The fault tolerant spaceborne computer /FTSC/

The fault-tolerant features of the fault-tolerant spaceborne computer (FTSC) developed for the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) are described. The reliability goal for the FTSC is 0.95 probability of successful on-orbit operation for five years. To achieve this aim, redundant hardware design and methods used to attain autonomous fault detection, isolation, and recovery are employed. System-level error-detection and recovery tests were performed on the breadboard. All of the single-point failure mechanisms that could be postulated were inserted into the breadboard, and the response was observed. Of the 168 categories of faults inserted, the system detected and recovered 145. Design changes were subsequently made to the system to protect against the 23 fault categories that were not recoverable.