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MIL-STD-1553 Tutorial
MIL-STD-1553 Tutorial
MIL-STD-1553 Specification Tutorial
MIL-STD-1553B is the military specification defining a digital time division command/response multiplexed data bus. The 1553 data bus is a dual-redundant, bi-directional, Manchester II encoded data bus with a high bit error reliability. All bus communications are controlled and initiated by a main bus controller. Remote terminal devices attached to the bus respond to controller commands.
MIL-STD-1553B defines specifications for terminal device operation and coupling, word structure and format, messaging protocol and electrical characteristics.
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MIL-STD-1553 Specification
MIL-STD-1553B was developed from the growing complexity of integrated avionics systems and the subsequent increase in the number of discrete interconnects between terminal devices. Direct point-to-point wiring became complex, expensive and bulky, requiring definition of a multiplex data bus standard. The first draft of a standard in 1968 by the aerospace branch of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) laid the foundation for the US Air Force’s adoption of MIL-STD-1553 in 1973.
A tri-service version, MIL-STD-1553A was released in 1975 and utilized in the Air Force F-16 and the US Army AH-64A Apache Attack Helicopter. Notice 2, released in 1986 and superceding Notice 1 released in 1980, is a tri-service standard for RT design specs and defines how some bus options are to be used. Currently revised to MIL-STD-1553B, Notice 2, it has become the internationally accepted networking standard for integrating military platforms.
Military services and contractors originally adopted MIL-STD-1553 as an avionics data bus due to its highly reliable, serial, 1Mbit/s transfer rate and extremely low error rate of 1 word fault per 10 million words, on a dual-redundant architecture.
This reliability has proven equally effective on communication networks in submarines, tanks, target drones, missile and satellite systems, land-based and launch vehicles, and space system including the current International Space Station and Shuttle programs.
MIL-STD-1553B defines the data bus structure for interconnection of up