A Multi-Channel Data Simulator Based on the Time Unification System

Abstract

In satellite and airborne electro-optical tracking systems, there are numerous processing devices and complex data flows. To ensure the coordinated operation of the system, the multiple devices within the target system must operate under unified time control for data acquisition, computation, and output. This study introduces a multi-channel data simulator based on a time unification system. The complete simulation system includes the host computer, simulator, target system, and time reference generator. The simulator has programmable input and output interfaces for multi-channel protocols and has storage and real-time working modes. In the storage mode, the simulated data are pre-transmitted to the simulator’s storage and sent to the target system according to the time reference generator. The simulator simultaneously stores the target system results. In the real-time mode, the host computer generates simulated data based on the target system’s results and outputs the data through the simulator in real time. The main contribution of the simulator is that it achieves system-level closed-loop simulation and completes the functional and performance verification of the target system. Through experimental verification, it is found that the simulator can achieve 4.2 Gbps of simulated data transmission and 1.6 Gbps of data reception and storage, with a closed-loop delay of 39.9 µs.