An integrated development kit for satellite system design that enables prototyping using low-power, high-throughput, radiation-hardened FPGAs for space flight is expected to help space application developers.

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP), a leading provider of microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP solutions, today announced the combination of its space-qualified RT PolarFire® FPGAs with a development kit and interface that enables designers to evaluate design concepts against real-world, in-flight electrical and mechanical characteristics.

Developers using FPGAs can prototype with space-certified devices rather than commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices to meet satellite payload and throughput requirements, accelerating design and development.

The RT PolarFire development kit supports a variety of daughter boards and features two full-featured high-pin count (HPC) FPGA mezzanine card connectors, DDR3 DIMMs, RT Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, SPI flash memory, and a SubMiniature Version A (SMA) connector, as well as the Libero ® software tool suite for programming the radiometric data and the PT PolarFire FPGA.

Microchip’s RT PolarFire FPGAs increase compute performance and connectivity throughput while reducing power consumption by up to 50 percent compared to SRAM-based FPGAs, while providing immunity to radiation-induced Single Event Upsets (SEUs), helping reduce congestion in satellite signal processing required for challenging space missions. RT PolarFire FPGAs are currently certified to MIL-STD-883 Class B and are in the process of obtaining QML Class Q and Class V certification.

Microchip offers kits with multiple options based on four versions of the RTPF500T RT PolarFire FPGA, varying in package pin count and speed.

“Microchip’s new integrated development platform for space applications includes the features and interfaces ideal for prototyping,” said Shakeel Peera, vice president of marketing for Microchip’s FPGA business unit. “Designers can evaluate high-speed transceivers, control, DSP, communications and image processing algorithms—all in the same packages and silicon used in orbital satellites and deep-space devices.”