On-Board Partial Run-Time Reconfiguration for Pico-Satellite Constellations

Distributed satellite systems are considered a promising new direction in spacecraft architecture design. Pico-satellite constellations flying in low Earth orbit (LEO) could become an efficient and low-cost solution to Earth observation and remote sensing in the future. There is a pressing need for condition-based maintenance, self-repair and upgrade capabilities on-board satellites in order to enable future space applications. In this paper we present a methodology for onboard partial run-time reconfiguration to enable onboard system-level functional changes ensuring correct operation, longer life and higher quality of service. The technique of partial run-time reconfiguration is introduced and a remote reconfiguration methodology is described. The architecture of an FPGA-based reconfigurable SoC design for on-board computing is outlined. A case study, which demonstrates the feasibility of the approach, is presented