ABSTRACT
The SiGe remote electronics unit is designed to be housed within a single connector or multi-chip package and utilized throughout the space vehicle in quantity, as required by the modern sensor systems used in such vehicles. The design methodologies used to build electronic systems for space have historically changed very little mission-to-mission, for good reason. The specifications of the program required the use of a silicon technology that exhibited intrinsically favorable performance metrics at cryogenic temperatures and was simultaneously capable of high levels of integration. The most fundamental issue facing IC design for applications exposed to extreme temperature ranges is the capability of the compact models to accurately predict the performance of the devices and circuits near the extreme limits of those ranges. Within this engineering trade space, it is no small feat for a new design approach to scale the barriers to entry and claim position amidst the tried and true “flight qualified” space technologies.
