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Following the same trend of automotive and avionics, the space domain is witnessing an increase in the on-board computing performance demands. This raise in performance needs comes from both control and payload parts of the spacecraft and calls for advanced electronics able to provide high computational power under the constraints of the harsh space environment. On the non-technical side, for strategic reasons it is mandatory to get European independence on the used computing technology. In this project, which is still in its early phases, we study the applicability of embedded GPUs in space, which have shown a dramatic improvement of their performance per-watt ratio coming from their proliferation in consumer markets based on competitive European technology. To that end, we perform an analysis of the existing space application domains to identify which software domains can benefit from their use. Moreover, we survey the embedded GPU domain in order to assess whether embedded GPUs can provide the required computational power and identify the challenges which need to be addressed for their adoption in space. In this paper, we describe the steps to be followed in the project, as well as the results of our preliminary analyses in the first months of the project.

Following the trend of other safety-critical industries like automotive and avionics, the space domain is witnessing an increase in the on-board computing performance demands. This raise in performance needs comes from both control and payload parts of the spacecraft and calls for advanced electronics systems able to provide high computational power under the constraints of the harsh space environment. On the non-technical side, for strategic reasons it is mandatory to get European independence on the used computing technology. In this project, we study the applicability of embedded GPUs in space, which have shown a dramatic improvement of their performance per-watt ratio coming from their proliferation in consumer markets based on competitive European technology. To that end, we perform an analysis of the existing space application domains to identify which software domains can benefit from their use. Moreover, we survey the embedded GPU domain in order to assess whether embedded GPUs can provide the required computational power and identify the challenges which need to be addressed for their adoption in space. In this paper, we describe the steps followed in the project, as well as a summary of results obtained from our analyses so far in the project.

This paper presents the flow, pressure and temperature control of a fuel cell used in high power rail transport. We present modelling and control approach of the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell and its auxiliaries. This work shows that we can characterise and adjust the system control on an operating cycle with the simulation tools not only to follow the requested power trajectories but also to control voltage, pressure and temperature of all elements to not be destructive.

This paper presents the control of air supply of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell -PEMFC -system. This control is based on a species balance model in the cathode (oxygen) compartment which must be controlled to stay not only at a constant pressure but also to follow a desired air flow. Desired air flow combined with sufficient hydrogen flow allows producing a maximal desired current for electrical load. In the context of a transport application (Tramway in this paper) pressure is increased from atmosphere to 1.5bar absolute, with a controlled compressor. The Moto-compressor group is based on a screw type compressor driven with a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine fed with a Pulse Width Modulation inverter. The non linear drive control structure is described and the compressor characteristics is used to have an accurate control of the air loop supply allowing to let the Fuel Cell in their own settings and to furnish power following the desired power profile.0-7803-9280

Embedded GPUs have been identified from both private and government space agencies as promising hardware technologies to satisfy the increased needs of payload processing. The GPU4S (GPU for Space) project funded from the European Space Agency (ESA) has explored in detail the feasibility and the benefit of using them for space workloads. Currently at the closing phases of the project, in this paper we describe the main project outcomes and explain the lessons we learnt. In addition, we provide some guidelines for the next steps towards their adoption in space.

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International audienceSystemC TLM (Transaction Level Modeling) enables the description of complex Systems on Chip (SoC) at a high level of abstraction. It offers a number of advantages regarding architecture exploration, simulation performance, and early software development. The tendency is therefore to use TLM-based descriptions of SoC platforms as golden models that, by essence, must be flawless. In this paper, a SoC critical embedded platform under development by Astrium is used as proof-of-concept demonstrator, to assess the ISIS prototype tool which is devoted to the verification of SystemC TLM designs. Given temporal properties that capture the intended requirements, ISIS automatically instruments the design with ad hoc checkers that inform about the satisfaction of the properties during simulation. After a description of the target platform design, we show that the PSL language enables the unambiguous expression of the required properties, and that the checkers produced by ISIS verify their satisfaction with a limited simulation time overhead