STRV -- A radiation hard RISC-V microprocessor for high-energy physics applications

Abstract

While microprocessors are used in various applications, they are precluded from the use in high-energy physics applications due to the harsh radiation present. To overcome this limitation a microprocessor design must withstand high doses of radiation and mitigate radiation induced soft errors. A TMR protection scheme is applied to protect a RISC-V microprocessor core against these faults. The protection of the integrated SRAM by an independent scrubbing algorithm is discussed. Initial irradiation results and power consumption measurements of the radiation-resistant RISC-V microprocessor implemented in 65 nm CMOS technology are presented.