3 ms·
Is there a rad-hardened version of z80?
by java-man 7y ago
Is there a rad-hardened version of z80?
- skykooler 7y agoI have found many people saying that a rad-hardened Z80 with ferrite-core memory was used on the Space Shuttle, though I can't find an authoritative source to back that up.
- java-man 7y agounlikely [0] though Sojourner rover used a rad-hardened 80C85 [1] [0] https://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view_group.php?id=7356 https://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view_group.php?... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_embedded_computer_systems_on_board_the_Mars_rovers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_embedded_compute...
- yellowapple 7y agoThe Shuttle did indeed use core memory for awhile, but in what was basically a repackaged and rad-hardened System/360 (so not Z80-based AFAICT): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/4_Pi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/4_Pi
- yellowapple 7y agoThere allegedly was one, but I can't find any info on it. Given the relative simplicity of a Z80 compared to newer CPU designs, it should be relatively "easy" to harden it. There was definitely a rad-hardened version of the 8085 (similar to the 8080, and therefore to the Z80), which was used on the Sojourner rover (among various other NASA and ESA spacecraft). Seems like RISC processors were more common for this, though (looks like most relatively-recent NASA spacecraft - including pretty much all of NASA's Mars landers after Sojourner - use(d) rad-hardened POWER CPUs, e.g. the RAD6000 and RAD750).
- cmrdporcupine 7y agoFairchild F8 was common as a rad-hardened 8-bit CPU in space and military tech. That's simpler than a Z80, and potentially more flexible.