Product category: Programmable Logic Devices
News Release from: Actel Europe
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 16 July 2003
Radiation-tolerant FPGAs to
join ESA missions
Actel's RTSX-S radiation-tolerant FPGAs have been selected for extensive use on the Herschel and Planck space probes, scheduled for launch by the European Space Agency in 2007
The Herschel and Planck probes will study infra-red radiation and cosmic background radiation, respectively. The RT54SX32S and RT54SX72S parts will be used for many flight-critical functions on the space explorations, including interfacing and control, coprocessing and data handling, as well as mission-critical functions within various scientific instruments.
Related stories
Programmable design powers up MicroTCA systems
Jasper Electronics has developed a MicroTCA power supply using Actel's MicroTCA Power Module reference platform and Fusion Programmable System Chip
Space forum moves on to India
Following on the success of its events in the USA and Europe, Actel Corp will host the first annual Actel Space Forum (ASF) India on 10th April 2007 in Bangalore
Actel's RTSX-S FPGAs were also chosen by Systems Engineering and Assessment (SEA) of Bath, UK, for its cooler drive processor, which requires resistance to single-event upsets (SEUs) and tolerance to total ionising dose (TID).
Incorporated in the high-frequency instrument (HFI) on the Planck space probe, the circuit maintains the radiation measuring and cooling equipment at a constant temperature of -269C.
Alan Senior, Principal Consultant at SEA, comments: "Because we could not risk any upsets to the cooler drive processor, the Actel RT54SX32S FPGAs met our requirements exactly and the required TID performance was easily achieved.
Further reading
FPGAs to blow hot and cold at ESC
Actel will highlight its transformation of 'hot ideas' into 'cool' Flash-based FPGA solutions through demonstrations and training sessions at the 2007 Embedded Systems Conference
Further, the device's SEU-hardened flip-flops were vital for storing important status and control bits in the system.
In addition, we had to make some late adjustments to the FPGA design and I/O definition, and we were confident that the Actel part would reroute easily, preventing the need for a printed circuit board respin".
"Shipping to European space programs since early 2001, the RTSX-S FPGAs have received remarkable acceptance.
Further, with more than 200 Actel devices onboard, the Herschel and Planck missions mark the largest ever use of Actel FPGAs on a European space programme", explains Joe Wells, Aerospace Business Development Manager, Actel Europe.
"We believe these designs are the result of our commitment to be a key player in space technology and we hope the addition of the recently announced high-density RTAX-S family to our space offerings will enable future design successes and breakthroughs in space".
Request free introductory details about products from Actel Europe....
• Actel Europe: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Related Business News
Uarts Meet Eia/tia-485 Specifications.
Operating from single 3-5.5 V supply at data rates up to 8 Mbps, series XR19L402/400 single/dual-channel 8-bit UARTs with integrated RS-485 transceiver work in active, partial sleep, full sleep, and power-save modes.
Cut FPGA power usage
Designers should consider BOM, cost, power board size and time-to-market when creating a new design. Hezi Saar gives tips and tricks about the factors in selecting an FPGA to implement the design.
Taiwan Shares Climb 0.9 Percent
Taiwan shares rose on Thursday as investors were cheered by U.S. stock gains overnight. The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange rose 49.39 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 8061.28.
Acxiom Agrees to Be Acquired by...
...Silver Lake and ValueAct Capital for $3.0 Billion. Acxiom Corporation announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Silver Lake, the leading investment firm focused on large-scale investments in technology-driven growth industries, and ValueAct
Opnext Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Operating Results
Opnext, Inc. , a global leader in the design and manufacturing of optical modules and components, today announced preliminary and unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended March 31, 2007.
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
