High speed image data compression processor for Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS)

Development plans of high resolution image sensors for satellites are increasing these days. The data transmission capacity of onboard equipment is reaching up to several times as large as the down link circuit capacity provided by present satellites. High-speed data compression is required in order to transmit the image data to ground stations in real-time. IDCP (Image Data Compression Processor) is space-born data compression processor with automatic bit-rate control function, which was developed under NASDA (National Space Development Agency of Japan) contract for Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS). A new radiation hardened one-chip image data compression LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit), which has adaptive quantization function, was developed in order to comply with high-speed data compression requirement as well as constant bit rate transmission requirement.