According to Neil Stroud, ARM’s director of advanced technology marketing, the company’s technology is seeing increasing use in the space industry, with NASA recently selecting the ARM Cortex-A53 processor as a platform around which suppliers can build next-generation space electronics. “But the new experimental project,” said Stroud, “marks the first time an ARM based radiation-hardened MCU, designed specifically to withstand extreme conditions, has been deployed in space.”
The electronics package – called RHEME, the Radiation Hardened Electronic Memory Experiment – is said to be an important step in enabling next-generation space computing. Over the course of a year, RHEME will monitor the effect of particle strikes on memory, with the experiment monitored and controlled by a Vorago MCU based on the Cortex-M0 core. The results of the experiment will contribute to the design and building of memories that can detect and correct errors in spacecraft electronics and then and eliminate them. In total. there are nine Vorago devices; a combination of MCUs and memories created using Vorago's Hardsil process technology.
Ross Bannatyne, Vorago’s director of marketing, said: “Radiation hardened MCUs are becoming an increasingly favourable choice for designers addressing space computing applications, particularly in small satellite platforms. ARM technology is well placed to meet the needs of these applications, with features such as: low-power consumption, vital as spacecraft are powered by solar energy’ a wide ecosystem of development support; and a small footprint in satellites with significant space constraints. This experiment will provide critical data for the future development of chips powering out of this world applications.”
While space electronics has relied heavily on FPGAs in the past, the experiment could change the way the space industry designs radiation hardened systems, according to ARM. Stroud said: “As space exploration continues to evolve and the reuse of launch vehicles becomes possible, the electronics powering it need to become increasingly scalable, affordable and reliable. Fortunately, the ARM architecture allows for this flexibility.”