SBIR-STTR Award

High-Performance Space Computing Technology
Award last edited on: 1/6/2023

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
NASA : JPL
Total Award Amount
$149,256
Award Phase
1
Solicitation Topic Code
Z2.02
Principal Investigator
Gerald Meyer

Company Information

Space Micro Inc

15378 Avenue Of Science Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92128
   (858) 332-0700
   info@spacemicro.com
   www.spacemicro.com
Location: Multiple
Congr. District: 51
County: San Diego

Phase I

Contract Number: 80NSSC22PB191
Start Date: 7/18/2022    Completed: 1/25/2023
Phase I year
2022
Phase I Amount
$149,256
NASA needs enhanced high-performance space computing technology for future missions. Current radiation hardened solutions are power inefficient and lack significant computing performance compared to current commercial capabilities. Some modern technology or process nodes have inherent radiation resistance due to the fabrication methods; partially depleted, fully depleted, and FinFET gates; and the use of silicon-on-insulator. Combining processors implemented with these technologies alongside Space Micro’s patented upset mitigation techniques, blind scrubbing, and execution checkpoints, yield a space-grade COTS processor with 1000 times more performance than current radiation-hardened processors. Space Micro proposes the development of a 3U SpaceVPX, radiation-tolerant, high-performance, reconfigurable single board computer (SBC) based on the Xilinx Versal VC1902. Space Micro has named this new SBC the Proton High-Performance Reconfigurable (PHiRe™) SBC. This SBC offers enhanced parallel processing and artificial intelligence power, much to the effect of a supercomputer cluster. The main system would have the ability to reconfigure this SBC to scale up and down performance of the scalar and parallel processing units to limit power dissipation, specifying a specific state depending on the needs of the current task. The PHiRe™ SBC utilizes the Xilinx 7nm Versal VC1902 which provides dual ARM Cortex-A72 application processors, dual ARM Cortex-R5F real-time processors, 400 artificial intelligence inference engines, 1,968 DSP engines, and 1,968 reprogrammable system logic cells which combine to provide the following figures of merit: AI Engine Peak Performance: 8 TFLOPS DSP Engine Peak Performance: 3.2 TFLOPS Adaptable Engine Peak Performance: 29 TOPS Arm Cortex-A72 Peak Performance: 18,942 DMIPS Arm Cortex-R5F Peak Performance: 2.672 DMIPS Potential NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words): Our cross-cutting space product with enable current and potential NASA space missions, JUICE, WFIRST, NISAR, Lucy, Psyche, IXPE, Restore, Hermes, Whipple, TiME, Hera, Chopper, ectc. which encompass both Discovery-class and SMEX missions. Future NIAC missions such as KST, PuFF, LEAVES, and R-MXAS could benefit. Space Micro will manufacture and market this product to NASA customers, after design verification in Phase II spacecraft primes will be more comfortable with the higher TRL. Potential Non-NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words): The product evolving from this SBIR will accommodate a wide range of space customers including emerging commercial constellations from the likes of TeleSat, Inmarsat, HeliosWire, Saturn, Astranis, Audacy, WorldVu, SpaceX, Iceye, and Blue Origin. There are also a number of DoD space mission applications for small satellites. Duration: 6

Phase II

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: 00/00/00    Completed: 00/00/00
Phase II year
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Phase II Amount
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