AMD's Aerospace-Grade 7nm Programmable AI SoC Goes to Space
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Update time : 2022-12-06 16:45:49
AMD is going into space with a new astronautically programmable Versal SoC that promises to enable more device-side machine learning and high-bandwidth signal processing on satellites and other space systems.
The Santa Clara, California-based company says its XQR Versal AI core SoC has completed Class B certification, meaning the Xilinx-designed chip meets US military standards for safe operation in outer space.
Chips in satellites and other systems launched into orbit must be protected from the radiation in space that spacecraft encounter once they leave the Earth's atmosphere. High doses of radiation in orbit can wreak havoc on chips that are inadequately shielded. These chips must also be able to withstand severe vibrations and shocks that can cause permanent damage, as well as large temperature fluctuations in space that can shorten their survival time. With the space-grade XQRVC1902, AMD is trying to break into the burgeoning 'new space' market with an astronautically-grade chip in the Versal SoC family, which was acquired earlier this year when AMD bought Xilinx for $49 billion. Performance for next generation needs While Xilinx chips are already widely used in aerospace and defence equipment, the XQR Versal family enables faster data processing on satellites in orbit, without the need to offload them to ground-based data centres, which AMD says represents a significant leap in performance, as in the past only custom chips could be used to perform AI processing tasks directly on satellites, and for most space missions these chips "prohibitively expensive". Raytheon, a leader in the US aerospace and defence industry, apparently plans to use the new radiation-resistant XQR Versal SoC in its "next-generation space processor" to power future satellites and spacecraft. "Its heterogeneous computing capabilities and reconfigurable logic architecture will enable our team to integrate more on-board processing in a smaller footprint, resulting in unprecedented advances in system-level size, weight and power," said Barry Liu, Senior Director of Space Systems. said Barry Liu, Senior Director of Space Systems. Manufactured on a 7nm node, the space-grade Versal SoC includes a dual-core Arm Cortex-A72, dual-core Arm Cortex-R5 embedded CPU and 400 AI compute engines paired with the same type of programmable logic as the core of the Xilinx FPGA with 191 MB of memory. a network-on-chip (NoC) connects all the building blocks to hard-core peripherals for connectivity and security in a rugged, organic BGA 45- × 45-mm package. AMD says the XQR Versal AI Core SoC is different from other astronautics-grade chips in that it can be reconfigured. The chip can also be remotely reprogrammed after a satellite or other spacecraft has already orbited the Earth in the harsh radiation environment of space. It is also compatible with the Xilinx Vivado software toolkit and the Vitis AI software platform. AMD said it worked with independent organisations to rigorously test the XQR Versal SoC to confirm that it can handle the harsh radiation in near earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous orbit and even further out in space. With its new Class B qualification, the Versal Space SoC should begin shipping to its aerospace and defence customers in early 2023.
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