NOVI chooses VORAGO radiation-hardened microcontroller for space computer that will fly on SpaceX mission
AUSTIN, Texas – Space computing experts at NOVI LLC in Arlington, Va., needed a radiation-hardened microcontroller for the company's second-generation space rated flight computer. They found their solution from VORAGO Technologies in Austin, Texas.
NOVI spacecraft computing designers have chosen the VORAGO Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller for the SpaceX Transporter-12 mission to launch small satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as early as this October from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.
NOVI’s second-generation space-rated flight computer, which has an AMD Versal adaptive system-on-chip (SoC) and the VORAGO Arm Cortex-M4, has completed testing and is scheduled to fly its first space mission on the Transporter-12 mission this fall.
“We initially selected the VORAGO M4 processor as a supervisor for the main SoC to provide the highest levels of radiation performance," says Jonathan King, director of product development for NOVI LLC.
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"We quickly discovered that the high performance and rich peripheral set of the MCU enabled it to take on a more primary role in managing the spacecraft bus, offloading many tasks from the Versal SoC to the VORAGO rad hard MCU," King says.
"This enables a highly efficient dual strategy that leverages the AMD adaptive SoC for intensive AI applications while reducing the overall power envelope necessary for the spacecraft,” King says.
Among the VORAGO M4 processors are the VA41630 Hi-Rel, high performance microcontroller with integrated NVM; the VA41620 Hi-Rel, high performance microcontroller; the VA41629 Hi-Rel, high performance microcontroller; and the VA41628 Hi-Rel, high performance microcontroller.
The VA41630 can withstand more than 200 kilorads of radiation, has 64 kilobits of data memory, 8-channel A/D converter, 2-channel D/A converter, Ethernet, SpaceWire, 256 kilobits of NVM, and is available in 176 CQFP, 176 PQFP, 196 BGA.
The VA41620 can withstand more than 300 kilorads of radiation, has 256 kilobits of programmable memory, 64 kilobits of data memory, an 8-channel A/D converter, a 2-channel D/A converter, Ethernet and SpaceWire and is available in 176 CQFP, 176 PQFP, 196 BGA.
The VA41629 can withstand more than 300 kilorads of radiation, has 256 kilobits of programmable memory, 64 kilobits data memory, 8-channel A/D converter, 2-channel D/A converter, and is available in 176 PQFP, 196 BGA.
The VA41628 can withstand more than 300 kilorads of radiation, has 256 kilobits of programmable memory, 64 kilobits of data memory, and is available in 128 CQFP, 196 BGA.
For more information contact VORAGO Technologies online at www.voragotechannelcom, or NOVI LLC at www.novillc.com.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
