Microchip has announced the release of SST26LF064RT, a 64-Mbit serial quad I/O NOR flash memory device for use in harsh aerospace and defense system environments. The commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) memory technology device has a high radiation tolerance and is capable to work in 50 kilorad (krad) Total Ionizing Dose (TID). The space-qualified second SuperFlash device from Microchip has been specifically developed to reduce development time, cost, and risk in the systems.
“The SST26LF064RT SuperFlash device brings the best TID performance on the market to a 64-Mbit serial quad I/O memory solution that works alongside any SRAM-based FPGA in diverse space applications,” said Bob Vampola, associate vice president of Aerospace and Defense at Microchip. “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.”
According to the company, the use of a proprietary split-gate cell architecture in the SuperFlash series of NOR flash memory products improves its performance and provides higher reliability and better data retention compared to conventional stacked gate flash. The IC also reduces the complexity of power management switching to achieve their industry high TID even while the flash is still biased and operating in systems such as satellite onboard computers and different types of controllers for motors, sensors, solar panels, and power distribution.
This 64Mbit memory device can be used to support in-flight system reconfiguration with the RT PolarFire FPGA. Furthermore, it can also be used as configuration memory with an FPGA and other Microchip solutions such as the Arm® Cortex®-M7- based SAMRH707 radiation-hardened microcontroller (MCU). To improve adoption, the company has released the application note which explains how to use the serial 64-Mbit SuperFlash device with Microchip’s SST26LF064RT RT flash reference evaluation board and space-qualified SRAM-based FPGAs.
The samples of both the RT SST26LF064RT and SST38LF6401RT models are available for sale and more information can be obtained from Microchip representatives
