Performance analysis of embedded firmware for the detection of gamma-ray bursts on a 2U CubeSat

Joseph Mangan; David Murphy; Rachel Dunwoody; Maeve Doyle; Alexey Uliyanov; Mike Hibbett; Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu; Jessica Erkal; Gabriel Finneran; Fergal Marshall; Jack Reilly; Lána Salmon; Eoghan Somers; Joseph Thompson; Sarah Walsh; Lorraine Hanlon; David McKeown; William O'Connor; Brian Shortt; Ronan Wall; Sheila McBreen

doi:10.1117/12.2627064

31 August 2022 Performance analysis of embedded firmware for the detection of gamma-ray bursts on a 2U CubeSat

Joseph Mangan, David Murphy, Rachel Dunwoody, Maeve Doyle, Alexey Uliyanov, Mike Hibbett, Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu, Jessica Erkal, Gabriel Finneran, Fergal Marshall, Jack Reilly, Lána Salmon, Eoghan Somers, Joseph Thompson, Sarah Walsh, Lorraine Hanlon, David McKeown, William O'Connor, Brian Shortt, Ronan Wall, Sheila McBreen

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12181, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 121815A (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2627064
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Conference Poster

Abstract

The gamma-ray module on EIRSAT-1 is a <1U CubeSat compatible instrument for the detection of high energy transient events, primarily intended for low earth orbit detection of gamma-ray bursts. The compact and low power nature of the design makes GMOD a novel instrument for GRB detection on a 2U CubeSat. The GMOD motherboard provides support to the instrument by managing a number of operation critical duties, most importantly the reliable execution of the experiment, temporary onboard flash storage and transfer of time tagged event readout to the EIRSAT-1 on-board computer. Executing these tasks is the TI MSP430FR5994 microcontroller which is loaded with a custom firmware developed for the instrument motherboard. A recent investigation into the firmware performance at fixed trigger rates proved that the firmware concept was viable for reliable detector readout. We present an investigation carried out to further quantify the performance of the firmware in a more realistic operational mode. These tests accurately simulate the rates expected by GMOD during detection of GRBs and measure performance by comparing the expected output to the actual instrument output. This is done by externally triggering the detector readout to mimic the expected rates for a range of GRB profiles and expected fluxes derived from the 4th Fermi GBM catalogue. This work evaluates the flight model firmware performance for a sample of 40 GRBs spanning a range of peak fluxes and durations.

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Joseph Mangan, David Murphy, Rachel Dunwoody, Maeve Doyle, Alexey Uliyanov, Mike Hibbett, Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu, Jessica Erkal, Gabriel Finneran, Fergal Marshall, Jack Reilly, Lána Salmon, Eoghan Somers, Joseph Thompson, Sarah Walsh, Lorraine Hanlon, David McKeown, William O'Connor, Brian Shortt, Ronan Wall, and Sheila McBreen "Performance analysis of embedded firmware for the detection of gamma-ray bursts on a 2U CubeSat", Proc. SPIE 12181, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 121815A (31 August 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2627064

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