Method for fault-tolerant operation of a processing unit and of a processing arrangement, circuit arrangement, and computing unit

A circuit arrangement comprising:

• a processing unit;
• and
• a control arrangement;
• wherein the processing unit includes a plurality of sub-processing units, wherein each sub-processing unit is configured to process one or more partwords and to determine a result partword from the one or more partwords, wherein the processing unit can be configured in a plurality of operation modes and is configured to process partwords of input words, which are arranged in sections of the input words, in the sub-processing units corresponding to the sections, and to determine an output word from the result partwords determined thereby depending on a configured operation mode of the processing unit;
• wherein the control arrangement is configured to:
• for input words to be processed, which are provided for processing by the processing unit in a first operation mode of the plurality of operation modes when there is a fault in a sub-processing unit or the processing unit:
• determine adaptation partwords from input words to be processed, which are suitable for processing in at least one fault-free functioning sub-processing unit, and forming adaptation input words, in which the adaptation partwords are arranged in sections corresponding to the at least one fault-free functioning sub-processing unit;
• and
• process the adaptation input words by the processing unit in a second operation mode of the plurality of operation modes, in order to determine an adaptation output word.

A method for fault-tolerant operation of a processing arrangement which includes a large number of processing units, wherein each processing unit includes a plurality of sub-processing units, wherein each sub-processing unit is configured to process one or more partwords and to determine a result partword from the one or more partwords, wherein each processing unit can be configured in a plurality of operation modes and is configured to process partwords of input words, which are arranged in sections of the input words, in the sub-processing units corresponding to the sections, and to determine an output word from the result partwords determined thereby depending on a configured operation mode, the method comprising:

• providing a large number of input words for processing in a first operation mode in processing units of the large number of processing units allocated to the input words;
• based on there being a fault for at least one processing unit of the large number of processing units, the processing of the input words allocated to the at least one processing unit for which there is a fault is effected by:
• determining adaptation partwords from input words to be processed, which are suitable for processing in at least one fault-free functioning sub-processing unit, and forming adaptation input words, in which the adaptation partwords are arranged in sections corresponding to the at least one fault-free functioning sub-processing unit, and
• processing the adaptation input words by the processing unit in a second operation mode of the plurality of operation modes, in order to determine an adaptation output word;
• and
• wherein the processing of the input words that are allocated to processing units for which there is no fault is effected in the first operation mode.

A computing unit, comprising:

• a processing arrangement including a large number of processing units, wherein each processing unit includes a plurality of sub-processing units, wherein each sub-processing unit is configured to process one or more partwords and to determine a result partword from the one or more partwords, wherein each processing unit can be configured in a plurality of operation modes and is designed to process partwords of input words, which are arranged in sections of the input words, in the sub-processing units corresponding to the sections, and to determine an output word from the result partwords determined thereby depending on the respectively configured operation mode;
• and
• a control unit configured to:
• provide a large number of input words for processing in a first operation mode in processing units of the large number of processing units allocated to the input words,
• based on there being a fault for at least one processing unit of the large number of processing units, the processing of the input words allocated to the at least one processing unit for which there is a fault is effected by:
• determining adaptation partwords from input words to be processed, which are suitable for processing in at least one fault-free functioning sub-processing unit, and forming adaptation input words, in which the adaptation partwords are arranged in sections corresponding to the at least one fault-free functioning sub-processing unit, and
• processing the adaptation input words by the processing unit in a second operation mode of the plurality of operation modes, in order to determine an adaptation output word;
• and
• wherein the processing of the input words that are allocated to processing units for which there is no fault is effected in the first operation mode.