Next generation instruments to be carried on-board spacecraft
are collecting a large quantity of information at an increasing rate, due to the
recent technological improvements. The huge amount of data generated on-board,
has to face the limited channel resources available for the transmission of data
to ground. The result of this scenario is the increasing importance that
on-board payload data compression is gained in the framework of a spacecraft
design. In addressing data compression requirements of spacecraft payload
instruments, the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) has
published respective standards.
Founded in 1982 by the major space agencies of the world
(NASA, ESA, etc.), the CCSDS is a multi-national forum for the development of
communications and data systems standards for spaceflight. It is currently
composed of eleven member agencies, twenty-eight observer agencies, and over 140
industrial associates. Since its establishment, it has been actively developing
Recommendations for data and information-systems standards to promote
interoperability and cross support among cooperating space agencies, that enable
multi-agency spaceflight collaboration (both planned and contingency) and new
capabilities for future missions. Additionally, CCSDS standardization reduces
the cost burden of spaceflight missions by allowing cost sharing between
agencies and cost-effective commercialization. More than 500 space missions have
chosen to fly with CCSDS-developed standards, and this number continues to grow.
Within the scope of this project, we aim to develop a
complete and fully compliant CCSDS 122.0 encoder soft IP core. The basic
characteristics of the core will be:
- High throughput support
-
Tens to hundreds MPixels support
-
Stand-alone operation (not requiring an external CPU)
-
Space and Radiation Hardened technologies aware architecture
The core will be extensively verified in all levels of
development. It is crucial that the core is rigorously tested in every aspect
and a great deal of development effort will be put in the verification process.
The final outcome of the project will be a high-quality, well-engineered and
well-documented IP core that will fit as is, in the Alma IP portfolio.
A major milestone of the project, will be to develop a
hardware prototype system that will be able to demonstrate all core capabilities
in a user friendly way. From our experience in the IP core market, we strongly
believe that a well-built demonstration system is equal in importance to the
core quality itself in approaching new customers. Thus, in the scope of the
project, we aim to develop a hardware prototype that will be able to handle very
high resolution images and at a high rate, but at the same time, it will retain
an attractive user-interface.
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