Functional verification activities for CRISTAL and LSTM missions

Sammanfattning

The demand for new Earth observation satellites has escalated, driven by the imperative to address critical global challenges such as climate change and natural disasters. This necessitates the development of advanced functional verification methodologies to ensure the reliability and performance of these satellite systems. This paper presents outcomes from an internship focused on functional verification tasks within satellite systems, aiming to address crucial challenges in the development and testing of satellite components. The internship encompassed several tasks, each targeting specific objectives to complete and enhance the verification process to ensure the functionality of satellite systems. The first objective involved gaining a comprehensive understanding of satellite systems, including the satellite architecture, communication lines and Packet Utilization Standard (PUS) services, to create a comprehensive test specification for the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) unit, a specific component requiring specialized testing. Subsequently, the author developed and coded some parts of the full functional test for the GNSS unit to ensure its functionality and reliability. The next task explored the utilization of a File-Based Operation Tools, to assess the potential benefits of this method compared to the previously used method. This involved understanding the creation of packets, the development of a simulator and evaluating the efficacy of this new approach. Furthermore, the author integrated a visualization tool, Visualization Tool for Space data (VTS), in the company simulators. This aimed at enhancing data analysis and interpretation during testing. This simulation tool provides valuable insights into system behavior in response to commands, aiding in the identification of potential issues and optimization opportunities. The completion of these tasks offers valuable insights of the work of a functional verification team member. Even if some tasks could not be achieved within the time frame, opening the door for future improvements, the results enables a better understanding of the test methodology and protocols involved, clearly pointing how intricate is the work of the different teams.