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A new communication protocol family for a distributed spacecraft control systemIn this paper we describe the concepts behind and architecture of a communication protocol family, which was designed to fulfill the communication requirements of ESOC's new distributed spacecraft control system SCOS 2. A distributed spacecraft control system needs a data delivery subsystem to be used for telemetry (TLM) distribution, telecommand (TLC) dispatch and inter-application communication, characterized by the following properties: reliability, so that any operational workstation is guaranteed to receive the data it needs to accomplish its role; efficiency, so that the telemetry distribution, even for missions with high telemetry rates, does not cause a degradation of the overall control system performance; scalability, so that the network is not the bottleneck both in terms of bandwidth and reconfiguration; flexibility, so that it can be efficiently used in many different situations. The new protocol family which satisfies the above requirements is built on top of widely used communication protocols (UDP and TCP), provides reliable point-to-point and broadcast communication (UDP+) and is implemented in C++. Reliability is achieved using a retransmission mechanism based on a sequence numbering scheme. Such a scheme allows to have cost-effective performances compared to the traditional protocols, because retransmission is only triggered by applications which explicitly need reliability. This flexibility enables applications with different profiles to take advantage of the available protocols, so that the best rate between sped and reliability can be achieved case by case.
Document ID
19950011175
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Baldi, Andrea (European Space Agency. European Space Operations Center Darmstadt, Germany)
Pace, Marco (Vitrociset S.p.A. Rome, Italy)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
November 1, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: NASA. Goddard Space Flight Center, Third International Symposium on Space Mission Operations and Ground Data Systems, Part 2
Subject Category
Space Communications, Spacecraft Communications, Command And Tracking
Accession Number
95N17590
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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