SpaceFibre CODEC IP core allows the implementation of point-to-point high-speed connection between two units, in full compliance with SpaceFibre standard (ECSS-E-ST-50-11C).
SpaceFibre is a multi-Gigabit/s data link and network technology capable of running both over copper and optical fibre. SpaceFibre is specifically designed for spaceflight applications including high data-rate payload data-handling such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR), multi-spectral imaging systems and fast mass-memory units. It is compatible with SpaceWire at packet level, but the data-link and physical layers are completely re-defined in order to have advanced Quality-of-Service (QoS) and Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) features.
The SpaceFibre CODEC IP Core is the full implementation of the SpaceFibre standard (ECSS-E-ST-50-11C) for point-to-point links. The IP core is written in technology-independent HDL, so it can be easily ported to any technology.
QoS and FDIR mechanisms foreseen by the standard are built-in in the hardware CODEC.
IngeniArs IP Core supports a wide range of SERDES devices for space applications (Xilinx, Microsemi/Microchip, TLK2711, …) and support for additional SERDES devices can be implemented upon request.
Since SpaceFibre is a quite complex standard (especially vs SpaceWire), a reduced version of SpaceFibre CODEC IP Core may come at hand.
This configuration was designed for simple high speed point-to-point communication and is still compatible with the full SpaceFibre implementation, which means that it can communicate with a remote node supporting the full standard. For the reduced SpaceFibre CODEC, some features were removed in order to have a smaller footprint, such as frame re-transmission and broadcast services. The reduced SpaceFibre CODEC can save up 40% hardware resources with respect to the full SpaceFibre CODEC.
The SpaceFibre CODEC IP Core is verified with 100% code coverage by using a comprehensive SystemVerilog test environment and is validated with FPGA implementations on different technologies also proving interoperability with third-party implementations of the standard.