Telemetry microcomputer application in satellites OBC

An on-board computer (OBC) is the brain of any satellite. In this paper we discuss the design of an on-board computer system for micro satellite; the design technologies for large commercial satellites cannot be directly used for the micro satellite due to the compactness of OBC. This equipment monitors and auto control pressure, temperature, direction, all the telemetry equipments, the communication channel transmission and receiving between satellite and terrestrial stations. It is generally a very expensive device, with cost amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our design for general purpose and adaptable OBC, for use in general as low-earth-orbit (LEO) microsatellites. Our system is economical system and compatible with a small size satellite the hardware and software design of this OBC is based upon open and flexible design architecture. The idea is that the design can be used in or adapted for a variety of small LEO micro-satellites with minimal modifications. Keeping these goals in view, a complete architecture of the OBC has been discussed and developed. The design is based on the Intel X86 microprocessor technology. Instructions set, addressing modes, interrupts, in and out and digital and analog interfaces. In addition, the features of on-board computer hardware and operating system are presented. Also the memory subsystem error log is discussed.