Performance evaluation of the CCSDS file delivery protocol - latency and storage requirement

Abstract

To support robotic and human explorations of Mars in the coming decade, the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the 2009 Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO), as part of the Mars Network, will provide file transfer services to other Marscrafts using the CCSDS File Delivery Protocol (CFDP). CFDP was designed to provide file-based data and storage management, store-and-forward relay, and reliable data transfer over space links characterized by large propagation delay and intermittent availability. This paper will describe how MTO can use CFDP to relay operational data and bulk science data for surface missions such as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). Performance metrics for latency and storage requirement are derived from mathematical analysis as well as simulation of anticipated MTO-MSL mission scenarios