Development of fast test platform for microsatellite

Microsatellite is a kind of platform in space for various scientific researches. So, during its design, simulation and test process, the status and signals should be monitored and analyzed are complicated. According to those kinds of practical requirement, an open test platform suitable for fast test aimed in different research purpose should be considered. Thus, a brand-new solution based on SOPC (system on programmable chip) technology and synthetic instruments is presented in this paper. It adopts a distributed parallel test architecture with a standard high speed serial bus LVDS (low voltage differential signal) as the data communication and system control interface. This test platform has an open framework, a strong expansibility and a real-time processing ability for microsatellites test. It has been successfully applied and implements 200 ms periodical real-time monitoring and testing in a microsatellite test and simulation system.