The Embedded Software TechChannel

Vislink Displays Complete Offering of Aerial- And Ground-Based Live Video Surveillance Systems at Milipol Asia-Pacific 2019

2019-03-21T13:36:47Z

SINGAPORE, MARCH 20, 2019 — Vislink will be showcasing its range of downlink, satellite and wireless camera solutions at Milipol Asia-Pacific 2019 (Booth 1540) in Singapore April 2-4, 2019. Among the solutions on display will be the following: the updated Airborne Video Downlink System (AVDS), which now comprises the new TSM-2020 Transport Management System; the Advent MSAT tri-band satellite terminal; and a wide variety of Vislink wireless transmitters, such as its IMTDragonfly, ETP-4, ETV-5 and ETM-6. Milipol Asia-Pacific is the region’s leading international event for homeland security.

Vislink’s AVDS is an integrated suite of downlink transmitters, receivers and antennas that creates a comprehensive aerial-based video transmission solution. It is designed to improve situational awareness through real-time HD video surveillance captured from drones, helicopters and other aircraft for display at command centers, mobile units and on video management systems.

Vislink’s AVDS, which now features the company’s TSM-2020, is used to collect, aggregate and distribute video captured from one or many receive site applications. It controls and accepts video streams from Vislink’s family of IP diversity receivers for viewing by commanders, staff and other key stakeholders. The addition of TSM-2020 as part of the overall AVDS system extends critical situational video to an unlimited number of observers who can view the video over any network connection, including wired ethernet, WiFi, IP satellite and IP cellular. Vislink’s AVDS system is also comprised of the HDX-1100 microwave transmitter and Mini MobilCMDR handheld receiver/monitor, as well as the CIRAS-x6, CRx6 and CRx2 COFDM receivers.

“As a trusted and valued partner to the armed forces and law enforcement agencies worldwide, Vislink is excited to be showcasing a variety of products designed to meet the needs of high-end video services at Milipol Asia-Pacific 2019,” says John Payne, president and COO of Vislink Technologies. “We look forward to showing those in attendance how the compact form-factor, reliability and easy deployment of our solutions make them ideal for demanding and challenging surveillance video environments.”

In addition to the AVDS, Vislink will also be showcasing the Advent MSAT, a highly portable, lightweight, tri-band satellite terminal that can be set up anywhere to provide secure and non-secure data and video transmission in as little as five minutes. It supports X-, Ku- and Ka-band configurations, ensuring worldwide coverage. Available with a 65-, 90- or 120-cm reflector, the system is designed for rapid deployment in hostile environments and can be used with mains power or battery operation.

Vislink will also present a wide array of wireless camera transmitters at Milipol Asia-Pacific 2019. These include the HDMI-compatible IMTDragonfly superior miniature wireless camera transmitter, designed to capture real-time, high-quality video from UAV/UGV/Body Cams/Concealments for display on fixed or mobile receive applications. When pairing the IMTDragonfly with the revolutionary MOHOC® tactically-designed military helmet camera, it provides ultra-low latency and broadcast quality live video transmission over RF in the most extreme environments. MOHOC cameras are already deployed with the U.S. Navy, Special Forces and SWAT teams around the world.

The Vislink ETP-4 3G/4G body-worn video transmitter delivers high-end video transmission robustness and class-leading ease of use. With a built-in confidence monitor, users can quickly and easily verify that their content is being transmitted. Additionally, the 5X (extendable to 9X) 3G/4G up-link interface ensures maximum data speeds, delivering unrivaled video quality from any remote location. The small form-factor of the ETP-4 makes it a flexible solution for go-anywhere, body-worn applications, allowing remote video content capture without the need for additional transmission infrastructure.

The ETV-5 3G/4G transmitter is optimized for vehicle-mounted video communications. Using premium video and audio compression technology and 3G/4G cellular transmission technology, it provides high-speed, high-quality and high-reliability video, audio and data transmission. Packed with the industry-standard 1-DIN, in-car format, the Vislink ETV-5 vehicle transmitter delivers on the need for live mobile video transmission from any location.

The ETM-6 external RF unit delivers high-performance RF capability within an IP65-rated waterproof housing, making it perfect for optimal RF connectivity in all environmental conditions. The ETM-6 has a simplified design with combined data and power connectivity and is it ideal for roof-mounted installations.

HEVC compression will be available on the ETP-4, ETV-5 and ETM-6 by the end of Q2.

For more information, stop by booth Milipol Asia-Pacific Booth 1540 or visit www.vislink.com.

About Vislink Technologies

Vislink Technologies brands are recognized as the global leaders in the design, manufacture and deployment of end-to-end live video communications solutions. They are trusted suppliers to tier-1 customers in broadcast/sports/entertainment, and law enforcement/public safety/defense markets. Their products are recognized for high levels of performance, reliability, build quality, extended operating ranges and compact form factors. In the broadcast, sports and entertainment sectors, IMT and Vislink provide high-definition communication links to reliably capture, transmit and manage live event footage. In the law enforcement, public safety & defense markets, IMT and Vislink provide secure video communications and mission-critical solutions to local, national and international agencies and organizations. More information can be found at www.imt-solutions.com and www.vislink.com.

Headquartered in Hackettstown, New Jersey, Vislink Technologies has over 70 patents and pending patent applications. The company is a publicly traded and listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market. For more information, visit www.vislinktechnologies.com.

A kind of immortality

2019-03-21T10:50:23Z

I had a thought, which I would like to share. Indeed I am dedicating this blog post to the sharing and expansion of what, to me, was a profound realization. Broadly, what I am thinking about are grandchildren, grandparents and the span of time …

My maternal grandfather was born in 1898. He served in the first world war, as he lied about his age, saying he was 18 instead of 16. I always thought that this was probably a family legend, but I found documentary proof that this actually occurred. Although he had no memory of the 19th Century, it always seemed amazing to me, as a child, that I knew someone well who had lived that far back. Indeed, in my childhood, I met quite a few elderly people who could remember the reign of Queen Victoria [the last few years of it anyway]. My great-grandmother died when I was 14, so I was well acquainted with her. She had been born in 1879 and her first job was working with the queen’s dressmakers.

Of course, there now nobody left with any connection to the 19th Century. Most of us just have experience of the 20th and 21st Centuries. But we can look forward …

I have always liked the idea of grandchildren. They can provide much of the pleasure that children do, but with the option to hand them back [legally]. I looked forward to having some little people to whom I could teach bad habits and rude words. Although my two daughters have yet to deliver, my wife’s sons have provided us with 3 grandsons [so far]. Two are still babies, but the other is 4 and will start “real” school in a few months. The, IMHO, rather profound thought that recently dawned on me was the realization that these 3 boys have a very high likelihood of living into the 22nd Century!

I cannot begin to imagine what kind of world they will be teaching their grandchildren about, but I do feel that I have a real stake in the future …

Embedded software article: RTOS Revealed #30

2019-03-18T08:30:57Z

My latest article on embedded.com has been published. This piece is the thirtieth installment of the RTOS Revealed series, which will continue to appear for the next few months. The series covers every aspect of real time operating systems.

Nucleus SE RTOS initialization and start-up

In this article, I look at initialization and start-up in an RTOS in general and Nucleus SE in particular
…

Here are all the articles in the series:

Introducing RTOS Revealed
Program structure and real time
Tasks and scheduling
Tasks, the context switch and interrupts
Inter-task communication and synchronization
Other RTOS services
Nucleus SE – an introduction
Nucleus SE – internals and deployment
The scheduler – implementation
The scheduler – options and context save
Tasks – configuration and API introduction
Task utility services
Task data structures and unsupported API calls
Partition memory: introduction and basic services
Partition memory: utility services and data structures
Signals
Event flag groups: introduction and basic services
Event flag groups: utility services and data structures
Semaphores: introduction and basic services
Semaphores: utility services and data structures
Mailboxes: introduction and basic services
Mailboxes: utility services and data structures
Queues: introduction and basic services
Pipes: introduction and basic services
Pipes: utility services and data structures
System time
Application timers
Interrupts in Nucleus SE
Nucleus SE RTOS initialization and start-up

I hope that you find the series interesting and look forward to your input by comment or email or via social media.

Pixus Announces New Thick and Rugged Faceplates For Embedded Boards

2019-03-15T16:27:51Z

Pixus Technologies, a provider of embedded computing and enclosure solutions, has released new OpenVPX faceplates for rugged applications.

The new 6U OpenVPX panels feature an extra thick extrusion, providing both rigidity and the ability to attach helicoils on the faceplate. There is also a PCB holder bar that extends along the inside of the 0.8” wide panel. This bar acts as a stiffener for the panel and provides a more secure interface for attaching the PCBs. EMC gaskets and the Pixus Type IVs ejector handles with it’s rugged metal engagement claw are optional. Versions in a 3U height or 1.0” width are available upon request.

Pixus offers silkscreen and custom cutout services for its faceplates. The company also provides filler panels, handles, card guides, rails, PCB protective covers, and many other components in various VITA and PICMG based open standard architectures.

About Pixus Technologies

Leveraging over 25 years of innovative standard products, the Pixus team is comprised of industry experts in electronics packaging. Founded in 2009 by senior management from Kaparel Corporation, a Rittal company, Pixus Technologies’ embedded backplanes and systems are focused primarily on ATCA, OpenVPX, MicroTCA, and custom designs. Pixus also has an extensive offering of VME-based and cPCI-based solutions. In May 2011, Pixus Technologies became the sole authorized North and South American supplier of the electronic packaging products previously offered by Kaparel Corporation and Rittal.

Delivering the mail

2019-03-14T09:45:45Z

In these days of electronic communication, dominated by email [which people keep saying is passé, but, in reality, is used more every day] and messaging services, it is hard to remember that, for a century and a half, textual information was shared using “snail mail”. Of course, traditional mail services are still heavily used, but they face some stiff competition.

I was recently reminded of the everyday challenges faced by mail delivery staff and started thinking about the different ways that mail is handled in different countries …

I belong to a small wine tasting group. We meet monthly to taste some wines under the tutelage of an expert. It is a very non-pretentious, volunteer-led club that makes for a convivial social evening. The wines that we taste are purchased, so we are under no pressure to buy any of them ourselves. We realized that we need to recruit a few more members and various forms of promotion of the group were considered. We decided that a direct mail campaign, targeting people who lived within walking distance of our venue, might be effective.

The simple brochure was designed and a quantity printed. I, along with a few others, volunteered to tramp the streets to deliver them. And I have spent a few hours, in recent days, doing just this. Although ostensibly a boring activity, I have always found leaflet delivery quite interesting and just take it as an opportunity to get some exercise. Since the area, in which I live, is dominated by hills, that exercise can be quite beneficial.

The interesting aspect of delivering leaflets is a result of the way mail delivery is handled in the UK. Most houses have a letter box set into the front door. It is an odd name, as there is no box at all – it is just a big slot protected by a flap. Houses are typically set back from the road, so, to deliver something, requires a walk through the front garden or up the driveway. This provides a nice opportunity [for a curious – some might say nosey – person like me] to see a bit of “how the other half lives”. The length and gradient of some driveways was challenging – though they tend to belong to more affluent people, for whom a wine tasting group might be of some interest. It was intensely frustrating to make this trek and then find no letterbox! Sometimes it was because there was an actual box at the end of the drive [which I had missed], but in other cases I could not see any means by which mail might be delivered.

The practice of having an actual box instead of a slot in the door seems to be becoming more popular. I guess we are following the American model, where, as I understand it, just about everyone has a mail box by the street. I have often wondered how “signed for” deliveries are handled. The feature that has not been adopted here is the little flag that indicates that the box contains mail; that seems so obviously beneficial.

My respect for mail delivery staff is certainly increased after only delivering a few hundred leaflets. Yesterday, I answered the door to a young woman in a Royal Mail uniform, who was dripping copiously – we had some heavy rain. She cheerfully asked me for a signature for a letter and I expressed genuine sympathy for having to do her job on such a morning.

Video about floating point in embedded systems

2019-03-11T09:42:16Z

My latest video blog is now available. This time I am looking at the use of floating point in an embedded application and some of the pitfalls associated with it. You can see the video here or here:

Future video blogs will continue to look at topics of interest to embedded software developers. Suggestions for topics are always welcome via comment, email or social networking.

IMT Vislink Showcases Updated AVDS System at HAI HELI-EXPO 2019

2019-03-07T17:12:22Z

SARASOTA, FL, MARCH 5, 2019 — IMT Vislink is showcasing its updated Airborne Video Downlink System (AVDS) with the addition of the TSM-2020 Transport Management System at the HAI HELI-EXPO 2019 (Booth C4338). IMT Vislink’s AVDS is an integrated suite of downlink transmitters, receivers and antennas that creates a comprehensive aerial-based video transmission solution. It is designed to improve situational awareness through real-time HD video surveillance captured from drones, helicopters and other aircraft for display at command centers, mobile units and on video management systems.

IMT Vislink has received tremendous interest in its AVDS system, which is comprised of the HDX-1100, Mini MobilCMDR, CIRAS-x6, CRx6, CRx2 and the new TSM-2020, from both local and international law enforcement and military agencies within the past year. It remains the leading solution for the airborne surveillance industry, reflecting the company’s longstanding commitment to delivering actionable intelligence through mission-critical video communications.

“IMT Vislink is a trusted and valued partner to the armed forces and local law enforcement agencies, primarily because of our reliable, accurate and rapidly deployable video communications systems,” says John Payne, President and COO of Vislink Technologies. “AVDS encompasses our Air-to-Anywhere™ technology that enables real-time video to be collected, distributed and managed across all deployed assets. AVDS provides full compatibility with regional agencies’ large platform, fixed and rotary wing surveillance aircraft platforms, allowing for flexible implementation of current portable and mobile command vehicle downlink receive systems.”

The TSM-2020 is used to collect, aggregate and distribute video captured from a single or multiple receive site applications. It controls and accepts video streams from IMT Vislink’s family of IP diversity receivers for viewing by commanders, staff and other key stakeholders. The TSM-2020 extends critical situational video to an unlimited number of observers who can view the video over any network connection, including wired ethernet, WiFi, IP satellite and IP cellular. Video can be distributed over a secure IP network or the Internet.

Using the IMT eLink Intelligent Aggregation Algorithm (IAA), the TSM-2020 automatically down selects to the best receivers and reconstructs an error-free IP stream. It continuously monitors all connected remote receivers, coordinates all receiver channels and acts as a single point interface. Metadata received from each remote receiver enables the TSM-2020 to analyze and manage total system bandwidth and preselect the best signal. It uses the reconstructed stream to adaptively transcode the received video into various standard streaming formats, and distributes the video, audio and metadata to multiple viewing platforms. Viewing platforms can range from a single PC, smartphones and notepads connected over a cellular network, to an HD video wall. The TSM-2020 also features a local, native-resolution HD decoder with HDMI and SDI outputs for video monitoring.

AVDS is a critical tool for improving situational awareness by giving those on the ground a clear and reliable picture of what is being captured from airborne units, as it adds an additional layer of safety and security to missions. It plays an essential role in surveillance, assessment and deployment operations. including search and rescue operations, narcotics surveillance/interdiction, personnel/cargo transport, inter-agency pursuit coordination, wildfire suppression, emergency medical services transport and patrol support.

About Vislink Technologies

Telling me what to do

2019-03-07T09:14:06Z

I have concluded that perhaps I am not the easiest person to live with. There are a selection of reasons for this, but one is that I do not always know what I want. My brain is in conflict [with itself]. The thing is, I like nice clear rules and guidelines – boundaries, if you like. However, I will often question a rule, if I cannot understand the reason for it or the logic of its implementation. This questioning has, I think, resulted in my being somewhat resistant to being told what to do …

As I wrote about on a previous occasion, there are broadly two kinds of legal system:

you can do anything you want unless there is a law stopping you
you cannot do anything unless there is a law permitting you to do it

I guess there are more countries with (1) and the UK is an example. This results in instructions [rules, laws …] that tell you not to do things, which seems a little negative, but is ultimately quite freeing.

I was in Germany recently and commented to a colleague that I did not see too many instructions telling me not to do things. He said that, first, I should look again and, second, that I should remember my very limited German language knowledge. So, I started making some observations.

I visited the health suite in the hotel, as I wanted to have a sauna to relax at the end of the day. Outside of the sauna were some instructions, which were helpfully in English as well as German. There was quite a long list, most of which was standard stuff about people with heart conditions etc., but 3 rules stood out:

Users should shower before using the sauna (for hygiene reasons) – I can accept that one, as I do not want to be sitting next to a sweating, grubby person.
Users should sit/lie on a towel to avoid sweat staining the woodwork – This is also reasonable, but I cannot help thinking that using a sweat-resistant material for the benches would be better, but I guess the wood is traditional.
Users should not wear swimming costumes (for hygiene reasons) – I am aware that Germans are very disapproving of the British/American practice of wearing bathing clothes in a sauna. I have heard the word “disgusting” used. The logic is that, when you sweat, all the toxins come out and you shower to get rid of them; if you wear a costume, the toxins soak into the fabric and are held close to your skin and a shower will not necessarily help. I do not question the logic of the rule, but I do question whether it should be rule. As it only really affects the individual, should they not simply be given advice for their own wellbeing?

Elsewhere, prohibitions were expressed in other ways. For example, I saw a door [to a small museum] with some instructions on it:

The textual instructions stretched my German somewhat, but I figured out that they said “no newspapers” and “no adverts” – basically “no junk mail”. The graphical instruction was very clear about what they did not want done in their doorway! [Public restrooms are scarce in this part of the city.] The green squiggle is my censorship. If you would really like to see the original for your own amusement, please email me.

I have probably given the impression that Germany is a country where, actually, you are always being told what [not] to do. Maybe that is true, but I smile when I think back to the time we spent New Year in Berlin. On every street corner there was someone setting off rockets from bottles. There were no signs warning about the health and safety issues!

Boeing completes acquisition of ForeFlight

2019-03-06T16:38:36Z

ForeFlight has partnered with Boeing for the past two years to bring aviators Jeppesen’s aeronautical data and charts through ForeFlight’s mobile platforms.

Terms of the approved deal are not being disclosed and do not affect Boeing’s financial guidance or the company’s commitment to returning approximately 100 percent of free cash flow to shareholders.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ForeFlight has approximately 180 employees.

DARPA modernizes SBIR/STTR program to increase award opportunities

2019-03-06T15:03:49Z

Under the terms of the pilot program, DARPA will institute timesaving measures to speed program integration, such as Direct to Phase II authority, which allows the agency to bypass Phase I research requirements once performers provide satisfactory documentation of feasibility, and/or proof of scientific merit, technical merit, and commercialization potential.

DARPA will also seek to identify SBIR/STTR Phase II awardees with a compelling go-to-market strategy for participation in a newly created commercialization accelerator. The DARPA accelerator will provide additional funding to employ one entrepreneur-in-residence or business development lead who will offer the awardee direct support for activities including, but not limited to, customer engagement planning, market analysis and mapping, competitive analysis, techno-economic analysis, IP securement strategy development, and financial plan creation.

“It’s essential to change our acquisition practices to mirror the commercial marketplace if we hope to attract revolutionary companies that normally avoid working with the federal government,” says Dr. Steven Walker, director of DARPA. “This move will provide DARPA the flexibility to operate at a much faster pace than traditional SBIR/STTR contracting cycles have historically allowed.”

Full details regarding DARPA’s SBIR/STTR programs and associated Broad Agency Announcements are available at: https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/for-small-businesses.