SpaceFibre is a technology specifically designed for use in spaceflight applications that provides point-to-point and networked interconnections at Gigabit rates with Quality of Service and Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery. SpaceFibre is backwards compatible with SpaceWire, allowing existing SpaceWire equipment to be incorporated into a SpaceFibre network without modifications at packet level.
In this work we present the SpaceFibre Routing Switch IP Core developed by STAR-Dundee and its subsidiary STAR-Barcelona. This IP Core is fully compliant with the SpaceFibre standard – including the Network ayer – thus providing a cornerstone technology necessary for future on-board data-handling systems. We also describe the capabilities and performance of the Routing Switch design. The design provides a highly flexible router comprising a number of ports and a fully configurable, non-blocking, high performance, routing switch. Finally, the implementation results of this Routing Switch IP in radiation-tolerant FPGAs re summarized and discussed. The Routing Switch IP has been carefully implemented to optimise its performance and minimise its footprint on radiation-tolerant FPGAs (e.g. RTG4, Virtex-5QV or KU060) and ASICs.
The SpaceFibre Routing Switch completes the set of essential SpaceFibre technology, providing a missing building block for the next generation of on-board data-handling systems.

SpaceFibre is the next generation of SpaceWire network technology for spacecraft on-board data-handling. It runs over electrical or fibre-optic cables, operates at very high data rates, and provides in-built quality of service (QoS) and fault detection, isolation and recovery (FDIR) capabilities. Its high data rate per lane coupled with novel multi-lane technology enables SpaceFibre to achieve very high performance: in excess of 10 Gbit/s with current space qualified FPGAs and much higher in the near future. Its in-built error detection, isolation and recovery mechanisms enable rapid recovery from transient errors, without loss of data, providing high-availability. Its multi-lane hot and cold redundancy features support high reliability. These capabilities are built into the hardware of each SpaceFibre interface. This paper will outline the quintessential characteristics of SpaceFibre that make it ideal as an interconnect in spaceflight applications. It will then explore how SpaceFibre can be used as a payload data-handling system network.