CHANDLER, Ariz., June 11, 2019 — Microchip Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MCHP), via its Microsemi subsidiary, collaborated with STAR-Dundee to create an evaluation platform that implements SpaceFibre technology, which was recently recognized by the VITA Standards Organization (VSO) as a control-and-data plane option for its SpaceVPX interconnect standard.
The SpaceFibre standard is already published as a very high-speed serial link standard by the European Cooperation for Space Standardization.
The STAR-Dundee 3U SpaceVPX demonstration board speeds the development of flexible, high-speed SpaceVPX (VITA-78)-compliant data-networking systems for space applications. As the first of its kind to feature FPGAs that are immune to radiation-induced configuration changes, the development board uses the unique architecture of Microchip’s RTG4 devices to optimize performance while providing systems with a critical additional level of failure protection in space.
As SpaceVPX increases in popularity for use in payload processor and system controller modules, the SpaceVPX-compliant platform utilizing SpaceFibre technology and Microchip’s RTG4 FPGAs provides the following benefits:
- Offers much higher performance than was possible with the previous SpaceWire data transmission standard
- Supports increasing demand for data to be transmitted between boards and systems onboard modern spacecraft
- Reduces mass and in return reduces cost by operating over electrical or fiberoptic cables
- Improves system reliability by enabling virtual planes to carry data, control and management information
- Protects spaceflight systems from configuration upsets in harsh radiation environments through built-in radiation mitigation techniques
Microchip’s non-volatile RTG4 FPGAs include logic resources, digital signal processing math blocks and 24 on-chip high-speed serializer/deserializer (SERDES) lanes and can be used to implement data-handling and processing subsystems that have multi-Gbit/s SpaceFibre interfaces. Additional information on the RTG4 FPGAs is available here.
About Microchip Technology
Microchip Technology Inc. is a leading semiconductor supplier of smart, connected and secure embedded control solutions. Its easy-to-use development tools and comprehensive product portfolio enable customers to create optimal designs which reduce risk while lowering total system cost and time to market. The company’s solutions serve more than 125,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications and computing markets. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the Microchip website at www.microchip.com.
