On-board Processing

Benchmarks
B C GARAI, CSA
 A Framework to Analyze Processor Architectures for Next-Generation On-Board
Space Computing by Tyler M. Lovelly et al.

Space-
computing
taxonomy
This Table depicts the space computing
taxonomy, which is composed of broad, high
level computational dwarfs and corresponding
applications.
 A Framework to Analyze Processor Architectures for Next-Generation On-Board
Space Computing by Tyler M. Lovelly et al.

Space-
computing
benchmark
suite
This table depicts the space-computing
benchmark suite.
These benchmarks represent key computations
required by the corresponding dwarfs in the
previous side.
 OBPMARK (On-board Processing Benchmarks) – Open Source computational
Performance Benchmarks For Space Applications

• In this paper, OBPMark (On-Board Processing Benchmarks) is introduced. OBPMark defines a set of benchmarks
covering the typical classes of applications commonly found on-board spacecraft. The benchmark suite is publicly
available to enable easy comparison of different systems and to quickly down-select possible processing solutions for a
mission.
• The OBPMark benchmarks are summarized in the following table:
GPU4S Bench: Design and Implementation of an Open GPU Benchmarking Suite
for Space On-board Processing by Leonidas Kosmidis et al
• Increased performance demands are required for the platform computers, which are in charge of controlling critical functionalities
like the spacecraft power distribution, navigation and guidance, as well as for the payload computers (in charge of controlling the
payload devices, and preprocessing acquired payload data before its transmission to the ground) to process more data. This paper
presents the design and implementation of the GPU4S Bench benchmark suite, which is specifically designed to evaluate the
applicability of embedded Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) in space.
• Key points from the paper include:
I. The GPU4S (GPU for Space) project, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with BSC, studies the
applicability of embedded GPUs in space.
II. Through this project they tried to show whether current and future on-board processing algorithms can benefit from GPUs, as well
as to select the appropriate embedded GPU which can satisfy the performance needs of future missions.
III. The paper describes the design and implementation of the GPU4S Bench benchmark suite, which has been specifically designed
for space applications.
IV. This paper discussed the importance of benchmarking for the deployment of GPUs in space applications.
V. The benchmarking suite presented is highly configurable and can be used to benchmark different deep learning techniques.
VI. The paper emphasizes that such benchmarking is crucial in delivering ready-to-use on-board artificial intelligence in emerging
space applications.
 Comparative Benchmarking Analysis of Next-Generation Space Processors by
Evan W. Gretok et al.

• As the computation demands for space processors are growing, NASA is working for development of high performance multicore
space processors using PowerPC, ARM and RISC-V architecture.
• This paper evaluated five OpenMP-parallelized applications for space in comparative benchmarking, including color search,
hyperspectral imaging (HSI) linearly-constrained minimum variance (LCMV) beamforming, Mandelbrot set generation, Sobel
filter, and image thumbnailer applications and reported the execution time and power efficiency for these benchmarking
applications .
• The image thumbnailer application performs bilinear interpolation to resample an input image to an output of lower resolution,
creating a thumbnail. These thumbnails are useful in space use cases for creating low-resolution versions of images for verification
before downloading the full resolution version, which takes much longer.
• The color search application employed is a simple image-processing program that performs an exhaustive search of an image for
a specified color value. An example of the color search, a search for clouds in Earth observing imagery.
• The Sobel filter application performs edge detection on an image, which is computed in this paper by performing a pair of two-
dimensional convolutions.
• Hyperspectral imaging is the process of capturing images concurrently from many different spectral bands. The spectral profiles
of the image are then used to identify objects and/or classify which materials are present at certain locations. This process can be
used to build terrain maps or measure the advance of urbanization, deforestation, or glacial melt, among other object-sensing
applications.
• The Mandelbrot set fractal generator application was included in this study due to its embarrassingly parallel nature and its use
of intensive double-precision floating-point computations.
Benchmarking Remote Sensing Image Processing And Analysis On The
Snapdragon Processor Onboard The International Space Station
• Future space missions will need more powerful onboard autonomy to meet mission and science objectives by (1) handling variations in predicted
execution and rapid response to science events and (2) reducing the extremely large amounts of data produced by instruments, especially hyperspectral
and radar.
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 support onboard data processing via CPU, GPU and DSP – offering the promise of more powerful edge computing.
• Two Snapdragon 855 handheld development boards were integrated with the HPE Spaceborne Computer-2 (SBC-2) which provides connectivity,
storage, and compute support which were taken to ISS. They have chosen readily available applications for NASA’s past, present, and proposed
missions to run on these system. They have benchmarked a range of instrument processing algorithms with applications to terrestrial, planetary, and
astronomy and astrophysics as reported below:
• Decision Trees. Manual decision tree of modest size (~10 nodes) for per pixel classification of thermal anomalies (volcanic or wildfire) [Davies et al.
2006] or cryosphere (snow water, ice, land) [Doggett et al. 2005]. The benchmark runs one image through both the thermal and cryosphere decision
trees. CPU and GPU implementation runtimes are reported.
• Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Image Formation. Pipeline of 3 CPU and 2 GPU applications adapted from the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle SAR
(UAVSAR) project [Hawkins and Tung 2019]. Primarily a row wise and column wise 2D FFT with filters.
• Match Filters. CPU application of signature detection for remote sensing imaging spectroscopy [Thompson et al. 2015]. First test is mineral detection
at Cuprite, NV site using AVIRIS 2014 data.
• Hyperspectral Compression [Hernandez-Cabronero et al. 2021]. This test performs lossless compression on a set of test images for the Earth
Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission [EMIT 2021].
• Hyperspectral. This implements Sequential Maximum Angle Convex Cone (SMACC) spectral endmember extraction as previously flown on the Earth
Observing One spacecraft [Thompson et al. 2012].
• SMICES Classification. SMICES is an instrument concept for a “smart” deep ice convective storm hunting radar [NASA 2019, Swope et al. 2021,
Bosch-Lluis et al. 2021]. In the SMICES concept a lookahead radiometer acquires data to detect deep convective ice storms and a radar is used to study
detected storms in greater detail.
• Salience Detector. CPU application for generating salience maps of large image swaths. This detector can be used to reduce data volume from imagery
obtained by the High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) instrument onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The salience detector uses
computer vision techniques, with parameters optimized by a genetic algorithm, to detect landmarks of potential interest to planetary scientists [Wagstaff
et al. 2021].
• Landing Vision System (Astrotipping). This is a descent landing system that estimates cross velocity based on descent imagery and uses this to both
localize and avoid landing hazards.
• Higher Order Wavefront Sensing (HOWFS). This algorithm is useful for onboard image processing for the Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph
Instrument [Krist et al. 2018].
• Cloud Avoidance. This is an operations concept in which a lookahead sensor is used to detect clouds and imaging is directed to target around clouds
improving data quality.
Leveraging the Openness and Modularity of RISC-V in Space by Stefano Di Mascio et
al.

• This paper proposes a roadmap to address present and future needs in space systems with RISC-V processors. Here are the
key points:
• RISC-V is an open and modular Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) which is rapidly growing in popularity in terrestrial
applications.
• To satisfy different applications with contrasting requirements in satellite data systems, four different types of processors
are identified:
1. Low-area/low-power microcontrollers
2. On-Board Computers (OBCs)
3. General-purpose processors for payloads
4. Enhanced payload processors for Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Several solutions based on RISC-V are proposed for each of these types of processors and compared to proprietary
Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and space-grade solutions.
• An extensive analysis of the results available from literature is conducted to show that RISC-V has the potential to solve
such a wide range of needs.
• The paper also highlights the unprecedented number of open-source implementations and models that were developed in a
relative short time on a single ISA.
• Future space systems could benefit from many of those developments.
 On-Board Decision Making in Space with Deep Neural Networks and RISC-V
Vector Processors by Stefano Di Mascio et al.

• The recent shift of focus of the space industry from large GEO to small LEO satellites opens up new
challenges. Limited downlink data rates and short communication windows typically allow the
transmission of just a fraction of the data generated by on-board sensors in small LEO satellites. This
paper by Stefano Di Mascio et al. published in the Journal of Aerospace Information Systems,
explores the use of deep neural networks (DNNs) in space systems RISC-V vector processor to
address these issues.

• The authors note that while DNNs have become widespread in terrestrial applications due to the
availability of large datasets and relatively inexpensive hardware, their application in space
systems is more challenging due to the lack of large datasets and inexpensive hardware.

• The paper analyzes the impact of DNNs on the system-level capabilities of space systems in terms
of on-board decision making (OBDM) and identifies the specific criticalities of deploying DNNs
on satellites. The workload of DNNs for on-board image and telemetry analysis is analyzed, and
the results are used to drive the preliminary design of a RISC-V vector processor to be employed
as a generic platform to enable energy-efficient OBDM for both payload and platform
applications.

• The design of the memory subsystem is carried out in detail to allow full exploitation of the
computational resources in typically resource-constrained space systems.