Reconfigurable processing subsystems in spaceborne applications

Reconfigurability is a key element to extracting the most from any spacecraft or spacecraft subsystem. It allows systems to become more autonomous, maximizes their usage once deployed and delays obsolescence by allowing new uses of the spaceborne asset, often in ways not envisioned by its creators. This paper describes recent advances in non-volatile memory, reconfigurable technologies and high speed interfaces including BAE SYSTEMS' chalcogenide, which is the base of an upcoming 4 megabit C-RAM device and after that a C-RAM based FPGA, and SpaceWire, a high performance interconnect technology based on LVDS. The BAE SYSTEMS reconfigurable architecture is reviewed and potential near term products described. Finally, the new technologies becoming available are applied to the architecture to highlight the potential to move the cluster of nodes from cards to chips and the resulting improvements in system performance.