Our team and mission

This position is based at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) – Noordwijk, Netherlands

Under the direct authority of the Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, the Electrical Department is responsible for executing activities in the following domains: electromagnetics, antenna systems, space environment, power system, data handling for payloads and platforms, computers and microelectronics, communications and navigation, payloads and end-to-end systems.

The Department manages the corresponding technical laboratories and facilities, elaborates Engineering Standards and is responsible for technology activities for the technical discipline areas of the Department.
In executing these functions, the Department is supported by the:

• Data Systems, Microelectronics & ComponentsTechnology Division
• Radio Frequency Payloads and Technology Division
• Power Systems, EMC and Space Environment Division
• Radio Frequency Systems Division
• Lead Engineers

The Microelectronics Section of the Data Systems, Microelectronics and Components Division core responsibilities cover technical support to ESA missions and research activities in the areas of:

• Digital and analogue integrated circuit: Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), as well as Intellectual Property (IP) Core developments for space applications
• Mitigation techniques against radiation effects for ASIC and FPGA
• Tools and methods for Integrated Circuit design and development (from specifications to tested devices).

For further information visit our web site: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic: Evaluation of open-source RISC-V centered processors

RISC-V is an open-source hardware instruction set architecture (ISA) based on reduced instruction set computer principles. An open ISA is specifically interesting for space applications and is the center of several on-going developments at ESA, which will fly on our future satellites in the near future. RISC-V has a modular design, consisting of base parts, with added optional extensions. Besides, additional custom extensions may be designed to be used in specific applications, on dedicated hardware accelerators. RISC-V is increasingly popular both in industry and academia. The open nature of the ISA makes it easy for many actors to contribute to its growth. For that reason, several open-source projects exist around RISC-V, from simple single cores to more complex system-on-chips. Among, them, the CVA6 is a 6-stage in-order and single issue processor core which implements the RISC-V instruction set, available open source.

The objective of this activity is to evaluate the CV64A6 and assess its potential for use in space, including running relevant benchmarks on a prototype and assessing its strengths and weaknesses in terms of design hardening against radiation. A comparison with other open source RISC-V centered accelerators shall also be provided.

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

Education

You must have student status and be enrolled at university for the entire duration of the internship. You should preferably be in your final or second to last year of a university course at master’s level in a technical or scientific discipline.

Additional requirements

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.

Additional Requirements:

• Microelectronics background, including digital integrated circuit modelling languages (e.g. VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog and SystemC) and computer aided design tools for digital design from e.g. Synopsys, Mentor and Cadence