BS ISO 21077:2021 pdf download – Space data and information transfer systems — Digital motion imagery
2 OVERVIEW In the early days of human spaceflight, motion imagery was accomplished with motion picture film cameras, set at varying frame rates depending on lighting conditions. Upon safe return the film was processed and eventually shared with the world via documentaries or television. Inevitably live video became operationally desirable for situational awareness and to satisfy the public’s interest in high-profile events such as the Moon landings or the Apollo-Soyuz test project. Compromises were made with those first video systems to fit within the constraints of bandwidth, avionics, and transmission systems. Even in the modern era, video systems on spacecraft are a hybrid of analog and digital systems, typically made to work within the existing spacecraft’s avionics, telemetry, and command/control systems. With the advent of digital cameras, encoding algorithms, and modulation techniques, it is desirable to treat video as data and to utilize commercially available technologies to capture and transmit live and recorded motion imagery, possibly in High Definition (HD) or even better. Thus the Recommended Standard addresses:
– Video Interfaces and Characteristics
– Video Formats and Characteristics Video data has a number of characteristics which need specification such as frame rate, aspect ratio, bandwidth and compression standards, color sampling, the inclusion of audio, etc.
– Encapsulation and Transmission Protocols Video data needs to be encapsulated, transported, and distributed. Although the choice of mechanisms and protocols may not be specific to video data, certain aspects need addressing because of the high bandwidth typically required for video. Thus this part will address encapsulation schemes (e.g., IP), transport protocols, and use of CCSDS Encapsulation Packets.
– Interoperability of Standards Future Human Spaceflight endeavors are expected to be collaborations between many agencies, with complex interactions between spacecraft and non-Earth surface systems, with intermediate locations (EVA crew, habitats, etc.) requiring the ability to view video generated by another agency’s systems. Therefore interoperability between these systems will be essential to mission success and in some cases crew safety. Such interoperability will only be achieved by use of common references and joint agreement on international standards, either commercial or CCSDS or a combination of the two.
This Recommended Standard does not cover video quality. The intention of this document is to provide a framework of standards to ensure interoperability, not to define a level of quality. What is acceptable video quality varies widely with the application and requirements of users. A science experiment, for example, may have video quality requirements beyond what is available, or practical, within a spacecraft avionics system. The science team for that experiment might elect to record video on board at high quality and transfer that video as a digital file after the conclusion of the experiment run. They might elect to do that and have a real-time downlink of lesser quality as a confirmation the experiment is working properly. A requirement for real-time video to support a docking event might sacrifice spatial resolution to lower the latency of the real-time video feed. Within the parameters listed in this document and the capabilities of any given spacecraft, users and controllers can determine how equipment should be configured for the best match to requirements.
3 SPECIFICATION
3.1 OVERVIEW There are many system configurations that can be implemented in spacecraft video systems. Choices of interface standards, resolutions, and frame rates are based on the application, user requirements, available equipment, and spacecraft capability. There are multiple ways for signals to flow from the image source through to the spacecraft avionics system and on to the ground (see figures 3-1 and 3-2). Application of this Recommended Standard limits the overall number of options by limiting the interfaces to those that are in most common use. It should be noted that, while scientific imaging systems are excluded from this Recommended Standard, should a scientific imaging system need to interface to the spacecraft video system, the same interfaces would apply to them. It would be the responsibility of the user to provide a matching interface from the user’s imaging system.