A Multi-Layer SEU Mitigation Strategy to Improve FPGA Design Robustness for the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer Upgrade

TL;DR

This paper proposes a comprehensive multi-layer SEU mitigation approach for FPGA-based trigger data routers in the ATLAS muon spectrometer upgrade, significantly enhancing robustness against radiation-induced errors.

Contribution

It introduces a novel multi-layer SEU mitigation strategy combining redundancy, reconfiguration, and power cycling for FPGA robustness in high-radiation environments.

Findings

Effective SEU mitigation demonstrated at neutron facilities

Reduced data loss over 10 years of operation

Enhanced FPGA reliability in particle physics experiments

Abstract

We present a multi-layer single-event upset mitigation strategy implemented in a low-cost Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA. The implementation is targeted for a trigger data router for the ATLAS muon spectrometer upgrade. The mitigation strategy employs three layers of protection to improve overall FPGA design robustness: use of triple-modular redundancy for FPGA fabric logic and embedded soft-error mitigation in the first layer; further enhancement with multi-boot FPGA reconfiguration across multiple copies of configuration memory in the second layer; and FPGA power cycling and configuration memory re-initialization in the third layer. The effectiveness of this scheme has been evaluated at two different neutron facilities, LANSCE and NCSR Demokritos, with 800 MeV and 25 MeV beam energies, respectively. Testing was performed with a similar configuration to that planned for final operation. We discuss the testing strategy and summarize the test results to estimate the expected data loss over 10 years of operation in the ATLAS experiment.