MICRO-PROCESSOR BASED G AND C DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM--I. CONCEPTUAL DESIGN AND SPECIFICATION

TODAY'S MICROPROCESSORS CAN HANDLE COMPLEX REAL-TIME TASKS MORE COST-EFFECTIVELY THAN YESTERDAY'S MINI-COMPUTERS AND MAINFRAMES. THIS PROJECT IS AN INTENSE ANALYSIS AND CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A CRITICAL DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (DMS). THE DMS MAINTAINS COMPLETE RECORDS ON GUIDANCE AND CONTROL COMPONENTS FOR BALLISTIC MISSILES TO ENSURE THEIR RELIABILITY AND READINESS. CURRENTLY, DOZENS OF TERMINALS AND DOZENS OF TEST STATIONS INTERACT WITH A CENTRAL DATABASE IN REAL TIME. EXPENSIVE CUSTOM SOFTWARE ENSURES THAT ALL CRITICAL TIME REQUIREMENTS ARE MET. CAN A MICROPROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE DO THIS EFFORT MORE COST-EFFECTIVELY, EVEN IF SOME OF THE EXISTING SOFTWARE MUST BE MODIFIED OR REWRITTEN? THE STUDY WILL SELECT THE BEST AMONG MANY POSSIBLE SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES. THE RESULT IS A COMPLETE DESIGN SPECIFICATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COSTEFFECTIVE MICROPROCESSOR-BASED GUIDANCE-AND-CONTROL DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR BALLISTIC MISSILES.