ESA uses an OpenSparc fork, LEON. http://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Techno...
And that's expected to be succeeded by NOEL (LEON anagram), a radiation hardened RISC-V CPU focused on high reliability.
The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
21–30 of 90 posts
Re: The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
#22How do these circuits deal with random bit flipping from cosmic rays?
There's three basic ways this is done: 1: By process, where chips are created with special or larger features to better resist cosmic rays. This is Expensive since they're made in very low volumes and the cost of the new fab line can't be spread among many millions of units. Instead, a few thousand chips might be made. 2: By design, where redundant systems such as triple redundant memory or voting computers are used.…
As sending mass to space becomes cheaper I wonder if shielding will become more popular... Maybe there is some oil-like material that could serve bath as a cooling bath and as a radiation shield?
Re: The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's three basic ways this is done: 1: By process, where chips are created with special or larger features to better resist cosmic rays. This is Expensive since they're made in very low volumes and the cost of the new fab line can't be spread among many millions of units. Instead, a few thousand chips might be made. 2: By design, where redundant systems such as triple redundant memory or voting computers are used.…
As sending mass to space becomes cheaper I wonder if shielding will become more popular... Maybe there is some oil-like material that could serve bath as a cooling bath and as a radiation shield?
[deleted]
Re: The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's three basic ways this is done: 1: By process, where chips are created with special or larger features to better resist cosmic rays. This is Expensive since they're made in very low volumes and the cost of the new fab line can't be spread among many millions of units. Instead, a few thousand chips might be made. 2: By design, where redundant systems such as triple redundant memory or voting computers are used.…
As sending mass to space becomes cheaper I wonder if shielding will become more popular... Maybe there is some oil-like material that could serve bath as a cooling bath and as a radiation shield?
As mentioned in another comment, water is a radiation shield, but ionizing radiation in space will attenuate 50% after 7cm of water (I could be wrong), and if you want a lot of attenuation, you need a lot of water (which is extremely heavy).
A small amount of water for shielding is undoubtedly much more massive than simply using bigger, rad-hard processors.
Re: The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
#25On some of the silicon details: https://habr.com/en/post/518366/
Re: The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
#26[deleted]
> Saying there are physical backup controls is a bit like saying there are backup controls at the bottom on your new TV. Can you expand on this? Are you against physical backup controls?
What they were trying to say is that physical backup controls are often incomplete and inconvenient, just like how you can control a TV using the buttons on it but doing so is far less effective than using the remote. The idea is that making physical controls the primary interface (rather than the backup) for critical tasks means that more effort would go into making them ergonomic and effective.
Re: The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
#27There have been none RAD hard CPUs working in space. https://www.hpe.com/us/en/insights/articles/the-space-statio...
Re: The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
#28When I see posts like this, I always think about how insane it will be in 2520 if we keep the same innovation growth (and not die to whatever)
Re: The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
As sending mass to space becomes cheaper I wonder if shielding will become more popular... Maybe there is some oil-like material that could serve bath as a cooling bath and as a radiation shield?
As mentioned in another comment, water is a radiation shield, but ionizing radiation in space will attenuate 50% after 7cm of water (I could be wrong), and if you want a lot of attenuation, you need a lot of water (which is extremely heavy). A small amount of water for shielding is undoubtedly much more massive than simply using bigger, rad-hard processors.
I don't see any comments about water on this post?
If we're talking about $50/kg [1] in the future... well...
- Sending a few kg of water (or other shielding) to space costs a fraction of the price of a fast non-rad-hardened CPU.
- It really costs less than the extra development cost associated with having to use bespoke toolchains.
[1] Number from the other space post on the front page today: https://getmeflyingcars.medium.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-...
Re: The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
#30Space flight computers in the public sector are generally 15-20 years behind the types of hardware we commonly work with on the ground, as I think this page shows. We now have pretty capable low-power SoCs and FPGAs that we've yet to see broadly leveraged for govt. space applications. SpaceX flies Starlink with Xilinx FPGAs, while NASA and DoD are still baselining new platforms on incredibly expensive (albeit rad-har…
My understanding is that certification is the bottle neck, in both time and cost. No one wants to spend the money or time to flight certify something new when something already battle tested will suffice. But your comment makes me wonder if the private sector doesn't have those certification requirements? The other differentiating factor is that the private sector is not sending multi-year (indeed multi-decade) deep…
How do you battle test a RAD prototype? Stick it in microwave like device with ionizing radiation and see how many bit-flips occur?