Digital emulation technology laboratory: A facility for real-time KEW simulation and testing

The Computer Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) at the Georgia Institute of Technology is developing special purpose parallel computers for testing kinetic energy weapons (KEW) systems and components. Of primary interest is the ability of test guidance, navigation and control (GN&C) algorithms applicable to KEW Interceptors. Combined, these computer systems comprise a test facility called the Digital Emulation Technology Laboratory (DETL). The facility, the main systems that comprise it, the system interfaces, and the parallel implementation of a real time six degree of freedom (6-DOF) simulation of a KEW interceptor are described. The DETL contains three custom designed parallel computing systems: the Parallel Function Processor (PFP); the Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) processor; and the Seeker Scene Emulator (SSE). The functional purpose, architectural details, and programming specifics are given for each system. The example implementation is EXOSIM, which is a high fidelity 6-DOF simulation of a KEW interceptor. The boost, mid-course, and terminal phases of EXOSIM have all been implemented on the PFP. Two implementations are described and analysed. The first implementation uses a simple seeker model and runs self contained on the PFP. The second implementation uses the PFP, SSE, and GN&C processor in a closed loop configuration.