[Cesg-all] Proposed guidelines for inclusion of documents in SCCS-ARD / Add refresh

[Shames, Peter M (US 312B)]

Dear CESG – All members,

During the CESG meetings this week I mentioned that we want to include all of the most up-to-date standards in the Space Communication Cross Support Architecture (SCCS-ARD) update.  This is CCSDS 901.1-M-1.  The title says “cross support” and I guess that confused some of the CESG members.  It also says “space communication” and the current version covers fifty-seven (57) CCSDS and related standards, and another twenty-six (26) are in the non-normative set in Annex D.  This one “omnibus” specification covers all of four CCSDS areas: SLS, SIS, CSS, and SEA.  A separate document, the Application and Support Layer Architecture (ASL), CCSDS 371.0-G-1, that was just approved covers the other two areas (MOIMS & SOIS).

There’s an important point here.  Many of those standards referenced in the non-normative Annex D, from the 2015 edition, were marked in the text as [Future] at the time the spec was published.  Some, like TD-CSTS and SDLS, were not yet completed, even though they were already well on their way.  They are now published and no longer will be marked [Future].  Others, like DTN Network Management, are still “on their way”.  Still others, like USLP, were not even on the drawing boards at that time, but will now be included, along with optical comm and other standards.    And others, like coding for AOS forward links, are still hanging fire and only TC forward links are specified.

The point of this note is to do two things:


  1.  Seek your support in ensuring that we have as complete a list of revised and “soon to be published” standards as is possible.
  2.  Lay  out the  guidelines we used for inclusion of [Future] standards and seek your concurrence and support for these updates.

For item 1  we have this list which we showed in the CESG meeting:


     *   Update existing viewpoints with new/modified standards
        *   SLS (USLP, coding, modulation, other changes to SPP)
        *   SIS (DTN, routing, management, security, [Future] CFDP)
        *   CSS (new CSTS & SM standards)
        *   SEA (security, key management & D-DOR, SANA & RMP)
     *   Incorporate new / missing work items
        *   Optical comm
        *   Audio and video for human exploration
        *   RFID
        *   Time management

If you know of other standards in your WGs that are missing from this list please let me know and we will figure out how to incorporate them.  We want to ensure that all standards that are published, or that will be published between now and the time when this update is ready to be published, optimistically a year from now, will be included.

For item 2 we realize that some of the standards you are working on may not be ready in this timeframe, or they may still be in development, but well understood.  In the currently published version we included this description of how we were using this [Future] designation:

Future CCSDS requirements (e.g., service interfaces, protocols, or data formats) that are planned, but still under development, are included for completeness so that the directions of CCSDS are clear; these are marked ‘[Future]’ to avoid ambiguity. Any requirements that are considered optional are marked ‘[Opt]’. The [Opt] requirements are things like security, which may or may not be implemented by any given system. All other core standards, those that are expected to be used by the bulk of missions and implemented by the bulk of service providers, are defined as mandatory, with ‘shall’ rather than ‘should’ language. Any specific system deployment may treat these as ‘shall’ if they are required for that use.

Any requirements marked ‘[Future]’ should not be relied upon in the design of current real SCCS systems. This Recommended Practice will be updated periodically. When updates of this document are published, any requirements now marked ‘[Future]’ whose conditions are met will be reviewed and evaluated for inclusion as full requirements. Many of these future specifications are completely applicable to either ABA or SSI deployments.
 The guideline that we used for these “under development” standards was this:

  1.  They should be Draft Red Books or White Books that are already quite mature and likely to be published in a year of two.
  2.  They may be White Paper concepts that are relatively mature and not in flux, and can be expected in the five year timeframe.
  3.  They may be position papers from other organizations, such as IOAG, where there is support for initiating and (nominally) completing the work within the 5 year lifetime of the revised standard.

This is a statement of the guidelines that we used in the current version of the document.  Leaving aside Green Book materials from that Informative References Annex, of the sixteen standards listed as [Future] in 2015 nine have already been published, four are on their way to be published in one form or another (one of these, the SM standard, is actually going to be five or six separate but related new  standards), and three have been deferred  for lack of resources (or interest).  We would like to strive for at least the same success rate going forward, so please keep that in mind.

We want this document to  provide valuable guidance to our current and future users.

Accordingly, please provide your list of [Future] candidates, and even a list of [Proposed] docs, that you believe are viable even if they do not meet this maturity test.  We would like to have these by the end of December.

If you are still  puzzled as to why we need this standard, as opposed to just the list we now have on the CCSDS website, think of it this way.


·         The list on the CCSDS website is like a box of plumbing parts: there are water source pipes, and joints, and T-fittings, and faucets, and drain pipes, and they are all in a box. But that is what they are, a box of parts.  You figure it out.


·         This CCSDS SCCS architecture document is like a set of plumbing diagrams: if you want to install a kitchen sink do it like this, here is the diagram showing the right parts and how they fit together.    Oh yeah, and that bathroom shower, that is a different set of parts, and a different diagram.  And there are pictures provided both of how it is supposed to look and work, and how to assemble it.

Thanks, Peter

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