Design of high-speed satellite payload data simulator based on FlexRIO

With the performance improvement of satellite payload, satellite payload data simulators with high-speed and large-capacity are eagerly demanded by ground automatic test system for the testing of satellite data transmission system. Based on the analysis of traditional simulators, a new design with FlexRIO is introduced in this paper. Based on the PXIe architecture, the simulator mainly consists of data source module and data loading module. In-chassis high-speed data storage board is used as the data source module, which achieves a storage capacity of 2.9TB and is easy to extend. The data loading module is composed of FlexRIO and its adapter, of which the single-channel serial transmission rate is up to 1.2Gbps with TLK2711A as the transmission interface chip. And six channels are supported to work at the same time. Test results show that with high reliability and strong versatility, the simulator has no bit-error in laboratory. Hence, the payload data simulator can be used for satellite test directly, and can provide reference for the design of other high-speed data loaders.