Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions (CAES), a leading provider of mission critical electronic solutions, today announced the industry’s highest density NAND flash memory device for a range of demanding space applications. The 4 terabit (Tb) triple-level cell (TLC), NAND Flash Memory Module delivers 32 times the density of the closest competing device while fitting into the same industry-standard 12mm x 18mm plastic-encapsulated microcircuit (PEM) package. With access to unparalleled storage capacity, designers can significantly increase sensor and digital signal processing in applications such as solid-state drives and recorders, reconfigurable computing systems, imaging and communications data buffering applications.
“Our 4Tb NAND Flash Memory Module delivers an order of magnitude boost in memory density at lower power and without any increase in package size,” said Kevin Jackson, vice president, space systems, Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions. “This directly improves the performance and capability of spacecraft instruments, for example, by increasing the signal fidelity and resolution of satellite imaging equipment. At the same time, our tightly-controlled supply chain and extensive testing processes mean that designers no longer have to up-screen commercial flash memory solutions in the hope of finding radiation-tolerant components.”
The new module performs up to 667 mega-transfers per second (MT/s) and is compliant with both Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) 4.0 and JEDEC NAND Flash Interoperability (JESD230C) specifications. While aerospace designers must screen commercial-grade NAND flash to estimate radiation tolerance and operational lifetime, the new CAES radiation-assured flash modules undergo extensive pre-testing. This includes Total Ionizing Dose (TID) and Single-Event Effects (SEE) characterization on a wafer lot-by-lot basis to ensure optimum radiation hardness. To maximize quality control across its manufacturing supply chain, CAES also applies Parts, Materials and Process (PMaP) failure-mode analysis to monitor for potential variations in the semiconductor fabrication process.
The UT81NDQ512G8T, 4Tb NAND flash module supports NV-DDR3 I/O (667 MT/s), NV-DDR2 I/O (533 MT/s), asynchronous I/O (50 MT/s) speeds and TLC endurance of 3,000 program/erase cycles. The module operates across +2.7 – +3.6V input and +1.14 – +1.26V or +1.7 – +1.95V output voltage ranges and specified to a temperature range of -40°C to +85°C. The 132-ball BGA module is available now in engineering units, with flight models to be released in the second quarter of 2021.
CAES also provides other technologies for commercial, civil, military, and other government spacecraft. With a space pedigree spanning nearly 40 years, CAES offers a full range of solutions for the world’s leading launch vehicles, satellites and space exploration missions. Key capabilities include radiation hardened and high reliability microelectronics, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), electronic manufacturing services, motion control and positioning, antennas and apertures, radiation effects testing, RF, microwave and millimeter wave microelectronics, motion control devices, power solutions, intellectual property cores, avionic solutions and LEON/SPARC processors.
