A SOI EEPROM Based Configuration Cell with Simple Scrubbing Detection

We present a Silicon-on-Insulator based circuit for use as configuration storage in a radiation hard reconfigurable system. A non-volatile storage cell, manufacturable in a standar single polysilicon SOI CMOS process with no special layers, is combined with a Schmitt sense amplifier such that the overall block exhibits two unique characteristics that enhance its resistance to radiation induced upsets. Firstly, it is impossible for a radiation-induced event to permanently flip the configuration state. Secondly, a partial de-programming resulting in a reduction in the magnitude of the storage cell voltage causes a large change in static current that can be very easily detected using a conventional sense amplifier. A memory correction (scrubbing) system that exploits this behavior is briefly described.