A tool for testing and simulation of avionic and spacecraft systems

A systems engineering tool, the aerospace systems simulation, engineering and testing tool (ASSET), is described which allows the development of real-time systems and subsystems within a total system environment from inception of the development process. ASSET may act as a system simulation, a box-level tester, or a full up system tester. This feature provides the developer with an exceptional amount of flexibility. The simulator software may be used as a baseline for configuration management of the spacecraft, as well as a test bed for the same software. The modular software and hardware architecture coupled with the units high performance and low cost make this approach very attractive. With the improving performance of off-the-shelf single-board computers, this design approach will enable the rapid and comprehensive testing of aerospace systems that communicate over bused networks. A spacecraft architecture example is used as a basis for describing the design and implementation of ASSET