Preparing the DSN operations concepts

Operations concepts are prepared to support a specific application and can, therefore, be classified accordingly. Studies of NASA and military operations concepts suggest three major types: data services, customer services, and systems oriented. Data services concepts concentrate on data types (e.g., telemetry and command) and how these data are processed and delivered to the user. Such concepts are normally used by data-processing centers to describe data-coding schemes and data formats. Customer services concepts concentrate on the customers' requirements and describe how these requirements are met using the systems available to the operation. Project centers use such concepts to describe the various types of data as they flow from the source (e.g., a spacecraft) to the end user (i.e., the customer). Systems oriented concepts concentrate on the use of systems for processing and delivering customer data. This paper examines the latter type and the 'concepts' that are inherent within them.