Altitude and latitude variations in avionics SEU and atmospheric neutron flux

Author

Normand, E. ; Baker, T.J.

Author_Institution

Boeing Defense & Space Group, Seattle, WA, USA

Volume

40

Issue

6

fYear

1993

fDate

12/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1484

Lastpage

1490

Abstract

The direct cause of single event upsets (SEUs) in static random-access memories (SRAMs) at aircraft altitudes by atmospheric neutrons has been documented previously. The variation of the in-flight SEU rate with latitude is demonstrated by new data over a wide range of geographical locations. Measurements and models of the atmospheric neutron flux are also evaluated to characterize its variation with altitude, latitude, and solar activity. The data confirm the validity of the initial conclusions of A. Taber and E. Normand (1993) regarding the cause/effect relationship between the atmospheric neutron flux and the measured SEU rate. The Wilson-Nealy atmospheric neutron model allows solar activity variations to be accounted for and is also more accurate in representing the nonseparable relationship between altitude and latitude variations

Keywords

SRAM chips; aerospace instrumentation; aerospace simulation; neutron effects; radiation hardening (electronics); Wilson-Nealy atmospheric neutron model; altitude variations; atmospheric neutron flux; avionics SEU; latitude variations; solar activity; static random-access memories; Aerospace electronics; Aircraft; Atmosphere; Atmospheric measurements; Atmospheric modeling; Neutrons; Protons; Random access memory; Shape measurement; Single event upset;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.273514

Filename

273514