431-REF-000273, SINGLE EVENT EFFECT CRITICALITY ANALYSIS, NASA/GSFC (16 FEB 1996)

431-REF-000273, SINGLE EVENT EFFECT CRITICALITY ANALYSIS, NASA/GSFC (16 FEB 1996)., Our goal in generating this document is to aid the individuals in project management, systems engineering, radiation effects, and reliability engineering who carry the responsibilities for successful deployment of NASA systems in orbital particle environments. Traditionally, in a manner which may differ from NASA center to NASA center, this effort has involved many iterative passes through system and subsystem designs with involvement of engineers representing the above disciplines. These efforts began in the 1970s when one or two low level integration device types were identified to be susceptible to single event upset (SEU). Since then, with advances in technology, the arena has expanded to include many types of single event effects (SEEs) in many technologies. The necessary advent of SEE hardened device technologies has alleviated some of the worries, but simultaneously added another dimension to the already complex trade space involved in SEE system design and analysis. Indeed, it is the combination of the universal nature of the concern across NASA centers, coupled with the complexities of the issues, which has prompted this study. Our aim is not to prescribe approaches to SEE immune system design, but rather to examine the analysis process and suggest streamlined approaches to the related design problems. In short, we seek to codify the successful elements which, in many cases, already exist for assessing SEE risk and suggest a timeline and procedure for implementing SEE risk analysis with respect to the system design effort.