NEW TELEMETRY HARDWARE FOR THE DEEP SPACE NETWORK TELEMETRY PROCESSOR SYSTEM

Abstract

This paper describes the new Telemetry Processor Hardware (TPH) that Avtec Systems has developed for the Deep Space Network (DSN) Telemetry Processor (TLP) system. Avtec is providing the Telemetry Processor Hardware to RTLogic! for integration into the Telemetry Processor system. The Deep Space Network (DSN) is an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions for exploration of the solar system and the universe. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the DSN for NASA. The TLP system provides the capability to acquire, process, decode and distribute deep space probe and Earth orbiter telemetry data. The new TLP systems will be deployed at each of the three deep-space communications facilities placed approximately 120 degrees apart around the world: at Goldstone, California; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. The Telemetry Processor Hardware (TPH) supports both CCSDS and TDM telemetry data formats. The TPH performs the following processing steps: soft-symbol input selection and measurement; convolutional decoding; routing to external decoders; time tagging; frame synchronization; derandomization; and Reed-Solomon decoding. The TPH consists of a VME Viterbi Decoder/MCD III Interface board (VM-7001) and a PCI-mezzanine Frame Synchronizer/Reed-Solomon Decoder (PMC- 6130-J) board. The new Telemetry Processor Hardware is implemented using the latest Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology to provide the density and speed to meet the current requirements as well as the flexibility to accommodate processing enhancements in the future.