Microchip Technology (Nasdaq: MCHP) has announced that the firm’s RTG4 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) family is now the first in a Ceramic Quad Flat Pack (CQFP) option to achieve qualification to the industry’s Qualified Manufacturers List (QML) — this achievement will enable space system developers to create systems using more reliable packages that simplify the layout and routing of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) that are also easier to assemble and inspect.
Microchip’s CQFP package with 352 pins for RTG4 FPGAs simplifies system design in applications ranging from satellites and space probes to planet landers and vehicles. The CQFP package option is easier to assemble than Ceramic Column Grid Array packages, further improving reliability while enabling a more cost-effective system integration alternative to higher-pin-count alternatives. It is ideal for control applications that do not require a high number of inputs/outputs (I/Os) or need frequent switching and a high number of temperature cycles.
RTG4 FPGAs give space systems new high-speed signal-processing capabilities and leverage reprogrammable flash memory to provide greater immunity to configuration Single Event Upsets (SEUs) while consuming 40 to 50 percent less power than competing Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) FPGAs. RTG4 FPGAs feature 150,000 Logic Elements (LEs), 462 multipliers and 5.2 megabits (Mb) of memory. With this qualification, Microchip is now able to offer a full range of qualification and screening options for RTG4 FPGAs in the CQFP package suitable for a wide range of space missions from class 1 applications that require QML-V components, to low cost New Space constellations with relaxed screening requirements.
Executive Comment
“We have culminated years of testing, verification and flight heritage to offer a CQFP FPGA at the RTG4 FPGA density and performance level that is qualified to QML Class V, the highest reliability standard for spaceflight systems,” said Shakeel Peera, Associate VP of Marketing for Microchip’s FPGA business unit. “Our high-speed radiation-tolerant RTG4 FPGAs were the first of their kind to achieve QML Class V qualification in any package type. They also were the first in their class to be offered in the 352-pin CQFP that is one of the most popular package types for space flight systems.”