Reconfigurable onboard processing and real-time remote sensing
In this paper we present reconfigurable computing as a compelling choice of computing platform for real-time, onboard processing for satellite applications. In particular, we discuss the use of reconfigurable computing in the context of a real-time remote sensing system, providing motivation for such a system and describing attributes of reconfigurable computing that support it as the technology of choice. The High Performance Computing (HPC-I) payload, designed and developed for the Australian scientific satellite FedSat, is introduced as a demonstration of onboard processing in space using reconfigurable logic. We present an overview of the real-time remote sensing system architecture, and describe the design and implementation of three remote sensing algorithms in HPC-I for cloud masking, wildfire detection. and volcanic plume detection. Finally, results from simulation and testing are presented which show very promising performance in terms of data throughput and detection capabilities.
remote sensing reconfigurable logic real time on-board processing