Design a Hybrid Memory Array for Radiation-Hardened SRAM in Satellite Image Compression Systems

Abstract

In the satellite technology landscape, the satellite industry is crucial across military, meteorology, safety, climate monitoring, and landscape mapping sectors. The demand for high-quality satellite imagery has led to innovations in image processing and compression techniques to overcome challenges such as data storage limitations and slow upload speeds. This paper focuses on optimizing on-board SRAM memory cells for satellite image compression, addressing issues like radiation-induced errors, memory size, and power efficiency. A hybrid memory array is proposed, allocating reliable cells for Most Significant Bits (MSB) and less reliable cells for Least Significant Bits (LSB), optimizing area, power, and data integrity. The research evaluates SRAM cell sensitivity to radiation-induced Single Event Upsets (SEUs), with simulation results indicating smaller cell sizes and lower operating voltages increase susceptibility. Simulate a comparative analysis involving radiation-hardened SRAM cells, including CC18T, RHC14T, RHMC12T, SARP12T, SRRD12T, and PCELL10T, and proposed 12T. Proposed 12T cell is significantly 1.22x/3.77x/3.9x/4.1x/1.86x less write delay then CC18T/RHC14T/RHMC12T/SRRD12T/PCELL10T, respectively. Additionally, 2.27x/1.98x/71.29x lower read access time than RHMC12T/SARP12T/SRRD12T memory cells. The area occupied by our proposed cell is substantially smaller, with it being 2.03x/1.39x/1.18x/1.6x/1.09x less than CC18T/RHC14T/RHMC12T/ SRRD12T / PCELL10T. Furthermore, observed improvements in read, write and hold Noise Margins, and critical charge. Introduced an Electrical Quality Metric (EQM) to provide a comprehensive assessment of SRAM cell performance, and our proposed cell excels in terms of EQM compared to the others.