Meaning of SEU | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Initialism of Social Exclusion Unit.
   UK, abbreviation, alt-of, historical, initialism
2. Initialism of slightly enriched uranium.
   abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
3. Initialism of single-event upset (a transient soft error/glitch caused by ionizing radiation impacting a chip, producing a bitflip).
   abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“The problem centers on the way intense solar radiation can affect the data used by software that calculates the plane's elevation, says BECA (Belgian Pilot Association). At high altitudes, cosmic rays—high-energy particles from the Sun and distant space—can penetrate aircraft and strike sensitive parts of computer chips. In some cases, this can cause a bit flip, which is when a stored "0" turns into a "1," or vice versa. In technical terms, this is called a single event upset (SEU). Investigators found that ELAC B units (Elevator & Aileron Computers) running software version L104 were more likely to be affected. If corrupted data is fed into the flight-control system, the aircraft's elevators could move unexpectedly. In a worst-case situation, this could push the aircraft close to or beyond safe structural limits.”

CEFR level