Title :
Observations of single-event upsets in non-hardened high-density SRAMs in Sun-synchronous orbit
Author :
Underwood, C.I. ; Ward, J.W. ; Dyer, C.S. ; Sims, A.J.
Author_Institution :
Surrey Satellite Technol. Ltd., Surrey Univ., Guildford, UK
fDate :
12/1/1992 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Observations of single-event upset (SEU) activity in nonhardened static and dynamic RAMs of both low (16-kb) and high (256-kb, 1-Mb), density are presented for a family of small spacecraft in low-earth, near-polar, Sun-synchronous orbits. The observation of single-event multiple-bit upset (MBU) in these devices is discussed, and the implications of such events for error-protection coding schemes are examined. Contrary to expectations, the 1-Mb static RAMs (SRAMs) are more resilient to SEU than the 256-kb SRAMs, and one type of commercial 1-Mb SRAM shows a particularly low error rate
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; SRAM chips; aerospace instrumentation; error correction codes; ion beam effects; proton effects; radiation hardening (electronics); 1 Mbit; 16 kbit; 256 kbit; Sun-synchronous orbit; error-protection coding schemes; high-density SRAMs; multiple-bit upset; nonhardened SRAM; single-event upsets; small spacecraft; Educational institutions; Error correction codes; Payloads; Protection; Random access memory; Satellite broadcasting; Single event upset; Space technology; Space vehicles; Testing;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
