The SX-A family of devices from Microsemi has been improved to include RTSX-SU radiation-tolerant FPGAs, which are created specifically for improved radiation performance. The RTSX-SU family is a special product offering for space applications because it includes SEU-hardened D-type flip-flops that provide Triple Module Redundancy (TMR) benefits without the added overhead. The United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) facility in Taiwan is where RTSX-SU is made, and it uses 0.25 m technology to achieve radiation survivability levels far beyond those of typical CMOS devices.
The RTSX-SU architecture, which was developed to enhance upset and total-dose performance in radiation environments, was derived from the incredibly successful SX-A sea-of-modules architecture.The RTSXSU family efficiently utilizes silicon by placing the routing interconnect resources between the top two metal layers, with the RTSX32SU having three layers of metal interconnect and the RTSX72SU having four layers of metal interconnect. This completely eliminates the interconnect resources and routing channels between logic modules that are present in conventional FPGAs. A grid of logic modules covers the entire FPGA's floor in a sea-of-modules architecture, with hardly any chip space being lost to interconnects or routing. To improve its performance in radiation environments, the RTSX-SU architecture adds a number of improvements over the SX-A architecture, including SEU-hardened flip-flops, wider clock lines, and stronger clock drivers.
