STRS Project
Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) is the project to meet future space communications and navigation system needs by defining an open architecture for NASA space and ground software-defined radios (SDRs). The STRS project is currently developing the Standard to provide a common, consistent framework to abstract the application software from the radio platform hardware to reduce the cost and risk of using complex reconfigurable and reprogrammable radio systems across NASA missions. The Standard achieves this objective by defining an architecture to enable the reuse of applications (waveforms and services implemented on the SDR) across heterogeneous SDR platforms and reduce dependence on a single vendor. The architecture supports existing (e.g., legacy) communications needs and capabilities, while providing a path to more capable, advanced waveform development and mission concepts.
STRS Standard Architecture
The Standard provides a detailed description and set of requirements to implement the architecture. The Standard focuses on the key architecture components and subsystems by describing their functionality and interfaces for both the hardware and the software, including the applications. The intended audience for this Standard is composed of developers of software, configurable hardware design, and hardware who require architecture specification details to develop an SDR platform or application.
The Standard encourages the development of applications that are modular, portable, reconfigurable, and reusable. STRS applications use the STRS infrastructure-provided application program interfaces (APIs) and services to load, verify, execute, change parameters, terminate, or unload an application.
STRS Application Repository
The STRS project provides the infrastructure and guidance for a repository of applications developed for SDRs using the Standard. Adherence to the Standard for the development of SDR platforms and applications and submittal of the applications to the repository will enable the missions to leverage earlier efforts by reusing various software components compliant with the architecture developed in other NASA programs. This will reduce the cost and risk of deploying SDRs for future NASA missions.
STRS Benefits
- Increase the reliability and decrease the development time and cost of deployed Software Defined Radio (SDR) capabilities
- Leverage existing or developing standards, resources, and experience
- Enable waveform portability between compliant SDR platforms
- Obtain artifacts from STRS Application Repository for porting or reuse
- Leverage software and firmware design and implementation processes and tools to lower risk and increase reliability
- Gain knowledge from past experience i.e. lessons learned
- Gain experience that is directly transferable
- SDRs accommodate advances in SDR capabilities with minimal rework
- Adaptable to evolving requirements
- Allows software modification later in development cycle or even after deployment
- Enables cognitive radio concepts
- SDRs are common in commercial and military industries
- SDRs allow encapsulation of functionality.
- Allows vendors to work on different parts of the radio at once
- Allows updates to one part not to affect the other parts of the radio
- Promotes multiple vendors and vendor independence
- Interoperable with existing radios