The RAD5500 is a

radiation-hardened Radiation hardening is the process of making electronic components and circuits resistant to damage or malfunction caused by high levels of ionizing radiation (particle radiation and high-energy electromagnetic radiation), especially for environm ...

64-bit processor core design created by

BAE Systems Electronics, Intelligence & Support BAE Systems Electronic Systems (ES) is one of three operating groups of BAE Systems Inc., the North American subsidiary of the British global defence contractor BAE Systems PLC. History BAE Systems acquired Lockheed Martin Aerospace Electronic ...

based on the

PowerPC e5500 The PowerPC e5500 is a 64-bit Power ISA-based microprocessor core from Freescale Semiconductor. The core implements most of the core of the Power ISA v.2.06 with hypervisor support, but not AltiVec. It has a four issue, seven-stage out-of-order ...

Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. was an American semiconductor manufacturer. It was created by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola in 2004. Freescale focused their integrated circuit products on the automotive, embed ...

. Successor of the

RAD750 The RAD750 is a radiation-hardened single-board computer manufactured by BAE Systems Electronics, Intelligence & Support. The successor of the RAD6000, the RAD750 is for use in high-radiation environments experienced on board satellites and spac ...

, the RAD5500 processor platform is for use in high

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

environments experienced on board

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

s and

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

. The RAD5500 core supports

VPX VPX (Virtual Path Cross-Connect), also known as VITA 46, refers to a set of standards for connecting components of a computer (known as a computer bus), commonly used by defense contractors. Some are ANSI standards such as ANSI/VITA 46.0–2019. ...

high speed connectors, DDR2/

DDR3 Double Data Rate 3 Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR3 SDRAM) is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) with a high bandwidth ("double data rate") interface, and has been in use since 2007. It is the higher-speed ...

memory, serialize/deserialize (

SerDes {{Use American English, date = March 2019 A Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) is a pair of functional blocks commonly used in high speed communications to compensate for limited input/output. These blocks convert data between serial data and paral ...

), and

SpaceWire SpaceWire is a spacecraft communication network based in part on the IEEE 1355 standard of communications. It is coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with international space agencies including NASA, JAXA, and RKA. ...

IO.

Processors

The RAD5500 core is based on those of the Freescale Semiconductor e5500-based

QorIQ QorIQ is a brand of ARM-based and Power ISA-based communications microprocessors from NXP Semiconductors (formerly Freescale). It is the evolutionary step from the PowerQUICC platform, and initial products were built around one or more e500mc ...

system-on-chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...

. The RAD5510, RAD5515, RAD5545, and RADSPEED-HB (host bridge) are four

system on a chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...

processors implemented with RAD5500 cores produced with 45 nm

SOI ''Soi'' ( th, ซอย ) is the term used in Thailand for a side-street branching off a major street (''thanon'', th, ถนน). An alley is called a ''trok'' ( th, ตรอก). Overview Sois are usually numbered, and are referred to by th ...

technology from the IBM Trusted Foundry.

RAD5510 and RAD5515

The RAD5510 and RAD5515 processors employ a single RAD5500 core and are intended for medium processing capability in environments that require low power consumption (11.5 and 13.7 watts respectively). This processor provides up to 1.4 giga operations per second (GOPS) and 0.9 GFLOPS of performance.

RAD5545

The RAD5545 processor employs four RAD5500 cores, achieving performance characteristics of up to 5.6 giga-operations per second (GOPS) and over 3.7 GFLOPS. Power consumption is 20 watts with all peripherals operating.

RADSPEED-HB (host bridge)

Based on the RAD5545, the RADSPEED-HB is intended for host processing and data management support for one to four RADSPEED DSPs. The RADSPEED-HB replaces a secondary DDR2/DDR3 memory interface connection found on the RAD5545 with connections for RADSPEED DSPs instead. (Note that RADSPEED DSPs are entirely different processors that are specialized for

digital signal processing Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processing, such as by computers or more specialized digital signal processors, to perform a wide variety of signal processing operations. The digital signals processed in this manner are ...

and are not to be confused with the RADSPEED-HB, which serves as a host bridge.)

Single-board computer

The RAD5545 SpaceVPX

single-board computer A single-board computer (SBC) is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor(s), memory, input/output (I/O) and other features required of a functional computer. Single-board computers are commonly made as demonstrati ...

is for use in the harsh environmental conditions of outer space; designed for operating in temperatures between −55 °C and 125 °C and radiation-hardened for a total ionizing dose of 100 krad (for the silicon chips). It is a 6U-220 format module, compliant to the ANSI/VITA 78.00 SpaceVPX standard, and includes either a RAD5515 or RAD5545 processor. The RAD5545 SpaceVPX single-board computer is produced BAE Systems's facility in Manassas, Virginia, which is a U.S. Department of Defense Category 1A Microelectronics Trusted Source.

References