An investigation of networking techniques for the ASRM facility

This report is based on the early design concepts for a communications network for the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) facility being built at Yellow Creek near Iuka, MS. The investigators have participated in the early design concepts and in the evaluation of the initial concepts. The continuing system design effort and any modification of the plan will require a careful evaluation of the required bandwidth of the network, the capabilities of the protocol, and the requirements of the controllers and computers on the network. The overall network, which is heterogeneous in protocol and bandwidth, is being modeled, analyzed, simulated, and tested to obtain some degree of confidence in its performance capabilities and in its performance under nominal and heavy loads. The results of the proposed work should have an impact on the design and operation of the ASRM facility.