Products that have received QML (Qualified Manufacturers List) certification are recognized as highly reliable and are therefore often easily applied in aerospace program design.

Microchip Technology (hereinafter referred to as Microchip) announced on the 5th that its RT (radiation-tolerant) PolarFire FPGA product, which was certified by the U.S. Department of Defense's General Contracting Agency, has received QML Class Q certification.

This certification is considered the highest level of certification and standard among entry-level products, enabling developers to more easily implement and integrate RT PolarFire FPGA products into aerospace systems.

Because QML certification is standardized based on specific performance and quality requirements managed by DLA, customers can further streamline their design processes by using QML-certified products.

The low-power and reprogrammable RT PolarFire FPGA family delivers greater logic density and higher performance, significantly improving signal throughput. Additionally, unlike other SRAM-based FPGA products, RT PolarFire FPGA products do not exhibit configuration single-event upsets (SEUs) in radiation environments and do not require separate mitigation measures to address radiation-related issues, which can reduce engineering costs and the cost of materials and components required for product manufacturing.

“No other FPGA in Microchip’s FPGA portfolio offers the highest density and performance to help reduce satellite signal processing congestion,” said Shakeel Peera, vice president of marketing for Microchip’s FPGA strategy division. “Microchip is committed to providing our customers with high-quality, reliable solutions, and this QML Class Q certification is a significant milestone that will enable our customers to design aerospace systems with even greater confidence using Microchip devices.”

MIL-STD-883B, the QML Class Q qualification standard, specifies rigorous methods for testing microelectronic devices for suitability in military and aerospace electronic systems. The RT PolarFire FPGA family has undergone rigorous evaluation to ensure it can withstand and operate under the harsh environmental conditions and hazards of natural elements encountered in defense and space environments to achieve QML Class Q certification.

By achieving QML Class Q certification, the RT PolarFire FPGA family has demonstrated its ability to support systems that demand the highest levels of component quality. With this QML Class Q certification, Microchip continues to demonstrate the reliability of the RT PolarFire FPGA family for aerospace applications and lays the foundation for future QML Class V certification.

Meanwhile, Microchip has the industry's broadest portfolio of radiation-tolerant (RT) solutions, including high-performance microcontrollers (MCUs) and microprocessors (MPUs), FPGAs, memories, communication interfaces, frequency and timing solutions, mixed-signal ICs, custom power supplies, diodes, transistors and RF components, enabling solutions for aerospace missions for more than 60 years.