High Performance Dependable Multiprocessor II

With the ever-increasing demand for higher bandwidth and processing capacity of today´s space exploration, space science, and defense missions, the ability to efficiently apply commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) processors for on-board computing has become a critical need. In response to this need, NASA´s new millennium program (NMP) office commissioned the development of dependable multiprocessor (DM) technology for use in science and autonomy missions, but the technology is also applicable to a wide variety of DoD missions. The goal of the DM project is to provide spacecraft/payload processing capability 10x -100x what is available today, enabling heretofore unrealizable levels of science and autonomy. DM technology is being developed as part of the NMP ST8 (space technology 8) project. The objective of this NMP ST8 effort is to combine high-performance, fault tolerant, COTS-based cluster processing and fault tolerant middleware in an architecture and software framework capable of supporting a wide variety of mission applications. Dependable multiprocessor development is continuing as one of the four selected ST8 flight experiments planned to be flown in 2009.