Proposal Number:          21-1- Z2.02-1101

          

          

   

Subtopic Title:
      High-Performance Space Computing Technology

          

          

   

Proposal Title:
      Fault Tolerant Computing based on a Reconfigurable Hardware/Software Architecture

          

          

   

Firm:

          

Resilient Computing

          

   

Address:

          

269 Terrance Loop, Bozeman, MT 59718

          

   

Phone:

          

(406) 451-8138                                                                                                                                                                                

          

   

Name:

          

Chris Major

          

   

E-mail:

          

chrismichelmajor@hotmail.com

          

   

Address:

          

269 Terrance Loop, MT 59718 - 8920

          

   

Phone:

          

(208) 446-3942                                                                                                                                                                                

          

   

Name:

          

Brock LaMeres

          

   

E-mail:

          

lameres@resilient-computing.com

          

   

Address:

          

269 Terrance Loop, MT 59718 - 8920

          

   

Phone:

          

(406) 451-8138                                                                                                                                                                                

          

   

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) :                                                                                                                                                          
Begin: 4
End: 5

          

          

     

Technical Abstract (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words):

Computers that operate in space are exposed to a harsh radiation environment that causes material degradation and intermittent crashes.  Current solutions to this problem include “hardening” a computer by altering the underlying semiconductor material and using non-standard circuit designs.  These approaches make these rad-hard computers expensive and with performance that lags commercial computers by ~20 years.  There is currently a demand from the aerospace industry for new computers that can match commercial performance while achieving the reliability needed in a space environment at a price that is not cost-prohibitive for the wide-scale adoption.  This project builds on over 10 years of NASA-funded research at Montana State University on a computer architecture called RadPC.  RadPC implements a comprehensive set of fault mitigation strategies on a commercial Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).  Various sub-systems of RadPC have been demonstrated on high-altitude balloons (8x), on sounding rockets (2x), on the International Space Station, and on two small satellite missions.  RadPC has also been selected for a lunar surface demonstration through the Artemis program.  Through this past research, the architecture of RadPC has been refined into one that achieves the performance, reliability, and flexibility to support future space missions.  However, the current prototype form of RadPC requires manual construction of the system at each step of the design process.  This manual and tedious construction of the current RadPC system makes it difficult for RadPC to be adopted as a commercial product.  The aim of this SBIR project is to investigate the automation of the development process for RadPC so that a developer can write programs for the RadPC architecture without being burdened with the underlying fault mitigation procedures that are being implemented.

          

          

     

Potential NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words):

• Replace ~20 year old rad-hard processors with a lower-cost, higher performance, commercial-based technology.
• Execute computationally-intensive algorithms such as real-time science data processing, autonomy, and navigation.
• Provide control & data handling for NASA small satellites.

          

          

     

Potential Non-NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words):

• Provide small satellites computing with increased reliability and performance, but at a price-point below current rad-hard computers. 
• Implement Earth image processing (climate monitoring, disaster mitigation, agriculture).
• Enable communication networks.

          

          

     

Duration:     6