A Novel Parallel Filters Design Based on Error Correction Codes for Fault Tolerance

Abstract

Digital filters are widely used in digital signal processing and communication systems. In  most operations, the reliability of those systems is important , and fault tolerant filter implementations are required.  Different techniques have been proposed that exploit the filters’ structure and properties to reach the fault tolerance. The  technology scaling  enables more complex systems that operate in  many filters. In that type of complex systems, it is common that some of the filters operate in parallel, for example, by applying the same filter to different input signals. Recently, a simple technique that exploits the presence of parallel filters to achieve fault tolerance has been presented. In this brief, that idea is generalized to show that parallel filters can be protected using error correction codes (ECCs) in which each filter is the equivalent of a bit in a traditional ECC. This new scheme allows more efficient protection when the number of parallel filters is large. The technique is evaluated using a case study of parallel finite impulse response filters showing the effectiveness in terms of protection and implementation cost.