Advances in Real Time Architecture for Telemetry Processing

Abstract

Telemetry processing is a classic example of a Real Time system and, as such, shares certain attributes with other types of Real Time applications. The most demanding attribute of all Real Time systems is the need to provide a predictable, time critical response to an external stimulus or event. In a telemetry processing system, that critical response time is determined by the input data stream being processed. The system design must determine the response time quantum as a worst case assessment and then adjust it downward based on the presence of other criteria. The ability to utilize the remaining time is further restricted by the limitations that still exist in conventional Von Neumann computer architectures. Because of these limitations, most Real Time applications realize 25% of the processing power indicated by the Whetstone rating of the selected processor and this is the area where the greatest improvement is possible. Specific Real Time architectures can provide as much as 95% of the advertised Whetstone rating for Real Time applications.