VEGAS Project

Project overview

VEGAS is set up to validate and do the ESCC evaluation of advanced rad-hard FPGA with minimum risk execution and best product time to market. The project will also integrate new software features to offer additional competitive advantage and enhance technical capabilities of end users. The project will also enable the two European largest satellite vendors Thales Alenia Space and Airbus DS to evaluate the final products and provide relevant feedback to improve the product and associated tools performances.

VEGAS is fully in line with ESA activities and will merge outcomes from different projects to reach a TRL 7.

ESCC evaluate rad-hard FPGA developped in the BRAVE project ((ESA TRP contract: 4000108054/13/NL/LvH, “High density European SRAM-based FPGA: first validated prototypes (“NG-FPGA”) and ESA ECI contract: “Reprogrammable FPGA Tools development”)
Complement the ESA project FT-UNSHADES2 (TRL 4 “High capacity and high speed for automatic Fault Injection and analysis”, TRP 22981/09/NL/JK) led by US
Complement the ESA project STAR (“VERI-Place: analytical analysis and Reliability-oriented Place and Route algorithm migration to Xilinx Virtex-5”, 4000106973/12/NL/GLC/ATS) led by PT

VEGAS will bring together a group of unique, highly relevant and qualified partners in Europe each of them already working together within BRAVE or other ESA activities. VEGAS timetable and work packages have been considered in coordination with BRAVE in order to reach a TRL of 7. VEGAS will not design or develop any FPGA but focus in the validation by end users and final product evaluation. It will guarantee minimum execution risks to reach a TRL 7. For software CAD tools improvement, VEGAS will again fully benefit from the BRAVE and STAR projects by adding to NanoXplore’s existing software new features for additional competitive advantages.

At the end of VEGAS end-users will have access to an ESCC evaluated rad-hard FPGA and advanced software tools.

Expected Impacts

VEGAS will have a profound impact on the future of European FPGA, delivering a new generation of rad-hard FPGA that offer substantial benefits for end-users in many different harsh environment markets.

VEGAS will have the following impacts:

Reduce the dependence on critical technologies and capabilities from outside Europe for future space applications by providing an ITAR free advanced rad-hard FPGA
Develop or regain in the mid-term the European capacity to operate independently in space with access to new generation of rad-hard FPGA beyond current state of the art
Enhance the technical capabilities and overall competitiveness of European space industry satellite vendors on the worldwide market by giving prime access to exportation restriction free high performance technologies
Work package dedicated to the development of a commercial evaluation of the technology with a full range of recurring products. The future rad-hard FPGA will be available in space qualified package and commercial package with a clear pricing strategy to maximise product dissemination outside space markets
Improve the overall European space technology landscape and complement the activities of European and national space programmes. VEGAS is clearly set up to complement the ongoing ESA/CNES BRAVE project
VEGAS will have clear social and environmental impacts by offering a very versatile technology able to meet multiple applications in various markets with the same device. It will also facilitate SMEs access to advance space applications

Impact of VEGAS on European strategic non dependence

VEGAS will give the possibility for Europe to have free, unrestricted access to advanced rad-hard FPGA for space technology. VEGAS FPGA will meet all technology requirements specified in the Excerpt from Critical Space Technologies for European Strategic Non-Dependence List of Urgent Actions for 2012/2013 published in June 2014. Therefore VEGAS is fully compliant regarding rad-hard FPGA with the list of urgent actions for Critical Space Technologies for European Strategic Non-Dependence for the time-frame of 2012-2013.

Impact of VEGAS on European Space industry and SMEs

VEGAS will give access to European space industry to the most advanced rad-hard FPGA devices without any exportation restriction. These new rad-hard FPGA will also offer unique SEE mitigation techniques and advanced features such as DPS or high speed buses. As described in the chart below, rad-hard FPGA are commonly used in satellites and these new devices will have a significant impact on future space application performance. It is even more the case for European satellite vendors which are often limited with ITAR free technologies. VEGAS is expected to have a clear impact on European space industry by improving European satellite vendors’ competiveness. VEGAS will also improve space technology dissemination to SMEs by offering a cheaper technology than advanced ASIC development.