1 Introduction

Architectural advancements continue to be developed in FPGAs with the growing need for more on-board processing and the ability to re-program in space applications. As such, Microchip's RTAX-S/SL line of FPGAs has seen a wide use in different satellite payloads. As new FPGAs are developed, the power requirements have continued to evolve requiring the need for higher currents, and lower voltages. While the RTAX in particular has low-power consumption, this results in the need for a power supply that must be efficient and be resilient to withstand the harsh environment of space.

This application note reviews two product grades TI offers with proven radiation performance and provides a selection guide for comparing the different power management devices within each flow. The report also covers the value the space grade power management portfolio brings to the overall system, and provides example power maps for both rad-hard and rad-tolerant implementations.