Future Planetary Exploration |
Future Planetary Exploration |
Oct 20 2008, 07:11 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 718 Joined: 22-April 05 Member No.: 351 |
I've started a new blog on this topic at http://futureplanets.blogspot.com/
This blog supplements UMSF by allowing on topic discussions that include politics and other topics not appropriate here. The first entry is up with some additional news on the MSL funding and schedule problems. -------------------- |
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Dec 8 2010, 02:22 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1598 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Vermont Member No.: 530 |
Incidentally the IBM SiGe process that Georgia Tech characterized at extreme temperatures in the article above was developed to make high performance transceiver chips. Very popular with GPS, cell phones, etc. It's not a NASA spin-off, it's a consumer spin-off. The process is more expensive than the standard processes used to make microprocessors and most consumer chips. A typical SiGe chip is very small and has just the RF stuff on it, so it's combined on a circuit board with all the other more vanilla process chips. They make only the small chunk of circuitry they need for high frequency RF with SiGe.
What seems to have been done is what NASA/the government are good at... doing research in the niches that private industry simply can't be bothered with. Why didn't they know this rather mature process had good low temperature performance? No one had yet paid to figure it out. A few million bucks later, it turns out things are still working pretty good at -180C. The automotive industry just might push the standard temperature range higher. I've heard of them wanting chips working at pretty damn high temperatures since they're everywhere in cars now. But the market for chips that work below -55C is absolutely minimal. It's neat that SiGe appears to be pretty reliable to very low temps. Now they just have to work on the circuit boards. |
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