Speakers
Description
In the New Space era, the challenge of determining the need for high-cost radiation-tolerant components versus the viability of using more affordable Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) parts is increasingly relevant. This decision-making process highlights the need for effective radiation monitoring within satellite payloads to ensure the reliability of systems operating in harsh environments.
The Heinrich Hertz Satellite (H2Sat), launched in 2023 into GEO, is equipped with the Fraunhofer On-Board Processor (FOBP), which features two Xilinx Virtex 5QV FPGAs running LEON3FT Softcores. This advanced architecture enables onboard processing and dynamic reconfiguration. The Total Ionizing Dose (TID) is measured using calibrated Ultra-Violet Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (UV-EPROM), while Single Event Upsets (SEUs) are monitored through Static Random-Access Memory (SRAM). In particular, radiation impacts on memory cells are detected, allowing to evaluate radiation effects on COTS components.
Central to this mission is a robust and extendable IT infrastructure. Our cloud-native ground station enables easy adaptation and integration, while the FOBP utilizes a powerful in-band Telemetry/Command (TM/TC) connection supported by a full TCP/IP stack allowing efficient implementation of new tasks, facilitating real-time transmission of radiation data to ground stations. Onboard processing enables immediate data analysis without transmission of large raw datasets, while critical long-term data is preserved in a ground station database for future research and analysis.
For this purpose, we present a method for creating a flexible and reconfigurable FPGA-based space segment, along with the corresponding ground segment, illustrated through the implementation of live space weather monitoring.
Affiliation of author(s)
Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
Am Wolfsmantel 33, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| Track | Reconfiguration |
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