Microchip extends SuperFlash family with 50krad TID memory
The second SuperFlash memory to be space-qualified has been announced by Microchip. The SST26LF064RT memory device is a COTS-based RT SuperFlash memory with 50krad total ionising dose (TID) tolerance. The 64Mbit serial quad I/O NOR flash memory device is suitable for use in harsh aerospace and defence system environments.
According to Bob Vampola, associate vice president of Aerospace and Defense at Microchip, the SST26LF064RT brings the best TID performance on the market to a 64Mbit serial quad I/O memory and is designed to work alongside any SRAM-based FPGA in diverse space applications. “It is ideal for systems used in low earth orbit (LEO) space constellations and other harsh radiation environments where companion flash memory is required for storing the critical software code or bitstream that drives the complete system,” he adds.
Microchip SuperFlash NOR flash memory products use a proprietary split-gate cell architecture to improve performance, data retention and reliability compared to conventional stacked gate flash. They eliminate the complexity of power management switching to achieve what Microchip claims is an industry high TID even while the flash is still biased and operating in systems such as satellite on board computers or controllers for motors, sensors, solar panels and power distribution.
Microchip’s first RT SuperFlash device was the parallel-interface 64Mbit SST38LF6401RT. The SST26LF064RT is Microchip’s serial quad I/O 64Mbit memory option.
An application note is available, explaining how to use the serial 64Mbit SuperFlash device with Microchip’s SST26LF064RT RT flash reference evaluation board and space-qualified SRAM-based FPGAs.
Like Microchip’s parallel SuperFlash memory, the serial SuperFlash option can also be used as configuration memory with an FPGA and other Microchip devices such as the Arm Cortex-M7- based SAMRH707 radiation-hardened microcontroller and rad-hard microprocessor, the SAMRH71. It can also be used with the RT PolarFire FPGA (RTG4 and RT Polarfire) to support in-flight system reconfiguration.
Ceramic samples of the RT SST26LF064RT SuperFlash memory are available for sale. The SST38LF6401RT (parallel) ceramic and plastic qualified flight models are also available for sale now.
