Advanced Plug-and-Play Technologies (APT)

Under the APT contract for the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV), Comtech AeroAstro focused on two main tasks; 1) Plug-and-Play (PnP) network architecture maturation and 2) Risk Reduction through PnP fault management both at the hardware and software level. Comtech AeroAstro designed a PnP network architecture centered on a distributed power system that is PnP hardware-independent and improves the reliability and fault tolerance of the overall PnP architecture to reduce system risk. Our distributed power design allows for the implementation of an Essential/Non-Essential Bus (ESB/NEB) architecture to address power bus fault management and provide efficient anomaly detection, characterization, and appropriate space vehicle responses.

The PnP architecture mandates a distributed fault management system that differs from traditional spacecraft designs which largely rely on a single or “master” processor to manage spacecraft activities and have limited responses to specific fault conditions. The PnP-distributed architecture delivers significant increases in processing capability, but management of those processes is made more challenging by the distributed power, avionics, and data environment, as well as the functionality and autonomy of the various PnP elements. Our risk reduction approach features a new function—a Fault Manager—that resides as a separate, add-on module to the current Satellite Data Model (SDM) flight software or any flight software system with equivalent functionality. This Fault Manager monitors all critical devices and provides the appropriate component or system response to detected faults. Our fault management approach reduces risk at the PnP hardware component level (including power hub, Spacewire router, and Appliqué Sensor Interface Module [ASIM]) while incorporating the current SDM software as a baseline—but does not depend on any specific hardware platform for hosting.