Flexible high-speed data networking provided for space applications

SpaceWire is being used on hundreds of spacecraft by agencies, research organisations and the space industry worldwide, including European Space Agency (ESA), NASA and Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA). SpaceFibre is an emerging standard that provides a high-speed serial data-link for high data-rate payloads, complimenting the speed, simplicity, flexibility and interoperability capabilities of the widely used SpaceWire.

Microsemi's RTG4 FPGAs are the only devices of their kind to feature unique embedded SpaceWire clock recovery circuits. These circuits allow designers to achieve SpaceWire clock and data recovery at data rates up to 400Mb per second. RTG4 also offers high-speed Serialiser/Deserialiser (SerDes) transceiver capabilities to enable SpaceFibre to operate at data transfer rates beyond 2.5Gb per second. STAR-Dundee has demonstrated its SpaceWire and SpaceFibre IP cores using Microsemi's RTG4 Development Kit, with SpaceWire IP running at over 200Mb per second and its next-gen SpaceFibre IP running at 2.5Gb per second.

"The extensive logic, memory, digital signal processing blocks, and SerDes capabilities of RTG4 FPGAs, together with their radiation tolerance and SEU-immune configuration memory, make these devices perfect for spacecraft applications," said Ken O'Neill, Marketing Director for space and aviation, Microsemi. "STAR-Dundee's SpaceWire and SpaceFibre IP solutions combined with RTG4 FPGAs allow spacecraft designers to rapidly create flexible high-bandwidth networks for sophisticated on-board signal processing systems."

With STAR-Dundee's technology and expertise creating an easier process for space designers using RTG4, target applications for Microsemi's FPGAs include satellites, space launch vehicles, planetary orbiters and landers and deep space probes. SpaceWire IP is widely used for spacecraft data-handling whereas SpaceFibre is a new technology that provides higher data rates, integrated quality of service and fault detection, isolation and recovery. These advanced capabilities make SpaceFibre suitable for a wide range of spacecraft onboard applications including integrated payload data-handling, attitude and orbit control networks, and launcher applications, where deterministic data delivery is required.

"We expect that the next 10 years will see an increase of about 25% in the number of new spacecraft of 50Kg mass or larger," said Marco Caceres, senior analyst and director of space studies for the Virginia-based Teal Group consulting firm. "These new spacecraft will have more sophisticated payload electronics than their predecessors, doing more onboard data processing to maximize data acquisition while dealing with limited downlink bandwidth."

SpaceWire connects together instruments, mass-memory, processors, downlink telemetry and other onboard subsystems. Space missions relying on SpaceWire technology include Earth observation, scientific, exploration and commercial spacecraft. SpaceFibre, developed by STAR-Dundee in collaboration with the University of Dundee and ESA, is able to fulfill a wide range of spacecraft onboard communications applications because of its inbuilt Quality of Service (QoS) and fault detection, isolation and recovery (FDIR) capabilities. SpaceFibre is backwards compatible with existing SpaceWire equipment at the packet level.

"We are pleased to be working with Microsemi and leverage our unrivaled expertise to help the company expand the growing adoption of RTG4 FPGAs in SpaceWire and SpaceFibre applications," said Prof. Steve Parkes, managing director of U.K.-based STAR-Dundee. "Our commitment is to ensure our customers can begin working with our technologies as quickly as possible and utilising Microsemi's innovative RTG4 FPGAs can help the industry achieve this easily."