Microchip acquires VORAGO’s radiation-hardened MCU technology

Microchip Technology has acquired VORAGO Technologies, the Austin-based supplier of radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant microcontrollers and microprocessors.

Announced on 9 October, the transaction brings VORAGO’s processor range, patented HARDSIL technology and radiation-hardening engineering team into Microchip. Financial terms were not disclosed. Microchip said the acquisition was not expected to be material to its consolidated financial results.

HARDSIL builds radiation protection into semiconductor processing. Microchip says the technology can improve the radiation tolerance of existing products without redesigning them and reduce the development time and cost of new radiation-hardened devices.

VORAGO’s VA4 family uses Arm Cortex-M4 cores, with separate radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant variants. Its radiation-hardened devices combine HARDSIL with features including error detection and correction and memory scrubbing. The company positions the complementary radiation-tolerant products for applications such as low Earth orbit missions.

The VA41630 integrates a 100MHz Cortex-M4 processor, mixed-signal peripherals and non-volatile FRAM. VORAGO specifies total ionising dose protection above 200krad(Si) for the FRAM-equipped device and single-event latch-up immunity above 110MeV·cm²/mg at 125°C.

Founded in 2004, VORAGO also licenses HARDSIL and supplies microcontrollers for extreme-temperature industrial applications, with products in its portfolio rated for operation up to 200°C.

Sources

Microchip acquisition announcement; VORAGO VA4 family; VORAGO VA41630 specifications.