Chip Express builds rad-hard laser PGAs

NASA experts have tested laser programmable gate arrays (LPGAs) from Chip Express Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif., for radiation hardness and approved the devices for a range of space flight missions. The NASA tests were part of a program to evaluate the radiation tolerance of ASIC and FPGA devices to assure that in the drive to switch from special hardened devices to commercial off-the-shelf devices, that main elements of radiation protection are sustained. Laser programmable gate arrays offer "to yield lower cost, high reliability builds with shorter production time while meeting the rigorous demands of the space environment," says Ann Garrison Darrin of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. - J.K.