Teledyne e2v and Infineon partner on optimised processor boot solution

The design, which is built around a Teledyne e2v's QLS1046-Space edge computing module, is configured by the radiation-hardened 64MByte Infineon SONOS based NOR Flash memory, enabling high-performance space processing applications. 

The design addresses two challenges in space systems, namely weight and communication limitations. By reducing the number of components in the computing system and enabling AI computation at the edge, it helps to decrease latency and overcome communication restrictions.

The QLS1046-Space is part of Teledyne e2v’s Qormino product portfolio and is based on a 64 bit Quad Arm Cortex A72 processor featuring an integrated 4 GB DDR4 memory. For this reason, the module requires a non-volatile memory for boot-up. The robust radiation-hardened SONOS-based Infineon CYRS17B512 non-volatile memory is highly optimised for processor boot-up and for FPGA configuration. The memory’s QSPI bus can be connected directly to the QLS1046-Space thanks to its 1.8 V support, thus eliminating the need for a voltage translator. 

“The new reference design makes it much easier for space system designers, allowing them to keep everything on schedule and within budget, while reducing engineering effort,” says Thomas Porchez, Application Engineer at Teledyne e2v, in a press release.

Both the QLS1046-Space and the CYRS17B512 have high radiation resilience specifications, so they can provide safe operation and a long lifetime once deployed in space. The combination of the two devices achieves a 100 krad (Si) total ionizing dose (TID) rating and a 60 MeV.cm2/mg single event latch-up (SEL) immunity.

“We expect to see a lot of market interest in the reference design with these two key components, which are necessary to provide a solid space solution for high performance computing applications,” says Helmut Puchner, Vice President & Fellow at Infineon’s Memory Solutions Aerospace & Defense