Why Aerospace Semiconductor Designers Are Taking a Page from Their Automotive Friends

By _Synopsys Blog

June 8, 2023

There’s more in common than you may think between the cars that we rely on for our commutes and satellite systems deployed in space. Both must be designed for dependability over a long period of time, yet both also can encounter microelectronic vulnerabilities, especially given their extremely harsh operating environments.

While the aerospace, defense, and government industry has been using microelectronics for a longer period of time, increasingly these application designers are enhancing their projects by applying lessons and technologies learned from the recent investment in microelectronics in the automotive space—especially in the areas of reliability and functional safety. While the aerospace industry certainly has a long history of producing safe and dependable aircraft, the automotive industry has the scale to invest more heavily in reliable, safe, and secure microelectronic design innovations. Tools and IP infrastructure developed to meet automotive requirements can also be applied to aerospace and defense designs, providing an effective path to achieve critical mission outcomes.

In this blog post, we’ll highlight three key pillars of high-reliability semiconductor design that are applicable for automotive, aerospace, defense, and government electronics: reliability and robustness, safety and radiation tolerance, and security. We’ll also discuss important standards and technologies from the automotive space—functionally safe IP, in particular—that can be applied to aerospace and government designs. Read on for insights on developing SoCs that can be trusted to operate safely and securely in a variety of environments throughout their lifecycles.

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