Multicast/Broadcast

SpaceWire doesn’t inherently support a multicast or broadcast capability. There is a time-code distribution function but it is limited in the amount of user information that can be distributed. An approach has been developed for a broadcast capability through custom router and endpoint modifications. It uses a set of dedicated protocol packets, packets using broadcast protocol identifiers, to distribute the packets to all routers and endpoints. The capability has been demonstrated, but additional work needs to be performed before a specific approach can be defined.