Implementation of data compression S/W on a space qualified DSP board

Progress in digital imaging sensors such as high resolution CCDs allows space instruments to perform daily observations producing up to tens of gigabytes of data. In contrast with this technology boost, the increase of downlink capability remains insufficient. In the particular case of science missions with long spacecraft-ground distances, it is typically small (0.1 to 2 Mbps). The communication or data storage bottleneck is then a major factor limiting the coverage and/or resolution of science instruments. Considering the ratio between the data volume and the telemetry rate, onboard compression is mandatory. Considering the high cost and the scarce nature of astronomy data, compression impacts have to be analysed. The work presented in this paper was to select a set of compression techniques compliant to astronomy mission objectives and to implement them on a flight representative DSP board taking into account its specific hardware architecture.