Description

Objective:The objective of this activity is to design and develop a computer control system hardware prototype and its interfaces with every subsystem to provide a self-sufficient optical quantum communication ground stations interfacing with all subsystems without the need of technical supervision and without public internet connection.Targeted Improvements:- 50% cost reduction of OPEX cost of operational optical ground stations - Enabling non-technical users to operate in island mode optical ground stations on theirpremises and integrate them into their business/data workflows.Description:Optical ground stations currently can only be operatedand hosted at premises where a technical supervision team is available, as failure recovery does frequently require specialised technicians. This activity will replace the un-planned failure recovery with planned preventive maintenance, to maximise operational availability of the asset, enabled through a central, intelligent ground station controller. The objective of this activity is to design and prototype a computer control system for self-sufficient optical ground stations, integrating all subsystems and providing keymaterial to the user without the need of technical supervision. To that end maximum use if automation artificial intelligence and automation shall be made to anticipate, prevent, or correct non-nominal operational states and plan preventive maintenance. To that end this activity will develop and test an optical ground station controller with a suitable, existing optical ground station (60-80cm class). The controller shall be able to interface all common subsystems of an optical ground station and be able to autonomously execute satellite passes, downlinking data or generating quantum key material without any external connection (e.g. internet, local network, ...). http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Business_with_ESA/Small_and_Medium_Sized_En…