An error tolerant digital payload based on stochastic computing for software defined satellite

Abstract

An onboard digital payload enables communication satellites to improve operational flexibility by changing communication parameter settings with digital signal processing. In general, space grade digital devices are used for onboard digital processor to mitigate soft error caused by radiation effect. On the other hand, commercial grade devices achieve higher processing speed at a lower price than space grade devices even though less resilient. Therefore, it is expected to install it in onboard digital payload utilizing a variety of soft error mitigation techniques. Conventionally, soft error can be mitigated utilizing TMR (Triple Modular Redundancy) and periodic refreshment. However, these techniques increase circuit scale, and it is difficult to avoid burst errors arising during a refresh period. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel error tolerant digital processing technique utilizing stochastic computing. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the proposed technique is verified through simulation results. We confirm digital channelizer utilizing the proposed technique is more tolerant of soft error than TMR and achieve the required SNR (Signal to Noise power Ratio) of 30dB.