The GRB Simulator: Description of GOES Rebroadcast (GRB) Data Streams for Testing User Terminals

This presentation provides an oral overview of GOES Rebroadcast (GRB) Simulator capabilities and functionality. It is designed to be an introduction to the GRB Simulator that is accompanied by a poster which describes how to use the simulator to test a system.

GOES Rebroadcast (GRB) signals in the GOES-R era will replace the current legacy GOES Variable (GVAR) signal and will have substantially different characteristics, including a change in data rate from a single 2.1 Mbps stream to two digital streams of 15.5 Mbps each. Five GRB Simulators were developed as portable systems that output a high-fidelity stream of Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) formatted GRB packet data equivalent to live GRB data. The data are used for on-site testing of user ingest and data handling systems known as field terminal sites. The GRB Simulator is a fully self-contained system which includes all software and hardware units needed for operation. The operator manages configurations to edit preferences, define individual test scenarios, and manage event logs and reports. Simulations are controlled by test scenarios, which are scripts that specify the test data and provide a series of actions for the GRB Simulator to perform when generating GRB output. Scenarios allow for the insertion of errors or modification of GRB packet headers for testing purposes. The GRB Simulator provides a built-in editor for managing scenarios. The GRB simulator is designed to be used at sites that receive the GRB downlink.

Data output by the simulator is derived from either proxy data files containing Level 1b (L1b) or GLM L2+ data, test pattern images, or non-image test pattern generation commands specified from within a scenario. The GRB Simulator outputs packets containing both instrument and GRB Information data. Instrument packets contain data simulated from any GOES-R instrument: the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS), Extreme Ultraviolet Sensor (EUVS) and X-ray Irradiance Sensor (XRS) called EXIS, Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), or the Magnetometer. GRB Information packets contain information such as satellite schedules.