Search

Summary: The scope of this paper is to present the proof‐of‐concept and functional verification of a Wireless‐SpaceWire bridge (High‐Throughput Wireless‐SpaceWire Bridge for Intra‐Satellite Transmissions [HiSAT] bridge) designed to replace the wired SpaceWire (SpW) connections for intraspacecraft communications. To provide proper data handling and conversion, the proposed solution implements two main components: (1) the SpW Converter, which provides the SpW interface, and (2) the Wireless Converter, which provides the multiantenna radio frequency (RF) front‐end. High‐end research infrastructure is used in the solution implementation. STAR‐Dundee SpW products emulate real spacecraft instrumentation and implement the SpW links and interfaces. Xilinx FPGA ZCU102 boards are used for the implementation of the hardware/software communication stack of the SpW Converter. A comprehensive National Instruments USRP Software Defined Radio platform is used to implement the Wireless Converter. End‐to‐end laboratory tests are run to evaluate the performance of the proposed solution in terms of average end‐to‐end delay, average data rate, and packet success rate and to assess the technology readiness. The results demonstrate that the HiSAT bridge is TRL4 and that the technological approach (i.e., using FPGAs and OFDM transmissions) can successfully replace an on‐board intraspacecraft SpW link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper presents the design, testing, and validation of a ultra‐wideband (UWB) wireless solution to replace wired intra‐spacecraft communications with wireless communications. The system requirements are provided in the framework of the Eu:CROPIS mission and the wired intra‐spacecraft communication system is replaced with a two‐segment wireless network. As such, distinct sets of UWB gateways and nodes are prototyped to interface with the on‐board entities and properly handle the data transmission in the resulting spacecraft and payload wireless networks. To accomplish these tasks, a custom radio module integrated into the prototypes was designed to provide the appropriate UWB RF front‐end and run a custom‐built communication stack. The viability of the solution was tested in laboratory conditions. For the test scenarios, sensor data are acquired in the payload network and forwarded as SpaceWire packets over the spacecraft network. Experimental test results indicate the suitability of the proposed solution in terms of delay and data integrity for implementing intra‐spacecraft wireless communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]