Advanced Control Equipment Front End Processor
Parsons’ Advanced Control Equipment Front End Processor (AceFEP™) provides the interfaces necessary to support communication between Telemetry, Tracking & Commanding (TT&C) systems and legacy ground systems. AceFEP performs the data conversions necessary to allow the control & command (C2) operator to perform space vehicle commanding, display telemetry, and perform ground system control and status. AceFEP is the front-end processor for command data sent from the ground station to an SV or telemetry data received from a vehicle.
How Does AceFEP™ Operate?
AceFEP includes a graphical user interface that runs in a web browser to provide control and status capabilities from anywhere accessible on the network. Network control and status monitoring of the AceFEP processors take place over TCP using JavaScript Object Notation (JSON).
Key Features Of AceFEP
- SV command formatting and telemetry processing
- Remote tracking station control and status
- Satellite Control Network emulation
- Robust API
- Adaptable, configurable deployment for both red side and black side
- Web browser UIs
- Kubernetes orchestration and containerized microservices
- Cloud agnostic
- NSA Type 1 cryptographic unit control and status
AceFEP’s are offered both in physical and virtual deployments and provide red and black side connectivity to NSA-approved Type 1 Crypto or Commercial AES Encryption methods.
Features And Capabilities
SCN Device Emulation: Seamlessly interfaces with legacy control systems; uses C2 functions necessary to emulate normal operations; extracts vehicle command data from the legacy system wavetrain, error checked, formatted, and transmitted; can be used as a built-in ground station simulator for training and troubleshooting
Commanding: Command data conversion and transmission; tunable command buffering and command spacing; command echo validation to receive and validate command echo data; reports status to the C2 application.
Telemetry:
Processes multiple input telemetry streams; performs frame sync, auto-inversion, error checking, decommutation, and EU conversion; provides Time Division Multiplexing and CCSDS processing; records raw telemetry data within one millisecond from any input stream; raw recorded telemetry playback with control of the playback data at minor frame resolution.
Crypto Device Control: Control and status crypto units for password management, key selection, mode selection, normal/bypass control, and complete crypto device status monitoring; natively supports control interfaces for commercial AES or GFE devices such as KS-252.
Configurable: Configurable for both black-side and red-side operations. Can support multiple different deployment types and CONOPs.
Remote Tracking Station: Control and status compatibility with a variety of commercial and government antenna interfaces using existing antenna control units; implements AFSCN SIS-508 interface for remotely controlling ARTS and RBC antennas.
Formatting Conversations: Formatting conversions for AFSCN SIS-508 compliant interface including AFSCN Command, Control & Status packets via ADCCP and EXA binary formats; UDP and TCP; ternary (3-wire and clock).
Antenna Slave Angle Generation: Slave angle generation through internal SAP and SGP4 algorithms; antenna pointing through a variety of standard dish antenna control units.
Hardware Specifications
AceFEP includes both hardware servers (i.e., chassis) and software applications. When deployed into a serial Satellite Operations Center (SOC), AceFEP will be the serial interface for all serial devices translating serial protocol into Internet Protocol (IP) protocols.
| Item | 1U | 2U |
|---|---|---|
| Chassis Dimensions | 19.0” (W) x 1.7” (H) x 31.8” (D) | 19.0” (W) x 3.5” (H) x 20.7” (D) |
| Weight | 48lbs. | 35lbs. |
| Drive Bays | Up to four 2.5” hard drives. Delivered with four hot-plug 250 GB 7.2K RPM hard drives in a RAID 5 configuration, 1 DVD ROM, SATA, internal two Gen2 slots (PCI Express) | – Horizontal 5.25” front panel with one internal DVD-ROM drive. – One internal 3.5” hard drive bay. |
| Cooling | Six dual-rotor fans mounted in a fan assembly in the chassis between the hard drive bay and the processors. Systems with a single processor configuration include only five fans. | Positive pressure with two 42.5 CFM intake fans with front and two-side ventilation holes. |
| Power | Redundant 90-264 VAC, auto ranging, 47-63 Hz, 495 watts DC output. | 115/230 VAC, 50/60 Hz input, 300 watts DC output. |
| Network Interface | Ethernet 10/100/1000 Basset |
| External Timing | Network Time Protocol (NAP), Ace Premier Time Service (AceTWS), or optional Inter-Range Instruction Group B (IRIG-B) [BNC Connector]. |
| Protocols | – TCP/IP and UDP/IP – GEMS (Ground Equipment Monitoring Service) – NRZ-L Serial |
Learn More
To learn more about the Advanced Control Equipment (ACE) Front End Processor (FEP) and its role in Telemetry, Tracking & Commanding (TT&C) and legacy ground systems, please fill out the contact form.
*Parsons complies with all applicable Trade Compliance regulations. Some of Parsons products may require an authorization from the U.S. Government before export.
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