What are the applications of FPGA in the aerospace field?

1. introduction

　　 Field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) is a programmable signal processing device. Users can define their functions by changing configuration information to meet design requirements. Compared with traditional digital circuit systems, FPGAs have the advantages of programmable, high integration, high speed and high reliability. By configuring the logic functions and input/output ports inside the device, the original circuit board-level design is placed on the chip. , Improve the circuit performance, reduce the workload and difficulty of the printed circuit board design, effectively improve the flexibility and efficiency of the design. The advantages of using FPGA for designers:

　　(1) Reduce the demand for the required device varieties, and help reduce the volume and weight of the circuit board;

　　(2) Increase the flexibility of modifying the design after the circuit board is completed;

　　(3) Design modification is flexible, which helps shorten product delivery time;

　　(4) After the number of devices is reduced, the number of solder joints is reduced, which can improve the reliability. In particular, it is worth mentioning that in the case of higher and higher circuit operating frequencies, the use of FPGAs to implement complex circuit functions reduces electromagnetic interference problems caused by improper PCB wiring on board-level circuits and helps ensure circuit performance.

　　 FPGA is also the best way to realize the application specific integrated circuit (ASIC, Application specific integrated circuit) at the current stage. Using commercial off-the-shelf FPGAs to design on-board electronic systems for spacecraft such as micro-satellites can reduce costs. Using the abundant logic resources in FPGA to carry out on-chip redundancy and fault-tolerant design is a good way to meet the reliability requirements of on-board electronic systems. At present, with the continuous development of satellite technology, the continuous improvement of user technical indicators and the increasingly fierce market competition, functional integration and light and miniaturization have become a mainstream trend in spaceborne electronic equipment. The use of miniaturization technology can reduce the size, weight, and power consumption of spaceborne electronic equipment, and improve the spacecraft's ability to carry payloads and the power efficiency ratio. The use of high-function integrated miniaturized devices can reduce the size of the printed board, reduce the number of pads, and make full use of redundancy technology to improve the fault tolerance of the system. The key to the miniaturization of space-borne digital circuits is the selection of devices, including the selection of embedded high-integration devices. Among them, the selection of high-density programmable logic devices FPGA is an important implementation method.

　　 At present, in the design of aerospace remote sensors, FPGA is widely used in the main control system CPU to expand the function of CCD image sensor drive timing generation and high-speed data acquisition. This article reviews the development of FPGAs, analyzes its main structure, and reviews FPGAs for space applications. It points out the requirements of aerospace applications for FPGA and its design, focuses on the analysis of the influence of space radiation effects on the reliability of FPGA, and summarizes the design methods to improve the reliability of FPGA anti-radiation. Finally, the development of FPGA for aerospace applications is prospected.

2. FPGA aerospace application development trend

　　 At present, under SMIC semiconductor technology, traditional FPGA design technology faces challenges in terms of device yield, power consumption, interconnect delay, signal integrity, and design for testability . FPGAs based on traditional technologies are still developing in the direction of high density, high performance, and low power consumption, making FPGAs develop from the initial general-purpose semiconductor devices to platform-based system-level devices. FPGA design based on asynchronous circuits, 3D integration technology, and the application of new semiconductor structures will be the hot spots in the development of FPGA technology.

　　In terms of aerospace and space applications, the summary and predictive analysis of FPGA space applications by foreign aerospace indicate that the selection of FPGAs for space applications shows the following trends:

　　(1) The working voltage of the device has changed from 5 V to 3.3 V, 2.5 V or even 1.8 V;

　　(2) From the use of total-dose reinforcement FPGA to the use of total-dose resistant FPGA products;

　　(3) From the application of SEU sensitive register FPGA to the FPGA with built-in register TMR structure;

　　 (4) From an anti-fuse FPGA that only uses one-time programming to a resettable FPGA based on SRAM/EEPROM.

　　The outstanding problem brought about by this selection trend is: the register is sensitive to SEU to the FPGA is sensitive to SEU; the design complexity of configuration storage FPGA has been comparable to that of ASIC.

　　 This article reviews the use of FPGAs in aerospace applications. The structural characteristics of FPGA are analyzed, and the failure modes and reliability design methods of FPGA for aerospace applications are analyzed according to the irradiation conditions of aerospace and space environments. Finally, the development of FPGA and its reliability design technology for aerospace applications is prospected.

If you want to know more, our website has product specifications for FPGA, you can go to ALLICDATA ELECTRONICS LIMITED to get more information