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SEU Mitigation for Cyclone V Devices
2013.11.12
CV-52008
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This chapter describes the error detection features in Cyclone V devices. You can use these features to
mitigate single event upset (SEU) or soft errors.
Related Information
Cyclone V Device Handbook: Known Issues
Lists the planned updates to the
Cyclone V Device Handbook
chapters.
Error Detection Features
The on-chip error detection CRC circuitry allows you to perform the following operations without any
impact on the fitting or performance of the device:
• Auto-detection of CRC errors during configuration.
• Optional CRC error detection and identification in user mode.
• Testing of error detection functions by deliberately injecting errors through the JTAG interface.
Configuration Error Detection
When the Quartus II software generates the configuration bitstream, the software also computes a 16-bit
CRC value for each frame. A configuration bitstream can contain more than one CRC values depending on
the number of data frames in the bitstream. The length of the data frame varies for each device.
When a data frame is loaded into the FPGA during configuration, the precomputed CRC value shifts into
the CRC circuitry. At the same time, the CRC engine in the FPGA computes the CRC value for the data
frame and compares it against the precomputed CRC value. If both CRC values do not match, the
nSTATUS
pin is set to low to indicate a configuration error.
You can test the capability of this feature by modifying the configuration bitstream or intentionally corrupting
the bitstream during configuration.
User Mode Error Detection
In user mode, the contents of the configured CRAM bits may be affected by soft errors. These soft errors,
which are caused by an ionizing particle, are not common in Altera devices. However, high-reliability
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