ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a defect tolerance methodology based on graceful degradation and dynamic reconfiguration. It introduces a scalable tile-based architecture of a microfluidic array. The chapter also proposes a clustered defect model based on a spatial defect distribution. It examines the graceful degradation of a tile of biochips in the presence of a defect cluster. The chapter presents different reconfiguration schemes based on operation rescheduling and/or resource rebinding. It examines the proposed defect tolerance scheme by PCR and multiplexed in vitro diagnostics on human physiological fluids. The chapter investigates a graceful degradation approach that retains full or partial functionality of a faulty tile. It develops reconfiguration schemes to reallocate the operations of an assay performed in a gracefully degradable tile-based platform. The chapter consider a baseline scheme that attempts to carry out reconfiguration without graceful degradation to evaluate the effectiveness of graceful degradation.
