Software testbed of the CDMS and lander software simulator (LSS)

<>The testbed comprises five PCs and eight embedded processor units simulating the payload. The purpose of this simulator was to automate test procedures both for nominal and non-nominal operations of the CDMS. It was used in KFKI RMKI. The LSS has been developed on the order of DLR (Cologne) and MPS (Lindau). The LSS is an important tool in knowledge preservation too. Have been manufactured two copy of the software testbed hardware configuration for simulating hardware activity of the Philae lander. It was ordered by DLR and MPS, and the detailed description of the simulator,   was presented at the 57th International Astronautical Congress in Valencia, Spain, 2006.
The software simulator (LSS) based on software testbed configuration, it consists of five personal computers and several Real-Time Message Handler cards. The simulation of the behavior of the on-board equipments is realized using XML syntax based simulation script language. During the design time of LSS the most important aspect was the high level of flexibility. Using the realized solutions it is able to implement simulation of other complex systems.
At the design of the LSS system the flexibility was the main aspect. Besides the current application this system can be adapted to simulate other complex systems. The modular structure of the system provides the possibility for developers to work on modules simultaneously and mainly independently from each other. During a long development phase in an international cooperation like project Rosetta, it is an important advantage. The XML based script language makes it easy to define simulations without changing the source code of any programs. The creation of the simulation script files dose not require advanced programming skills, neither from the operators who are took into the project during the long term of the mission. The software elements for the special tasks are mainly independent from the simulated system. In the case of the development of difficult modules there is an opportunity to use a C++ API which supports the developer s to integrate a new complex module easily into the system.