A Parallel Computer Approach for Processing Space Station Telemetry Packets

Abstract

In the Space Station Era, the amount of required telemetry data will be enormous. NASA has proposed a space based network that may ultimately have peak data rates up to 1.2 billion bits per second. There are several levels of processing for the data once it is on the ground. The level zero processing involves reordering of packets, error correction, on line storage, and simple conversion to engineering units. Once the level zero processing is complete the data will be routed over conventional networks to the end users for further processing. The level zero processing will be done by the Data Handling Service, DHS, in real time. This paper discusses a research effort at New Mexico State University to design and simulate the DHS function using a Global Memory Message Passing, GMMP, parallel computer architecture under development in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. This GMMP computer is capable of moving data into and out of main memory at the peak rate. The processing is partitioned by virtual channel number. This proposed implementation does not add much latency to the network. It appears that the entire GMMP computer can be built by cleverly using existing technology.