Code 587 Technologies and Products

SpaceCube - On-Board SAR Data Processing

Principal Investigator (PI)

• Tom Flatley/Code 587
• Thomas.P.Flatley@nasa.gov

Description and Objectives

• Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instruments generate a large amount of raw data that is typically stored on-board and then sent to the ground. Ground-based SAR data processing algorithms combine/integrate the raw data such that the final SAR data product volume is typically 10x to 50x smaller than the raw data volume. If traditional SAR data processing functions could be implemented on-board the spacecraft then only the final data products would need to be stored, enabling the instrument to collect 10x to 50x more data.

SpaceCube 2.0 and SAR Data Processing

Technical Approach

• Obtain sample input data, algorithms and sample output data products from the science team.
• Create PC benchmark implementation in Matlab.
• Systematically convert the Matlab functionality to SpaceCube FPGA*, CPU* and DSP* functions.
• Integrate and test the SpaceCube implementation.
• Compare SpaceCube & Benchmark products.
• * FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array; CPU: Central Processing Unit; DSP: Digital Signal Processor

Main Innovation(s)

• This technology would enable "order of magnitude" improvements in SAR data collection and use for planetary exploration systems.

Infusion Potential

• Venus Reconnaissance Orbiter
• Europa/Icy Saturnian Moon missions