Development of a Hard Microcontroller

The applicability of commercially available microprocessors to certain systems requiring radiation survival was assessed. A microcontroller was designed and built to perform a monitor and control function of military operational ground equipment, and demonstrated to exceed the radiation hardness goal. The preparation of the microcontroller module required hardware and software design, selection of LSI and other piece part types, development of piece part and module electrical and radiation test techniques, and the performance of radiation tests on the LSI piece parts and the completed module. The microcontroller has a 16-bit central processor unit, a 4096 word read only memory, and a 256 word read-write memory. The module has circumvention circuitry, including a PIN diode radiation detector. The processor device used was the MMI 6701 T2L Schottky bipolar 4-bit slice. Electrical exerciser circuits were developed for in-situ electrical testing of microprocessors and memories during irradiation. A test program was developed for a Terradyne J283 microcircuit tester for more complete electrical characterization of the MMI 6701 microprocessor. A simple self-test algorithm was used in the microcontroller for performance testing during irradiation. For the operational demonstration of the microcontroller a TI 960A minicomputer was used to provide the required complex inputs to the module and verify the module outputs. Radiation test data was acquired on several LSI device types, including T2L, I2L, and NMOS technologies. Dose rate tests were performed on the module and proper circumvention and recovery obtained up to and including the maximum test level of 108 rad(Si)/sec.