This part of IEC 62396, which is a technical report, describes a process to account for the effects of atmospheric radiation on electronic equipment. Single event effects (SEE) due to atmospheric radiation are one class of possible failure mechanisms that are addressed in the safety and reliability analyses of electronic equipment and associated functions.

This document focuses on electronic components, electronic equipment and associated electronic functions. System level analysis is not addressed in this document.

This document is intended to describe an approach to accounting for SEE in electronic equipment design, design review, and it can provide aid in the aerospace certification process. This document establishes an example process for assessing electronic components in the atmospheric radiation environment, evaluating for mitigations/protections/utilizations, and addressing the electronic equipment impacts of the SEE. The process is intended to support an SEE analysis for electronic equipment.

It does not describe, in detail, methods used to mitigate the effects of SEE in the electronic equipment design.

This document, by itself, is not a program requirements document, i.e. it does not contain the word “shall.” However it describes a process that can be used, for example, at the discretion and agreement of the users, to aid in the preparation and the maintenance of an electronic components management plan (see [1] ¹ and [7]). The output of the process described in this document provides data as an input into the product safety and reliability analyses.

Although developed for the avionics industry, this document can be used by other industrial sectors at their discretion.