Xilinx Radiation Hardened Virtex FPGAS Shipping To JPL Mars Mission

RADIATION SPACE

Xilinx Rad Hard Gate Arrays Ready For Mars

nice sunsets but watch the flares

San Jose - May 16, 2001
Xilinx, Inc. has begun shipment of the one-million system-gate radiation hardened Virtex FPGAs, the XQVR1000 device, to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and other customers for deployment in space systems.

The specially processed Virtex devices are guaranteed to 100 Krads (si) total ionizing dose, and are immune to single event latch up. Additionally, to address the growing need for devices used in very high integrity space applications, Xilinx also announced that it will offer QPRO(TM)-PLUS, an enhanced Class V-like process flow optimized for deep sub-micron process technologies.

"The acceptance of Xilinx QPRO products by the space community is a testament to the popularity and importance of standard products in the military market. Xilinx FPGAs have been used successfully in traditional defense applications since the late 1980s," said Howard Bogrow, marketing manager for the Xilinx Aerospace and Defense Products.

"Now, designers of space systems are employing all the advantages of reconfigurability. Plus, the Class V-like processing from Xilinx QPRO-PLUS addresses the concerns regarding the high integrity nature of many missions."

Xilinx QPRO family designed into numerous space and satellite programs

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. has one such program that has selected Virtex devices for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover mission. The Raytheon OPTUS space program is also using these devices. Designers of space systems are choosing Xilinx QPRO Virtex as the platform for their programs because of density, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness.

Doing costly custom ASICs or smaller one-time programmable devices is no longer practical for the increasing complexity of space missions. Additionally, the Xilinx QPRO Virtex devices, with many available IP cores, allow customers to meet aggressive development schedules since they are available off-the-shelf.

The QPRO-PLUS flow, patterned after Class V, includes particle impact noise detection (PIND) (within the package); X-RAY; destruct physical analysis (DPA) (in which the device is actually cut and examined in cross sections); and extended burn-in. Parts processed to QPRO-PLUS will carry a price premium of approximately 40 percent over the standard QPRO flow.

The QPRO radiation hardened Virtex one-million-gate device is available in a 560 pin ceramic column grid array package. The 300,000 and 600,000 system-gate density devices are also available, both in 228 pin ceramic quad flat pack packages.

Xilinx is continuing to develop the Virtex QPRO family. This will result in devices with densities greater than 1 million system gates, and the total ionizing dose of this family is expected to be in excess of 300 Krads (si). Plastic package options to address certain Space customer requirements are also being considered, according to the company.

MARSDAILY

Keeping An Eye On The Rads

Huntsville - May 1, 2001
Alien planets have alien weather. Take Mars, for example. A morning weather report on the Red Planet might sound like this: "Good morning, Martians! It looks like another solar storm heading our way. An X-class solar flare exploded this morning and proton counts have soared 1000-fold. More of the deadly particles are en route, so don't leave shelter today without your radiation suit!"

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