Development of an Open Architecture Flight Qualified Computer(CDDF Final Report, Project Number 92-R07)

A space flight qualified controller for experiments that is modular and based on an open architecture commercially available standard can reduce system development time by leveraging off commercial hardware and software. While the unique requirements of flight may mandate custom hardware designs, a modular design approach in which a core set of modules is designed and built would provide a basis for future experiment controllers. Any unique requirements could then be met by adding modules as necessary. A central processing unit module, a MIL-STD-1553 interface module, and a Spacelab interface module were developed. These modules are linked using the IEEE standard 1296 Multibus II (trademark) bus architecture. This report describes the work done to develop this core set of processing and interface modules that meet the IEEE 1296 Multibus II (trademark) standards.