An FPGA-Based Solution for Computing a Local Stationarity Measure From Satellite Data

Abstract

The analysis of data variability from in-situ observations is essential for scientists and space mission controllers. Given the limited resources available on-board a spacecraft as well as the presence of the Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) devices in modern spacecraft architectures, an efficient real-time monitoring solution should be deployed on these devices to use minimal computational and energy resources, and to reduce the main on-board computer utilization, thus making it available for other tasks. This paper describes the implementation of an algorithm for computing a local stationarity measure (LSM) on FPGA devices. The algorithm tests weak stationarity from the convergence of the partial means of the signal computed on subsets of increasing length, compared to the overall mean of the signal over a fixed-length running window; the window spans the entire signal. The algorithm is designed for an on-board implementation which monitors and detects changes of variables measured in-situ by scientific instruments (e.g., magnetometers). The design was tested with synthetic and real-time signals and provides results in very good agreement with a dedicated data analysis library specifically designed for the analysis of satellite data.INDEX TERMS FPGA-based design, High-Level Synthesis (HLS), local stationarity measure (LSM), magnetic field monitoring, satellites on-board processing, weak stationarity test

An Integrated Nonlinear Analysis (INA) Software for Space Plasma Turbulence

“…In a recent series of papers (Deak et al., 2018, 2021; Munteanu et al., 2022; Opincariu et al., 2019; Turicu et al., 2022), we used the INA software extensively during the design, implementation and validation phases of hardware, Field‐Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementations of various analysis methods. In Deak et al.…”

“…In a recent series of papers (Deak et al, 2018(Deak et al, , 2021Munteanu et al, 2022;Opincariu et al, 2019;Turicu et al, 2022), we used the INA software extensively during the design, implementation and validation phases of hardware, Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementations of various analysis methods. In Deak et al (2018), the INA software implementation of PDFs computation, was the starting point for the FPGA implementation of the same method.…”

“…Deak et al (2021) used the INA mathematical kernel and algorithm for the Flatness parameter calculations, and generated an FPGA implementation of this method. In Turicu et al (2022), a local stationarity measure is implemented in FPGA, again, based on an INA software implementation of the same measure. An FPGA implementation of a magnetic field directional discontinuity detector is presented in Munteanu et al (2022), and, same as before, the mathematical kernel of the discontinuity detector was first developed and validated using INA, and then ported onto FPGA.…”

Detecting Discontinuities from in-Situ Space Measurements: Method and FPGA Implementation

“…This study is part of a broader effort devoted to building a complex semi-autonomous digital signal processing library, able to apply on-board various digital signal processing techniques. The current version of the library already includes modules devoted for the spectral and statistical analysis of fluctuations (Deak et al, 2018;Opincariu et al, 2019;Deak et al, 2021;Turicu et al, 2022). Here we discuss a new feature, allowing to detect directional discontinuities.…”

Detecting Discontinuities From In Situ Space Measurements: Method and FPGA Implementation

“…This study is part of a broader effort devoted to building a complex semi-autonomous digital signal processing library, able to apply on-board various digital signal processing techniques. The current version of the library already includes modules devoted for the spectral and statistical analysis of fluctuations (Deak et al, 2018(Deak et al, , 2021Opincariu et al, 2019;Turicu et al, 2022). Here we discuss a new feature, allowing to detect directional discontinuities.…”