Design implementation of a quasi-cyclic codec for random access memories on-board Alsat-1

This paper presents the in-orbit observations of single event upset (SEU) and multiple bit upset (MBU) activity in the commercial random access memories (RAM) onboard the first Algerian microsatellite Alsat-1. The application of the quasi-cyclic codes for double-bit error detection and correction in commercial memories for use onboard Alsat-1 is presented. The performance of the proposed quasi-cyclic codec is measured and compared with two different error detection and correction (EDAC) devices, using the same FPGA technology. It is shown that such a technique is very efficient to detect and correct double bit errors. The results show that a fast and accurate data decoding is achieved and that the algorithm is robust, which makes it applicable in low earth orbits.