The only reprogrammable and highest density radiation-hardened (RH) FPGA, the space-grade Virtex®-5QV FPGA provides RH by design technology to meet the requirements of space applications that demand high-performance as well as high reliability. For years, ASICs were the only solution available to system designers of high-performance space applications with long development and fabrication times as well as high non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs. The Virtex-5QV FPGA combines unparalleled density, performance, and radiation hardening with the flexibility of reconfigurability without the high risk of ASICs.

The Virtex-5QV device provides the compelling set of performance, features, and solutions for the radiation-hardened systems market. Using the second generation Advanced Silicon Modular Block (ASMBL™) column-based architecture, the Virtex-5QV FPGA contains an array of features to address the needs of a wide variety of advanced logic designs and many dedicated system-level blocks, including powerful 36 Kb block RAM and FIFOs, second-generation 25 x 18 DSP slices, SelectIO™ technology with built-in digitally controlled impedance, ChipSync™ source-synchronous interface blocks, enhanced clock management tiles with integrated digital clock managers (DCMs), phase-locked-loop (PLL) clock generators, and advanced configuration options. Additional features include power-optimized, high-speed serial transceiver blocks for enhanced serial connectivity, PCI Express® compliant integrated Endpoint blocks, and tri-mode Ethernet Media Access Controllers (MACs). These features allow advanced logic designers to build the highest levels of connectivity and performance into their FPGA-based systems. Built on a proven 65-nm copper process technology, the Virtex-5QV FPGA is a modern programmable alternative to custom ASIC technology. The Virtex-5QV FPGA offers the latest solution for addressing the needs of critical space missions where design changes can be accommodated late in the program or through reprogrammability, even after launch.

A Virtex-5QV FPGA provides exceptional hardness to single-event upsets (SEUs), total immunity to single-event latch-ups (SELs), total ionizing doses (TIDs) of over 1 Mrad(Si), and datapath protection from single-event transients (SETs). Compatibility with the commercial and defense-grade Virtex-5 FPGAs allows for low-cost, rapid prototyping and easy design migration to flight hardware without the need for PCB changes.