MEMS-based Reconfigurable Manifold
Warren Wilson and Jim Lyke
Air Force Research Laboratory
Space Vehicles Directorate
For adaptive space systems of the future, AFRL/VSSE is pursuing the development of a
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) -based reconfigurable wiring manifold that can
be programmed using techniques adapted from FPGA synthesis.
The manifold is based on an interconnection network in a planar, multilayer printed
wiring media into which are integrated a large number of micro-miniature latching relays.
The relays, based on MEMS technology, can be integrated at densities above 100 / cm2.
When integrated into a judiciously designed wiring media, these MEMS relays can be
thought of as individual software-controlled wires, reducing pathway configurations on a
large scale to a series of 0-1 programming decisions. Since the wires and relays of a
complex configuration can be mapped into vertices and edges of a graph, solving for
routing connections can be reduced to solutions of the associated graph Steiner forest. As
such, many powerful FPGA routing techniques apply directly to this manifold. Other
FPGA concepts applicable to the MEMS-wire manifold include configuration control
(through the use of a JTAG interface) and extensibility of the wiring manifold through
daisy-chaining the JTAG interfaces of a number of manifolds.
Adaptive manifolds could be used to recover failed systems in the field, change
functionality in a system after deployment (extend or enable new missions), or simply
allow for a vastly greater flexibility in the design, use, and operation of systems. In some
cases, space assets can be remotely or autonomously reconfigured and refocused to adapt
to changing mission needs in a way far more flexible than permitted through software
only changes inside of an ordinary computer. For space systems, this would directly
result in the reduction in the size and mass of spacecraft systems by maximizing the
utilization of the individual components themselves.
The adaptive manifold is an enabling technology in the sense that it will contribute to the
development of miniaturized, intelligent, self-repairing and self-programming sensor
systems. The talk will present an overview of the manifold concept, and will discuss the
potential applications to specific systems, the requirements of the MEMS switches, and
the principles of design and synthesis needed in the manifold concept.