Abstract—This paper presents a survey of CMF (common-mode
failures) in redundant systems with emphasis on VLSI (very large
scale integration) systems. The paper discusses CMF in redundant
systems, their possible causes, and techniques to analyze reliability
of redundant systems in the presence ofCMF. Current practice and
recent results on the use of design diversity techniques forCMFare
reviewed. By revisiting the CMF problem in the context of VLSI
systems, this paper augments earlier surveys on CMF in nuclear
and power-supply systems. The need for quantifiable metrics and
effective models for CMF in VLSI systems is re-emphasized. These
metrics and models are extremely useful in designing reliable systems.
For example, using these metrics and models, system designers
and synthesis tools can incorporate diversity in redundant
systems to maximize protection against CMF.
Index Terms—Common-mode failures, concurrent error detection,
data integrity, design diversity, redundancy.
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