NASA Office of Logic Design

A scientific study of the problems of digital engineering for space flight systems,
with a view to their practical solution.

The NASA ASIC Guide: Assuring ASICs for SPACE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

A Message from the NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance

Acknowledgments

About This Guide

Invitation for Comments

Section One: ASIC Management

• Introduction
• Chapter One: Managing ASIC Development Tasks
  • The Flow of an ASIC Program
  • A Quick Look at ASIC Flow Major Processes
  • Setting Requirements
  • ASIC Trade-offs
  • Vendor Selection
  • Partitioning
  • ASIC Implementation
  • Physical Layout
  • Manufacturing
  • Test & Characterization
  • Part Acceptance
  • Contracting
  • Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs)
• Chapter Two: Resource Planning
  • ASIC Vendor Evaluation
  • ASIC Design
  • ASIC Fabrication
  • ASIC Part Acceptance
  • Equipment and Tool Planning
  • Personnel Planning
  • ASIC Program Budgeting
  • Example Schedule
• Chapter Three: Risk Management & Contingency Planning
  • Risk Assessment
  • Contingency Planning
  • Concurrent Engineering
  • A Practical Guide To Risk Management
• Chapter Four: Information Management
  • ASIC Specification
  • Configuration Management
  • Concurrent Engineering (CE)
• Chapter Five: The Review Process
  • Nature of Reviews
  • Major Topics for Review, and Their Deliverables
    • Specifications Review
    • Implementation Review
    • Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
    • Chip Sign-off Review
    • Critical design review (CDR)
    • Flight Build Review

Section Two: Vendor Evaluation

• Introduction
• Chapter One: Vendor Management Evaluation
  • Top Level Organization Review
  • Business Plan Review
  • Marketing Strategy and Procurement Support Review
  • Personnel, Facilities, and Equipment Analysis
  • Past Performance Analysis
  • Schedule and Cost Review
• Chapter Two: Quality & Reliability Analysis
  • Government Qualification Programs
  • Quality Design Methodology
• Chapter Three: Process Technology Analysis
  • ASIC Technology
  • ASIC Design Trade-Offs
  • Packaging
    • Radiation Tolerance
    • Testability
  • Wants Versus Needs
• Chapter Four: Design Library Analysis
  • Function and Performance
  • Testability
  • Radiation Tolerance
  • Model Verification
  • Control and Maintenance
• Chapter Five: Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Tool Analysis
  • ASIC Development Tools Analysis
  • Information ManagementCapabilities Analysis
  • Design Configuration Management Capability Analysis
  • Vendor Tool Support and Training

Section Three: ASIC Design

• Introduction
  • Design in ASIC Management
  • Design in ASIC Vendor Evaluation
  • Design in Part Acceptance
  • Design in Procurement Support
• Chapter One: Technical Specification
  • Scope
  • Applicable Documents
  • Conventions
  • Additional Requirements
  • Chip Overview
  • ASIC Signal Designations and Description
  • Functional Description
  • Testability Constructs
  • Electrical Characteristics
  • Physical Characteristics
• Chapter Two: The ASIC Design Process
  • Logic Implementation
  • Power Computation Example
  • Design Verification
  • Test Generation
  • Packaging
• Chapter Three: Design for Test (DFT)
  • I/O Test
  • Internal Tests
  • Test Data Standards
• Chapter Four: Design for Radiation Tolerance
  • Radiation Environment
  • Effects of Radiation on MOS Devices
  • Total Ionizing Dose (TID)
  • Single-Event Effects (SEE)

Section Four: Part Acceptance

• Introduction
  • Part Acceptance Throughout the NASA ASIC Guide
• Chapter One: Part Acceptance Approach
  • Device Tests and Screens
  • Contracting for ASIC Part Acceptance
  • ASIC Designer-Developed Tests in ASIC Part Acceptance
  • Wafer Acceptance
  • Bare Die Part Acceptance
  • Packaged Part Acceptance -- Engineering and Flight Parts
• Chapter Two: Engineering Part Verification
  • Part Characterization
  • System Characterization
  • Further Characterization
• Chapter Three: Flight Part Verification
  • QML and QPL Screening
  • Quality Conformance Inspection (QCI)
• Chapter Four: Perspective on Part Acceptance

Appendices

• Appendix One: Modeling and Translation
  • Model Development
  • Modeling and the Design Cycle
  • Translation
• Appendix Two: Government Qualification Programs
  • Qualified Products List (QPL)
  • Qualified Manufacturers List (QML)
  • A Brief Comparison of QML and QPL
• Appendix Three: Space Radiation Effects on Integrated Circuits
  • Finding Radiation Information in This Guide
  • The Radiation Environment in Space
  • The Physics of Radiation Interactions with Solids
  • Radiation Effects on Semiconductor Devices
  • Strategies for Withstanding the Radiation Environment
• Appendix Four: Failure Analysis
  • Major Tasks in Failure Analysis
• Appendix Five: Procurement Support
  • Procurement in ASIC Management (Section One)
  • Procurement in Vendor Evaluation (Section Two)
  • Procurement in ASIC Design (Section Three)
  • Procurement in Part Acceptance (Section Four)
• Appendix Six: Case Study of a Technical Specification
  • Signal Table
  • Functional Description
  • Worst-Case Timing
  • Testability Constructs
  • Electrical Characteristics
  • DC Characteristics
  • IDDQ Testing
  • AC Characteristics
  • Burn-In
  • Delta Limits
  • Physical Characteristics
  • Device Statistics
  • Exceptions to This Document
• Appendix Seven: Reliability
  • Basic ASIC Reliability Concepts
  • Reliability Modeling
  • Accelerated Stress Testing
  • References

• Acronyms

• Glossary

• Index

Home - NASA Office of Logic Design
Last Revised: February 03, 2010
Digital Engineering Institute
Web Grunt: Richard Katz