The data handling system for the AGILE satellite

AGILE, Astrorivelatore Gamma ad Immagini LEggero, is a small space mission of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) devoted to observations for astrophysics in the gamma ray energy range 30 MeV-50 GeV with a simultaneous window in the X-ray band 15 keV-45 keV. AGILE payload is composed of four scientific detectors: a tungsten-silicon tracker, a CsI mini-calorimeter, a silicon based X-ray imager and an anticoincidence system for particle background rejection. Moreover, the payload is completed by a power supply unit (PSU) and a payload data handling unit (PDHU) and by three ancillary sub-systems (a GPS receiver and two star sensors). The PDHU tasks are: the payload scientific and ancillary sub-systems control, the operational modes management, the scientific data processing and the telemetry and telecommands management. The scientific data processing involves the gamma-ray photons filtering, the X-ray data acquisition and a burst acquisition logic able to perform an on-board burst coordinates determination. The HW and SW design and implementation is in charge of the Alenia Spazio S.p.A. - Laben. In this paper we present a general description of the PDHU and the guidelines for the scientific simulations and the HW and SW testing activities.