Proton-induced SEU, dose effects, and LEO performance predictions for R3000 microprocessors

Author

Shaeffer, D.L. ; Kimbrough, J.R. ; Wilburn, J.W. ; Denton, S.M. ; Kaschmitter, J.L. ; Colella, N.J. ; Coakley, P.G. ; Casteneda, C.

Author_Institution

Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab., CA, USA

Volume

39

Issue

6

fYear

1992

fDate

12/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2309

Lastpage

2315

Abstract

The authors present low-energy (⩽60-MeV) proton exposure test results for commercial unhardened versions of the MIPS Computer Systems R3000 and R3000A microprocessors from four different vendors, and they compare these results with previously obtained data at 256 MeV. Proton SEU (single event upset) cross sections and total dose hardness values are presented. Two of the processors functioned to about 1 Mrad. All processors, with one exception, remained functional above 40 krad. SEU cross sections were obtained with the use of specially designed software tests which were executed dynamically during radiation exposure of the chips. Radiation hardness and SEU are investigated for LEO (low earth orbit). Results indicate that commercial R3000 and R3000A microprocessors are suitable for multiyear operation at LEO altitudes in space

Keywords

computer testing; dosimetry; microprocessor chips; proton effects; radiation hardening (electronics); 1×10⁶ rad; 256 MeV; 40×10³ rad; 60 MeV; R3000 microprocessors; R3000A microprocessors; cross sections; dose effects; low earth orbit; proton irradiation; radiation hardness; single event upset; total dose hardness; Computer aided instruction; Control systems; High performance computing; Low earth orbit satellites; Microprocessors; Military computing; Protons; Reduced instruction set computing; Software testing; System testing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.211441

Filename

211441