TAB

This repository includes documentation and reference implementations for TAB, which is a serial communication protocol for satellite commands and data. TAB is inspired by, and largely compatible with, the OpenLST serial communication protocol for satellites. The Tartan Artibeus Smallsat'22 paper describes the origins and goals of TAB, which stands for "Tartan Artibeus Bus." TAB allows research satellites to accomplish three goals:

• TAB supports deployment of research concepts to satellites in orbit. Because TAB provides a means to remotely command and control satellites, an operator can use TAB to instruct satellites in space to act out research concepts and report the results for evaluation. Thus, TAB supports accessibility via ground control of deployed satellites.
• TAB supports hardware-in-the-loop mission simulation with flight hardware. Using TAB, mission simulation software sends commands and data to a test satellite (hardware-in-the-loop). Also using TAB, the test satellite generates replies and sends these replies to the mission simulation software in real time. Thus, TAB supports compatibility with hardware-in-the-loop simulation.
• TAB supports intermodule communication and easy integration of third-party modules. By including the TAB reference implementation, a third-party module or custom payload immediately gains the ability to interact with the rest of the satellite. Thus, TAB supports extensibility via straightforward communication among independently-designed modules.

Current version: 0.0.0

• This software uses semantic versioning.

Dependencies

• The Python implementation has been tested for Python version 3.8.10. This implementation makes use of the Python serial module, which is installed via a Python virtual environment. Thus, the user must have Python virtual environment support installed: sudo apt install python3-venv.
• The C implementation has been tested on ARM MCUs (microcontroller units).

Directory Contents

• c-examples: TAB examples using the C implementation
• c-implementation: C implementation of TAB
• images: Contains image files used for documentation or other purposes
• python-examples: TAB examples using the Python implementation
• python-implementation: Python implementation of TAB
• CHANGELOG.md: A log of changes made to the repository
• CONTRIBUTING.md: Rules for contributing to the repository
• DOCUMENTATION.md: TAB documentation
• LICENSE: License
• README.md: This document

License

Written by Bradley Denby
Other contributors: None

See the top-level LICENSE file for the license.