Michigan Researchers Design 51-Watt SRAM Chip for Space Telescopes, Slashing Power Use 59-Fold
Updated
Updated · Interesting Engineering · Aug 3
Michigan Researchers Design 51-Watt SRAM Chip for Space Telescopes, Slashing Power Use 59-Fold
2 articles · Updated · Interesting Engineering · Aug 3
Summary
51 watts of computing power could replace roughly 3,000 watts in future space telescopes under a University of Michigan SRAM-based chip design aimed at real-time planet imaging.
The gain comes from reducing energy-hungry data movement between memory and processors: the team put computing closer to memory across 56 custom chiplets, each with about 2 GB of distributed SRAM.
10,000 radiation-error simulations found the architecture could keep detecting dangerous computation faults, while a lower-precision math technique cut power demand further from 90 watts to 51 watts.
That drop could shrink spacecraft mass to about 425 pounds from 2,425 pounds and save an estimated $430 million over a 25-year mission, the researchers said.
The study was framed around NASA's proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory, and the team plans to manufacture the SRAM chiplets next for laboratory testing.