“A PROPOSAL FOR A SPACE FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION OF A DYNAMICALLY RECONFIGURABLE PROGRAMMABLE MODULE WHICH USES FIRMWARE TO REALISE AN ASTRIUM PATENTED COSMIC RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR FOR GENERATING SECURE CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEYS”

摘要

This paper describes a proposal for a space flight demonstration of a Dynamically ReconfigurableProgrammable Board (DRPB) which uses firmware to realise an Astrium patented cosmic randomnumber generator for generating secure cryptographic keys. This demonstrator payload is one of anumber of the payloads selected to be part of the first national UK-Cube satellite (UKube) [1] to besponsored by the UK Space Agency.The UKube mission allows space engineers to gain valuable experience designing and demonstratingnew technology concepts at low cost and within a short period of time. Typically a cube satelliteprogram takes a few months from specification to state where it is ready for flight, compared to a fewyears for a traditional medium to high cost satellite. In this case, the DRPB payload is a new conceptintended to demonstrate the use of volatile configuration memory re-programmable FPGAs in a spaceapplication This technology demonstrator will enable taking the next evolutionary step ofimplementing in flight full /partial reconfgiurability in a follow up demonstrator.The configuration memory for these FPGAs are susceptible to SEU’s which can result in a change tothe devices programmed functionality. This is clearly unacceptable and a number of studies have beencarried out in order to develop techniques which deal with such upsets and ensure the reliable operationof the system. One such study is the ESA funded DRPM studies, the first [2] is being lead by Astrium-UK working together with with DPI-Germany, while the second study [3] is being lead by ??. Theproposed payload will provide valuable information on the effect of SEU on such systems, by countingSEU events in the Flip Flop, RAMS Digital clock managers. Etc to determine how often we see theseand if the correlate with performance during on ground SEU testing. More importantly, to demonstratethe feasibility of the Astrium patented cosmic random number generator for generating securecryptographic keys [4].