MMU-NXT – Power and Thermal Design of a Next Generation High Data-Performance Mass Memory Unit

16 Oct 2025, 14:00
20m
Auditorium

Auditorium

Presentation On-board data handling architectures Mass Memory & Compression

Speaker

Markus Ahrens (DSI Aerospace GmbH)

Description

The increasing data rate demands of upcomingEarth observation missions require next-generation mass memoryunits (MMUs) capable of significantly higher throughput thancurrent solutions. In response, the MMU-NXT project — devel-oped within the ESA GSTP framework — introduces a state-of-the-art memory system featuring high-performance componentssuch as a Versal FPGA, DDR4 RAM, QDRII+ SRAM, andhigh-speed SpaceFibre interfaces, supporting data rates up to20 Gbit/s and 48 Tbit storage capacity. This paper focuses onthe power architecture of the Mass Memory Module (MMM),addressing the challenges of delivering precise and efficientpower to multiple high-current and noise-sensitive voltage rails.In addition, the thermal management strategy, including heatextraction techniques for the FPGA and memory components, ispresented and validated through simulation. The results providea robust baseline for future high-performance satellite memorysystems.

Author

Markus Ahrens (DSI Aerospace GmbH)

Co-authors

Dr Christian Spindeldreier (DSI Aerospace GmbH) Ertan Göklü (DSI Aerospace GmbH) Felix Prautzsch (DSI Aerospace GmbH) Jan Frederik Wagenfeld (DSI Aerospace GmbH) Ole Bischoff (DSI Aerospace GmbH)

Presentation materials