The TRIO smart sensor data acquisition system on a chip for space applications

This paper presents several design and testing aspects of the TRIO smart sensor data acquisition chip, developed by JHU/APL for NASA spacecraft applications. TRIO includes a 10-bit self corrected ADC, 16/32 analog inputs, a front end multiplexer with selectable acquisition time, a current source, a memory unit, a serial and a parallel bus, and a control logic. So far TRIO is used in many missions including Contour, Messenger, Stereo, Pluto and the generic JPL X2000 spacecraft bus.