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Operation of commercial R3000 processors in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space environment

Conference · · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/23.124126· OSTI ID:10116889
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. JAYCOR, Inc., Santa Monica, CA (United States)
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Spacecraft processors must operate with minimal degradation of performance in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) radiation environment, which includes the effects of total accumulated ionizing dose and Single Event Phenomena (SEP) caused by protons and cosmic rays. Commercially available microprocessors can offer a number of advantages relative to radiation-hardened devices, including lower cost, reduced development and procurement time, extensive software support, higher density and performance. However, commercially available systems are not normally designed to tolerate effects induced by the LEO environment. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and others have extensively tested the MIPS R3000 Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) microprocessor family for operation in LEO environments. We have characterized total dose and SEP effects for altitudes and inclinations of interest to systems operating in LEO, and we postulate techniques for detection and alleviation of SEP effects based on experimental results.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
10116889
Report Number(s):
UCRL-JC--107525; CONF-910751--15; ON: DE92006894
Journal Information:
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science Vol. 38; ISSN 1558-1578; ISSN 0018-9499
Publisher:
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (4)

High energy proton SEU test results for the commercially available MIPS R3000 microprocessor and R3010 floating point unit journal December 1991
The Variability of Single Event Upset Rates in the Natural Environment journal January 1983
Reliability Issues in Computing System Design journal June 1978
Single event upsets in space conference January 1983

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Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
426000
440200
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
COMPONENTS
ELECTRON DEVICES AND CIRCUITS
COSMIC RADIATION
DESIGN
MICROPROCESSORS
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION EFFECTS ON INSTRUMENT COMPONENTS
INSTRUMENTS
OR ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
SATELLITES