TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to trap sub-portions of computer-readable instructions, and more specifically to safe operation of safety critical products responsive to trap sub-portions of computer-readable instructions.

BACKGROUND

Stuck-at faults in program counters (PCs) of processing circuits may occur responsive to damage or imperfection of one or more semiconductor devices (e.g., transistors) of the PC. A “stuck-at fault” is an error condition where the output of a bit remains fixed at a particular logic level, irrespective of programming. For example, high-energy particles (e.g., radiative particles such as alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma particles) may penetrate packaging materials of an integrated circuit device and strike a semiconductor chip, which may damage the circuit implementing the PC function. Similar problems may be caused by an address bus, where one or more lines are stuck-at a particular value.

