company blog about Supply Infineon LEO Space Electronics Designs Solutions:NewSpace Memory,Radiation Tolerant Power

Supply Infineon LEO Space Electronics Designs Solutions:NewSpace Memory,Radiation Tolerant Power

Shenzhen Mingjiada Electronics Co., Ltd. is a globally renowned authorised independent distributor of electronic components. With a stock of over 2 million SKUs, a guarantee of genuine products and efficient delivery capabilities, we provide electronic component supply services to customers in the electronics sector. We balance cost-effectiveness with technical compatibility to help our customers accelerate product development and mass production processes.

Supply Advantages

1. Genuine Products, Reliable Quality: All products are sourced directly from the original manufacturers. We maintain strict control over our procurement channels, and every chip undergoes rigorous quality testing. We strictly exclude refurbished or loose new products to ensure the stable operation of our customers’ products, giving you complete peace of mind.

2. Ample Stock and Prompt Dispatch: Drawing on extensive stock resources and a well-established supply chain system, Mingjiada Electronics maintains stock of the full range of product models. Whether for small-batch sample purchases or large-scale mass production orders, we respond swiftly and dispatch promptly to meet urgent production requirements, thereby shortening product R&D and mass production cycles.

3. Excellent Value for Money and Comprehensive Services: Drawing on many years of industry experience and strong procurement capabilities, we offer our customers highly competitive prices. Furthermore, we have a dedicated technical support team providing one-stop services, including product selection, technical consultancy and after-sales support, to assist customers in resolving various issues during the selection and application processes.

I. Core of LEO Orbital Electronic Systems

Radiation Threats: Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is subject to proton and electron radiation, which can trigger Total Ionising Dose (TID), Single-Event Upsets (SEU) and Single-Event Functional Interruptions (SEFI), leading to memory bit flips, power chip malfunctions and system crashes;

Stringent Power Consumption Constraints: As power supplied by satellite solar arrays is limited, memory and power management components must balance high performance with low quiescent power consumption;

Miniaturisation and Weight Reduction: PCB space is limited on CubeSats and small satellites, favouring small-package, low-pin-count components to simplify peripheral circuits;

Cost versus Delivery Dilemma: Massive constellations require thousands of satellites; the large-scale adoption of high-cost ceramic-packaged aerospace components is impractical, necessitating radiation-hardened plastic-encapsulated solutions;

Stable operation across a wide temperature range: Given the vast temperature differences between shadowed and sunlit areas in orbit, components must operate reliably within the range of –55°C to +125°C.

Infineon’s NewSpace solution addresses these challenges by utilising radiation-hardened storage matrices to ensure reliable on-board data storage, and radiation-hardened power supply and distribution solutions to achieve stable power conversion and load protection, thereby forming a foundational hardware platform for satellite electronics that integrates software and hardware.

II. Infineon NewSpace Radiation-Hardened Storage Solutions

Infineon’s LEO-specific radiation-hardened storage product line comprises three main categories: F-RAM (ferroelectric memory), QSPI NOR Flash and pseudo-static RAM (pSRAM). These cover all storage scenarios, including non-volatile log storage, FPGA boot images, programme firmware and caches. They incorporate RADSTOP™ radiation-hardened design, with characteristics optimised for the LEO radiation environment, and are available in both plastic-encapsulated commercial space versions and high-reliability ceramic aerospace versions.

1. Radiation-Hardened F-RAM (Ferroelectric Memory)

Representative model: CYEL15B102 series (2 Mbit)

Interface options: Available in two package types: SPI serial (SOIC-8) and parallel interface (TSOP II-44);

Radiation specifications: TID tolerance of 50 krad (Si), with inherently excellent SEU resistance;

Key advantages: Virtually unlimited read/write endurance, instantaneous non-volatile writing, and immediate preservation of critical data upon power loss without the need for an additional battery;

Operating temperature: -55°C to +125°C;

Typical applications: Attitude control sensor logs, raw telemetry data, fault status snapshots, and preservation of critical satellite parameters during power loss.

2. Radiation-Hardened QSPI NOR Flash

Representative models: CYEL16B256 (256 Mbit), CYEL17B051 (512 Mbit)

Interface: 4-wire QSPI, up to 133 MHz, supports on-chip execution (XIP);

Radiation Specifications: 256 Mbit version TID 30 krad (Si); 512 Mbit extended temperature version TID up to 100 krad (Si);

Key Features: Thousands of erase/write cycles; data retention period of up to 100 years;

Typical Applications: On-board processor firmware, FPGA configuration images, on-board operating systems, and storage of remote sensing mission programmes.

3. pSRAM (Pseudo-Static Random-Access Memory)

Densities range from 256 Mbit to 512 Mbit, serving as a low-cost high-speed cache;

Suitable for on-board image processing and temporary data buffering for communications baseband;

Combined with Flash to form a ‘cache + programme storage’ two-tier storage architecture, reducing the load on the main controller.

Advantages of the Storage System Architecture

Flexible configuration: F-RAM handles high-frequency, small-volume critical logs; NOR Flash stores large-capacity firmware; pSRAM provides high-speed temporary caching;

Package compatibility: Standard industrial packages, suitable for reflow soldering, reducing assembly costs;

III. Infineon NewSpace Radiation-Hardened Power Supply and Power Distribution Solutions

Satellite power supplies (PMAD power management and distribution systems) are the lifeline of spacecraft. Infineon’s NewSpace power products are designed for LEO satellites with mission lifetimes of up to five years, offering a comprehensive device portfolio comprising power conversion, power distribution switches and gate drivers. The range is divided into radiation-tolerant plastic-encapsulated power devices and high-end rad-hard aerospace power ICs, suitable for platform power supplies and multi-channel payload power distribution.

1. Radiation-Hardened Power MOSFETs (CoolMOS™ / OPTIMOS™ platforms)

Package: Surface-mount packages such as TO-252 in plastic moulding;

Radiation specifications: TID 30 krad (Si), single-event electron (SEE) tolerance of 46 MeV・cm²/mg;

Temperature range: -55°C to +150°C;

Applications: DC/DC step-down/step-up converters, battery charge/discharge management, load switches.

2. Radiation-Hardened Gate Drivers (including next-generation GaN drivers)

Representative device: RIC70115 radiation-hardened GaN HEMT driver

Supports driving of Si MOS and GaN (gallium nitride) devices, compatible with high-side and low-side topologies;

Facilitates the evolution of on-board power supplies towards higher frequencies and higher power density, whilst reducing the size of magnetic components;

Used in isolated converters that transform the high-voltage primary bus on board into multiple secondary power supplies.

3. Intelligent Power Distribution Switches and Load Protection

Multi-channel radiation-hardened intelligent power switches, providing independent power supply to FPGAs, processors and RF payloads;

Built-in overcurrent, overvoltage and short-circuit protection; supports remote on/off control; prevents sustained damage to loads under single-event upsets;

Enables zoned power supply management for payloads; cuts off non-critical loads in the event of a satellite fault to ensure platform survivability.

4. Point-of-Load (PoL) Power Supply Solution

Provides multiple low-voltage regulated outputs for on-board digital payloads, delivering clean, low-noise power to memory, SoCs and FPGAs; reduces the risk of data errors caused by orbital temperature fluctuations and radiation-induced voltage disturbances, thereby enhancing the operational stability of storage systems.

Core Value of the Power Supply Solution

SWaP optimisation: Supports high-frequency topologies, reducing the size of transformers and inductors to lighten the satellite payload;

Radiation robustness: Suppresses TID drift and single-event lock-up effects through hardened design;

Flexible architecture: Compatible with mainstream small satellite power supply systems featuring 28 V and 50 V primary buses.

IV. Advantages of the Integrated Storage and Power System Design

Infineon’s memory and power devices are jointly optimised to form an integrated LEO electronics solution:

Suppression of power disturbances → Enhanced storage reliability

Dedicated PoL power supplies deliver low-ripple voltage, suppressing transient voltage spikes in the space environment, thereby reducing the probability of SEU-induced bit errors in memory and minimising on-board software error correction overhead.

Unified Temperature and Radiation Specifications

The temperature ranges and radiation ratings of memory and power devices are aligned, simplifying system reliability simulation, irradiation testing and solution evaluation processes.

Simplified Supply Chain Management

A single supplier provides both core memory and power semiconductors, reducing the variety of components and shortening certification cycles, making it suitable for high-volume procurement in constellation projects.

Multi-level Redundancy Design Support

Multiple independent power supply channels combined with multi-partition mirrored storage ensure that a single power supply failure does not result in the loss of all firmware, thereby enhancing the satellite’s in-orbit fault tolerance.

V. Typical Target Application Scenarios

LEO broadband communication mega-constellation microsatellites and CubeSats;

Space-based IoT low-Earth orbit remote sensing satellites;

Navigation augmentation satellites and in-orbit test platforms;

On-board AI payloads and optical imaging processing units;

Satellite attitude control and satellite operations management computers.