DESCRIPTION
The OBC-PF-VPX is a 3U SpaceVPX (VITA 78) System Controller designed for high-reliability space applications, built on the Microchip PolarFire® SoC (MPFS460T / MPFS460TS). It integrates a multi-core RISC-V processor with a low-power, flash-based FPGA fabric, enabling deterministic processing and flexible system design. The non-volatile FPGA architecture delivers inherent ZeroFIT single-event upset immunity, removing the need for configuration scrubbing or complex EDAC schemes required by SRAM-based devices.
The module features twenty firmware-configurable SERDES lanes, supporting a wide range of high-speed interfaces such as SpaceWire, SpaceFibre, and PCIe, ensuring seamless integration within SpaceVPX backplanes. With 20 GB of ECC-protected memory, it enables reliable high-rate payload data handling and storage.
A single hardware baseline supports multiple mission roles, including command and data handling, payload processing, and protocol bridging, with system functionality defined entirely through firmware, reducing development time, cost, and risk.
KEY FEATURES
- Flash-Based FPGA, ZeroFIT SEU-immune — no scrubbing or EDAC maintenance overhead
- 20 SERDES Lanes, PCIe Gen2, 10G XFI, JESD204B, SATA III — firmware-selectable per lane
- 20 GB Usable Memory, 16 GB ECC DDR4 + 4 GB LPDDR4 — full SECDED protection on DDR4
- >4,000 DMIPS, Quad 64-bit RISC-V application cores + 1 monitor core on PolarFire® SoC
- VectorBlox™ AI, On-fabric CNN: up to 279 GOPs INT8; scalable to >1 TOPS with multi-card deployment
- SpaceVPX VITA 78, SLT3-CTL System Controller, SOSA Space Aligned
- 512 GB eMMC Storage, 2× 256 GB — redundant non-volatile mass storage
- Dual QSPI + MRAM, Triple-mode config store, zero-wear NV registers
- Dual-String Ready, Active/standby fault-tolerance via SpaceUM-Polar
- 3–5 W Nominal, Conduction-cooled VITA 48.2 — 7 W peak
- Firmware Personalities, OBC (CDH), recorder, or protocol bridge — single hardware baseline
PROCESSOR
- Microchip MPFS460T-1FCG1152I / MPFS460TS-1FCG1152I (with security)
- RISC-V Cores: Quad 64-bit U54 application cores + 1× E51 monitor core — >4,000 DMIPS total
- FPGA Fabric: 461k logic elements, 784 DSP blocks — flash-based, no SRAM bitstream
- VectorBlox™: Up to 279 GOPs INT8 (V1000 config, no TMR) / 156 GOPs with synthesised TMR; scalable to >1 TOPS with multi-card deployment; 2–3× more power-efficient than competing FPGA inference engines; supports TensorFlow, ONNX
- SERDES: 20 lanes at up to 12.7 Gbps each — PCIe Gen2, 10G XFI, JESD204B, SATA III, Aurora — lane assignment firmware-selectable
- PCIe: Gen2 ×4 hard block (expansion plane); PCIe switch payload card available for multi-slot fan-out
- SEU / TID: ZeroFIT SEU -immune; >30 krad (Si) TID; latch-up immune; SECDED BRAM ECC
- FDIR: Hardware watchdog timer; dual-redundant on-card DC-DC regulators
MEMORY & STORAGE
- DDR4 — Fabric, 16 GB ECC-protected (18 GB physical, ×72 SECDED ECC) at DDR4-1600 — 12.8 GB/s peak
- LPDDR4, 4 GB — 20 GB total usable memory (DDR4 + LPDDR4)
- eMMC, 512 GB (2× 256 GB) — redundant non-volatile mass storage
- QSPI NOR Flash, 2× 512 Mbit — primary and redundant boot / configuration store
- MRAM (SPI), 4 Mbit — radiation-hard, zero-wear non-volatile register store
SOFTWARE
- OS support: Linux, FreeRTOS, RTEMS, INTEGRITY, FreeBSD, bare-metal RISC-V HAL
- Personalities: OBC (CDH), Recorder (SATA/NVMe via SERDES), Bridge (protocol conversion)
- AI inference: VectorBlox™ SDK — TensorFlow / ONNX; no FPGA design expertise required
INTERFACES
- Via VITA-46 MULTIGIG RT2 Backplane Connector
- Three front-panel connectors: GigE (RJ45), SpaceWire (Micro-D 9), I/O / Debug (Micro-D 25 — UART, CAN, GPIO, JTAG, USB). Interfaces route via P0/J0, P1/J1, and P2/J2 backplane connector segments
- SERDES— Data Plane ≤10 lanes
- SERDES — PCIe, 4 lanes
- SERDES — Spare, ≥6 lanes
- SpaceWire, 4 ports (BP)
- GigE Ethernet, 2 ports
- CAN 2.0 B, 2–4 ports
- RS422 / RS485, 2–8 ports
- RS232 / UART, 2–4 ports
- SPI / I2C, 2–4 each
- USB 2.0, 1 port
- GPIO / ADC, 20–60 / 8–16
BUDGET
- Form factor, 3U SpaceVPX (VITA 78)
- Dimensions, 100 × 160 mm (220 mm depth option)
- SpaceVPX slot, SLT3-CTL — System Controller
- Connector, VITA-46 MULTIGIG RT2
- Front panel, GigE (RJ45), SpaceWire (Micro-D 9), I/O / Debug (Micro-D 25)
- Cooling, Conduction-cooled, VITA 48.2
- Supply, 5 V from backplane (P0/J0)
- Power nominal, 3–5 W Power peak, 7 W
- Mass, ∼120 g (PCB); 500–650 g with enclosure & wedge-lock rails
PRODUCT DOCUMENTS
- Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA)
- Reliability Analysis Report
- Radiation Analysis Report
- Safety Assurance Plan
- Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
- Single Point Failure Analysis (SPFA)
- Worst Case Analysis (WCA)
- Derating Analysis Report
- Availability Analysis Report
- Mechanical Analysis Report
- Maintainability Analysis Report
- Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR)
- Qualification Test Plan (QTP)
- Environmental Test Reports, TVAC, Vib.
- EMC/EMI Test Report
- Radiation Test Report
- Operational Risk Assessment (ORA)
- Critical Items List (CIL)
- Materials, Processes, and Mechanical Parts List (MPMPL)
- Product Assurance Plan (PAP)
- Configuration Item Data List (CIDL)
- End Item Data Package (EIDP)
- As-Built Configuration List (ABCL)
COMPANION MODULES
- PolarStore-2S: SATA Storage, 2-drive SATA SSD payload module — 4 TB total; SERDES-driven from OBC backplane data plane
- PolarStore-4S: SATA Storage, 4-drive SATA SSD payload module — 8 TB total; high-capacity recorder configuration
- PolarStore-2N: NVMe Storage, 2-drive NVMe SSD payload module — up to 8 TB total; low-latency direct-attach
- PolarStore-4N: NVMe Storage, 4-drive NVMe SSD payload module — up to 16 TB total; maximum-capacity recording
- SpaceUM-Polar: Utility, Dual-string power / clock / reset switching — LCL per slot, up to 5 modules
- PSU-Polar-3U: Power, VITA 62-aligned 3U SpaceVPX power supply card
- SpaceVPX-BP-SS: Backplane, Single-string 3U SpaceVPX backplane — 4 to 5 slots
- SpaceVPX-BP-DS, Backplane, Dual-string 3U backplane — 8 slots; dual OBC + SpaceUM for full redundancy
- SpaceVPX-CHX: Chassis, Conduction-cooled aluminium chassis — 4, 6, or 8-slot variants
