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Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation Control N. Thuy, eDF RD

May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz. Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation

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Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation Control N. Thuy, eDF RD

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    1. Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? N. Thuy, eDF R&D

    2. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 2 Summary What are FPGAs? FPGA is a mature technology suitable for industrial applications FPGA capabilities are more than adequate for I&C needs in NPP FPGAs allow for a simpler, more effective reliability / safety justification Use of FPGAs is cost-effective for NPP applications Conclusion

    3. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 3 FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit Can support very complex functions, at extremely high performance Example: Graphical Processing Units Very high development costs, even for simple functions Mainly used for high volume production Programmable electronic circuits developed to overcome cost factors Also used when time-to-market is essential Many different FPGA architectures: in this presentation, ‘‘FPGA’’ used for all types of programmable electronic circuits True FPGA, PLD (Programmable Logic Device), CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), ... FPGA with embedded Analog-to-Digital converters FPGA with embedded microprocessors

    4. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 4 Systems On Chip (SOC)

    5. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 5 Typical Architecture of Interest for NPPs Low complexity blocks Typical logic blocks: look-up-tables, registers (memory) Typical I/O blocks: electric interfaces, signal conversion Number of cells needed vary depending on application needs

    6. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 6 Not All FPGAs Are Equal Scenario Occupant sensing airbag unit using one FPGA One million units in operation Table indicates FIT rates (number of errors in 109 hours) and MTBF using a variety of FPGAs

    7. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 7 Neutron Test Results

    8. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 8 FPGA Technologies

    9. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 9 Summary What are FPGAs? FPGA is a mature technology suitable for industrial applications FPGA capabilities are more than adequate for I&C needs in NPP FPGAs allow for a simpler, more effective reliability / safety justification Use of FPGAs is cost-effective for NPP applications Conclusion

    10. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 10 Market for FPGA Circuits The digital industry, including the FPGA market, tends to be driven by mass market applications Intense competition tends to shorten commercial lifetimes Long operational lifetimes often not seen as a major requirement High dependability also not the top requirement Top requirements: processing capability, power consumption, circuit cost Fortunately, a number of FPGA vendors aim specifically at the industry market From an FPGA vendor, needs from different industry sectors are fairly similar Market sufficient to warrant long-term commercial availability of various product lines

    11. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 11 FPGAs for Industrial Applications Longer commercial lifetimes, more stable technologies and production lines Customers informed of products discontinuation Customers informed of changes in design or manufacturing Technology size, Design release, Speed-grade, Temperature range, Packaging, Leaded / unleaded soldering, ... Focus on circuit technologies more suitable for very high dependability (anti-fuse, flash) Lower susceptibility to SEUs (Single Event Upsets), no need for additional circuitry for initialisation, ... ‘‘Older’’, wider technologies (e.g., 150 nm) Less susceptible to ageing and failure mechanisms that affect deep sub-micron technologies ? long operational lifetimes Electromigration, radiation, ...

    12. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 12 Design Tools and Environments Electronic design: a highly active and extremely successful engineering and scientific domain since many years Standardised and widely supported hardware description languages (HDL) VHDL, Verilog Availability of integrated design environments (IDE) covering the complete development cycle

    13. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 13 Example of IDE

    14. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 14 For Safety-Critical Applications International standards already exist for the aerospace industry (DO 254) Functional safety standards (IEC 61508) will soon include requirements for FPGA-based designs IEC standard are also under development for the nuclear industry (IEC 62566) Safety-critical applications based on FPGAs already accepted by regulators in several countries (e.g., Ukraine, Japan, USA) Other FPGA-based designs also presented for regulatory approval in other countries (e.g., Finland, France)

    15. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 15 Summary What are FPGAs? FPGA is a mature technology suitable for industrial applications FPGA capabilities are more than adequate for I&C needs in NPP FPGAs allow for a simpler, more effective reliability / safety justification Use of FPGA is cost-effective for NPP applications Conclusion

    16. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 16 Adequate Functional Capability FPGA circuits suitable for industrial use currently offer up to multimillion gates FPGAs already used by the general industry for highly demanding applications In terms of logic processing and response time Examples: telecom applications, data switching circuitry, robot control, aerospace applications, ... Comparatively, I&C applications in nuclear power plants tend to be functionally much simpler and less demanding in terms of response time Particularly for safety critical applications FPGAs have been used in digital I&C systems

    17. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 17 Typical Applications Substitute for discrete digital logic components FPGAs used in this capability since many years now Direct implementation of I&C functions For example by Toshiba, Radiy, Wolfcreek Emulation of complex digital components (e.g., microprocessors) Replacement of existing digital modules

    18. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 18 Example: UC4 Board in EDF’s SPIN 1300 In operation since 1984 for reactor protection in EDF’s 1300 MW series (20 units) Lifetime extension of the series, unforeseen ageing mechanisms ? redesign of the board with currently available electronic components

    19. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 19 Example: RADIY’s FPGA-Based Platform

    20. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 20 Example: Rolls-Royce’s Upgraded Boards

    21. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 21 Example: Wolfcreek’s MSFIS Upgrade MSFIS: Main Steam and Feedwater Isolation System Safety Evaluation Report (SER) recently issued by NRC

    22. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 22 Example: Toshiba’s LPRM/APRM Units For Power Range Monitoring

    23. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 23 Summary What are FPGAs? FPGA is a mature technology suitable for industrial applications FPGA capabilities are more than adequate for I&C needs in NPP FPGAs allow for a simpler, more effective reliability / safety justification Use of FPGA is cost-effective for NPP applications Conclusion

    24. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 24 Safety Justification Simplicity, compared to software-based solutions Auxiliary functions can be designed not to interfere with main safety functions In particular self-monitoring functions Main functions that are functionally independent can also be designed not to interfere with one another Internal redundancy also possible

    25. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 25 Compared Complexities

    26. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 26 Cyber Security No ‘‘latent’’, unused capabilities that could be hijacked by malicious attackers Simpler design facilitates inspection, formal verification and detection of malicious code and potential exploits Circuit re-programming requires physical access to the system, and specific programming equipment With anti-fuse technologies, re-programming is not even possible

    27. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 27 Defence-in-Depth and Diversity Diversity often required to alleviate risks of digital common cause failures FPGAs often considered for diverse actuation Example: EPR Okiluotto 3

    28. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 28 Use of Spare capability for safety Synchronous design More modular design with defined intermediate states Self-monitoring Internal redundancy

    29. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 29 Summary What are FPGAs? FPGA is a mature technology suitable for industrial applications FPGA capabilities are more than adequate for I&C needs in NPP FPGAs allow for a simpler, more effective reliability / safety justification Use of FPGA is cost-effective for NPP applications Conclusion

    30. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 30 Application Portability I&C platforms have high semantic contents Supported system architectures, application programming languages, libraries of elementary functions, engineering tools Currently, no effective standards for I&C platforms Applications designed for one platform need to be redeveloped if a new platform is used FPGA applications developed for a given hardware circuit can be designed to be portable on future technologies ‘‘du jour’’ Lower semantic contents Significant work can be done on the hardware-independent part of design

    31. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 31 Application Portability (cont.)

    32. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 32 Cost-Effectiveness for I&C Upgrades Upgrades can target specific, obsolete or worn-out components Replacement components can be designed to be functionally, logically and physically compatible with the components to be replaced The other components, including software, do not need to be modified Functional improvement are also possible Costs in terms of design, qualification, safety justification, installation and training are significantly lower than full system upgrades Upgrades can be designed to keep existing cabinets, cabling, power supplies, HVAC, ... Project risks are also significantly lower

    33. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 33 Example: MP6800 in EDF’s 1300 MW Series

    34. May 4-8, 2009 - Portoroz Why Use FPGAs in NPP Instrumentation & Control? 34 Conclusion Digital technologies have raised some concerns, in particular concerning lifetimes, complexity and common cause failure FPGAs might be used to address these concerns in a very cost-effective manner High level of interest in the nuclear industry EDF-IAEA workshop in Chatou (October 2008) Upcoming RADIYI-IAEA IAEA workshop in Kirovograd, Ukraine (29 September - 1 October 2009) Upcoming IEC standard 62566 FPGA-based solutions have already been successfully implemented or are being considered in several NPPs

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