Abstract

A university project is integrating QuickLogic's embedded Field-Programmable Gate Array (eFPGA) technology into a radiation-tolerant RISC-V microcontroller unit (MCU). This key innovation leverages the inherent flexibility of eFPGAs to enable post-silicon customization and application-specific acceleration in harsh environments. The resulting rad-tolerant RISC-V system targets high-reliability applications, particularly within the space and defense sectors.

Report

Structured Report: University adds QuickLogic eFPGA to rad-tolerant RISC-V MCU

Key Highlights

• Strategic Integration: A university is incorporating QuickLogic's eFPGA intellectual property (IP) into its specialized microcontroller unit design.
• Target Environment: The MCU is designed to be radiation-tolerant, making it suitable for high-reliability, mission-critical applications such as space exploration and defense systems.
• Core Architecture: The design utilizes the open-source RISC-V Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) as the primary processing core.
• Enhancing Adaptability: The addition of the eFPGA provides crucial on-chip adaptability, allowing for hardware reconfiguration and functional updates even after the silicon is manufactured.

Technical Details

• Core Components: The architecture merges a RISC-V processor core with QuickLogic's embedded FPGA fabric.
• eFPGA Functionality: The eFPGA acts as a flexible acceleration engine or customization block, enabling the implementation of custom peripherals, proprietary interfaces, or specialized signal processing logic.
• Radiation Tolerance: The primary design constraint is ensuring the entire MCU system, including the integrated eFPGA logic, can withstand high levels of ionizing radiation and mitigate Single Event Effects (SEE) common in space environments.
• Design Efficiency: Utilizing an eFPGA rather than a standalone FPGA minimizes power consumption and area, which are critical metrics for space-bound systems.

Implications

• Validation for Hi-Rel Markets: This project significantly validates the RISC-V ISA as a viable, dependable alternative for demanding, high-reliability (Hi-Rel) markets, which have historically relied on proprietary or established architectures.
• Accelerating Custom Hardware: The integration demonstrates the value of eFPGA technology in systems requiring long lifecycles and potential in-field modification, a necessity for aerospace components where replacing hardware is impossible or prohibitively expensive.
• Academic and Commercial Collaboration: The project highlights successful cooperation between academic research (university design) and commercial IP vendors (QuickLogic), furthering the maturity and accessibility of specialized semiconductor technologies.
• Future of Space Compute: By offering a highly flexible, yet ruggedized, computing platform, this development contributes directly to the advancement of customizable and resilient computing solutions for future aerospace and satellite applications.