DIRT latch: A novel low cost double node upset tolerant latch

- Tolerance against both single and double node upsets (SNUs and DNUs)
- Radiation tolerance regardless of the induced charge (no critical charge)
- Functionality based on node redundancy as well as on the use of dual-input inverters
- Evaluation under nominal conditions and PVT variations in a 65nm technology
- More than 30% gain in dynamic energy × delay compared to known DNU tolerant latches

In this paper we propose the novel DIRT (Dual-input Inverter Radiation Tolerant) latch, a soft error tolerant latch that can mitigate both SNUs (Single Node Upsets) and DNUs (Double Node Upsets). The design of the latch is based on the use of a dual-input inverter with independently controlled PMOS and NMOS gates. The proposed latch is compared to known radiation hardened latches and proves to be more efficient than the revised DNU tolerant counterparts in terms of dynamic energy and propagation delay even under PVT variations and with a small energy penalty compared to SNU tolerant latches.