SpaceFibre is a new technology for use onboard spacecraft that provides point-to-point and networked interconnections at Gigabit rates with Quality of Service. SpaceFibre carries SpaceWire packets over virtual channels and provides a broadcast capability similar to SpaceWire time-codes. In order to assist with the development, testing and validation of the first SpaceFibre system a SpaceFibre diagnostic interface and analyser unit, called STAR Fire, was built by STAR-Dundee.
This paper describes STAR Fire, the first complete test and development solution available for SpaceFibre. STAR Fire has two independent SpaceFibre interfaces compliant with the SpaceFibre standard, each one with an embedded link analyser and multiple very high data rate hardware data generators and checkers. The unit can be configured in interface or sniffer mode. The sniffer mode is used to monitor protocol and user data produced by an external unit passing in both directions along a SpaceFibre link, similar to the STAR-Dundee SpaceWire Link Analyser. The STAR Fire unit can also be used as a bridge between SpaceWire and SpaceFibre links, using an embedded router that interconnects some SpaceFibre virtual channels with the two SpaceWire ports provided.
These and other functionalities are easily configured using a Graphical User Interface software in the host PC. The user can supervise the status of the unit and set the parameters of each link, broadcast channel, virtual channel data rate, Quality of Service and error injection. The link analyser module decodes and shows the SpaceFibre protocol and user data stream which can be analysed at character, word or frame level.
STAR Fire has been designed to support the rapid and painless adoption of the SpaceFibre technology within the SpaceWire community.

The Very High-Speed Serial Interface (VHiSSI) device aims to provide a versatile SpaceFibre interface device in a small package. The device can act as a parallel interface device providing several modes of operation, or it can act as a SpaceWire to SpaceFibre bridge.
This paper describes the VHiSSI chip in detail, outlines the applications it can be used for, and summarises the status of the VHiSSi project.

SpaceFibre is a very high-speed serial link designed specifically for use onboard spacecraft. It carries SpaceWire packets over virtual channels and provides a broadcast capability similar to SpaceWire time-codes but offering much more capability. SpaceFibre operates at 10 times the data-rate of SpaceWire, can run over fibre optic or electrical media, provides galvanic isolation, includes coherence Quality of Service (QoS) and Fault Detection Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) support, and provides low-latency signalling. SpaceFibre can run over distances of 5m with copper cable and 100 m or more with fibre optic cable. SpaceFibre is compatible with the packet level of the SpaceWire standard (ECSS-E-ST-50-12) and is therefore able to run the SpaceWire protocols defined in ECSS-E-ST-50-51C, 52C and 53C. This means that applications developed for SpaceWire can be readily transferred to SpaceFibre.
The aim of SpaceFibre is to provide point-to-point and networked interconnections for very high data-rate instruments, mass-memory units, processors and other equipment, on board a spacecraft.
This paper introduces SpaceFibre, describes the SpaceFibre QoS, FDIR and network level operation of SpaceFibre.