On-Board Data Processing and Filtering

Abstract

One of the requirements resulting from mounting pressure on flight test schedules is the reduction of time needed for data analysis, in pursuit of shorter test cycles. This requirement has ramifications such as the demand for record and processing of not just raw measurement data but also of data converted to engineering units in real time, as well as for an optimized use of the bandwidth available for telemetry downlink and ultimately for shortening the duration of procedures intended to disseminate pre-selected recorded data among different analysis groups on ground. A promising way to successfully address these needs consists in implementing more CPU-intelligence and processing power directly on the on-board flight test equipment. This provides the ability to process complex data in real time. For instance, data acquired at different hardware interfaces (which may be compliant with different standards) can be directly converted to more easy-to-handle engineering units. This leads to a faster extraction and analysis of the actual data contents of the on-board signals and busses. Another central goal is the efficient use of the available bandwidth for telemetry. Real-time data reduction via intelligent filtering is one approach to achieve this challenging objective. The data filtering process should be performed simultaneously on an all-data-capture recording and the user should be able to easily select the interesting data without building PCM formats on board nor to carry out decommutation on ground. This data selection should be as easy as possible for the user, and the on-board FTI devices should generate a seamless and transparent data transmission, making a quick data analysis viable. On-board data processing and filtering has the potential to become the future main path to handle the challenge of FTI data acquisition and analysis in a more comfortable and effective way.