Stuck Bit Error Identification for the TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X Onboard Memory

Abstract:
Errors in memory storage devices in the form of erroneous bits induced by radiation are a common issue for every spacecraft in orbit. Therefore, well established techniques detect and directly correct these errors in the storage hardware. Sporadically single memory cells can temporarily get “stuck” at a false bit in which case they cannot be corrected. Those stuck bits can persist up to several months generating the same errors during every memory scrubbing cycle. In order to assess the current memory status a method to distinguish between regular and stuck-bit errors is needed. This paper therefore presents a classification approach based on the DBSCAN method where stuck bits are identified as outliers and clustered accordingly. The approach first is verified with simulated data that resembles the error structure of memory errors on TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X. Subsequently, the method is validated with the memory errors recorded by both satellites throughout their lifetime.