Spaceflex onboard digital transparent processor: a new generation of DTP with optical digital interconnects

N. Venet, V. Enjolras, C. Nicolas, P. Voisin, Nikos Karafolas, Zoran Sodnik, Bruno Cugny
2019 International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2018  
As high-speed digital signal processing has become a reality taking an increasing place in telecom satellite payloads for today, Thales Alenia Space has introduced the most advanced and disruptive technologies in his new generation of onboard digital transparent processor (DTP). DTP namely Spaceflex is an advanced repeater sub-systems having analogueto-digital (ADC) and digital-to-analogue (DAC) channelizers on their input and output accesses and making extensive use of digital processing to
more » ... port channel routing with fine bandwidth granularity. The mechanical architecture of such advanced digital processor is based on input/output routing channel modules and switch modules interconnected together thanks to optical interconnect technology already implemented in a breadboard developed under the ESTEC contract Optical Inter-board Interconnects for High Throughput on-Board Processors (OI2) but showing higher performances requested by the application. The optical interconnect is supported by optical transceiver, by optical connectors for inside and outside equipment interconnects, by optical cables and flexes. This optical interconnect solution is scalable to an overall throughput in excess of 15 Terabit/s with 150's of optical links. In the frame of this development, Thales Alenia Space has identified and tested 3 different optical transceivers working at high speed data rate higher than 10 Gbps, compatible with GEO and LEO environment whose reliability is compatible with a lifetime of 15 years. The paper will present in detail the tests on selected transceiver (radiation behaviour and temperature) as well as the overall architecture of such advanced digital on board processing equipment.
doi:10.1117/12.2536074 fatcat:jgvu5htb7jg4vegv4nx7lvxyge