Fault self-repair strategy based on evolvable hardware and reparation balance technology

In the face of harsh natural environment applications such as earth-orbiting and deep space satellites, underwater sea vehicles, strong electromagnetic interference and temperature stress,the circuits faults appear easily. Circuit faults will inevitably lead to serious losses of availability or impeded mission success without self-repair over the mission duration. Traditional fault-repair methods based on redundant fault-tolerant technique are straightforward to implement, yet their area, power and weight cost can be excessive. Moreover they utilize all plug-in or component level circuits to realize redundant backup, such that their applicability is limited. Hence, a novel selfrepair technology based on evolvable hardware（EHW） and reparation balance technology（RBT） is proposed. Its cost is low, and fault self-repair of various circuits and devices can be realized through dynamic configuration. Making full use of the fault signals, correcting circuit can be found through EHW technique to realize the balance and compensation of the fault output-signals. In this paper, the self-repair model was analyzed which based on EHW and RBT technique, the specific self-repair strategy was studied, the corresponding self-repair circuit fault system was designed, and the typical faults were simulated and analyzed which combined with the actual electronic devices. Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed fault self-repair strategy was feasible. Compared to traditional techniques, fault self-repair based on EHW consumes fewer hardware resources, and the scope of fault self-repair was expanded significantly.

Pressure induced stability: from pneumatic structures to Tensairity~

Structural stabilization by a pressurized fluid is very common in nature, however hardly found in technology. Car tires, hot air balloons, airships and airhouses are among the few technical exceptions, which are stabilized by a compressed medium, typically air. Restricted by simple geometries and a very limited load bearing capacity these pneumatic structures could succeed only in very specialized applications. Nevertheless, prospective concepts ag has systematically investigated pneumatic structures during the last few years. As a major result, it was demonstrated that almost any shape can be made with pneumatic structures and that astonishing structures such as the pneumatic airplane Stingray can be realized even with low air pressure. On top of that, Airlight Ltd. in close collaboration with prospective concepts ag has recently developed the fundamental new structural concept Tensairity. The synergetic combination of an inflated structure with conventional structural elements such as cables and struts yields pneumatic light-weight structures with the load bearing capacity of steel girders. Thus, complex forms and high strength open up many new opportunities for pressure induced stability in technology. An overview of these recent developments is presented and the close relationship of pneumatic structures with biology is outlined.

Optimal design of RTCs in digital circuit fault self-repair based on global signal optimization

Since digital circuits have been widely and thoroughly applied in various fields, electronic systems are increasingly more complicated and require greater reliability. Faults may occur in electronic systems in complicated environments. If immediate field repairs are not made on the faults, electronic systems will not run normally, and this will lead to serious losses. The traditional method for improving system reliability based on redundant fault-tolerant technique has been unable to meet the requirements. Therefore, on the basis of(evolvable hardware)-based and(reparation balance technology)-based electronic circuit fault self-repair strategy proposed in our preliminary work, the optimal design of rectification circuits(RTCs) in electronic circuit fault self-repair based on global signal optimization is deeply researched in this paper. First of all, the basic theory of RTC optimal design based on global signal optimization is proposed. Secondly, relevant considerations and suitable ranges are analyzed. Then, the basic flow of RTC optimal design is researched. Eventually, a typical circuit is selected for simulation verification, and detailed simulated analysis is made on five circumstances that occur during RTC evolution. The simulation results prove that compared with the conventional design method based RTC, the global signal optimization design method based RTC is lower in hardware cost, faster in circuit evolution, higher in convergent precision, and higher in circuit evolution success rate. Therefore, the global signal optimization based RTC optimal design method applied in the electronic circuit fault self-repair technology is proven to be feasible, effective, and advantageous.