Error Rate Estimation of DDR4-SDRAM Buffers in Space Mass Memories

DDR4-SDRAMs are key components widely used in modern computing systems on ground and in future space applications, where the sensitivity to ionizing radiation effects and the corresponding data integrity performance is of special interest. In this paper, an example DDR4-SDRAM buffer memory partition inside a high-performance mass memory system is described. For this buffer, two different EDAC implementations, which are Reed-Solomon single-symbol-error-correction and Reed-Solomon double-symbol-error-correction are compared in terms of data integrity performance. This comparison is based on the word error probabilities taking into account DDR4-SDRAM component specific single event effects and possible mitigation such as scrubbing and power cycling. The approach described in this work quantifies the design decision for a certain EDAC architecture as well as highlighting the impact of design parameters such as scrubbing and power cycling periods.