scope:

This Standard describes the Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) architecture for software-defined radios (SDRs), an open architecture for NASA space and ground radios. STRS provides a common, consistent framework to abstract the application software from the radio platform hardware to reduce the cost and risk of using complex reconfigurable and reprogrammable radio systems across NASA missions. It achieves this objective by defining an architecture to enable the reuse of applications (waveforms and services implemented on the SDR) across heterogeneous SDR platforms and reduce dependence on a single vendor. The Standard provides a detailed description and set of requirements to implement the architecture. The Standard focuses on the key architecture components and subsystems by describing their functionality and interfaces for both the hardware and the software, including the applications. The intended audience for this Standard is composed of software, configurable hardware design, and hardware developers who require architecture specification details to develop an SDR platform or application.

A corresponding NASA technical handbook, NASA-HDBK-4009, Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) Architecture Standard Rationale, provides the rationale for the decisions made to develop the architecture, provides additional information to clarify the requirements, gives further examples, and answers questions from users.

This Standard is only one of a set of documents to be provided by the mission and used by the STRS platform providers or STRS application developers in the development of an STRScompliant radio and/or applications. Typical radio acquisition specifications, which include size, weight, power, radiation requirements, connector details, performance and behavior requirements, documentation, and data rights agreements are to accompany this Standard in a radio procurement.

Purpose

The purpose of this Standard is to establish an open architecture specification for NASA space and ground SDRs. Currently most missions either use hardware radios, which cannot be modified once deployed, or software defined radios with an architecture that requires dependence on the radio provider and significant effort to add new applications. The development of the Standard is part of the larger STRS program currently underway to define NASA's application of software-defined, reconfigurable technology to meet future space communications and navigation system needs. Software-based SDRs enable advanced operations that potentially reduce mission life-cycle costs for space or ground platforms.

SDR technology allows radios to be reconfigured to perform different functions without the necessity of using multiple radios to accomplish each communication function, enabling radio count reduction to reduce mass and power resources.

The STRS project provides the infrastructure and guidance for a repository of applications developed for SDRs using the Standard. Adherence to the Standard for the development of SDR platforms and applications and submittal of the applications to the repository will enable the missions to leverage earlier efforts by reusing various software components compliant with the architecture developed in other NASA programs. This will reduce the cost and risk of deploying SDRs for future NASA missions.

The hardware, configurable hardware design, and software architecture and the supporting documentation defined by the STRS Standard provides the ability to port applications among heterogeneous platforms with minimal effort, reduces the reliance on the initial STRS platform providers, and enables the implementation of the services that are envisioned for NASA radios.