Operation of commercial R3000 processors in the low earth orbit (LEO) space environment

Conference · Sat Nov 30 23:00:00 EST 1991 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States)

OSTI ID:5613870

Kaschmitter, J L; Shaeffer, D L; Colella, N J ^[1]; McKnett, C L; Coakley, P G ^[2]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
2. JAYCOR, Santa Monica, CA (United States)

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 environments. 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. In this paper the authors characterize total dose and SEP effects for altitudes and inclinations of interest to systems operating in LEO, and the authors postulate techniques for detection and alleviation of SEP effects based on experimental results.

• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5613870
• Report Number(s): CONF-910751--
• Journal Information: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States), Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States) Vol. 38:6; ISSN 0018-9499; ISSN IETNA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440200* -- Radiation Effects on Instrument Components
Instruments
or Electronic Systems
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
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71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BARYON REACTIONS
CHARGED-PARTICLE REACTIONS
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NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEON REACTIONS
OPERATION
PERFORMANCE
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
PROTON REACTIONS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATION HARDENING
RADIATIONS
SPACE
SPACE VEHICLES
TESTING
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US DOE
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