Low power design of a versatile analog mixed Signal sensor module

Abstract

The development of space electronics especially for launcher such as Ariane 6 has to fulfill space standards and space requirements provided by the space industries. The standards of the European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) are used extensively to ensure a development process that meets the space requirements. This standard covers space project management, space product assurance and space engineering. The ECSS is a cooperative effort of the European Space Agency, national Space Agencies and European Industry Associations for the purpose of developing and maintaining common standards. The work presented in this dissertation was carried out to fill the gap of developing wireless sensor network for Ariane launchers. The development process follows the space requirements that demand the sensor node to survive the environmental condition inside the launcher. This makes the work uniquely compared to commercial wireless sensor network development. The versatile analog mixed signal module proposed in this work consists of infrared transmitter, VLC receiver, power management, data processing with digital/analog sensor interface unit and solar cell as energy harvester. The sensor module is used to build wireless sensor network inside the Vehicle Equipment Bay (VEB) of Ariane 5.