Deployment of PUS-C standard in projects supported by an automatic generation toolset
The objectives of this study are :- To assess means to optimize the use of the new PUS-C by ESA project- To prototype the development of a code generator framework able to automate the production of PUS products.
Addressing the utilization of telecommand and telemetry packets for the purpose of remote monitoring and control of the spacecraft, the Packet Utilization Standard (PUS) is one of the few ECSS engineering standards that is applied from the development of the Spacecraft, subsystems and payloads but also in the development of the Ground Segment and to the Operations.Producing a new PUS that includes the last 10 years of lessons learned, the PUS Working Group has applied some formal requirement engineering techniques with as intended objective to enable the capability to automate the production of PUS compliant products. The consequence of applying formal modelling techniques is that the PUS-C includes now more than 3000 requirements, much more than the few hundreds requirements of the previous PUS-A. This large number of normative requirements is not an increased complexity but instead a means to reduce risks and costs.This activity proposes to extend the formal modelling concept developed by the PUS working group to assess how much code (system specifications, software specifications, software code, test procedures, etc.) can be automated. A prototype of such PUS products' generator framework will be developed. Once configured for the needs of a specific ESA project, the prototype will automatically generate PUS compliant products (e.g. space to ground ICD, on-board software, databases).With the support of the prototype, the adequacy for the ESA projects of formally addressing the requirement engineering and the production of system requirements specifications will be assessed. The benefits and costs impacts of such formal approach in software developments will be established.