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The advanced space computing (ASC) group focuses on a broad variety of research challenges in computer engineering for systems and applications on space and aerospace platforms. Research, development, and analysis are undertaken using both simulative and experimental methods toward high-performance embedded computing in the limited design space for mission-critical space and airborne platforms.

Space-based radar (SBR), multi-spectral imaging, and many other high-performance applications are creating orders of magnitude more data than the limited-bandwidth downlinks on space and aerospace platforms can support. As such, mission planners are demanding advanced computing with more onboard payload processing to improve autonomous operations and reduce the amount of data sent over downlinks. Future platforms will also need to be inexpensive, flexible, scalable, and able to support reduced development schedules while saving size, weight, power, etc. Meanwhile, with the need to meet these rigorous requirements, there is an ever-increasing push to use COTS technologies to develop general- and multi-purpose payloads in a cost-effective manner. This set of issues forms the basic framework for the activities of the ASC group.

One of the key achievements of the ASC team is lead role on research for the NASA Dependable Multiprocessor, the first supercomputer for space. Emphases in this research include fault-tolerant computing, parallel computing, and reconfigurable computing.