"Radiation Hardening by Design" Techniques Improve Commercial FPGA Published Dec. 13, 2010 By Eva Blaylock Space Vehicles KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico -- After nearly 3 years of building test circuits and prototypes, Xilinx Corporation has planned an initial pilot run of its fully redesigned Virtex-5™ field-programmable gate array--a flagship device that, thanks to Air Force Research Laboratory-developed radiation hardening techniques, will be better able to withstand space-environment extremes. The shortcomings of using common commercial electronics for space applications include extensive radiation-induced damage, unique parts acquisition problems, and lengthy timelines for acquiring custom parts. Meanwhile, the nonrecurring engineering costs of redesigning and fabricating specially hardened parts is often prohibitive. AFRL's Spacecraft Electronics Branch is working to solve problems of affordability and scheduling for custom electronic functions, and Xilinx Corporation's complete circuit-by-circuit, block-by-block redesign effort--involving about a billion transistors--translates to what is by far the most complex and advanced chip ever hardened for space. Xilinx plans to start beta testing with seven early-adopters representing major satellite and missile prime contractors, followed by an off-the-shelf product announcement thereafter. With this radiation-hardened FPGA development, Air Force space and missile avionics programs will be able to develop the next-generation electronics capabilities they need at a fraction of the cost of custom logic chips.