Machine Diagnostics System on a Chip

The diagnostic systems in use in military machines are large and expensive. Other military machines could benefit from diagnostic and prognostic systems, but cannot afford the added size, weight and expense. Orbital Research proposes to address this issue by adapting the rugged ASICs that it has presently in development, and those planned for future development, into a single System on a Chip (SoC) using 3D IC stacking capability that is presently under development with Air Force SBIR funding. The SoC would incorporate all the required diagnostic and prognostic capability required by a variety of military applications. The SoC would reduce system size and cost while improving performance and reliability. With Silicon-on-Insulator process, each chip is isolated from the substrate by an insulating oxide layer of oxide forming superior isolating properties over semiconductor junction isolation (JI) or other forms of dielectric isolation (DI). By fabricating the ASICs using SOI technology, the operational temperature limit is increased to over 200°C, a key parameter in providing the ruggedness required for many of the machine diagnostic applications.