CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF SURVIVABLE NETWORKING FOR THE DISTRIBUTED SPARSE ARRAY SPACECRAFT

THIS PROPOSES PHASE I OF A TWO-PHASE ANALYSIS EFFORT, WHOSE OVERALL OBJECTIVE IS TO INVESTIGATE OPTIONS AND TECHNIQUES FOR SURVIVABLE ADAPTIVE NETWORK FOR A DISTRIBUTED ARRAY OF SPACECRAFT (DAS) SYSTEM, FOR FOLLOW-ON DEVELOPMENT. PHASE I WILL IDENTIFY PROMISING APPROACHES, CONDUCT LIMITED ASSESSMENTS, AND IDENTIFY ISSUES FOR MORE DETAILED INVESTIGATION IN PHASE II. A DAS SYSTEM CONSISTS OF SMALL, INEXPENSIVE SATELLITES ("MINI-SPACECRAFT") THAT WORK IN UNISON TO PROVIDE THE CAPABILITY OF A SURVIVABLE MISSION FUNCTION. POTENTIAL DAS SYSTEM MISSION APPLICATIONS INCLUDE COMMUNICATIONS AND SENSING. A SURVIVABLE ADAPTIVE NETWORK (SAN) IS ESSENTIAL FOR A DAS SYSTEM TO BE IMPLEMENTED, IN ORDER THAT DAS MINI-SPACECRAFT CAN WORK TOGETHER, WITH ANY ONE MINI-SPACECRAFT HAVING THE CAPABILITY TO BE A MASTER. IN ADDITION, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THEY MAINTAIN TIME SYNCHRONISM SUCH THAT HIGH DATA RATE TRAFFIC CAN BE ACCOMMODATED. LINK PERFORMANCE IN STRESSED ENVIRONMENTS, INTERCONNECTIVITY OF LINKS, AND MULTIMEDIA TRANSMISSION ARE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS OF A SAN.