company blog about Infineon CYEL18V5122-200BKXE High Reliability PSRAM Memory For Low-Earth Orbit Satellites

Shenzhen Mingjiada Electronics Co., Ltd. supplies and recycles Infineon CYEL18V5122-200BKXE high-reliability PSRAM memory, suitable for low Earth orbit satellites.

The Infineon CYEL18V5122-200BKXE 512 Mbit HYPERRAM 2.0 PSRAM, a radiation-hardened pseudo-static random-access memory specifically designed for NewSpace applications, balances radiation tolerance, high-speed throughput, low power consumption and a compact package, making it the preferred component for on-board data caching in LEO satellites.

I. Key Product Specifications for the CYEL18V5122-200BKXE

The CYEL18V5122-200BKXE belongs to Infineon’s KS-2 series of NewSpace radiation-hardened pSRAM (HYPERRAM)

Storage capacity: 512 Mbit (64 MB)

Communication Interface: HYPERBUS™ x8 bus, DDR 200 MHz clock, peak bandwidth 1.6 Gbps

Power Supply Specifications: 1.8 V core voltage (operating range 1.7 V to 2.0 V)

Package type: PG-BGA-24 compact 24-ball FBGA, significantly reducing onboard PCB footprint

Operating temperature: –40°C to +125°C, suitable for the thermal cycling environment of satellites in orbit

Process technology: 25 nm DRAM architecture, with built-in self-refresh logic; externally equivalent to SRAM, eliminating the need for complex refresh control

II. Key Reliability Advantages of the CYEL18V5122-200BKXE for LEO Orbit

Low Earth Orbit is constantly subjected to bombardment from galactic cosmic rays and radiation from the South Atlantic Anomaly; Total Ionising Dose (TID) and Single-Event Effects (SEE) can very easily cause data flip-flops and device latch-up. The CYEL18V5122-200BKXE has undergone specialised hardening for the orbital environment:

100 krad (Si) Total Ionising Dose (TID) tolerance

Meets the radiation margin requirements for the vast majority of LEO constellations with a 3–8-year lifespan, without the high premium associated with traditional aerospace-grade memory, making it suitable for high-volume satellite networks.

Excellent single-electron latch (SEL) immunity

At high temperatures of 125°C, the single-electron latch immunity threshold exceeds 58 MeV・cm²/mg, effectively reducing the risk of sustained high-current burnout induced by heavy ions and alleviating design pressures on on-board power systems.

III. CYEL18V5122-200BKXE Multi-Level Power Consumption Modes, Tailored to Satellite Energy Constraints

Nano-satellites face tight solar power constraints, and the dynamic and standby power consumption of components directly affect payload operational duration. The chip incorporates multiple power management modes:

High-Speed Burst Read/Write Mode: Supports caching of high-speed imagery and telemetry data for on-board payloads;

Hybrid sleep mode: maintains partial refresh of the memory array for rapid wake-up;

Deep Power-Down (DPD) mode: with a quiescent current as low as 35 μA, the satellite can enter a deep power-saving state whilst passing through shadowed regions, thereby reducing energy consumption.

It also supports zone-selective refresh (selectable options include 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, or the entire array), allowing developers to tailor the refresh area as required to further optimise power consumption.

IV. Typical Application Scenarios for the CYEL18V5122-200BKXE LEO Satellite

With its low pin count and high bandwidth characteristics, the CYEL18V5122-200BKXE is ideally suited for on-board embedded processing platforms:

On-board computer (OBC) data buffering

Task caching for the satellite operating system, temporary storage of telemetry commands, and intermediate data storage for attitude control algorithms;

Earth observation payload image caching

Frame caching of raw images from small visible-light and infrared cameras, enabling in-orbit pre-processing and compression before transmission to the ground;

On-board communication payload buffer

Caching of baseband data packets for satellites directly connecting to mobile phones and IoT satellites, enabling on-board packet routing and protocol processing;

AI on-board edge computing

For microsatellites equipped with lightweight neural networks, serving as a cache for model features and temporary memory for operator calculations, compensating for insufficient on-chip RAM capacity in the processor.

V. Summary of CYEL18V5122-200BKXE

HYPERBUS simple high-speed serial interface reduces the number of wiring connections and simplifies on-board hardware design

Proven space radiation tolerance specifications, suitable for commercial LEO constellation mission cycles

Compact 24-ball BGA package, suitable for the compact payload layout of CubeSats and nanosatellites

pSRAM features built-in self-refresh, making software development less complex than with native DRAM

Targeted at the NewSpace sector, it offers significant cost advantages over traditional aerospace memory and supports large-scale procurement for satellite constellations

As a key product in Infineon’s NewSpace memory portfolio, the CYEL18V5122-200BKXE provides a high-speed cache solution that combines performance, reliability and cost-effectiveness for low-Earth orbit (LEO) communications satellites, remote sensing CubeSats and IoT constellations, facilitating rapid iteration and deployment in the commercial space sector.