Space Codesign obtains ESA/NAVISP funding

Space Codesign Systems (http://www.spacecodesign.com), a leading provider of an end-to-end automated solution, from high-level application specification to physical board compilation, has announced receipt of funding from the European Space Agency (ESA) Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP) Element 2, made possible thanks to the Canadian Space Agency’s participation in the NAVISP. In this project, Space Codesign Systems will use this funding to support the design of a spaceborne global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver based on mixed criticalities partitioning and targeting System-on-Chip (SoC) field programmable gate arrays (FPGA).

In the world of avionic systems, transition from federated avionics architectures to integrated modular avionics (IMA) is observed. IMA architectures provide a shared computing platform, communications, and I/O resource pool that is partitioned by multiple tasks of differing design assurance criticalities. A similar transition is currently occurring in the world of satellite systems.

“The main objective of the project is to add features to explore different architectures and hardware/software partitions for spaceborne GNSS receivers, such as GPS and Galileo, operating in both low Earth orbits (LEOs) and high Earth orbits (HEOs)”, says Dr. Guy Bois, founder & VP Business Development.

SpaceStudio, a development environment for designers that eases the design flow of advanced algorithms, must be able to reuse intellectual property (IP) from existing platforms while being independent of the targeted SoC implementation. “SpaceStudio will target the NanoXplore NG-Ultra SoC for HEOs with longer lifespans with the intent of being portable on other space-suitable FPGAs”, says Hubert Guerard, CEO of Space Codesign Systems.

Another important objective of the project is the support of XtratuM Next Generation (XNG) hypervisor for mixed-criticality systems in the virtual platform offered by SpaceStudio, where multiple tasks with different criticality and certification assurance levels are integrated using a shared computing platform similar to IMA.

About Space Codesign Systems

Space Codesign Systems Inc. is a technology transfer spin-out from Polytechnic Montreal, located in Montreal, Canada and Paris, France. Space Codesign Systems is a software publisher whose flagship product, SpaceStudio, is a development environment for designers that eases the design flow of advanced algorithms targeting FPGA technology without the inherent complexity of FPGA. SpaceStudio covers the algorithm creation phase, algorithm and architecture optimization phase, and full system compilation for Xilinx and Intel FPGA.

About NAVISP Element 2

NAVISP is an optional program of the ESA initiated in 2017 to support the generation and introduction of innovation in various Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) market segments. The main goal of NAVISP is to generate innovative concepts, techniques, and systems linked to the highly competitive and evolving global market for PNT technologies. Element 2 continues to demonstrate its relevance, with more than 120 projects incubated so far.