The last 20 years have seen the explosion of FPGA technology used in many different end applications, including those within harsh environments. It therefore follows that system developers wish these devices to operate correctly and safely regardless of environment. When engineers design for a spaceflight mission, there are three main environmental factors that will impact performance: radiation; temperature; and vibration and shock. Of course, the type of spaceflight mission will impact to what degree these factors need to be considered. For a launcher, for example, vibration and shock are perhaps more critical than the total radiation dose the launcher will encounter during its brief lifetime. For this reason, when talking about spaceflight there are four major classes of mission to consider, each with typical orbits and lifetimes (which is not to say those lifetimes will not be extended). 1. Launcher - typical lifetime less than 20,000 seconds 2. Telecommunications - 17-year operating life, geosynchronous orbit 3. Science - Seven-year interplanetary mission, e.g. Solar Orbiter 4. Earth Observation / Space Station / Constellation - Seven years, low earth orbit. Typically, telecommunications processors have the most stringent design requirements. Not only are they required to operate for up to 17 years in a geosynchronous orbit, but they also require high availability due to their commercial application. It is therefore this class of mission we will focus upon.
展开▼
