Integrated Avionics System ( IAS ) ,

Introduction: As spacecraft designs converge toward miniaturization and with the volumetric and mass constraints placed on avionics, programs will continue to advance the “state of the art” in spacecraft systems development with new challenges to reduce power, mass and volume. Although new technologies have improved packaging densities, a total system packaging architecture is required that not only reduces spacecraft volume and mass budgets, but increase integration efficiencies, provide modularity and scalability to accommodate multiple missions. With these challenges in mind, a novel packaging approach incorporates solutions that provide broader environmental applications, more flexible system interconnectivity, scalability, and simplified assembly test and integration schemes. This paper will describe the fundamental elements of the IAS, Horizontally Mounted Cube (HMC) hardware design, system and environmental test results. Architecture: The combination of the New Millennium packaging technology with the X2000 system architecture will produce a product capable of meeting a wide range of mission requirements with a low system recurring cost. The architecture is capable of integrating different instruments, propulsion modules, power sources and telecommunication into a multiple mission platform. The goal is to develop and validate a modular building block design with standard interfaces, enabling this high level of integration with the foresight for future systems on a chip. The electrical mechanical architecture is configured to accommodate three different bus configurations. A PCI Bus to handle the high speed Command and Data Handling functions. Signals are propagated across a Z-axis connection system. (Described in the mechanical architecture). The 1394 “firewire” Bus will provide the high data rate for science data acquisition. A third bus, I2C, is a low power bus that is used to accommodate power switching, pyro and temperature sensor interfaces. Both the 1394 and I2C signals propagate through an Y-axis connection system, and across an embedded bus which replaces the traditional spacecraft harness.