Openvocs, a light-weight Voice Communication System for Space Mission Control

Abstract

Flawless voice communication is crucial for mission control. It is the most practical and precise way to transmit information, and further, it is the most natural way to communicate between humans. Today’s voice communication systems are highly specialized solutions but inflexible in terms of adjustability. Furthermore, hard-wired solutions are often limited in terms of accessibility and very costly. Nowadays, space operations are usually international endeavors, with different space agencies and private enterprises involved. Distributed operation teams are working together within different missions. Therefore, voice communication interoperability between space mission control centers must be guaranteed. Our approach reduces the entry barriers, especially for smaller participants, simplifies distributed operations, and helps the space flight community to grow. This paper describes an approach of a lightweight multi-party multi-conferencing voice communication system for space mission operations. The paper reports on the component-based implementation of the system and describe the user interface as well as core technologies. Our solution will be a pure software-based system. The developed system provides all necessary functionalities over a website and is usable via any device capable of running an off-the-shelf internet browser. There is no need for special devices, special client software, dedicated keysets, or separate networks. After successful authentication at the web server, the user has control over his roles and the role-dependent voice loop setup. In short, a potential user only needs a laptop, a headset, and an internet browser to connect to the system. This approach makes the system much more accessible to a broad range of users while enhancing maintainability and simplifying system deployment. Next to the system description, we outline basic ideas behind individual components to showcase used design principles and patterns, especially in connection to operational and maintainability topics. Moreover, we firmly believe that in today’s globally connected world, where technologies of various domains melt together, that voice communication for mission control can largely benefit from technologies and methods of related domains, like speech telephony and video conferencing, and internet infrastructure.