Designers of spaceflight-qualified systems have a great need to reduce development time, cost and risk in their systems. Microchip Technology Inc. proposed the concept of starting with Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) devices and then replacing them with space-qualified, Radiation-Tolerant (RT) equivalent parts. Microchip today announces that it has expanded its range of COTS-based RT SuperFlash options for these applications . It will be bringing Microchip memory technology’s unparalleled 50-kilo Kilowatts (krad) total ionizing Dose (TID) capability to 64-Mbit serial quad flash memory device that is suitable for use in the harsh environment of defense and aerospace.
“The SST26LF064RT SuperFlash device brings the best TID performance on the market to a 64-Mbit serial quad I/O memory solution that works alongside any SRAM-based FPGA in diverse space applications,” said Bob Vampola, associate vice president of Aerospace and Defense at Microchip. “It is ideal for systems used in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space constellations and other harsh radiation environments where companion flash memory is required for storing the critical software code or bitstream that drives the complete system.”
Microchip SuperFlash NOR flash memory products utilize the split-gate cell technology to increase efficiency, data retention and reliability when in comparison to traditional stack gate. They can eliminate the hassle of power management switch to reach their industry-leading TID while the flash is biased and is operating in systems like satellite on-board computers , as well as various kinds of motor controllers sensors, solar panels, as well as power distribution. Tested in industrial applications, Microchip’s RT SuperFlash technology is provided as a parallel interface using it’s 64Mbit SST38LF6401RT device, which is certified for space and is available in flight models. With the SST26LF064RT device designers now have the option of a serial quad I/O 64-Mbit memory option.
A user’s guide describes how to use the 64-Mbit serial SuperFlash device in conjunction with Microchip’s SST26LF064RT Flash reference evaluation board as well as space-qualified FPGAs that are based on SRAM. Similar to Microchip’s super parallel SuperFlash memory and this serial SuperFlash option is also utilized as a configuration memory using an FPGA as well as other Microchip solutions like the Arm Cortex-M7-based the SAMRH707 radio-hardened microcontroller (MCU). It can also be utilized in conjunction with
