Improvement of Electronic-Computer Reliability through the Use of Redundancy

Physical elements used for switching logic have finite probability of failure. The application of redundancy to logic circuits is presented for improving computer reliability. This paper shows various redundant configurations considered and the conclusionon drawn. From all of the considerations, the majority gate provides a practical method for increasing the reliability. It shows that for operating periods which are short compared to the mean time to failure of the elements, a substantial increase in system reliability is obtained with majority-gate redundancy.