FPGA - MCU design for the performance improvement of a space payload for radiation monitoring

Electronic devices working in a radiation environment are inevitably affected by radiation effects and for this reason it is important to monitor them. The aim of this thesis is the development of the SpaceRadMonMx, an instrument able, thanks to the carefully selected sensors, to measure the Total Ionizing Dose (TID), the number of Single Event Upsets (SEU) and Single Event Latchups (SEL) that provide with sufficient information to characterize the space environment through the HEH fluence and the spectrum hardness factor. The SpaceRadMonMx system is based on the interface of a FPGA and a Microcontroller. The latter is used to acquire analog voltage from a RadFET through an ADC and send data acquired to the FPGA via SPI procol. Instead, the FPGA manages the MCU and monitors SEL, SEU and MBU events. At the same time, it transmits the data to the outside through the I2C protocol. The combination of these two devices allows the system to monitor radiation in Space environment. In particularin this thesis work, the firmware that allows the SpaceRadMonMx to manage the sensors and communicate data is described.