Adaptable Architectures for Advanced Space-Based Communications Systems
Vincent J. Kovarik, Samuel Alan McDonald · 2009
Achieving NASA's lunar and Mars exploration objectives will require significant advances in space-qualified communications systems. The communications capabilities required by lunar missions and beyond cannot be supported through simple, point-to-point radio communications. While such radio links will may provide basic elements of the system, the number of communications sources, sensors, radios, etc. will necessitate the formation of networks. These networks will require the ability to form automatically, adapt to changing topologies, recover from faults, compensate for interference or other external factors inhibiting communications, and additional capabilities as mission needs evolve over the life of their deployment. The communications systems supporting these missions will require significant advances in the architecture and design over current systems. This paper presents work in progress to meet the needs of the next generation space-based communications and networking. I. Introduction roviding the communication capabilities required to support NASA’s planned space exploration missions to the moon, Mars and beyond will require significant advances over current systems. Long-term deployment, changing mission requirements and high data rates impose significant challenges. Providing these advanced capabilities must be achieved while meeting reliability requirements in a hostile space environment and balanced with the stringent size weight and power (SWaP) constraints of the spacecraft and launch capabilities. Through a combination of internal research and development (R&D) and a collaborative project with NASA, the challenges of advanced space-based communications systems are being addressed. How this class of communications systems will be applied to the near-term communications needs and support an evolution to support a wider range of capabilities over the life of the mission will be discussed. Looking beyond basic system upgrade and reconfiguration capabilities, more advanced capabilities such as autonomous ad hoc networks and lightweight routing protocols will be presented. How these technologies will contribute to the formation of adaptable, extensible, and highly reliable communications networks will be discussed. The paper will close with a discussion of how the capabilities will evolve in concert with the future objectives of space exploration missions. A. Communication System Objectives