Diversity and Multi-Version Systems - Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation and Control Systems for Safety and Security - page 187

presentation to initial data; advanced testbeds
and tools; verified libraries and Intellectual
Properties (IP) - cores in FPGA development
tools.
2. There are three technologies of FPGA-
projects development: development of
a graphical scheme by means of library
blocks in CAD environment; development
of a software model by means of especial
hardware describing languages (VHDL,
Verilog, Java HDL, etc); development of a
program code for operation in the environ-
ment of microprocessor emulators, which
are implemented in FPGA as IP-cores. It
does allow increasing a number of options of
different project versions and multi-version
I&Cs.
3. Assurance of fault-tolerance, data validation
and maintainability due to use of: redundancy
for intra- and inter-crystal levels; diversity
implementation; reconfiguration and re-
covery in the case of component failures;
improved means of diagnostic.
4. Security assurance: FPGA reprogramming is
possible only with use of especial equipment.
Stability and survivability assurance due to:
tolerance to external impacts (electromag-
netic, climatic, radiation); possibilities of
implementation of multi-step degradation
with different types of adaptation.

• A substantial increase of applying the
technologies based on programmable logic
(FPGA, CPLD, ASIC).

• The FPGA technology is improved and en-

sures new possibilities to develop more re-
liable and efective systems; application of
the FPGA technology for development of
military (B-1B, F-16, etc) and civil aircraft
control systems (Boeing 737, 777, AN70,
140), space control systems (satellites
FedSat, WIRE; the Mars-vehicle Spirit),
etc.

• The application of FPGAs in NPP I&Cs

(Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria: 1999-start,
2002 - 1000, 2006 - 6000, 2008-2010 -
more than 8000 chips every year).

Besides, the illustration of FPGA expansion is
an evolution of the NPP I&Cs produced by RPC
Radiy during 2000-2008 years (Kharchenko &
Sklyar, 2008).
There are three stages of the evolution (Figure
2): from implementation of separate FPGA-based
functions in I&Cs (signals processing (SP), control
algorithms (CA), actuation signals formation (AS)
and diagnostics (D), stage 1, and implementation
of FPGA-based CA, stage 2, to preferred imple-
mentation of FPGA-based SP-, CA-, AS-, D- and
communication functions, stage 3.
An analysis of industrial application experience
of FPGAs in NPP I&Cs is described in a techni-
cal report prepared by EPRI (Naser, 2009).

FPGA Technology Application
in Safety-Critical Systems
and NPP I&Cs

Key Challenges Connected
with Diversity Application in
FPGA-Based I&Cs NPP

Due to these peculiarities area of FPGA technol-
ogy application has essentially expanded. We
can say about an affirmative answer to question
“Expansion of FPGA-technology application in
safety-critical systems for the last decades: evolu-
tion or revolution?” It is confirmed by (Bakhmach
et al., 2009):

Main conclusions concerning FPGA-based MVS
development and implementation experience are
the following: FPGA-based multi-version I&Cs
are used in NPPs during 6-8 last years, i.e. these
systems are a new object of analysis and still
more unique one; the FPGA technology gives ad-
ditional possibilities to develop MVSs and ensure