[Starlink] risc-v in space

[Vint Cerf]

ok to share with non-list colleagues?

v


On Tue, Sep 6, 2022 at 3:51 PM Bruce Perens via Starlink <
starlink at lists.bufferbloat.net> wrote:

>
>
>> The larger question I have though, is how much do we know now about
>> rad-hardening electronics in space?
>>
> I've learned some.
>
> Not quite related to that, but if you want to run an Open Source Space
> project in the US without running afoul of ITAR and EAR, I can tell you
> how. The policy I created was approved by Department of State and
> Department of Commerce.
>
> Here is a simple explanation for the uninitiated:
>
> This is less severe for LEO because the satellites don't traverse the van
> Allen belts. But the coronal mass ejections we are having just now and
> their associated electrical effects could make the situation worse whatever
> orbit you are in.
>
> The largest problem we have is that radiation can trigger a junction to
> conduct. If you have built your chip on a semiconductor substrate, that
> means that some random chip feature can start conducting to the substrate
> and latch that way until power is removed. Overcurrent can blow details
> right off of the chip. So, you must build your chip on an insulating
> substrate. This used to be silicon on sapphire, which was incredibly
> expensive. Silicon on insulator does the job. It happens that many common
> FPGAs are built on insulator, so that is a cheap way to get space-robust
> processing.
>
> Second issue is that you can get random triggering of junctions. This
> means that chips can do the unexpected, and you need redundancy on-chip or
> off, and a way to power off the chip because sometimes nothing else will
> reset it. You also need error-correction on your memory, and a process that
> continually "washes" your memory by reading it, and writing the corrected
> data.
>
> It doesn't work to shield your electronics with some dense material like
> lead. The problem is that a high-energy particle can hit that and turn into
> lots of lower-energy particles that are actually more harmful. So, a thick
> enough shield to stop all of these secondary emissions is usually not
> practical.
>
> If you have enough money, you can pay a company like Vorago for a
> space-qualified processor. It's pin-compatible with a non-space version of
> the same CPU, so you can test it cheaply.
>
> and of course we see astronauts using COTS laptops.
>
>
> Those laptops aren't mission-critical. The risk to the astronauts is
> probably a worse problem, for missions that traverse the van Allen belts.
> Apollo used the location of a low-energy region, and got through there
> quickly. Interplanetary missions are probably going to require lots of
> water around the place where the people stay when there's a solar flare.
>
>     Thanks
>
>     Bruce
>
>
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Vint Cerf
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until further notice
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