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

Conference · Sun Dec 01 00:00:00 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-; CODEN: IETNA
• Journal Information: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States), Vol. 38:6; Conference: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) annual international nuclear and space radiation effects conference, San Diego, CA (United States), 15-19 Jul 1991; ISSN 0018-9499
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
MICROPROCESSORS
RADIATION EFFECTS
COMMERCIAL SECTOR
COMPUTERS
COSMIC RADIATION
COST
DOSE RATES
INHIBITION
IONIZATION
LAWRENCE LIVERMORE LABORATORY
OPERATION
PERFORMANCE
PROTON REACTIONS
RADIATION HARDENING
SPACE
SPACE VEHICLES
TESTING
TOLERANCE
BARYON REACTIONS
CHARGED-PARTICLE REACTIONS
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
HADRON REACTIONS
HARDENING
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEON REACTIONS
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VEHICLES
440200* - Radiation Effects on Instrument Components
Instruments
or Electronic Systems
661320 - Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magnetospheric Phenomena- (1992-)