Argotec is the prime contractor in ESA’s EUFRATE project, part of the Agency’s ARTES 4.0 programme, focused on Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems. The project will consist of researching and developing state-of-the-art and innovative hardening techniques for Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices for digital telecommunications payloads.
FPGA devices find multiple and distinct applications in the Space technology field. They are widely used for On-Board Data Processing (OBDP), but they can also be exploited for satellite control and management. Space-grade FPGAs are typically built to resist the harsh environment within which they are required to work, including radiation-induced effects.
Argotec will collaborate with the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany, and the Politecnico di Torino, Italy, investigating towards a breakthrough for COTS devices by ruggedising them with special techniques so that they can withstand the same radiation as their Space-grade equivalents. The EUFRATE project started officially on June, 4th with a successful kick-off meeting.
