CCSDS 124.0-B-1 C++ Implementation

Header-only C++17 implementation of the CCSDS 124.0-B-1 lossless compression algorithm of fixed-length housekeeping data.

Citation

If CCSDS 124.0-B-1 contributes to your research, please cite:

‍D. Evans, G. Labrèche, D. Marszk, S. Bammens, M. Hernandez-Cabronero, V. Zelenevskiy, V. Shiradhonkar, M. Starcik, and M. Henkel. 2022. "Implementing the New CCSDS Housekeeping Data Compression Standard 124.0-B-1 (based on POCKET+) on OPS-SAT-1," Proceedings of the Small Satellite Conference, Communications, SSC22-XII-03. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2022/all2022/133/

BibTeX

@inproceedings{evans2022ccsds124,
  author    = {Evans, David and Labrèche, Georges and Marszk, Dominik and Bammens, Samuel and Hernandez-Cabronero, Miguel and Zelenevskiy, Vladimir and Shiradhonkar, Vasundhara and Starcik, Mario and Henkel, Maximilian},
  title     = {Implementing the New CCSDS Housekeeping Data Compression Standard 124.0-B-1 (based on POCKET+) on OPS-SAT-1},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the Small Satellite Conference},
  year      = {2022},
  note      = {SSC22-XII-03},
  url       = {https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2022/all2022/133/}
}

Requirements

• C++17 compiler (GCC 7+, Clang 5+, MSVC 2019+)
• CMake 3.14+

Building

make               # Build library and CLI
make test          # Run all tests
make coverage      # Run tests with coverage (text summary)
make coverage-html # Generate HTML coverage report
make docs          # Generate API documentation (requires doxygen)
make clean         # Clean build artifacts

Docker

docker-compose run --rm cpp                    # Build, test
docker-compose run --rm --build cpp            # Rebuild after changes

CLI

# Compress
./build/ccsds124 input.bin 90 20 50 100 2
# Output: input.bin.pkt
 
# Decompress
./build/ccsds124 -d input.bin.pkt 90 2
# Output: input.bin.depkt
 
# Help
./build/ccsds124 --help
 
# Version
./build/ccsds124 --version

Library Usage

This is a header-only library. Simply include the headers in your project - no linking required (except for the CLI tool). All template implementations are in the include/ccsds124/ headers.

High-Level API

#include <ccsds124/ccsds124.hpp>
 
// Compress 90-byte packets (720 bits) with robustness=2
std::uint8_t input[9000];    // 100 packets
std::uint8_t output[18000];
std::size_t output_size;
 
auto result = ccsds124::compress<720>(
    input, sizeof(input),
    output, sizeof(output),
    output_size,
    2,      // robustness
    20,     // pt_limit
    50,     // ft_limit
    100     // rt_limit
);
 
// Decompress
std::uint8_t decompressed[9000];
std::size_t decompressed_size;
 
result = ccsds124::decompress<720>(
    output, output_size,
    decompressed, sizeof(decompressed),
    decompressed_size,
    2       // robustness
);

Low-Level API

#include <ccsds124/compressor.hpp>
#include <ccsds124/decompressor.hpp>
 
using namespace ccsds124;
 
// Create compressor for 720-bit packets with robustness=2
Compressor<720> comp(2);
Decompressor<720> decomp(2);
 
// Compress a single packet
BitVector<720> input_packet;
input_packet.from_bytes(data, 90);
 
CompressParams params;
params.uncompressed_flag = true;  // First packet
 
BitBuffer<4320> output;
comp.compress_packet(input_packet, output, &params);
 
// Decompress
std::uint8_t output_bytes[540];
output.to_bytes(output_bytes, sizeof(output_bytes));
BitReader reader(output_bytes, output.size());
 
BitVector<720> output_packet;
decomp.decompress_packet(reader, output_packet);

Design

• Zero runtime dependencies - Standard library only
• Header-only templates - Easy integration, compile-time size optimization
• Static allocation - No dynamic memory allocation (embedded-friendly)
• 32-bit optimized - Uses uint32_t word storage for bit operations
• Embedded compatible - Works with -fno-exceptions -fno-rtti
• Byte-identical output - Matches C reference implementation exactly

File Structure

include/ccsds124/
├── config.hpp       # Configuration constants
├── error.hpp        # Error codes
├── bitvector.hpp    # Fixed-length bit vectors
├── bitbuffer.hpp    # Variable-length output buffer
├── bitreader.hpp    # Sequential bit reading
├── encoder.hpp      # COUNT, RLE, BE encoding
├── decoder.hpp      # COUNT, RLE decoding
├── mask.hpp         # Mask update operations
├── compressor.hpp   # Compression algorithm
├── decompressor.hpp # Decompression algorithm
└── ccsds124.hpp   # High-level API

Safety-Critical Code Compliance

This implementation follows safety-critical coding practices aligned with industry standards commonly used in space and embedded systems.

Enabled Checks

The CI pipeline runs static analysis using:

Tool	Checks	Purpose
clang-tidy	CERT C++, HIC++, C++ Core Guidelines, bugprone, performance	Safety/security analysis
cppcheck	All checks (errors, warnings, performance)	Generic static analysis

These checks overlap significantly with MISRA C++ guidelines, covering:

• Memory safety and bounds checking
• Undefined behavior prevention
• Type safety and implicit conversions
• Resource management
• Exception safety

MISRA C++ Note

Full MISRA C++:2023/2008 compliance checking requires commercial tools such as:

• Cppcheck Premium - Full MISRA C++ 2023 support
• Polyspace, PC-lint, LDRA - Enterprise static analysis

The open-source checks enabled here provide comparable coverage for the most critical safety rules.

Configuration Files

File	Purpose
.clang-tidy	clang-tidy check configuration
safety.supp	Documented deviations with rationale

Running Locally

# Generate compile_commands.json
cd build && cmake .. -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON
 
# Run clang-tidy
clang-tidy -p build ../include/ccsds124/*.hpp
 
# Run cppcheck
cppcheck --enable=all --std=c++17 -Iinclude include/ccsds124/*.hpp

References

• CCSDS 124.0-B-1
• POCKET+ on OPS-SAT-1 (SmallSat 2022)