Communications Group Before Redirect
From TeamFrednetWiki
Team FREDNET : Communications Group (CG)
Group Leader: TBD
Group Members: Sudhir Singh, Geoff Baker, Nick Horton (TBC), Rich Core, Fred Bourgeois
Sub-Groups: Rover Link, Space Link, Comm Sim
TODO: Merge the content here into the Portal:Communications page.
Group Purpose
The Communication Group is responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the hardware and software required for a reliable communication link between the ground and the space segment. This includes:
- Establishing a Terran Communication Network consisting of the operations center, ground stations, and interfaces to external entities (Ground Segment)
- Commuinications hardware and software onboard the Lunar Bus, Lunar Lander, and the Lunar Rover (Space Segment)
Visit the our portal to read more about our activities.
Organization
We are trying to organize our work into small work packages (WP) that can be carried out by small dedicated teams in a short time (few months). The generic life cycle for a WP is described below. People who contribute to one or more WPs become members of the Communication Group. It is, however, also possible to join the group for occasional work that does not fit into the scope of a WP. Contact the group leader if you want to join that pool.
Generic WP Life Cycle
This process should be considered as a guideline and deviations can occur:
- The group leader writes a draft Statement of Work (SOW). The SOW includes:
- Background, purpose, and scope
- Objectives
- Work to be done
- Skills needed
- Proposed milestones, schedule, etc
- Expected output and deliverables
- Applicable standards and documents
- WP Review
- The WP is reviewed by the upper management to ensure that it is in line with the overall project goals and ideas
- After approval by the upper management, the WP and corresponding SOW is announced on the Team FREDNET Forum and on the Communications portal
- The SOW and proposed changes are discussed on the forum
- A dedicated team for carrying out the work is recruited
- WP Kick-off
- The SOW is finalized
- A work plan is agreed
- The role of each team member is defined
- Other organizational, managerial, and financial terms and conditions are agreed
- WP Execution
- The work is carried out according to the work plan
- Progress reports are delivered to the group leader as agreed during kick-off
- Contributions to official Team FREDNET newsletter, blogs, etc are provided the the group leader as agreed during kick-off
- The team maintains a wiki page for the WP and updates it to provide an up to date snapshot of the current status
- The group leader is responsible for properly communicating the progress to the rest of the world
- Reviews are held as agreed during kick-off
- If possible, the time and effort spent on the WP is recorded
- WP Acceptance
- When the work is completed the results and deliverables are evaluated vis-a-vis the WP objectives
- It is decided whether any followup activities should be carried out
- The contributors who have fulfilled their roles as defined during kick-off receive official acknowledgment for their contribution (TBD what it should be; free mission patch? certificate? something else?)
- After acceptance, it is the responsibility of the group leader to ensure that the results and achievements are properly integrated into the project and communicated to the rest of the world (newsletter, forum, wiki, blog)
- The WP is closed
