NOVEMBER 2023, VOLUME 38, NUMBER 11 IEEE Aerospace Electronic Systems

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This Month’s Covers…. Front Cover: Images provided by W. Koch, this issue Back Cover: ©shutterstock.com/Andrey Suslov

IEEE AESS PUBLICATIONS BOARD Lance Kaplan, VP–Publications, Chair Daniel O’Hagan, Editor-in-Chief, Systems

Gokhan Inalhan, Editor-in-Chief, Transactions Amanda Osborn, Administrative Editor

IEEE AESS Society The IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society is a society, within the framework of the IEEE, of members with professional interests in the organization, design, development, integration and operation of complex systems for space, air, ocean, or ground environments. These systems include, but are not limited to, navigation, avionics, spacecraft, aerospace power, mobile electric power & electronics, military, law enforcement, radar, sonar, telemetry, defense, transportation, automatic test, simulators, and command & control. Many members are concerned with the practice of system engineering. All members of the IEEE are eligible for membership in the Society and receive the Society magazine Systems upon payment of the annual Society membership fee. The Transactions are unbundled, online only, and available at an additional fee. For information on joining, write to the IEEE at the address below. Member copies of publications are for personal use only.

THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS, INC. Saifur Rahman, President & CEO Thomas M. Coughlin, President-Elect Forrest D. Wright, Director & Secretary Mary Ellen Randall, Director & Treasurer K. J. Ray Liu, Past President Rabab Ward, Director & Vice President, Educational Activities

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IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine ® (ISSN 0885-8985; USPS 212-660) is published monthly by the Institute of Electrical and E ­ lectronics Engineers, Inc. Responsibility for the contents rests upon the authors and not upon the IEEE, the Society/Council, or its members. IEEE Corporate Office: Three Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA. IEEE Operations Center: 445 Hoes Lane, P.O. Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855, USA. NJ Telephone: 732-981-0060. Price/Publication Information: To order individual copies for members and nonmembers, please email the IEEE Contact Center at [email protected]. (Note: Postage and handling charges not included.) Member and nonmember subscription prices available upon request. Copyright and reprint permissions: Abstracting is permitted with credit to the source. Libraries are permitted to photocopy for private use of patrons, provided the per-copy fee indicated in the code at the bottom of the first page is paid through the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. For all other copying, reprint, or republication permissions, write to the Copyrights and Permissions Department, IEEE Publications Administration, 445 Hoes Lane, P.O. Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855. Copyright © 2023 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. All rights reserved. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE, 445 Hoes Lane, P.O. Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855. GST Registration No. 125634188. CPC Sales Agreement #40013087. Return undeliverable Canada addresses to: Pitney Bowes IMEX, P.O. Box 4332, Stanton Road, Toronto, ON M5W 3J4, Canada. IEEE prohibits discrimination, harassment, and bullying. Printed in the U.S.A.

Editors Editor-in-Chief–Daniel W. O’Hagan, Fraunhofer FHR, Germany VP Publications–Lance Kaplan, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, USA AESS President–Mark Davis, Independent Consultant, USA Operations Manager, AESS–Amanda Osborn, Conference Catalysts, LLC, USA

Contributing Editors Awards–Fulvio Gini, University of Pisa, Italy Book Reviews Editor–Samuel Shapero, Georgia Tech Research Institute, USA Conferences–Braham Himed, Air Force Research Laboratory, USA Distinguished Lecturers & Tutorials–Alexander Charlish, Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics, Germany Education–Alexander Charlish, Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics, Germany History–Hugh Griffiths, University College London, UK Student Research–Federico Lombardi, University College London, UK Technical Panels–Michael Braasch, Ohio University, USA Tutorials–W. Dale Blair, Georgia Tech Research Institute, USA Website Updates–Amanda Osborn, Conference Catalysts, LLC, USA

Associate Editors and Areas of Specialty Scott Bawden–Energy Conversion Systems, Arctic Submarine Laboratory, USA Erik Blasch, US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), USA Roberto Sabatini, RMIT University, Australia– Avionics Systems Stefan Brueggenwirth, Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Germany–AI and ML in Aerospace Dietrich Fraenken, Hensoldt Sensors, Germany– Fusion and Signal Processing Lyudmila Mihaylova, The University of Sheffield, UK–Target Tracking Mauro De Sanctis, University of Rome “Tor Vergata,” Italy–Signal Processing and Communications Jason Gross, West Virginia University (WVU), USA–Navigation, Positioning Giancarmine Fasano, University of Naples Federico II, Italy–Unmanned Aircraft Systems Michael Brandfass, Hensoldt–Radar Systems Raktim Bhattacharya, Texas A&M, USA–Space Systems Haiying Liu, DRS Technologies, Inc., USA– Control and Robotic Systems Michael Cardinale, Retired, USA–Electro-Optic and Infrared Systems, Image Processing Ruhai Wang, Lamar University, USA–Systems Engineering Marco Frasca, MBDA, Italy–Quantum Technologies in Aerospace Systems

November 2023

ISSN 0885-8985

Volume 38 Number 11

COLUMNS In This Issue –Technically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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FEATURE ARTICLES G€ unter van Keuk (1939–2003) and the Evolution of Data Fusion Research in Germany W. Koch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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SerDes Integrated Into the SpaceWire Interface Helps in Achieving Higher Data Rates K. Bravhar, I. Kramberger, L.S. Falcon, D.M. Codinachs, D. Gacnik . . . . . . . . .

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NEWS AND INFORMATION Call for Papers: IEEE International Radar Conference 2023 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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AESS Virtual Distinguished Lecturer Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Report on the 10th IEEE AESS Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace MetroAeroSpace 2023 P. Daponte, A. Farina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2023 Aerospace & Electronic Systems Society: Organization and Representatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2023 Aerospace & Electronic Systems Society: Meetings and Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside back cover

How to Reach Us We welcome letters to the editor; but, we reserve the right to edit for space, style, and clarity. Include address and daytime phone number with your correspondence. E-mail: Daniel W. O’Hagan, [email protected] Catherine Van Sciver, [email protected]

Publishers: Send books for review to Samuel Shapero, 407 Angier Place NE, Atlanta, GA 30308. If you have questions, contact Samuel by e-mail at [email protected]. Advertisers If you are interested in advertising in the AESS SYSTEMS Magazine, please contact Anthony Land at Naylor Associates at [email protected] or Daniel W. O’Hagen at [email protected]

RadarConf’24 2024 IEEE RADAR CONFERENCE

May 6-10, 2024 // Hilton Denver City Center // Denver, Colorado

The Peak of Radar Innovation KEY DATES

17 September 2023

Special Session Proposals Due

20 November 2023 Paper Submissions Due

27 November 2023 Tutorial Proposals Due

24 January 2024

Notification of Acceptance

4 March 2024

Final Paper Submission Due

Aim & Scope

In 2024, the IEEE Radar Conference will be held in Denver, Colorado. With over 300 days of sunshine per year and situated at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, Denver features beautiful weather, outdoor activities, world-class museums and public art, performing arts complex, sporting events, and walkable shopping and dining destinations. The Denver area is home to offices of industry-relevant companies, major universities, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the US Air Force Academy (AFA), and the US Northern Command (NORTHCOM). Don’t miss this exciting week filled with technical innovation and great adventure.

The Venue

The 2024 IEEE Radar Conference will be held at the Hilton Denver City Center. In addition to ample meeting space and conference amenities, the venue is within easy walking distance to the Larimer Square dining/shopping/entertainment district, Coors Field (baseball), the Denver Performing Arts Complex, and outdoor city parks. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre, Rocky Mountain National Park, and other outdoor adventure and hiking destinations are drivable within 30-90 minutes. Attendees will find myriad options for work, shopping, dining, exercise, relaxation, and wonder.

Call for Papers

Original papers describing significant advances in radar technologies, systems, applications, and techniques are sought. Prospective authors should prepare a 4-6 page full paper (including supporting figures) using the IEEE format. Papers should be submitted no later than 20 November 2023. Particular topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

» Radar Signal & Data Processing: STAP & adaptive processing, MIMO, waveform & frequency agility / software-defined radar, sparsity-based techniques, SAR / ISAR processing, digital beamforming & array processing, super-resolution techniques, detection & false alarm improvements, target tracking & fusion, classification & identification, AI/ML techniques

» Radar Phenomenology: target & clutter modeling and estimation, atmospheric propagation & scattering phenomenology, foliage & ground penetration, multipath exploitation

» Radar Systems & Applications: innovative designs / missions for airborne, spaceborne

& shipborne radar, imaging radar, distributed active & passive radar, air traffic radar, over-the-horizon radar, automotive radar, multi-function radar / RF, sense & avoid radar, weather radar, medical / biomedical sensing

» Antenna Technology: conformal / low-profile arrays, design for low sidelobe level, ultra

wideband, metamaterials, multi-polarization, frequency-diverse arrays, dual / multi-band antennas & arrays, simultaneous multiple beams

» Subsystems and Components: novel & advanced processing architectures, processing

& RF architectures for software-defined radar, RF system-on-chip (RFSoC) & other transceiver technologies, advanced components (e.g., GaN MMICs), real-time processing (e.g. FPGA, GPU, hybrid), T/R modules, advanced receiver designs, and simultaneous transmit / receive (STAR) architectures

» Emerging Radar Technologies: cooperative radar systems (scheduling, networking, fusion), cognitive radar, spectrum sharing & frequency agility, fully digital phased array radar, millimeter-wave / terahertz radar, application of AI/ML

For any inquiry, please contact [email protected]

2024.IEEE-RADARCONF.ORG

In This Issue –Technically G€UNTER VAN KEUK (1939–2003) AND THE EVOLUTION OF DATA FUSION RESEARCH IN GERMANY Multiple sensor data fusion and adaptive sensor resources management are key technologies for realizing modern aerospace and electronic systems, researched by the information fusion community. In October 2023, on the 20th anniversary of the death of G€ unter van Keuk, one of its pioneers, we recall aspects of the early history of this branch of applied computer science in the German defense domain. In 2023, also the Fraunhofer Institute for Communications, Information Processing, and Ergonomics (FKIE) looks back on 60 years of one of its roots, the Research Institute for Radio and Mathematics (FFM), van Keuk’s scientific home, as well as on 60 years of target tracking in Germany, which has led to FFM’s foundation in 1963.

SERDES INTEGRATED INTO THE SPACEWIRE INTERFACE HELPS IN ACHIEVING HIGHER DATA RATES The growth of transfer data between subsystems onboard a satellite is imminent, and the SpaceWire (SpW) communication standard fits in the high-speed full duplex serial communication protocols with data rates up to 400 Mbit/s. SpW Intellectual Property (IP) cores integrated into radiation hardened by design (RHBD) field programmable logic array (FPGA) devices struggle to reach data rates of up to 300 Mbit/s and, depending on the FPGA type. Two devices connected with the SpW link exchange 4-bit control and 10-bit data SpW symbols. Most designs have a 1-bit or 2-bit serialization/deserialization (SerDes), where digital structures do not need a lot of processing power for encoding/decoding SpW symbols. Furthermore, encoding/decoding SpW symbols to/from a SerDes with more than two bits requires extra digital processing power. This article proposes SpW4Brave Register Transfer Level (RTL) architecture with the multibit SerDes component and the required steps for encoding/decoding SpW symbols. The proposed register transfer level SpW4Brave architecture integrated in NG-MEDIUM and NG-LARGE BRAVE FPGA can reach data rates up to 400 Mbit/s with the help of the SpaceWire IP Bank. It utilizes a SerDes component (20-bit deserialization, a 10-bit serialization unit) and an encoding/decoding component for the strobe signal.

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Feature Article:

DOI. No. 10.1109/MAES.2023.3317880

G€unter van Keuk (1939–2003) and the Evolution of Data Fusion Research in Germany Wolfgang Koch , Fraunhofer FKIE, D-53343 Wachtberg, Germany

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. —1 Cor. 13:9

INTRODUCTION Twenty years ago, on 17 October 2003, Dr. rer. nat. G€unter van Keuk (1939–2003; Figure 1), quantum physicist and pioneer of computer science, succumbed to cancer. Since 1968, he created methodological foundations of information harvesting by fusing uncertain data from multiple sensors and predictive sensor data acquisition for the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Germany and to the benefit of Germany’s contribution to NATO as well as its national defense industry [1]. Van Keuk’s scientific home was the Forschungsinstitut f€ur Funk und Mathematik (FFM; Research Institute for Radio and Mathematics), founded in 1963, a predecessor of today’s Fraunhofer-Institut f€ur Kommunikation, Informationsverarbeitung und Ergonomie (FKIE; Fraunhofer Institute for Information Processing, Communication and Ergonomics). As an outstanding researcher and leader, van Keuk founded the department Sensordatenverarbeitung und Steuerungsverfahren (SuS; Sensor Data Processing and Control Methods) within FFM in 1975, left his mark on it until 2001, and gave it an international reputation. It became the nucleus of today’s Department of Sensor Data and Information Fusion at Fraunhofer FKIE. A sense of history characterizes mature scientific and engineering communities, such as the IEEE Aerospace & Electronic Systems Society (AESS) and the International Information Fusion Society (ISIF), which celebrated their 50th and 25th anniversaries, respectively, in 2023. Only those who know how they came to their present position will also Author’s address: Wolfgang Koch, Fraunhofer FKIE, D-53343 Wachtberg, Germany (e-mail: [email protected]). Manuscript received 2 May 2023, revised 11 July 2023; accepted 18 July 2023, and ready for publication 22 September 2023. Review handled by Mauro De Sanctis. 0885-8985/23/$26.00 ß 2023 IEEE 4

be able to master the challenges of the future. This is particularly true for the history of defense technologies seen as a part of military and cultural history in general. In this spirit, this article traces aspects of the early history of multiple sensor data fusion and adaptive sensor resources management for national and alliance defense, which provided the basis to 2001, and opened pathways to future developments. The epochal years 1955, 1968, 1990, and 2001 provide orientation. The prehistory of data fusion in Germany dates from 1955, when the German post-World War II armed forces, the Bundeswehr, was founded, to the year 1968 during the most confrontational years of the Cold War. The subsequent period until 1990 is characterized by the beginning of the policy of detente between East and West, which led with ups and downs to the end of the Cold War and Germany’s reunification. In the year 1968, which profoundly changed Western societies, van Keuk joined the FFM. Hopes for a peace dividend after the end of the Cold War, which seem naı¨ve in retrospect, and the subsequent transformation of defense research in the face of new missions for the Bundeswehr characterized the period from 1990 to 2001. The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 gave rise to public security research as an additional field of work. In October 2001, von Keuk took early retirement while providing invaluable advice until his death in 2003. With a short look at subsequent developments, we try to “prophesize” the implications of the war that broke out on 24 February 2022 on the future of data fusion research for defense in “the Age of AI.” In all these phases of scientific and engineering evolution, the unfolding of methodologies for information fusion and resources management were driven by parallel developments in the military threat scenarios, in the requirements for intelligence, surveillance reconnaissance (ISR) and weaponry, as well as in computer, sensor, and platform technologies, but also in the prevailing political situation.

REFLECTIONS MOTIVATING A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW History of technology is part of the more general history of human thought and seeks to understand how current

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technologies came into being. Such reflections may make unforeseeable impulses more fruitful for future developments. To set meaningful goals for future technologies, especially aerospace and electronic systems (AES) for defense should take thoughts about security into account to adequately respond to challenges. Inevitably, such considerations reflect personal views and national circumstances. “All kinds of instruments are turned into weapons. [. . .] We love the world of Kant but must prepare to live in the world of Hobbes. Whether you like it or not” [2]. This statement of Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in November 2021 was prophetic and marks the new epoch we live in. The international AES and information fusion communities have also woken up to this world, where external security is the prerequisite to achieve all other individual, social, political, or ecological goals. Previously, extremists’ terror, organized crime, and political radicalization have taught us to value inner security. But valuing security is not as self-evident as we would like to believe. For the influential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), a prophet of catastrophes emanating from Germany, it was not a desirable goal: “For believe me: the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is—to live dangerously,” he formulates in his Gay Science, a worldview that has let political tyrants dream of greatness until

today: “Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius! Send your ships into uncharted seas! Live at war with your peers and yourselves!” [3]. Prophetically, Nietzsche even anticipates the antiWestern romanticism by a century. In his book Twilight of the Idols, he speaks of “Russia, the only power today which has endurance, which can wait, which can still promise something—Russia, the concept that suggests the opposite of the wretched European nervousness and system of small states. [. . .] The whole of the West no longer possesses the instincts out of which institutions grow, out of which a future grows” [4]. In his own way, Nietzsche anticipates the core thesis of Oswald Spengler’s (1880– 1936) influential book The Decline of the West (1918/ 1922). From the Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man of Thomas Mann (1875–1955), where the Nobel laureate in literature for 1929 believes “that democracy, that politics itself, is foreign and poisonous to the German character” and refers to Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821– 1881) to explain that Germany has always protested against the Roman Catholic and Western world [5], the arc reaches into the most recent past. It was only in his Californian exile that Thomas Mann, under the influence of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), became a convinced democrat. Today, we are forced to learn what a truly “sustainable” and precious commodity “security” is, without which personal freedom and culture perish. Without

Figure 1. G€ unter Karl Friedrich van Keuk (1939–2023); photographs taken in 1973 (left) and 1993 (right).

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G€unter van Keuk (1939–2003) and the Evolution of Data Fusion Research in Germany external and internal security no calculable economic processes, no steady inflow of raw materials, no robust supply chains for export-dependent nations, no services of general interest, and no social balance. Without safe and secure technologies, even insurance companies, modern societies would be unstable, as they also depend on intrinsically risky technology and processes. Especially today, research on AES should deliver its own contribution to defend humanity, the freedom of nations, the legal order, and world peace, as it did amid the Cold War. In the Age of AI, i.e., of mathematical algorithms, there seem to be no effective armed forces without information superiority and decision dominance in all military domains. Research on data fusion and resources management is, thus, crucial for national and alliance defense, which addresses a variety of needs, ranging from more basic research, over the development of demonstrators for supporting the planning, design, procurement, finally to the effective use of military ISR and weaponry for defense.

BEGINNING OF DATA FUSION IN POST-WORLD WAR II GERMANY Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967), West Germany’s Chancellor from 1949–1963, established for the first time a stable democracy in Germany, rebuilt West Germany from ruins, and led it into NATO after the catastrophe of World War II. His motivations prove to be timeless, especially today, and mark the beginning of defense research in Germany after World War II. To Adenauer, NATO was a community of free nations, determined to “defend the common heritage of Western culture, personal freedom and the rule of law,” Adenauer emphasized on that 9 May 1955, the day of West Germany’s NATO accession, the fifth anniversary of the Schuman Declaration,1 the fifth birthday of a united Europe, and the tenth anniversary of the surrender of the Nazi regime. For these reasons, NATO’s goals “in view of the political tensions in the world correspond completely to the natural interests of the German people, who [. . .] long for security and peace like hardly any other people” [6]. On 12 November 1955, the Bundeswehr was founded. Two years after these stunning achievements in the political domain, the Society for the Promotion of Astrophysical Research (ASTRO) began with scientific work in the interest of national defense. It had been founded in the epochal year 1955 as supporting organization for today’s Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, the 1

Proposal of the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman (1886– 1963), to place French and West German production of coal and steel under a single authority that later became the European Coal and Steel Community.

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Capital of West Germany. This surprising connection of astrophysics and defense research becomes understandable when looking at Germany’s first radio telescope, put into operation in 1956. It was based on antenna and receiver technology developed for the military W€ urzburg radar in World War II. Later, also FFM became a member of ASTRO, which was renamed Forschungsgesellschaft f€ ur Angewandte Naturwissenschaften (FGAN; Research Society for Applied Science) in 1975, finally absorbed into the Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research in 2009. Until his death, the renowned astrophysicist Wolfgang Priester (1924–2005), who provided the first radio astronomical survey of the sky in 1956 with others, and the director of today’s Argelander Institute for Astronomy at the University of Bonn, was a member of the ASTRO and FGAN Senates, where all other members were representatives of defense companies. The physicist Friedrich Wiekhorst (1929–2010), a distinguished personality, served as the FGAN’s chairman from 1985 to 1999. An equation named after him is referenced in the latest textbooks on systems engineering and describes the combinatorial disaster occurring in certain networking systems [7]. How did a problem of data fusion, whose solution requires extreme precision and care, lead to the foundation of the FFM [8]? In 1957, the physicists and radio engineers Paul Kotowski (1904–1971) and Fritz Schr€ oter (1886–1973), Telefunken GmbH, a predecessor company of today’s Hensoldt AG, and high-frequency engineer Leo Brandt (1908–1971), then State Secretary in the North RhineWestphalian Ministry of Economics and Transport, made mathematician Wolfgang Haack (1902–1994; Figure 2), Technical University (TU) of Berlin, aware of an initiative for the use of computers in air traffic control [9]. As a visionary, Haack had early recognized the potential of computers for applied research and founded a working group for “electronic calculating machines” in 1950 in collaboration with Konrad Zuse (1910–1995), internationally recognized as one of the inventors of the computer [10]. Zuse’s Z 22 machine was the seventh computer model this pioneer has developed. With 55 examples sold, it was one of the early also commercially successful computers, whose design was finished about 1957 and used vacuum tubes instead of electromechanical devices. Since computers were not on the horizon of state sponsors at that time, Haack stepped in as a personally liable guarantor for the large purchase sum. This enabled him to set up the first computer at the Technical University Berlin (TU Berlin) in 1958. However, his forward-looking investment was soon refinanced. As early as 1959, Haack et al. presented their first results, which can be seen as the beginning of computer-

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Koch

Figure 2. Wolfgang Haack (1902–1994), Hahn-Meitner Institute (left). Friedrich-Wilhelm Gundlach (1912–1994), Heinrich Hertz Institute (right).

based and networked data fusion in Germany [11]. The pilot communicates the desired flight plan by radio to the air traffic controller at the airport of departure; the controller feeds the data into a local computer that uses an algorithm to check that the route and airport are clear and that there is no danger of collision. If the pilot wants to fly over several districts, the computer passes the data on to the local computers concerned in via teletype until the destination is reached. Only when all local computers have registered and confirmed, the flight is released for takeoff. Even if computers fail, there is no danger if flights adhere to the flight schedule, as can be assumed in cooperative scenarios, such as scheduled flights in civil aviation. In the same year 1959, the idea was born to advance this topic in a multidisciplinary way by including radar data, which was strongly supported by the electrical and electronics engineers Werner Nestel (1904–1974), Member of the Board of Management for Research and Development at Telefunken, and Oskar Heer (1904–1996), from 1953–1969 President of the German Bundesanstalt f€ur Flugsicherung (BFS; Federal Office for Air Traffic Control), founded in 1953 [12].

Under Haack’s leadership, a working group on electronic flight data processing was formed at the Hahn-Meitner-Institut (HMI) in Berlin Wannsee, in which mathematician Horst Springer (1920–1991; Figure 3) distinguished himself. Electrical and electronics engineer Friedrich-Wilhelm Gundlach (1912–1994; Figure 2) headed the digital radar working group at the Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI) at TU Berlin, where the young electrical and electronics engineers Werner Storz (1932–2004) and Wulf-Dieter Wirth (see Figure 4) started their careers, Wirth still working in his 90th year in the author’s team. Kotowski was heading the display group at Telefunken. As early as 1961, Haack was able to present first results with recorded real radar data at a conference of the societies for positioning and navigation of England, Germany, and France in D€ usseldorf that can be seen as a beginning of target tracking in distributed sensor networks in Germany. Realtime capabilities were demonstrated in 1962 [13] by means of a Siemens 2002 computer in which, for the first time in Germany, only transistors were used as active components. In early 1963, the HHI group connected its digital radar signal

Figure 3. Ernst Schulze (1909–1992), German Ministry of Defense (left). Horst Springer (1920–1991), Director of FFM, from 1965 to 1985 (right).

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G€unter van Keuk (1939–2003) and the Evolution of Data Fusion Research in Germany

Figure 4. J€urgen Grosche, Director FFM/FKIE 1987–2009 (left). Wulf-Dieter Wirth, Head of FFM EL 1963–1999 (right), since then FKIE SDF.

detector with the Frankfurt Airport radar and the TR4 computer at BFS, while the HMI group demonstrated the first real-time online air target tracking application in Germany [14]. Produced in series since 1962, the TR 4 (Telefunken Rechner) was the largest digital computer system developed in Europe at its time.

FORSCHUNGSINSTITUT F€UR FUNK UND MATHEMATIK As early as 1954, the conceptual designers of the Bundeswehr were aware of the importance of digitization, which was not yet known by this name. “The scientification and mechanization of the military craft will lead to the dissolution of spatial boundaries and acceleration of military action,” anticipated Colonel, later General Wolf von Baudissin (1907–1993), today’s “hyperwar,” one year before the Bundeswehr was founded and two years before the famous Dartmouth Summer Research Project coined the notion of Artificial Intelligence AI [15]. For him, therefore “the most highly mechanized combat requires that responsibility is seen and borne at many lower levels,” he continued [16, p. 234]. Experienced with own research work at the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt f€ ur Luftfahrt (DVL; German Aviation Research Institute) in Berlin-Adlershof since 1935, physicist Ernst Schulze (1909–1992; Figure 3) was aware of the importance of modern computers and digital sensor technology for national defense. On 1 December 1953, he was appointed to the Amt Blank,2 the predecessor of the Germany’s Bundesministerium der Verteidigung (BMVg; Federal Ministry of Defense), founded in 1955. Schulze was among the first BMVg employees granted access to the US Pentagon. As Ministerialdirigent, he was finally 2

From October 1950 to June 1955, the “Blank Office” was the predecessor institution of the German Ministry of Defense. The head of the office was Theodor Blank (1905-1972), Federal Minister of Defense from 1955 to 1956.

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responsible for all aspects of defense research in Germany, which he promoted with foresight and a realistic view of the needs of the young Bundeswehr. Appreciatively called “Ball Lightning Schulze,” his portrait at Fraunhofer FKIE still radiates drive and enthusiasm, in which he immediately grasped the military significance of the Haack-Gundlach-Kotowsiki cooperation, pointed out to him by Leo Brandt. All ships and fighter aircraft of the young Bundeswehr were equipped with radar systems still operating without computer assistance. The same was true for NATO’s Integrated Air Defense System (NADGE), a command and control network combining radars and other facilities that became operational in 1962. In addition, for the surface-to-air missile defense systems HAWK and Nike Hercules, introduced to the German Air Force in 1960s, computational support was required. Based on the work preciously sketched, a great opportunity was to be seized, since a research facility for digital sensor signal and data processing was missing in Germany. Research contracts proved the international reputation of the achieved results, for example given by the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation EUROCONTROL, founded in 1960, and the Project Beacon Task Force, which U.S. President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) had established in 1961 to “conduct a scientific, engineering overview of our aviation facilities and related research and development and to prepare a practicable long-range plan to ensure efficient and safe control of all air traffic within the United States” [17]. In April 1963, the research groups at HMI, HHI, and Telefunken joined ASTRO. The date of establishment of the FFM in Berlin is considered to be 1 July 1963 [8, p. 1]. The name of the new interdisciplinary institute was suggested by Leo Brandt to comprehend its military mission while disguising it at the same time. The mission statement of FFM was “to increase the performance of current and future ISR and Command & Control Systems for the Bundeswehr by researching mathematical and technical

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Koch procedures using computers,” as J€urgen Grosche (see Figure 4) put it later, director of FFM since 1987 [8, p. 11]. Wolfgang Haack became FFM’s founding director in Berlin. After the interdisciplinary institute moved with its 25 employees to Wachtberg near Bonn in 1965, mathematician Horst Springer (1920–1991) became his successor who until 1985 built up the FFM with great energy. His personal fate is characteristic of his time. Immediately after graduating from Askanisches Gymnasium in BerlinTempelhof, that time a highly respected classical grammar school, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht, became a Russian prisoner of war in June 1944, and did not return until October 1953. His intellectual survival in nine years of Siberian captivity was ensured by a fellow prisoner, a professor of mathematics, who taught him mathematics. From 1956, Springer worked as an assistant to Haack and received his doctorate in 1961. In addition to founding the Departments of Electronics (EL) and Applied Mathematics and Programming (AMP), he soon increased the scope of FFM (1966: Command & Control, headed by Werner Storz until 1997, acting director of FFM from 1985–1987; 1967: Human Factors, 1971: Image Processing). As members of the Scientific Advisory Board, Haack and Gundlach shaped the development of the FFM over many years. In 1969 and 1974, the Human Factors and Image Processing departments became their own institutes. Whether this splitting up was advantageous for German defense research may be questioned in retrospect. Even then, it would have been far better to establish more comprehensive institutes like today’s Fraunhofer FKIE. Since 1966, the FFM has trained mathematical–technical assistants, whose contributions are important until today. Based on a near real-time digital radar signal detector developed by Wulf–Dieter Wirth, essentially a means of data rate reduction, tracking methods for active rotating radar were developed even before 1968 in the field of sensor data fusion for estimating 3D target trajectories from range and azimuth measurements. The purchase of a TR4 computer had significantly increased the FFM’s effectiveness. The performance of the mathematical algorithms was quantitatively evaluated in experiments with real data. These activities were followed by the development of multiple radar tracking algorithms, which transmitted radar data from several radar sensors stationed in the vicinity of Frankfurt Airport by telephone line to Wachtberg for fusing them. First data assignment problems were to be solved, while the altitude of flight targets was estimated online from 2D data. On a much larger scale, no one expresses the positive spirit of FFM’s founding in the summer in 1963 better than President Kennedy himself, three days before his famous “Ish bin ain Bearleener”3 on 26 3

“I am a Berliner” John F. Kennedy’s speech in West Berlin is one of the best-known speeches of the Cold War.

NOVEMBER 2023

June and a few months before the end of Adenauer’s chancellorship on 15 October and Kennedy’s assassination on 22 November 1963: “Cologne is [. . .] a city which, since Roman times, has played a special role in preserving Western culture, and Western religion, and Western civilization,” the young U.S. President addressed the Germans during his visit to the city, where Christian H€ ulsmeyer (1881–1957) performed the first radar experiment in history [18], and added: “The problems of the Western world are, in many ways, different than they were 2000 years ago, but our obligation as citizens remains the same—to defend our common heritage from those who would divide and destroy it; to develop and enrich that heritage so that it is passed on to those who come after us” [19]. In the same spirit, Konrad Adenauer said farewell to the Bundeswehr in 1963 “as the most visible expression of the reconstruction of Germany, as the restoration of order, as proof of the integration into the front of free nations.” His motives also apply to the present: “Soldiers, if we had not created our armed forces, we would have lost freedom and peace long ago. So you, soldiers, through the work you have done, have in truth given and preserved peace for the German people” [20].

1968, A YOUNG PHYSICIST ENTERING DEFENSE RESEARCH G€ unther van Keuk—a young theoretical physicist from the University of Hamburg—joined FFM in 1965, student of Harry Lehmann (1924–1998), a pioneer of quantum field theory, and Lothar Collatz (1910–1990), cofounder of numerical mathematics in Germany. Sponsored by Germany’s largest, oldest, and most prestigious scholarship foundation during his studies, he earned a Dr. rer. nat. degree with a thesis entitled “Zur Anwendung des statistischen Modells zur Drehimpulserhaltung” [“On the Application of the Statistical Model for Angular Momentum Conservation”] in April 1968. Being van Keuk’s fellow doctoral student, Gert Roepsdorff, later professor of theoretical physics at RWTH Aachen, pointed the author of these reflections to van Keuk after completing his own doctorate in 1990. With a focus on Latin and Greek, von Keuk received his education at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums [Academic School of the Johanneum] in Hamburg founded in 1529 by Johannes Bugenhagen (1485–1558), a companion, friend, and confessor of Martin Luther (1483–1546). The Johanneum counted the physicists Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894), who proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves, his nephew Gustav Hertz (1887–1975), Nobel Prize winner in 1925 for pioneering work in quantum physics, a branch of physics, recently becoming relevant for data fusion

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G€unter van Keuk (1939–2003) and the Evolution of Data Fusion Research in Germany

Figure 5. ELRA antenna cabins for transmitting and receiving on the roof of FFM’s new institute building, inaugurated in 1978.

and resources management [21], and Robert Pohl (1884–1976), the “real father of solid-state physics,” [22] the physical basis of modern computers. During his studies, van Keuk frequented the home of physicist and philosopher Carl Friedrich von Weizs€acker (1912–2007) and was befriended with his son Ernst Ulrich von Weizs€acker. This intellectual root is interesting, since the founding idea of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, at the University of Hamburg (IFSH) goes back to ideas of Carl Friedrich von Weizs€acker, whose founding director was General Wolf von Baudissin from 1971 to 1984. The year 1968 when van Keuk joined FFM was an epochal year in politics, society, and research. When Willy Brandt (1913–1992) became chancellor, traditional securities and social cohesion increasingly dissolved. In consequence, the German society in general and its educational systems, as well as West Germany’s foreign policy toward Russia opened to change with a problematic outcome if seen in retrospect. For Elektronisch steuerbares Radar [ELRA; Electronically Steerable Radar (Figure 5)], van Keuk developed ideas that pointed into the future. Wulf-Dieter Wirth proposed it as a logical continuation of FFM’s work on MONO/MULTIRADAR to the Air Defense Study Group

in 1969. Ernst Schulze made the financing possible. Together, van Keuk and Wirth developed a coupled radarcomputer system, where the computer provided multifunction control of the first phased-array radar in Germany, i.e., search and tracking tasks (Figure 6) [23, ch. 17, 19]. The ELRA experimental system, realized step by step, detected and tracked real air traffic up to about 200 km. The consulting expertise thus acquired was valuable for large German armament and procurement projects such as counter battery radar (COBRA), the ground-based air defense missile system Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target (PATRIOT), and the F124 frigate class. In 1970, van Keuk was among the first, who proposed, demonstrated, and internationally published adaptive target tracking for phased-array radar [24]. His results were presented to a general engineering community at the IEEE International Radar Conference in 1975 [25] and explained in Alfonso Farina’s influential monography in 1985 [26]. Both pioneers of digital radar data processing knew and esteemed each other personally. Sequential track initiation based on optimality criteria and a quantitative performance prediction model for phased-array radar, the “Van Keuk Equation,” followed in 1978 [27, p. 11-4]. In Sam Blackman’s (1938–2019) monumental monography, van Keuk’s papers published in English until

Figure 6. The ELRA Simulator ELRAS enabled the development of adaptive strategies for search, multiple target tracking, track initiation/deletion, threat analysis, etc. The figure shows 3D representations of multiple target tracks.

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Figure 7. The triangulation system TRIAS enabled the analysis of typical Cold War scenarios with heavy stand-off jamming. Bearings of attacking aircraft by a sensor network as a snapshot (left). “Demasking” by the spatio-temporal data assignment and “de-ghosting” (right).

1999 have been referenced extensively, indicating his growing international reputation [28]4. His international publications only comprise a part of van Keuk’s research, however, which is documented in many internal reports written in German. While these should be made digitally available, in so far as they are declassified, at least a list of their titles is provided in [29]. The research of van Keuk and his team has found its way into numerous defense systems in Germany. Besides the large programs previously mentioned, examples until 2003 are data fusion projects such as multiple sensor tracking (MST) for NATO’s Control and Reporting Centres (CRCs; run by Wolfgang Konle at today’s Airbus Defence & Space), the AWACS Mid-term Modernization (Airborne Early Warning and Control System, run by Uwe Wacker at a predecessor of today’s Hensoldt) or Coalition Aerial Surveillance and Reconnaissance (CAESAR), an international preparatory program for realizing NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS). For the special session, “Forty Years of Multiple Hypotheses Tracking” at the 21st IEEE/ISIF International Conference on Information Fusion, FUSION 2018, held in Cambridge, U.K., the author of this memoir dedicated his own contribution, which combines ideas from quantum physics with sensor data fusion, to his mentor, G€unter von Keuk [30].

SENSOR DATA PROCESSING AND CONTROL METHODS The work of van Keuk’s numerically small but scientifically strong department focused on integrative target data processing and multiple hypotheses tracking, starting from single sensors up to sensor networks. While focusing on radar of different type first, data fusion problems with other 4

van Keuk’s papers: p. 255 [53, 1976], p. 400 [62, 1995], p. 401 [87, 1997], p. 734 [72, 1982], p. 734 [73, 1995], p.906 [7, 1978], p. 960 [16, 1993], p. 961 [39, 1978], p. 932 [45, 1995], p. 1067 [36, 1980], p. 1113 [29, 1996], p. 1114 [41, 1998], p. 1115 [55, 1995], p. 1165 [3, 1996], p. 1168 [57, 1987], p 1169 [65, 1998]. The following papers referenced by Blackman were inspired by van Keuk’s ideas: R. Baltes: S. 734 [73, 1995]; K. Becker: p. 312 [39, 1996]; G. Binias: S. 400 [69, 1978]; W. Fleskes: S. 1067 [36, 1980], S. 1168 [57, 1987]; W. Koch: S. 400 [62, 1995], S. 401 [87, 1997], [88, 1997], S. 477 [32, 1996], S. 1114 [41, 1998], [48, 1997], [49, 1997], S. 1169 [68, 1996].

NOVEMBER 2023

sensors were soon addressed, such as sonar and battlefield acoustics, for example, the experimental network of acoustic sensors against low-flying air raids. Passive surveillance techniques such as target motion analysis (TMA) were researched for submarines and antiradiation missiles ARM. Since powerful computers were needed to implement algorithms and as analysis tools, van Keuk’s work represented, compared to classical science and engineering, a still young discipline at his time. Visualization was key, which is illustrated here by “stylish” examples from the 1980s [31]. While modern radar systems use automated target data processing, the historical development started at the other end of the processing chain, i.e., at the sensor itself. Electronically controllable radar sensors, for example, cannot be adequately operated, unless information obtained at the target data processing level is fed back. This does not only imply near-real-time processing issues of radar data, but also problems of optimized resources management including graceful degradation to enhance the overall surveillance performance. Research on sensor networks by van Keuk and his team was not only initiated by feasibility, but became militarily necessary due to increasing demands of reconnaissance performance. Together with Rita Baltes, he developed tracking systems for massive target densities under electronic counter measures (Figure 7) [32] and heavey clutter conditions, see Figure 8. As a further step, preprocessed sensor information was fused in distributed sensor networks in the early 1980s. The exploitation of redundancy in the common field of sensors had led to the identification to substantial gains, especially under clutter and jamming conditions as well as in case of failure of components. Various sensor network architectures operating with heterogeneous, multispectral, active, passive sensors became central interests. To van Keuk, individual sensors were to be embedded in a suitable system of data channels connecting computers. From the very beginning, he conceived possibly moving processors and sensors as nodes of a graph connected by edges and realized the importance of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). The graphs can be directed, because sensor data as well as information for sensor control are to be transmitted (working mode, viewing direction, motion). Already in the late 1970s van Keuk formulated two theses:

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G€unter van Keuk (1939–2003) and the Evolution of Data Fusion Research in Germany data processing and sensor control. It had to be ensured that the information feedback to the sensors, measured in terms of target maneuverability, did not become too outdated. This is also true for effectors or the information representation for human decision makers and the integration of their input. With the increasing detente between East and West, van Keuk’s originally intensive engagement in the Avionics Panel (AVP) of the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) was reduced. The imminent Hungarian–American mathematician, aerospace engineer, and physicist Theodore von Karman (1881– 1963) had founded AGARD, a predecessor of today’s NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO) in 1952 and was his first Chairman. Richard Klemm succeeded van Keuk in the AVP in 1981.

Figure 8. As an early example of Bayesian multiple hypothesis tracking under heavy clutter conditions: the iteratively calculating conditional probability densities of the target state by using Gaussian mixture reduction.

1) A network of distributed sensors of mixed, switchable mode is difficult to jam or to deceive in its coverage and operates more reliably. 2) By fusing information of distributed sensors not only benefits from accumulation are achieved, but also information can be derived, which is inaccessible to single sensors in principle. These expectations found their expression in suitable processing algorithms and network structures that cannot be treated independently of each other. For van Keuk, the next fusion step followed seamlessly. While human users are unburdened by sensor data processing, a task which no more can be performed by humans in terms of time and mass of data, the interpretation of machine-produced information are left to them. There, according to the view of his time, human beings were considered superior because only “natural intelligence” could incorporate rich additional knowledge. To assist human users also here, van Keuk spoke of knowledge processing (KP), whose goal is his unburdening from tasks, which can be formalized. He saw the research field KP complementary to the numerical data processing DP. In analogy to sensor resources management, also the information processing chain between networked sensor systems and human decision makers requires information feedback, which is suitable to enrich and lastingly reshape the way of algorithmic processing. Nevertheless, van Keuk always countered overly euphoric expectations, which he analyzed critically by using concrete examples. In contrast to signal processing, which is directly associated with sensors, he distinguished different characteristic time scales for 12

INCREASING INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT SINCE 1990 The publications of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) as well as the British Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) became more important as platforms for van Keuk and his team. In particular, van Keuk’s work on phased-array tracking became the starting point for a mutually appreciative collaboration with Sam Blackman, Raytheon, that led to a joint and widely cited publication in the IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems (TAES) in 1993 [33]. See [34], [35], [36], [37] as examples of of van Keuk’s T-AES publications, where he is a sole author. Via the T-AES, also the work of Klaus Becker on missile navigation and TMA became known to the IEEE AESS community since 1990 [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43]. Important for the international opening of van Keuk’s department became mathematician J€ urgen Grosche, who followed Horst Springer and Werner Storz in 1987 as FFM’s director. He combined academic excellence [44] with industrial and teaching experience, skillfully steered the FFM through shoals, opened new fields of defense research [45], and integrated his much-grown institute into the Fraunhofer Society in 2009. A milestone was the cooperation with the Canadian Defence Research Establishment Ottawa DREO, as it was called then, which led to mutual research visits, in Summer 1993 by the author of these reflections, where he worked with Martin Blanchette and Henry Leung. Results were presented at the 1997 IEE Radar Conference in Edinburgh. Moreover, an exchange began with Samuel B. Colegrove, a tracking pioneer of the Australian Jindalee Over-the-Horizon Radar. Colegrove’s ideas on the “Existence aware Tracking” [46] became fruitful at FFM and were continued by Darko Musicki (1957–2014) [47]. Work on retrodiction in Multiple Hypothesis Tracking, a notion coined by Oliver Drummond (1928-2016), made van Keuk’s team from 1996 on personally meeting with Sam

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Figure 9. G€ unter van Keuk during his laudatio by J€urgen Grosche on his retirement ceremony in October 2001, with his wife Ingrid (nee Warnholtz; 1940–2013). The couple married in 1965 and had two sons J€orn (1967–2021) and Lars.

Blackman, Yaakov Bar-Shalom, Neil Gordon, David Salmond, Thia Kirubarajan, X. Rong Li, and Oliver Drummond himself, whose conference series on “Signal and Data Processing of Small Targets” was the “mecca” of the nascent ISIF from 1989 to 2015. Drummond’s Ph.D. thesis on “multiple-object tracking” at the University of California (1975) was studied intensively at FFM. Work on the impact of finite sensor resolution on target tracking [48] brought van Keuk’s department into contact with Fred E. Daum, who has demanded to study this problem as proposed at FFM [49]. The IEE Colloquium on target tracking in London, November 1999, established very peculiar and personally most enriching ties with Roy Streit and Peter Willett. Important impulses given by all these important personalities have inspired and are inspiring van Keuk’s heirs right up to today. The wealth of the insights from which the author of these reflections personally benefited from are collected in [50]. In 1996, Joachim Biermann and his group joined van Keuk’s department and enriched its range of topics by fusing non-sensor data such as formatted human observer messages or contextual information. In 1999, van Keuk founded the group “Ground Surveillance” in his department, which the author headed. Together with Richard Klemm and Martin Ulmke relevant results were quickly produced [51], in which van Keuk continued to participate even after his early retirement in October 2001 (Figure 9). At the NATO Symposium on “Target Tracking and Sensor Data Fusion for Military Observation Systems” in Budapest, organized by Richard Klemm and the author, the sad news of his death reached van Keuk’s international and German colleagues, Roy Streit, Jean-Pierre Le Cadre (1953–2009), Leon Kester, J€urgen Grosche, Rita Baltes, Klaus Becker, Richard Klemm, Martin Ulmke, and the author on 17 October 2003. NOVEMBER 2023

AND TODAY? There are still no lessons to be learned from the war in Ukraine—except perhaps one. Does not it show the difference between “fire power” and “combat value”? “The scientification and mechanization of the military craft,” which “lead to the dissolution of spatial boundaries and acceleration of military action,” as von Baudissin put it, seems to prove that not only the number of soldiers and material “count,” but under certain circumstances also people who know what they are fighting for and defend their country with quantitatively inferior but technically superior means. What does this insight mean for the technosphere of modern ISR and weapons systems in the “Age of AI”? From the author’s point of view, appropriate exploitation and control of advanced means requires a whole “world of algorithms.” Applied research at the highest scientific level with a focus on national and alliance defense is even more necessary today than it was in the Cold War, when the FFM was founded. Moreover, it seems inevitable to combine the technical and operational branches of defense science according to Theodore von Karman: ‘‘Scientific results cannot be used efficiently by soldiers who have no understanding of them, and scientists cannot produce results useful for warfare without understanding the operations.” Until today, this timeless observation is the mission statement of NATO STO. G€ unter van Keuk’s department, with its 11 employees in 2001, is now a research unit with more than 70 researchers, technicians, and students with national and international cooperation (Dept. Sensor Data and Information Fusion, SDF). Ulrich Nickel and Klaus Wild (1950–2018), who joined SDF in 2006, have contributed significantly to its success. An important mentor was Reiner Thom€a (TU Ilmenau). At present, important academic partners are Uwe Hanebeck (KIT Karlsruhe) and Daniel Cremers (TUM

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G€unter van Keuk (1939–2003) and the Evolution of Data Fusion Research in Germany M€unchen), nationally, and Peter Willett (UConn, Storrs), Roy Streit (Metron Inc.), Hugh Griffiths (UCL London), and Daniel Clarke (Cranfield University) internationally. To fulfill van Keuk’s vision and von Karman’s expectations is the mission of Sensor Data and Information Fusion at Fraunhofer FKIE pursued by its head, the author, his deputy Felix Govaers, and the research group leaders with their deputies, Marc Oispuu and Lars Br€otje (Array Signal & Multichannel Processing), Alexander Charlish and Christoph Degen (Sensor and Resource Management), Torsten Fiolka and Claudia Rudolph (Integrated Sensor Systems), Christian Steffes and Martin Ulmke (Distributed Sensor Systems). Only if based on an image of man characterized by conscious perception and free will, the responsible use of technology can provide digital assistance by data fusion and resources management to support morally acceptable decisions in defense. It is the responsibility of our generation to care for the responsible use of AI for aerospace and electronic systems [52]. This is a natural task for Fraunhofer FKIE with its more than 500 employees, since it has “ergonomics” in its very name, i.e., the task of human-centered engineering.

[8] J. Grosche, Ed., R€ uckschau und Ausblick. Festschrift anl€ ass-lich des 25-j€ ahrigen Bestehens [Review and outlook on 25 years of existence]. Wachtberg, Germany: FGANFFM Press, 1988. [Online]. Available: www.fkie. fraunhofer.de/sdf/843 history [9] W. Haack, “25 Jahre Forschungsinstitut f€ur Funk und Mathematik [25 Years of FFM],” in R€ uckschau und Ausblick. Festschrift anl€ asslich des 25-j€ ahrigen Bestehens [Review and outlook on years of existence]. Wachtberg, Germany: FGAN-FFM Press, 1988. [10] K. Zuse, The Computer—My Life (Transl. P. McKenna and J. A. Ross). Berlin, Germany: Springer, 1968/1993, doi: 10.1007/978-3-662-02931-2. [11] W. Haack and W. Hildebrandt, “Die Arbeitsvorg€ange einer elektronischen Rechenanlage f€ur den Flugsicherungsdienst, im Besonderen die Erkennung von Kollisionsgefahren [Operation of an electronic computer system for air traffic control, in particular for detecting collision hazards],” Tele-funkenzeitung, vol. 32, no. 126, pp. 3–10, 1959. [12] O. Heer, Flugsicherung. Einf€ uhrung in die Grundlagen [Air Traffic Control. Introduction to the Basics], e-book ed., 2013. Berlin, Germany: Springer, 1975, doi: 10.1007/ 978-3-642-80900-2. [13] H. Springer, “Entstehungsgeschichte und Werdegang des

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Forschungsinstituts f€ur Funk und Mathematik (FFM) [His-

The author would like to thank warmly Lars van Keuk, G€unter van Keuk’s youngest son; Ulrike Springer, Horst Springers daughter; Alfonso Farina, Hugh Griffiths, and Roy Streit, as well as J€urgen Grosche, Wulf-Dieter Wirth, Ulrich Nickel, and Martin Ulmke for valuable input.

tory and development of FFM],” in R€ uckschau und Ausblick. Festschrift anl€ asslich des 25-j€ ahrigen Bestehens [Review and outlook on years of existence]. Wachtberg, Germany: FGAN-FFM Press, 1988. [14] W. Storz and W. D. Wirth, “Automatische Auswertung digitalisierter Radarsignale [Automated analysis of digitized radar signals],” Nachrichtentechnische Zeitschrift, vol. 16, no. 12, pp. 643–656, 1963.

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Feature Article:

DOI. No. 10.1109/MAES.2023.3315224

SerDes Integrated Into the SpaceWire Interface Helps in Achieving Higher Data Rates Klemen Bravhar and Iztok Kramberger , University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia Lucana Santos Falcon and David Merodio Codinachs , European Space Agency, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands Dejan Gac
nik, SkyLabs d.o.o., 2000 Maribor, Slovenia

INTRODUCTION Satellites are becoming complex space vehicles with powerful onboard computers (OBC) [3], which need significant datasets for their processing power. These data are generally generated from other onboard subsystems and received by the OBC via communication protocols. The most commonly used communication protocols on board a spacecraft are a serial communication such as serial peripheral interface (SPI), universal asynchronous receive-transceiver (UART), I2C serial bus, controller area network (CAN), SpaceFiber (SpFi) [4], and SpaceWire (SpW) [5] spacecraft communication network, among others. SpW and SpaceFiber (SpFi) are high-speed serial interfaces specifically design for data/information exchange between satellites’ subsystems in a harsh radiation environment. SpW can connect two onboard devices with data rates ranging from 2 to 400 Mbit/s [6] in a pointto-point configuration, or with an SpW network supported by an SpW router. SpFi is the most recently developed and increases the achievable data rate up to 5 Gbit/s. Nevertheless, SpW is very often used, bringing advantages

Authors’ addresses: Klemen Bravhar and Iztok Kramberger are with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (FERI), University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia (e-mail: klemen.bravhar@um. si; [email protected]). Lucana Santos and David Merodio Codinachs are with the European Space Agency, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, Netherlands (e-mail: [email protected]; david.merodio.codinachs@esa. int). Dejan Ga
cnik is with Skylabs d.o.o., 2000 Maribor, Slovenia (e-mail: [email protected]). Manuscript received 21 October 2022, revised 30 March 2023; accepted 7 September 2023, and ready for publication 22 September 2023. Review handled by Mauro De Sanctis. 0885-8985/23/$26.00 ß 2023 IEEE 16

such as reduced complexity and easier implementation, reducing the Field Programmable Logic Array (FPGA) resource usage [1]. The SpW has proven its benefits in several space missions, from low-cost CubeSat to high profile missions such as (JUICE [7], PLATO [8], James Webb Space Telescope, ExoMars, BepiColumbo Mercury Polar Orbiter, and many others). Achieving the maximum SpW data rate requires careful architectural design of the control logic, and a suitable hardware implementation. Many times FPGAs are the implementation target. An FPGA device runs diverse types of digital applications, and they are one of the essential integrated circuit components on board a spacecraft, due to their processing power and reusability. With their compatibilities, they can support applications such as signal modulation, image or signal processing, microcontrollers, communication protocols, etc. Many other previous SpW RTL architectures could reach data rates of up to 400 Mbits/s on a commercial off-the-shelf FPGA; however, when the same RTL architecture runs on an radiation hardened By design (RHBD) FPGA, the data rate drops below 300 Mbits/s. The goal of this research is to develop an SpW RTL architecture, which has the ability to support data rates of up to 400 Mbit/s, with the help of SpW IP Bank integrated into RHBD NG-MEDIUM and NG-LARGE BRAVE FPGA. Every industry has its specifications regarding the reliability of electronics components, and the Space industry is no exception. Therefore, engineers have developed FPGAs that can protect digital structures and their configuration memory against soft and hard errors resulting from ionizing radiation. One of such FPGAs is the first European RHBD family of FPGAs [9] developed by NanoXplore known as BRAVE. The BRAVE family includes three FPGA models, namely NG-MEDIUM, NG-LARGE, and NGULTRA. All are based on static random access memory (SRAM) memory cells.

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They have a traditional FPGA architecture with several hard IP cores integrated directly into the silicon die. One of such hard IP cores is the SpaceWire IP bank [10], composed of serialization/deserialization (SerDes) component, a generator for the strobe signal, and a clock recovery unit. Using the SerDes in SpW architecture allows users to achieve high data rates up to 400 Mbits/s, however, the SpaceWire IP bank poses some challenges for the encoding and decoding of the symbols, since the symbols’ lengths are not equal. In this work, we leverage the SpaceWire IP bank to design an RTL architecture implementing the SpW protocol. The proposed SpW4Brave RTL architecture uses the SpaceWire IP Bank in NG-MEDIUM and NG-LARGE FPGA, allowing the architecture to support SpW links with data rates from 2 to 400 Mbit/s, thus enabling the highest data rate achievable by the protocol. New generations of satellite subsystems and instruments generate higher datasets, which are then exchanged among subsystems. The SpW protocol can fulfil these requirements; however, when the SpW protocol runs on some RHBD FPGA, it can just about reach data rates of up to 300 Mbits/s. With the new hard IP SpW IP Bank component in NG-MEDIUM and NG-LARGE FPGA, data rates of up to 400 Mbits/s are attainable, since SpW IP Bank supports data rates above 400 Mbits/s. After the “Introduction,” the “Related Work” section presents current and past works on SpW IP cores and their integration in FPGAs. The section “SpaceWire Standard and BRAVE FPGAs” presents core technologies, SpaceWire Standard, and SpaceWire IP bank. Next, the section “SpW4Brave Architecture” explains the required digital structures for encoding/decoding SpW symbols to/from 20bit SerDes and integration of digital structures in the proposed SpW4Brave RTL architecture. The section “SpW4Brave Results and Validation” shows the tools used in the research and validation steps of our SpW4Brave IP core. Finally, we present the section “Conclusion and Future Work.”

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RELATED WORK The SpW communication standard is one of the most recurrently used communication protocols onboard a satellite, and it can be implemented into an FPGA device. Such a combination presents state-of-the-art technology concerning the satellite’s onboard communications and processing power. The combined technologies enable high speed data links between the satellite’s subsystems and real-time processing [11] of the transferred data. To meet the high data rates requirement, engineers have developed several SpW implementations in the form of IP cores for FPGAs that are commercially or open-source available. Star-Dundee is one of the vendors offering SpW IP cores for FPGAs in their portfolio. They have integrated it successfully on several FPGA technologies [1], [12]. Remarkably, its integration in radiation-hardened microchips RTG4 FPGA [1] achieves very high data rates up to 300 Mbit/s with the help of the double data rate (DDR) approach. This approach can serve as a 2-bit SerDes component. The research team from Japan [13], [14] developed an integrated circuit (IC) SOI-SOC3 device. The authors evaluated its digital functionality with the help of FPGA (unfortunately, they the FPGA used is not specified). The design experienced stress tests on the SpW link; the highest achieved link rate was 120 Mbits/s. The SpaceART [15] device supports SpW links with data rates up to 400 Mbit/s. This device is an SpW and SpFi real-time link analyzer, and its core component is a commercial off-the-shelf Xilinx Zynq 7000 FPGA. 4Links Limited [16] implemented an SpW IP core on Xilinx Virtex-2 with a data rate of 500 Mbits/s. However, when engineers implemented the same IP core on the radiation hardened RTAX FPGA, the data rate dropped to 200 Mbits/s. In [17], which benchmarks the BRAVE NG-LARGE FPGA device, discusses the SpW protocol and its integration, where the reported achieved data rates reaches 100 Mbit/s; however, the paper does not mention

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SerDes Integrated Into the SpaceWire Interface Helps in Achieving Higher Data Rates

Figure 1. Figures (a) and (b) shows the structure of data and control SpW symbols.

using the dedicated SpaceWire hard IP Bank available in the FPGA for their SpW IP core implementation. Satellites are virtually impossible to maintain once in the Earth’s orbit or outer space, therefore, redundancy of some onboard subsystems and communication interfaces is necessary. In [18], Sim and Zhuang tackle the question of how to increase the SpaceWire link reliability. They proposed to use the dual data lane that supports flyback redundancy, and with the proposed configuration, they have achieved twice the data rate compared to a single data line.

SPACEWIRE STANDARD AND BRAVE FPGAS This section presents two core technologies of this research, each with its section. The first section describes the key topics that help understand SpaceWire architecture and SpW symbols used in the standard. While the second section gives an overview of BRAVE FPGA technology and SpaceWire IP bank as one of the hard IPs in BRAVE FPGAs.

SPACEWIRE STANDARD ECSS-E-ST-50-12C-REV.1 The amount of exchanged data from one device to the other has increased over the past years, and the space sector is not excluded from evolution. The evolution has led to the development of the SpW communication technology. Before the SpW, many satellite primes and equipment manufacturers had to use their own proprietary communication infrastructure. This approach was expensive and time-consuming, since subsystems and components needed data synchronization. Therefore, SpW has a unified communication protocol between the satellite’s onboard instruments, processors, mass memory, and many other subsystems. In [4] the SpW protocol defined and a user welldescribed guidelines on designing an RTL for an SpW IP core given. The data handling between devices is suited to a specific mission, and an SpW network can support point-to-point communication. Nevertheless, the end-node devices in the SpW network can communicate through the SpW router. 18

The architecture given in the standard has four layers, and one management base unit, which controls all four layers. Each of the listed layers has a specific task in managing an SpW packet from one to another electronic device. The physical layer supports, as the name describes, the physical properties of the SpW Standard. In contrast, the other three, encoder, data, and network layers, work in the digital domain, and they can be integrated into an FPGA’s fabric:
The physical layer connects the onboard satellite subsystems with the PCB tracks and cables. Therefore, the section describes the analog and physical properties of wires/nets and their integrity, connectors, cable assembly, and signal drivers;
The encoding layer provides services in the transmit and receive side. On the transmitting side, the layer encodes data and control characters into SpW symbols, serializing these symbols in the data signal, and encodes the strobe signal from the data and clock signal. The encoder layer’s receive side recovers the data bitstream from the data and strobe signal, deserializes a bitstream, and decodes the deserialized SpW symbols into data and control characters;
The data link layer controls the SpW link and its flow of control characters, data characters, and broadcast codes over the SpW link. The data link layer includes an initialization state machine, a receive and transmit first-in-first-out (FIFO) data buffer, and data flow control;
The network layer supports three services. The first service sends and receives data packets over a SpaceWire protocol. The second service accepts and distributes interrupts over a SpaceWire network, and the final service sends and receives timecodes over the SpaceWire network. When a user’s logic transmits or receives data or broadcast codes via an SpW link, a logic sends a request to the data link or network layer, depending on the type of SpW network architecture. If two devices have a point-topoint SpW communication architecture, then the SpW IP core supports the SpW interface, which covers three layers, physical, encoding, and data link. If the devices communicate through an SpW router, then the SpW IP

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Bravhar et al. core has one more layer (network layer) for handling a received SpW packet correctly. Regardless, on the SpaceWire network architecture, two devices connected with the SpW exchange two types of symbols; control and data symbols. Control symbols are encoded in the 4-bit symbol, as illustrated in Figure 1(a), while data symbols are encoded in the ten bit SpaceWire symbol, as shown in Figure 1(b). The first two bits, regardless of the symbol’s type, are parity and data-control flag (DCF), while the rest of the bits depend on the content of a symbol. The parity bit serves as the detection of transition errors, covers the previous symbol’s content and the value of the current DCF, and its result is an odd product. The DCF defines the type of symbol. If the DCF has a low logic state, then the following eight bits represent the data characters. Otherwise, if the logic state is high, then the following two bits represent a control character. The values of data symbol bits depend on the transmitted data. However, the control symbol with its 4-bit covers four different characters, where the first two bits are party and DCF, and the remaining defines the following control symbols:
The flow control token (FCT) control character encodes two zeros (0b00) in the binary numeral system. The data link layer uses FCTs for managing the flow of data, and if the device receives an FCT token, it can send eight new bytes;
The end of packet (EOP) control character indicates that the packet was transferred successfully without any errors. It encodes two bits with bits set to 0b10 in the base-2 numerical system;
The error end of packet (EEP) control character marks a packet that ended prematurely, due to an error in the SpW link. The EEP control symbol encodes zero and one (0b10) in the base-2 numerical system;
The escape (ESC) symbol encodes 0b11. It appears in the NULL symbol and Broadcast codes. The SpW Standard supports two more special symbols, which are combinations of various control and data SpW symbols. The first is a NULL character, which combines the ESC and FCT symbols. For distributing interrupts and time codes, the SpW Standard uses the broadcast code symbols, and it utilizes an ESC control symbol followed by a data symbol. Broadcast codes are codes composited with an ESC symbol and a data symbol.

NANOXPLORE BRAVE FPGA AND INTEGRATED SPACEWIRE IP BANK Reusing an electronic device for different applications is the way for sustainability and cost effectiveness. An FPGA stands out as reusable device, with the advantage NOVEMBER 2023

that it can support various applications without changing the hardware environment thanks to being reprogrammable. However, an FPGA is a microelectronic device, and, like any other semiconductor device, is susceptible to highly charged radiation particles, which can generate a single event upset (SEU). An SEU event can generate a soft error [19]. Such error can potentially change the functionality of a device by altering the stored FPGA configuration bitstream, or, temporarily, its behavior due to a single event transient (SET) [20]. New types of FPGAs have been developed to mitigate an SEU event, known as RHBD FPGAs. The NG-MEDIUM [21] and NG-LARGE [22] FPGAs are radiation-hardened devices developed by the NanoXplore vendor. Their core technology based on the STMicroelectronics process technology 65-nm STm C65SPACE. BRAVE FPGAs are reconfigurable devices [23], and the SRAM memory cells are the core technology for their configuration memory. Furthermore, since BRAVE FPGAs working environment is a harsh radiation environment, their configuration memory is protected with a configuration memory integrity check (CMIC). The CMIC is a mitigation technique that detects and fixes any single bit upset (SBU) or multiple bit upsets (MBU) in the configuration memory caused by a SET event. The configuration memory has the capability to configure a 4-input-lookup table (LUT), digital signal processing (DSP) blocks, a user memory Block RAM (BRAM) with variable width and depth, embedded logic for double data rate (DDR2 and DDR3) memories, and a SpaceWire IP Bank [24]. The SpW IP bank [24] is a hard IP core integrated into NG-MEDIUM and NG-LARGE FPGAs. The SpW IP Bank supports two SpW ports. Each of the integrated ports includes a SerDes component. Its task is to deserialize received and serialize transited SpW symbols. Besides that, it encodes the strobe signal, and performs a clock recovery. Figure 2 illustrates the SpW IP bank with its associated user interfaces. The interface has three outputs and four input signals. The signals RXRST and TXRST enable the SpW IP bank, while RXO and TXI are data buses (the RXO bus carries received SpW symbols, and TXI transmits SpW symbols). The RXSCK serves as a valid signal, and when it is high, bits on the RXO signal are valid. The last two remaining signals are TXSCK and TXFCK, where TXFCK defines the data rate of the transmitting data, while TXSCK is the N-times slower clock (N is the dataSize parameter in the SpW IP Bank, and it holds four different values, 4, 6, 8, and 10). A user can configure the block with the parameter dataSize. The dataSize parameter affects the width of the SerDes component, and has four different configuration widths (4, 6, 8, and 10). For our design, we set the dataSize to ten. This setting forms the deserialization component with 20 registers, while the serialization has ten registers. Furthermore, the parameter affects the properties

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SerDes Integrated Into the SpaceWire Interface Helps in Achieving Higher Data Rates support SerDes components with more than two bits. Therefore, we have developed a new approach of decoding and encoding of SpW symbols. As described in the section, “SpaceWire Standard and BRAVE FPGAs,” the SpW Standard has data and control types of SpW symbols. The digital logic in an SpW IP core encodes requests to transmit data, controls characters, or broadcasts code to SpW symbols and decodes the same characters from SpW symbols.

ENCODING

Figure 2. The architecture of the SpaceWire IP Bank [24]. The IP Bank is the hard IP core integrated into NG-MEDIUM and NG-LARGE BRAVE FPGAs. It utilizes the serialization, deserialization, encoder, and decoder for the strobe signal.

of the RXSCK, TXSCK, RXO, and TXI signals. RXSCK represents a valid signal, and it repeats periodically with the period when incoming data and strobe changes their states and (1) defines the RXSCK period (where RX_data_rate presents receiving data rate in bits/s). RXSCK ¼

RX data rate : dataSize

(1)

This section states that TXSCK is N times slower compared to TXFCK, and N is equal to dataSize, which was, in our case, set to ten. TXSCK behaves periodically, and (2) defines its period TXSCK ¼

TXFCK : dataSize

(2)

Furthermore, RXO and TXI are also affected by the settings of the dataSize parameter. This parameter defines the number of useful bits on the bus RXO and TXI. The SpW4Brave architecture takes all 20 bits on the RXO bus when RXCLK is high. Furthermore, the SpaceWire IP bank stores all ten bits from the TXI bus at the rising edge of TXSCK.

SPW4BRAVE ARCHITECTURE DECODING AND ENCODING OF SPW SYMBOLS Before implementing a SerDes component in the SpW interface, we analyzed other works and their steps in the decoding/encoding of SpW symbols. The majority of past works used only 1-bit [16], [18] or 2-bit [1], [16], [25] SerDes component, and their digital structures could not 20

Encoding data, control characters, and broadcast codes in SpW symbols does not require a lot of digital processing power. The encoder translates data, control, and broadcasts code characters with the help of a look-up-table (LUT) to SpW symbols. Then, the LUT forwards the encoded SpW symbols to the transmit buffer. When the transmit buffer accepts the decoded symbols, it notifies with the acknowledgment that it is ready to accept the new SpW symbols.

DECODING There are many different approaches to decoding SpW symbols. The tricky part in decoding is at the beginning of the SpW link initialization. When two devices want to establish an SpW link, they start with transmitting NULL symbols. The decoder’s job is to find the received NULL character and its first DCF. Immediately upon finding the first DCF (its value must have a logical state high), digital logic knows the next two received bits belong to the control symbol, and they shall have binary value 1’b11, representing the ESC symbol. After decoding these 2 bits correctly, the logic skips the following valid received bits (parity bit), and it waits for the next valid receive bit, which belongs to the DCF with a logical state high. After receiving the DCF with the logical state set to high, the following two bits represent the type of control symbol, and it shall be the FCT token with the value set to 2’b00. Furthermore, the decoder logic recognizes these two control symbols in this order as the first received NULL character. Thereafter, it is easy for digital logic to look for the next DCF, since it knows from the current state of DCF the length of the current SpW symbol. In the case of the data symbol, DCF has a state set to low, and the following eight received bits belong to a data symbol. These steps are repeated until a user disables the SpW link, or if the decoder finds an anomaly in the received bitstream. In the case of an anomaly in the received bitstream, the decoder reports an error to the initialization state machine, which starts with a new initialization cycle. The implementation in Figure 3 uses a 2-bit deserialization component with a double data rate (DDR) register with 2-bit outputs. The deserialization unit is a hard IP core integrated into an RTG4 FPGA microchip. It uses CCC block for clock recovery, a DDR register, and D flip

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Figure 3. Data recovery block. The block is part of RTG4 FPGA microchip‘s hard IP core [26], and utilizes a clock recovery component (XOR) and DDR component for deserialization.

flop (DFF) to align the rising with falling edge bits. The steps of decoding, in this case, are very similar to the steps described above, with the difference that digital logic decodes two bits simultaneously. From here on, we introduce to a reader improved RTL architecture, along with the required steps for the decoding of SpW symbols from a data bus with a word width of N  2, where N  2 and where decoding is not straightforward as it is from 1- or 2bit SerDes. Decoding SpW symbols from a data bus with a word width of N  2 is not straightforward as described above, since a received word can contain more than two SpW symbols with different lengths (see Figure 4). Let us assume we have an N value set to ten, which determines the number of registers in the deserializer (in our case, deserializer with 20 registers) and the word width. At the beginning of initialization, the SpW interface shall receive NULL symbols followed by eight FCT symbols and then data symbols. The proposed implementation uses DCP pointers to determine the DCF bits’ position in the deserialized word. Before initialization of SpW link starts, digital logic sets DCP pointers to the default value (10’b1010101010), which determines the positions of DCF in the first received word. Assume the first received valid word has two NULL symbols on 16 MSB bits, and the last four bits are reserved for FCT symbol. The DCP pointers point on every fourth word’s bit (18, 14, 10, 6, and 2), respectively, on the positions of symbols’ DCF. With DCP pointers and DFC’ logical states the decoder starts decoding (from MSB to LSB bit on the received word) the SpW symbols, and, first, it finds ESC, followed by FCT symbols, which combination represents the first received NULL character. Thereafter, it decodes the next NULL character and first FCT symbols from the same word. The second received valid word includes five FCT symbols, and the DCP pointers do not change their states, since the DCF have not changed their positions. The third received word has two FCT symbols on bits from 19 to

12, followed by two data symbols. The first data symbol is on bits from 11 to bit 2, and the second data symbol’s location is on the last two bits of the received word. The rest of the data symbol arrives at the next valid word. At this world transaction, the DCP pointers change their values (10’b1010100001) according to the given (3), shown at the bottom of the page, and these steps repeat until a new initialization cycle starts. In (3), n represents the current deserialized word and n  1 represent previous received deserialized word. DCPx represents one of the DCP pointers. Wx ½n represents DCF in the current and Wx ½n  1 represents DCF the previous received word.

PROPOSED SPW4BRAVE RTL ARCHITECTURE The new development of SPW IP architecture was in order because of the new required steps of decoding/encoding SpW symbols from/to multibit SerDes. The proposed SpW4Brave architecture is a newly developed SpW IP core that follows the guidelines given in the ECSS-E-ST-50-12 C standard, and it supports an SpW Interface. The SpW Interface includes three protocol layers: Physical, encoding, and data link. Alongside these layers, it has a management information base for controlling all implemented layers. The proposed architecture does not include the network layer since its task is to redirect SpW packets and broadcast codes over the SpW network [27], and it uses unnecessary FPGA resources when point-to-point SpW communication is required. As the name implies, the physical layer describes the physical properties [28] of the SpW Standard, such as wire, PCB lines, connectors, and drivers’ properties. The proposed SpW4Brave architecture includes a SpaceWire IP bank. The IP bank has LVDS signal drives, an encoder and decoder for the strobe signal, and a SerDes component for

8 < ðDCPx8 ½n  1 ^ Wðx8Þ2 ½n  1Þ _ ðDCPx5 ½n  1 ^ :Wðx5Þ2 ½n  1Þ; DCPx ½n ¼ ðDCPxþ2 ½n ^ Wðx2Þþ4 ½nÞ _ ðDCPx5 ½n  1 ^ :Wðx5Þ2 ½n  1Þ; : ðDCP ½n ^ W xþ2 ðx2Þþ4 ½nÞ _ ðDCPxþ5 ½n ^ :Wðx2Þþ10 ½nÞ;

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(3)

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SerDes Integrated Into the SpaceWire Interface Helps in Achieving Higher Data Rates

Figure 5. The steps of encoding an SpW symbol. The LUT component encodes the received request, and passes the request to the data buffer by priority [the highest priority has broadcast codes (BC), then an FCT token, data with EOP or EEP, and then a NULL symbol]. Parity calculates the odd parity of the last transmitted SpW symbol. The data buffer aligns the transmitted SpW symbols to the ten-bit TXI bus.

Figure 4. The first three valid deserialized words after initialization. (a) At the first rising edge, digital logic sets DCP pointers to the default states (10’b1010101010). For all next valid deserialization, DCP pointers change their states according to (3). The current DCP pointer state depends on the previous DCP pointers and DCF character states.

serializing the transmitted bitstream and deserializing the incoming bitstream. Their functionalities rely on the physical properties of implementation, and therefore the SpaceWire IP bank is considered part of the physical layer. The encoding layer has a transmitting and receiving part, and its position is between the data and physical layers. The transmit part of the encoder layer encodes the received data, controls signals, and broadcasts codes to SpW symbols with the LUT component. However, the transmitting part has a data buffer between the LUT component and SpW IP bank, and its task is to align the encoded SpW symbols to the 10-bit TXI bus. The simplified block diagram in Figure 5 shows that the transmitting encoder first translates SpW characters to corresponding SpW symbols with the help of LUT. Before translated symbols are passed to DATA_BUFFER, digital structures calculate the parity bit and concatenate it to the transmitted SpW symbol. As the last step DATA_BUFFER prepare SpW symbols for serialization. 22

Decoding of received SpW symbols requires four steps as Figure 6 illustrates. The first is synchronizing the 20-bit RXO word and RXSCK valid signal on the global clock to avoid metastability conditions [29]. The second step is to find the first NULL character with the help of a data aligner. The data aligner has a 28-bit register, where the upper eight bits store the previous valid lower eight bits on the RXO word, and the remaining 20 bits are reserved for the current valid word. From the 28 bits, the data aligner searches for the first received NULL symbol in order from the MSB to the LSB bit. When it finds it, it moves the NULL symbol with the following lower bits to the MSB bits of the 20-bit bus. For the rest of the unpopulated bits in the 20-bit bus, digital logic fills them with the following bits on RXO word. These concatenation steps repeat until the new initialization SpW cycle starts. The output of the data aligner and the input of the DCF unit share the same 20-bit word. The data aligner then passes concatenated words to the DCF unit, which determines the positions of DCF bits on the word bus through the DCP pointers. The section “Decoding” describes the digital structure’s steps of activating the DCP pointers. Thereafter, the word and corresponding DCP pointers are forwarded to the decoding unit. The decoding unit decodes the received SpW symbols from the received words to data, broadcast codes, SpW control symbols (ESC, FCT, EOP, EEP), NULL. Besides, it calculates the parity of the received SpW symbols. Afterward, the encoding layer forwards the decoded SpW symbols to the data layer. The data link layer receives and transmits requests from and to the encoding layer. Its task is to initialize the SpW link between two devices, and manage the flow of data, broadcast codes, and control characters. The data layer is composed of three parts. The initialization state machine, transmit and receive FIFO (each has 1024 memory locations, and a memory location stores ten bits; eight for data, one for EOP, and one for EEP) with the data flow and FCT generator unit. The initialization state machine on the

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Figure 6. Decoding of a received SpW symbol has four steps.

user’s requests starts with the initialization of the SpW link. In the case of an error on the link, it performs an action described in the standard. The data flow unit increases its counter by eight for every received FCT token, and it allows us to transmit new eight data bytes when the counter is greater than zero. The FCT generator generates an FCT token for every eight reads from the received FIFO. The data link layer passes a received broadcast code to a user, and on the request of a user, passes a broadcast code directly to the encoder layer. Figure 7 illustrates the architecture of the implemented data layer. The managing information base unit controls the encoding and data layer, and returns information to a user about the current state of the SpW link. Users can communicate with the managing information base through the simple user interface with the data and address bus and write enable signal. The SpW4Brave design deviates from the requirement link initialization behavior 5.5.7.1.c and 5.5.7.1.d. As the ECSS-E-ST-50-12 C Standard dictates, during initialization of the SpW link, the SpW IP cores shall transmit NULL and FCT symbols with the data rate of 10 Mbit/s. However, when the SpW link’s initialization ends, the SpW IP core shall

switch its transmitting data rate to the working data rate (between 2 to 400 Mbit/s). Unfortunately, NG-MEDIUM and NG-LARGE cannot meet this requirement, since they do not have any clock switching component, which can switch safely between initialization and the working data rate.

SPW4BRAVE RESULTS AND VALIDATION FPGA IMPLEMENTATION RESULTS The SpW4Brave architecture serves as the SpW IP core for the NG-MEDIUM and NG-LARGE BRAVE FPGAs. The BRAVE FPGA has a developing environment called NxMap3 and NxPython3 (version v22.1.0.1), which are for synthesizing, optimizing, and placing/rutting an RTL design for the BRAVE FPGAs. The NxMap helps a user to compile its design through a graphical user interface (GUI). Besides the GUI interface, BRAVE’s developing environment has the NxPython python environment, and a user lists compilation steps in a dedicated python script. We have used a NxPython environment for compilation and implementation, since it has allowed more accurate implementation.

Figure 7. Block diagram of the data link layer. It has two FIFOs with an allocated memory of ten 240-Mbits, and an initialization state machine that serves to initialize the SpW link.

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SerDes Integrated Into the SpaceWire Interface Helps in Achieving Higher Data Rates Table 1

Overview of Other SpW Interface Implementations From Other Vendors [30]. FPGA Type

4-LUT

DFF

BRAM

Data Rate

Xilinx Virtex 4QV

802

544

2

/

Xilinx Virtex 5QV

597

537

2

/

Xilinx 7-Series

421

537

2

/

MicroChip RTAX

1055

536

2

/

MicroChip RTG4

732

536

2

300 Mbit/s

MicroChip IGLOO2

732

536

2

/

NanoXplore

536

457

2

/

SpW IP core of other vendors

Our SpW IP core implemented on BRAVE FPGAs NG-MEDIUM

960

1308

2

400 Mbit/s

NG-LARGE

828

1352

2

400 Mbit/s

Comparison of already available implementations of SpW IP wores with our SpW IP core on NanoXplore BRAVE FPGAs. The column “Data Rate” describes the highest achieved data rate during the test or through publicly accessible data.

Table 1 gives the inline overview of our SpW implementation with START-Dundee SpW IP implementation, where they integrated same IP on various FPGA technology. Our architecture works only on BRAVE FPGAs since our SpW RTL architecture leverage on SpW IP bank implemented in NG-MEDIUM and NG-LARGE FPGA.

SpaceWire MK3 Brick and the development board. Through the universal asynchronies receive transmit (UART), the PC controlled the behavior of SpW4Brave,

EVALUATION AND VALIDATION OF THE SPW4BRAVE Evaluation of the SpW4Brave RTL architecture first took place in the ModelSim (ModelSim ME Pro 2020.4) simulation environment. For verification purposes of validating the SpW4Brave’s functionalities, the simulation environment had two SpW IP cores. We used the SpW IP core from the OpenCores [31] webpage for the golden design. The second IP core is the SpW4Brave architecture. This approach allowed us to test all the functionalities integrated into the SpW4Brave RTL architecture. When the simulation outcome fulfilled all standard requirements, the next step was compiling the SpW4Brave architecture, and generating the FPGA image for the BRAVE NGMEDIUM FPGA with NxPython3. After compilation, we configured the NG-MEDIUM development board, where the evaluation of SpW4Brave took place. The evaluation setup included a Star- DUNDEE SpaceWire MK3 Brick, Star-DUNDEE software tools (version 40.5), a personal computer (PC), and the NGMEDIUM BRAVE development board (DK625V2). Figure 8 illustrates the hardware test setup and connectivity between devices. A USB connected the SpaceWire MK3 Brick and PC, while the SpaceWire link was between the 24

Figure 8. The hardware setup of the SpW4Brave test. The test includes the BRAVE development board DK625V2, Star-DUNDEE SpaceWire Brick Mk3, and a personal computer that supports StarDUNDEE software tools.

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Figure 9. A window from the STAR-System Device Configuration software application. The application window shows data rates between the STARDundee SpaceWire Brick Mk3 and DK625V2, where the STAR-Dundee SpaceWire Brick Mk3 received SpW symbols with a data rate of 149.80 Mbit/s and transmitted SpW symbols with a data rate of 400 Mbits/s.

and it had access to the internal registers in SpW4Brave‘s design. With the loopback in the NG-MEDIUM development board (the loopback was on the SpW4Brave IP core’s inputs and outputs of data and broadcast codes), we evaluated the functionality of SpW4Brave. The software tools (Star-DUNDEE) on the PC evaluated the correct functionality with three software tools; Star-DUNDEE Source, Sink, and Error Injection. Star-DUNDEE source transmitted an SpW packet, while Star-DUNDEE Sink received a packet and checked if the received packet matched with the transmitted data. Error injection helps with injecting all predicted errors in the standard. The proposed SpW4Brave RTL architecture was stress tested with inserting errors and data rates from 2 up to 400 Mbits/s in the full-duplex mode, where SpW4Brave’s transmitting and receiving data rates had various speeds. Figure 9 illustrates one of the tests and it shows that SpW4Brave can receive SpW symbols with data rates of 400 Mbit/s (STAR-DUNDEE Device Configuration ! Current Link Tx Speed = 400 Mbit/s) and transmit SpW symbols with the data rate of 149.8 Mbit/s (STAR-DUNDEE Device Configuration ! Current Measured Link Rx Speed = 149.8 Mbit/s). NOVEMBER 2023

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK The SpW4Brave IP core is a full duplex serial interface, which can support data rates from 2 up to 400 Mbit/s. Until now, data rates above 300 Mbits/s [1], [2] were challenging to reach in RHBD FPGAs. Furthermore, with the SpaceWire IP bank integrated into the RHBD NanoExplore’s BRAVE NG-MEDIUM and NG-LARGE FPGAs, data rates up to 400 Mbits/s are reachable. The SpaceWire IP core utilizes the SerDes component, which serializes the transmitted SpW symbols to a bitstream, and deserializes the incoming data bitstream. The challenging part of such an approach is decoding the SpW symbols, since logic receives more than one SpW symbol from the deserialization component simultaneously. The logic described with (3) overcomes the challenge, and helps to reach data rates up to 400 Mbit/s. The architecture does not require global clocks with high frequencies to support sequential logic. However, the given approach consumes more FPGA resources than other implementations. Nevertheless, this is the cost to reach data rates up to 400 Mbit/s in an RHBD FPGA. The SpW4Brave RTL

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SerDes Integrated Into the SpaceWire Interface Helps in Achieving Higher Data Rates architecture supports an SpW Interface with three layers (physical, encoding and data layer). The SpW interface can be upgraded with a network layer to support the SpaceWire network, remote memory access node [12], [33], a protocol which allows a user to access the memory of another SpaceWire node, or with the SpaceWire-R [32] protocol, where transferred data have an additional protection layer.

[10] K. Maragos et al., “Evaluation methodology and reconfiguration tests on the new European NG-MEDIUM FPGA,” in Proc. NASA/ESA Conf. Adaptive Hardware Syst., 2018, pp. 127–134, doi: 10.1109/AHS.2018.8541492. [11] S. M. Parkes and P. Armbruster, “SpaceWire: A spacecraft onboard network for real-time communications,” in Proc. 14th IEEE-NPSS Real Time Conf., 2005, pp. 6–10, doi: 10.1109/RTC.2005.1547397. [12] I. Haller et al., “High-speed clock recovery for low-cost FPGAs,” in Proc. Des. Autom. Test Europe Conf. Exhib.,

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

2010, pp. 610–613, doi: 10.1109/DATE.2010.5457133.

This work was supported by the European Space Agency. The authors would like to thank Dr. L. Sanotos and D. Merodio, who provided insight and expertise during the development of the SpW4Brave architecture. Dejan Gacnik from Skylabs d.o.o. and Dr. Iztok Kramberger from the University of Maribor are acknowledged for their technical support and keeping this project on schedule.

[13] T. Ishida et al., “Software and SpaceWire evaluation of SOI-SOC3: SpaceWire components short paper,” in Proc. Int. SpaceWire Conf., 2016, pp. 1–4, doi: 10.1109/ SpaceWire.2016.7771609. [14] T. Narita et al., “High-reliability SpaceWire engine implemented on the SOISOC3 microprocessor: Components, short paper,” in Proc. Int. SpaceWire Conf., 2016, pp. 1–4, doi: 10.1109/SpaceWire.2016.77716082. [15] A. Marino et al., “SpaceART SpaceWire and SpaceFibre analyser real-time,” in Proc. IEEE 7th Int. Workshop Metrol. Aerosp., 2020, pp. 244–248, doi: 10.1109/

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................................................ Report on the 10th IEEE AESS Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace MetroAeroSpace 2023 ................................................ Pasquale Daponte , University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy Alfonso Farina , Leonardo (Consultant), 00144 Rome, Italy

signal conditioning for aerospace, and calibration methods We are proud to highlight that this edition marks the 10th for electronic test and measurement for aerospace. anniversary of the conference. Year by year MetroAeroThe increasing number of scientists attending Space gain the position of the leading scientific event into MetroAeroSpace and coming from fields, which can be field of measurement and instrumentation for aerospace. very far from engineering, This result was achieved led to a positive hybridizathanks to the efforts of the tion of the workshop. organizers of the previous ediMetroAeroSpace 2023 tions and the colleagues that was jointly organized by joint year by year the conferPasquale Daponte, Univerence increasing the attendee sity of Sannio, Italy; Robert number and spread informaRassa, Raytheon, USA; and tion about it. Bortolino Saggin, PolitecSince the first edition, nico di Milano, Italy, acting MetroAeroSpace represents as Executive Co-Chairs. the international meeting Technical Program Chairs place in the world of research were Marco Francesco Bocin the field of measurement Group snapshot from MetroAeroSpace 2023 ciolone and Giuseppe Sala, and instrumentation for aeroPolitecnico di Milano, Italy; space involving institutions Stephen Dyer, Kansas State University, USA; and Marco and academia on a discussion on the state-of-the-art conPertile, University of Padova, Italy. Marina Ruggieri, Unicerning issues that require a joint approach by experts of versity of Rome “Tor Vergata,” Rome, Italy was an Honmeasurement, instrumentation, and industrial testing, typiorary Chair. cally professional engineers, and experts in innovation This 10th edition was organized at the “Politecnico di metrology, typically academics. Milano”—Bovisa Campus—Department of Mechanical As usual, this MetroAeroSpace edition kept pursuing Engineering, one of the primary scientific Italian research the state of the art and practice started over the past years. centers in aerospace, 19–21 June 2023. Attention was paid, but not limited to, new technology for The technical program of the 10th IEEE International metrology assisted production in the aerospace industry, Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace was arranged after aircraft component measurement, sensors and associated the reception of 178 abstracts from all over the world. Due to high demand, only 130 articles could be selected after competitive peer review. A total of 629 authors from 24 Authors’ current addresses: Pasquale Daponte is with the countries attended the workshop. Department of Engineering, University of Sannio, 82100 The MetroAeroSpace Technical Program included Benevento, Italy (e-mail: [email protected]); Alfonso three keynote speeches, 30 oral sessions, one poster sesFarinais is with Leonardo (Consultant), 00144 Rome (I), sion, two tutorials, one round table, and two special events. Rome, Italy (e-mail: [email protected]). For the oral sessions, we received up to 19 proposals for Manuscript received 17 July 2023; accepted 21 August special sessions, and we wish to thank the organizers of 2023, and ready for publication 25 August 2023. these Sessions for their cooperation and support of the Review handled by Daniel O’Hagan. workshop organization. Thanks to all the Technical 0885-8985/23/$26.00 ß 2023 IEEE 30

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Program Committee members and the reviewers who have contributed with opinions, comments, and suggestions to make this outstanding program possible. All articles submitted to MetroAeroSpace 2023, which have been accepted in a peer-reviewed process, were published in the Proceedings of the Workshop and submitted for indexing in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library. Due to the increased interest for the event and the new initiative, the technical program was distributed over three days. This edition of the MetroAeroSpace was opened by an Invited Talk offered by Andrea Accomazzo, European Space Agency (ESA) “Orienteering in the Solar System: How not to Get Lost Before Reaching Destination.” Interplanetary flight is one of the most fascinating areas of spaceflight and it is a must for the exploration of our solar system. Over the last two decades, the ESA has developed the techniques and the expertise required to navigate to planets, asteroids, and comets. Navigation is the discipline that allows mission operators not to get lost in space and be able to reach their destinations. It requires very accurate measurements of the limited set of observables for probes flying at distances from tens to hundreds of million kilometers from the Earth and operating in proximity of celestial bodies. The observables, either from radiometric or optical measurements, then need to fed into the socalled “orbit determination” process, which allows precise reconstruction of the past status of the spacecraft and its projection into the future to be able to design next mission events. The talk took stock of some representative cases of ESA missions to give a feeling of the whole process. The program of the first day of the Workshop included also, in the afternoon plenary session, an Invited Talk held by Maurizio Cheli, the second Italian astronaut, dealing with “A future under the sign of continuity.” Cheli presented the state of art of Italian approach and efforts to the space exloration. Italy is ready to play a preminent role in the ESA, thanks to her know-how and to explore the new opportunities offered by the space exploration heading toward the moon and Mars, Cheli said. In order to gain the target the Italian Space Agency needs continuity in the strategic vision, in the allocation of resources up to the industrial plan. Space and its related investments are strategic for Italy, but they need careful monitoring for medium- and NOVEMBER 2023

long-term programs. Space activities are, by definition, experimental and if there is a detailed plan, an unexpected event can always occur and this is the reason why a strong commitment is absolutely necessary. The Italian space industry has an active role not only in space missions but also in industrial technical research. At the moment, they are planning lunar modules for the Lunar Gateway, which will be part of the future human settlement on the moon. Italy has been active in this sector since the beginning and we possess skills and technology to keep on working in this field. The speech gave an overview on these topics and some details about Italian space exploration program. It is worth noting that, with MetroAeroSpace 2022 edition, we included as an Invited Speaker, Franco Malerba, the first Italian astronaut. He was the scientific astronaut on the first mission of the Tethered satellite aboard the space shuttle Atlantis (1992). We hope that in the next years we may involve other astronauts and their personal experiences in the space.

Maurizio Cheli, second Italian astronaut, discussing, “A future under the sign of continuity.”

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Report on the 10th IEEE AESS Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace MetroAeroSpace 2023

Wanda Peters, NASA, Deputy Associate Administrator for Programs in the Science Mission Directorate.

Finally, the program of the first day of the Workshop included:  Special Track on Military Metrology for AeroSpace, organized by the AFCEA Naples Chapter with patronage of AFCEA Europe. More information is available at https://www.metroaerospace.org/ military/.  Round Table on “Health Scenarios and Key Technologies for Enabling Human Exploration of Space”; was organized by Pietro Ferraro, Institute of Cybernetics “Eduardo Caianiello,” National Research Center, Italy. During the second day we had the opportunity to attend the Invited Speech of Wanda Peters, NASA, Deputy Associate Administrator for Programs in the Science Mission Directorate, “Technology, Instrumentation, and Measurements: The Cornerstone of NASA’s Scientific Discovery.” NASA uses the advancement of technology to enable and broaden scientific discovery. From mass spectroscopy to helicopters, NASA utilizes innovative technological developments, including commercial-off-the-shelf parts, to further scientific discovery on Earth, other planets, and

Attendees of IEEE Women in Engineering Panel, “Sharing Idea with Experienced and Early-Stage Researchers.”

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in space. These technological advancements lead to better instrumentation and measurements that transform our ability to collect, process, and analyze data. These insights provide us with information about our planet and inform future NASA missions, while producing spin-offs that benefit society. The speech highlighted as technology and instrumentation are indispensable tools for scientific discovery and highlight the potential for further advancements in the future. Riccardo Giubilato of the German Aerospace Center, Germany, offered an interesting tutorial on “Distributed SLAM for a Team of Planetary Robots: The ARCHES Moon Analogue Demonstration Mission.” A meeting of IEEE AESS Glue Technologies for Space Systems Technical Panel, chaired by Claudio Sacchi of University of Trento, was included for the first time in MetroAeroSpace program. This panel focused on technologies that constitute the necessary common platform for the innovative systems based on space components (satellites, UAV, rovers, landers, orbiters, etc.) that will be deployed in the near future in various application fields (satellite and aerospace communications, interplanetary communications, planet exploration, Internet of Space Things, etc.).

Alfonso Farina and Silvia Ullo, organizers of Special Session on Metrology for Radar Systems.

Due to great success of the previous editions, it was reorganized the initiative IEEE Women in Engineering Panel, “Sharing Idea with Experienced and Early-Stage Researchers.” In line with the objectives of the WIE Commitment Chart, “Steering girls to STEM,” the purpose of the panel was to promote female models who are role models and who carry out mentoring activities toward young minds. To this end, the panel highlighted how, from the comparison between experienced and early stage researchers on their respective experiences, it is possible to identify guidelines and prospects for growth and good practices that increase the presence of young women in the aerospace sector. The panel was chaired by Claudia Conte with speeches by Patrizia Lamberti, Donatella Dominici, Nicole Pascucci, Sara Zollini, Parisa Esmaili, Wanda Peters During the third day, the workshop offered:  Traditional Special Session on Metrology for Radar Systems, organized by Alfonso Farina, Life Fellow

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Daponte and Farina

Several awards offered by international institutions and companies were assigned, in particular to young researchers, to encourage their attendance.

and Distinguished Lecturer of AESS, and Silvia Ullo, University of Sannio, Italy. Every year this session is attracting more and more scientists in this engaging research field.  Tutorial on “Wind-Tunnel Testing, Overview of State-of-the-Art Techniques with Application to a Real-Case Scenario” held by Andrea Colli, Politecnico di Milano, Italy Social events gave the possibility to reinforce old friendship and to create new contacts. The MetroAeroSpace 2023 program included a welcome party and a gala dinner.  The Best Conference Paper Award was dedicated to the memory of Prof. Stefano Debei, whose passion, enthusiasm, and commitment for science will be of inspiration for all the recipients of this prize. The award celebrates his role as founding father of IEEE MetroAeroSpace Conference and emphasizes his role as an inspirational educator and mentor with an immense influence on the careers of many generations of young researchers.  “Experimental Assessment of a Visual-Laser Relative Navigation Module for CubeSats” by Giuseppe

Napolano, Claudio Vela, Alessia Nocerino, Roberto Opromolla, Michele Grassi, Salvatore Amoruso, University of Naples Federico II, Italy, and Guido Di Donfrancesco, ALA Advanced Lidar Applications S.r.l., Italy, was awarded with Best Paper of the 10th IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace.  “A Comparative Analysis of ML-based DOA Estimators” by Danilo Orlando, Universita degli Studi Niccol o Cusano, and Giuseppe Ricci, Universita del Salento, Italy, was awarded with Best Paper Award for Aerospace and Electronic Systems with the motivation of “providing a complete and systematic analysis of the directionfinding algorithms based upon the maximum likelihood criterion. This comparative analysis is actually missing in literature and has an important practical value for a radar system engineer.”  “Performance Comparisons of Flexible Time Triggered Ethernet and TTEthernet Technologies for Space Launcher Networks” by Tiziana Fiori, Vincenzo Eramo, Francesco Giacinto Lavacca, Francesco Valente, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy,

Award ceremony for the Best Conference Paper Award dedicated to the memory of Prof. Stefano Debei.

NOVEMBER 2023

IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

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Report on the 10th IEEE AESS Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace MetroAeroSpace 2023 and Marta Albano, Simone Ciabuschi, Enrico Cavallini, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Italy, was awarded with Best Paper Authored and Presented by a Woman.  “Concept of Autonomous Self-Sensing Metamaterial Structures for Future Aircraft” by Jan Bajer, Filip Ksica, Petr Marcian, Miroslav Hrstka, Jan Navratil, Zdenek Hadas, Czech Republic, was awarded with Best Paper Authored and Presented by a Young Researcher.  “Experimental Analysis of FBG Sensors Thermal Calibration Under Different Loading Conditions.” by Alessandro Aimasso, Giacomo Gallone, Matteo Davide Lorenzo Dalla Vedova, Paolo Maggiore, Politecnico di Torino, Italy, was received the Best Poster award.  “Experimental Evaluation of Radar Waveforms for Spectral Coexistence Using the PARSAX Radar” by Vincenzo Carotenuto, Augusto Aubry, Antonio De Maio, University of Naples Federico II, Italy and Francesco Fioranelli, Oleg Krasnov, Alexander Yarovoy, Fred van der Zwan, TU Delft, The Netherlands, received the Best Paper of the Special Session on Metrology for Radar Systems award, with the motivation, “for the experimental demonstration of radar operability in spectrally dense environments via waveform design.” We think that MetroAeroSpace 2023 was a successful event! We hope that 11th IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace to be held in Lublin, Poland, 3–5 June 2024, will give again us again the opportunity to

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meet each other in person. It will be the first time that MetroAeroSpace conference is held out of Italy. We think that this choice will increase a lot the attraction of the conference. To this aim, take note about the fundamental dates for 11th IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace: Call For Papers:  Website: www.metroaerospace.org  Abstract Submission Date: January 29, 2024  Notification of Acceptance Date: April 16, 2024  Final Paper Submission Date: May 21, 2024 We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the 11th International IEEE Workshop on Metrology for Aerospace. The event includes, but it is not limited to, new technology for metrology-assisted production in aerospace industry, aircraft component measurement, sensors and associated signal conditioning for aerospace, and calibration methods for electronic test and measurement for aerospace. Special sessions have the main aim of creating a mini-workshop on a specific topic, where researchers working on the same argument can catalyze knowledge, familiarize, and exchange ideas, create cooperation. You may find more on how to submit a special session proposal at: www.metroaerospace.org/index.php/program/ special-session. More information is available at www.metroaerospace. org or by contacting Pasquale Daponte at daponte@ unisannio.it.

IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

NOVEMBER 2023

IEEE Aerospace & Electronic Systems Society

IEEE-AESS.ORG

AESS Awards DUE BY DECEMBER 1

DUE BY JANUARY 31

IEEE AESS Judith A. Resnik Space Award $2,000*+plaque ieee-aess.org/judith-resnik

Warren D. White Award $2,000+plaque ieee-aess.org/warren-white

IEEE AESS Industrial Innovation Award $1,500*+plaque ieee-aess.org/industrial-innovation

Fred Nathanson Memorial Radar Award $1,000+plaque ieee-aess.org/nathanson

IEEE AESS Pioneer Award $3,000*+plaque ieee-aess.org/ieee-pioneer

M. Barry Carlton Award $1,000*+plaque ieee-aess.org/barry-carlton

Distinguished Service Award $2,000+plaque ieee-aess.org/distinguished-service

Harry Rowe Mimno Award $1,000*+plaque ieee-aess.org/mimno

IEEE AESS Early Career Award $2,000+plaque ieee-aess.org/early-career IEEE AESS Engineering Scholarship $10,000+certificate (Graduate) $10,000+certificate (Two Undergraduate) ieee-aess.org/aess-scholarship IEEE AESS Chapter of the Year Award $5,000+certificate ieee-aess.org/chapter-award IEEE AESS Technical Panel of the Year Award $1,000+certificate ieee-aess.org/technical-panel-award

* Please see the respective award website for more information on monetary awards. All awards deadlines are subject to change at the discretion of AESS. For more information, please visit our website at ieee-aess.org/awards.

2023 Aerospace & Electronic Systems Society Organization and Representatives OFFICERS

VP Member Services – Lorenzo Lo Monte VP Publications – Lance Kaplan VP Technical Operations – Michael Braasch

President – Mark Davis President-Elect – Sabrina Greco Past President – Walt Downing Secretary – Kathleen Kramer Treasurer – Mike Noble VP Conferences – Braham Himed VP Education – Alexander Charlish VP Finance – Peter Willett VP Industry Relations – Steve Butler

OTHER POSITIONS

Undergraduate Student Rep – Abir Tabarki Graduate Student Rep – Jemma Malli Young Professionals Program Coordinator – Philipp Markiton Operations Manager – Amanda Osborn

BOARD OF GOVERNORS 2023 Members-at-Large

2021-2023 Laura Anitori Steve Butler Michael Cardinale Alexander Charlish Stefano Coraluppi Braham Himed Lorenzo Lo Monte Peter Willett

2022-2024 Alfonso Farina Maria Sabrina Greco Hugh Griffiths Puneet Kumar Mishra Laila Moreira Bob Rassa Michael Noble Roberto Sabatini

STANDING COMMITTEES & CHAIRS Awards – Fulvio Gini M. Barry Carlton Award – Gokhan Inalhan Harry Rowe Mimno Award – Daniel O’Hagan Warren D. White Award – Scott Goldstein Pioneer Award – Daniel Tazartes Fred Nathanson Award – Braham Himed Robert T. Hill Best Dissertation Award – Alexander Charlish AESS Early Career Award – George T. Schmidt AESS Judith A. Resnik Space Award – Maruthi Akella Chapter Awards – Kathleen Kramer Distinguished Service Award – Peter Willett Industrial Innovation Award – Mike Noble Engineering Scholarship – Bob Rassa Chapter Program Coordinator – Kathleen Kramer Constitution, Organization & Bylaws – Hugh Griffiths Education – Alexander Charlish Distinguished Lecturer Program – Alexander Charlish Fellow Evaluation – Hugh Griffiths Fellow Search – George T. Schmidt History – Alfonso Farina International Director Liaison – Joe Fabrizio Member Services – Lorenzo Lo Monte Nominations & Appointments – Walt Downing Publications – Lance Kaplan Systems Magazine – Daniel O’Hagan Transactions – Gokhan Inalhan Tutorials – W. Dale Blair QEB – Francesca Filippinni; Philipp Markiton Strategic Planning – Sabrina Greco Student Activities –Kathleen Kramer Technical Operations – Michael Braasch Avionics Systems – Roberto Sabatini Cyber Security – Aloke Roy Glue Technologies for Space Systems – Claudio Sacchi Gyro & Accelerometer Panel – Jason Bingham Navigation Systems Panel – Michael Braasch Radar Systems Panel – Laura Anitori Visions and Perspectives (ad hoc) – Joe Dauncey

2023-2025 William Dale Blair Arik Brown Joe Fabrizio Francesca Filippini Wolfgang Koch Luke Rosenberg Marina Ruggieri George Schmidt

CONFERENCE LIAISONS IEEE Aerospace Conference – Claudio Sacchi IEEE AUTOTESTCON – Bob Rassa, Dan Walsh, Walt Downing IEEE International Carnahan Conference on Security Technology – Gordon Thomas IEEE/AIAA Digital Avionics Systems Conference – Kathleen Kramer IEEE Radar Conference – Kristin Bing IEEE/ION Position, Location & Navigation Symposium – Michael Braasch IEEE/AIAA/NASA Integrated Communications Navigation & Surveillance – Aloke Roy IEEE International Workshop for Metrology for Aerospace – Pasquale Daponte FUSION – W. Dale Blair REPRESENTATIVES TO IEEE ENTITIES Journal of Lightwave Technology – Michael Cardinale Nanotechnology Council – Yvonne Gray Sensors Council – Paola Escobari Vargas, Peter Willett Systems Council – Bob Rassa, Michael Cardinale IEEE Women in Engineering Committee – Kathleen Kramer

Please send corrections or omissions for this page to the Operations Manager at [email protected].

Visit our website at ieee-aess.org.

2023-2024 Aerospace & Electronic Systems Society Meetings and Conferences The information listed on this page was valid as of 1 October 2023. Please check the respective conference websites for the most up-to-date information. DATE

EVENT

LOCATION

CONFERENCE WEBSITE

2 November 2023

Introduction to the Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) Paradigm Workshop

Bengaluru, India (Hybrid)

ieeeaess.org/event/workshop/introductio n-integrated-sensing-andcommunications-isac-paradigm

6-8 Nov. 2023

IEEE International Conference on Microwaves, Communications, Antennas, Biomedical Engineering and Electronic Systems (COMCAS)

Tel Aviv, Israel

www.comcas.org

6-10 Nov. 2023

IEEE International Radar Conference (RADAR)

Sydney, Australia

www.radar2023.org

27-29 Nov. 2023

IEEE Symposium Sensor Data Fusion and International Conference on Multisensor Fusion and Integration (SDF-MFI)

Bonn, Germany

www.fkie.fraunhofer.de/de/Veranstalt ungen/sdf2023.html

21-24 Jan. 2024

IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS)

San Antonio, TX, USA

www.radiowirelessweek.org

2-9 March 2024

IEEE Aerospace Conference (AERO)

Big Sky, MT, USA

www.aeroconf.org

23-25 April 2024

IEEE Integrated Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Conference (ICNS)

Herndon, VA, USA

i-cns.org

24-26 April 2024

International Conference on Global Aeronautical Engineering and Satellite Technology (GAST)

Marrakesh, Morocco

gast24.sciencesconf.org/resource/ac ces

6-10 May 2024

IEEE Radar Conference (RadarConf)

Denver, CO, USA

2024.ieee-radarconf.org

27-28 May 2024

Security for Space Systems (3S)

Noordwijk, Netherlands

ieeeaess.org/event/conference/2024security-space-systems-3s

3-5 June 2024

International Workshop on Metrology for Aerospace (MetroAeroSpace)

Lublin, Poland

www.metroaerospace.org

5-7 June 2024

International Conference on Localization and GNSS (ICL_GNSS)

Antwerp, Belgium

events.tuni.fi/icl-gnss2024

2-4 July 2024

International Radar Symposium (IRS)

Wroclaw, Poland

mrw2024.org/irs

7-11 July 2024

International Conference on Information Fusion (FUSION)

Venice, Italy

fusion2024.org

For a full list of AESS-sponsored conferences, visit ieee-aess.org/conferences. For corrections or omissions, contact [email protected]. VP Conferences, Braham Himed