Keynote address I: SpaceCube: A family of reconfigurable hybrid on-board science data processors

Abstract

SpaceCube is a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based on-board hybrid science data processing system developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The goal of the SpaceCube program is to provide 10× to 100× improvements in on-board computing power while lowering relative power consumption and cost. The SpaceCube design strategy incorporates commercial rad-tolerant FPGA technology and couples it with an upset mitigation software architecture to provide order of magnitude improvements in computing power over traditional rad-hard flight systems. Many of the missions proposed in the Earth Science Decadal Survey (ESDS) will require next generation on-board processing capabilities to meet their specified mission goals. Advanced laser altimeter, radar, lidar and hyperspectral instruments are proposed for at least ten of the Decadal Survey missions, and all of these instrument systems will require advanced on-board processing capabilities to facilitate the timely conversion of Earth Science data into Earth Science information. Both an order of magnitude increase in processing power and the ability to reconfigure on the fly are required to implement algorithms that detect and react to events, to produce data products on-board for applications such as direct downlink, quick look, and first responder real-time awareness, to enable sensor web multi-platform collaboration, and to perform on-board lossless data reduction by migrating typical ground-based processing functions on-board, thus reducing on-board storage and downlink requirements. This presentation will highlight a number of SpaceCube technology developments to date and describe current and future efforts, including the collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense — Space Test Program (DoD/STP) on the STP-H4 ISS experiment pallet (launch June 2013) that will demonstrate SpaceCube 2.0 technology on-orbit.