Demonstration of ZES’ LDAP (Latchup Detection and Protection) Enabling a Commercial-Off-the-Shelf FPGA for Space Applications

This paper demonstrates the performance of Latchup Detection and Protection (LDAP), a product of Zero-Error Systems (ZES), in protecting a target chip from Single-Event Latchup (SEL). A pulsed laser is used to induce SELs in a Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and LDAP is implemented to protect the FPGA by removing the induced SELs. Laser tests are performed on two identical FPGA samples, one with LDAP and the other without LDAP. After laser tests, the FPGA with LDAP still operates well whereas the FPGA without LDAP is partially damaged. The experiment shows that when an SEL happens, LDAP detects the SEL at different loading scenarios within 5μs, and removes the SEL successfully thereafter. There is no false detection observed during the tests. As compared to conventional current limiters, LDAP has a much faster response and protects COTS FPGAs from SELs more effectively.