scrubbing• A traditional scrubber runs in the background.• Either blind or read-back.• PR is technically a “blind scrub”, but of a particular

region of the FPGA.

4. External Sensor• Provide information about radiation strikes that have occurred

but may not have caused a fault, yet....

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Shuttle Flight Computer

(TMR + Spare)


Our Approach

Why do it this way?

With Spares, it basically becomes a flow-problem:o If the repair rate is faster than the incoming fault rate, you’re safe.o If the repair rate is slightly slower than the incoming fault rate,

spares give you additional time.o The additional time can accommodate varying flux rates.o Abundant resources on an FPGA enable dynamic scaling of the

number of spares. (e.g., build a bigger tub in real time)

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Let’s Get Started

Time for Research

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Technical Readiness Level (TRL-1)

Step 1 – Understand the Problem and See if RC Helps• The Montana Space Grant Consortium funds an investigation into conducting radiation

tolerant computing research at MSU. The goal is to understand the problem, propose a solution, and build relationships with scientists at NASA.

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(2008-2010)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Proof of Concept

20092008

Timeline of Activity at MSU

Clint Gauer (MSEE from MSU 2009) demo’s computer to MSFC Chief of Technology Andrew Keys



Step 2 – Build a Prototype and Test in a Cyclotron • NASA funds the development of a more functional prototype and testing

under bombardment by radiation at the Texas A&M Radiation Effects Facility.

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(2008-2010)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Proof of Concept

Prototype Development & Cyclotron Testing

(2010-2012)

20092008


Ray Weber (Ph.D., EE from MSU, 2014) prepares experiment.



Step 3 – Demonstrate as Flight Hardware on High Altitude Balloons• NASA funds the development of the computer into flight hardware for demonstration on

high altitude balloon systems, both in Montana and at NASA.

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(2008-2010)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Proof of Concept


High Altitude Balloon Demos

(2010-2012) (2011-2013)

20092008


MSU Computer

Justin Hogan (Ph.D., EE from MSU, 2014) prepares payload.



Step 4 – Demonstrate as Flight Hardware on a Sounding Rocket• NASA funds the demonstration of the computer system on sounding rocket.• Payload is integrated and will fly on 10/20/14 at White Sands Missile Range.

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(2008-2010)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Proof of Concept



Sounding Rocket Demo

(2010-2012) (2011-2013) (2012-2014)

20092008


Justin Hogan and

Ray Weber (MSU Ph.D. Grads) at rocket training

boot camp in 2012.



Step 5 – Demonstrate on the International Space Station• NASA funds the demonstration of computer system in International Space Station.

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(2008-2010)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Proof of Concept




ISS Demo

(2010-2012) (2011-2013) (2012-2014) (2014-2015)

20092008


ISS Mockup at Johnson Space Center

for Crew Training

Mission Control Room for Apollo Program



Selfie with $60M Space Suit



Step 6 – Demonstrate as a Stand-Alone Satellite • NASA funds the demonstration of the computer system in a Low Earth Orbit mission.

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(2008-2010)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Proof of Concept




ISS Demo

Satellite Demo

(2010-2012) (2011-2013) (2012-2014) (2014-2015) (2014-2016)

20092008




Step 7 – Commercialize It • License Agreement with 406 Aerospace, LLC, Bozeman, MT.

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Collaborators

Faculty & Scientists • Todd Kaiser, MSU Electrical & Computer Engineering Department• Ross Snider, MSU Electrical & Computer Engineering Department• Hunter Lloyd, MSU Computer Science Department• Robb Larson, MSU Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department• Angela Des Jardins, MSU Physics Department & MSGC• Randy Larimer, MSU Electrical Engineering Department & MSGC• Berk Knighton, MSU Chemistry Department & MSGC• David Klumpar, MSU Physics Department & SSEL• Larry Springer, MSU Physics Department & SSEL• Ehson Mosleh, MSU Physics Department & SSEL• Gary Crum, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center• Thomas Flatley, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center• Leroy Hardin, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center• Kosta Varnavas, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center• Andrew Keys, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center• Robert Ray, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center• Leigh Smith, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center• Eric Eberly, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center• Alan George, University of Florida & NSF Center for High Performance Reconfig Comp.

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Students

MSU Students….

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Thank You For Not

Asking Questions

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References

Content• “Space Transportation Costs: Trends in Price Per Pound to Orbit 1990-2000. Fultron Inc Technical Report.,

September 6, 2002. Sammy Kayali, “Space Radiation Effects on Microelectronics”, JPL, [Available Online]: http://parts.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/Radcrs_Final.pdf.

• Holmes-Siedle & Adams, “Handbook of Radiation Effects”, 2nd Edition, Oxford Press 2002.• Thanh, Balk, “Elimination and Generation of Si-Si02 Interface Traps by Low Temperature Hydrogen Annealing”,

Journal of Electrochemical Society on Solid-State Science and Technology, July 1998.• Sturesson TEC-QEC, “Space Radiation and its Effects on EEE Components”, EPFL Space Center, June 9, 2009.

[Available Online]: http://space.epfl.ch/webdav/site/space/shared/industry_media/07%20SEE%20Effect%20F.Sturesson.pdf

• Lawrence T. Clark, Radiation Effects in SRAM: Design for Mitigation”, Arizona State University, [Available Online]: http://www.cmoset.com/uploads/9B.1-08.pdf

• K. Iniewski, “Radiation Effects in Semiconductors”, CRC Press, 2011.

Images• If not noted, images provided by www.nasa.gov or MSU• Displacement Image 1: Moises Pinada, http://moisespinedacaf.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html• Displacement Image 2/3: Vacancy and divacancy (V-V) in a bubble raft. Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison• SRAM Images: Kang and Leblebici, "CMOS Digital Integrated Circuits" 3rd Edition. McGraw Hill, 2003• SEB Images: Sturesson TEC-QEC, “Space Radiation and its Effects on EEE Components”, EPFL Space Center, June

9, 2009. • FPGA Images: www.xilinx.com, www.altera.com• RHBD Images: Giovanni Anelli & Alessandro Marchioro, “The future of rad-tol electronics for HEP”, CERN,

Experimental Physics Division, Microelectronics Group, [Available Online]:

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http://parts.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/Radcrs_Final.pdf

http://space.epfl.ch/webdav/site/space/shared/industry_media/07%20SEE%20Effect%20F.Sturesson.pdf

http://www.cmoset.com/uploads/9B.1-08.pdf

http://www.nasa.gov/

http://www.xilinx.com/

http://www.altera.com/

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