Timing errors are an increasing reliability concern in nanometer technology, high complexity and multi-voltage/frequency integrated circuits. A local error detection and correction technique is presented in this work that is based on a new bit flipping flip-flop. Whenever a timing error is detected, it is corrected by complementing the output of the corresponding flip-flop. The proposed solution is characterized by very low silicon area and power requirements compared to previous design schemes in the open literature. To validate its efficiency, it has been applied in the design of a MIPS microprocessor core in a 90 nm technology, while a demonstration version of the same core in an FPGA platform is presented.

Timing error tolerance is of great importance in nanometer technology integrated circuits. In this paper, the Time Dilation design technique is proposed that provides concurrent error detection and correction in the field of application and also supports off-line manufacturing scan testing. By utilizing a new scan Flip-Flop, the Time Dilation technique is capable to detect and correct multiple errors at the minimum penalty of one clock cycle delay. The silicon area overhead and the power consumption are substantially reduced, as compared to the Razor design approach, since no additional memory elements are required. At the same time, the proposed technique introduces only negligible performance degradation since no extra circuitry is inserted in the critical paths of a design.

Strengthening failure mechanisms accentuate timing errors as a real threat in nanometer technology microprocessor cores. In this work, we present a low-cost and low-power, multiple timing error detection and correction technique, which is based on a new flip-flop design. This flip-flop exploits a transition detector for error detection along with an asynchronous local error correction scheme to provide timing error tolerance. The proposed and the well known Razor techniques were applied separately in the design of two versions of a 32-bit MIPS microprocessor core using a 90nm CMOS technology. Comparisons based on the experimental results validate the efficiency of the new design approach.

Timing error tolerance turns to be an important design parameter in nanometer technology, high speed and high complexity integrated circuits. In this work, we present a low cost, multiple timing error detection and correction technique, which is based on a new Flip-Flop design. The proposed design approach provides timing error tolerance at the small penalty of one clock cycle delay in the circuit operation for each error correction. In addition, it is characterized by very low silicon area requirements compared to previous design schemes in the open literature. The proposed technique has been applied in a 90nm pipeline design of a digital FIR filter and the simulation results validated its efficiency.