New techniques for wideband data recording

Citation

(1999), "New techniques for wideband data recording", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 71 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1999.12771aad.017

New techniques for wideband data recording

New techniques for wideband data recording

Keywords Data capture, Radar, Somerdata

Data recording specialist Somerdata Ltd has teamed with Racal Radar Defence Systems Ltd (Racal-Thorn Wells) to announce a new concept in very wide bandwidth data capture and storage. Known as HBVDR (high bandwidth video data recorder), the new unit has been designed initially to capture short passages of video data at bandwidths up to 30MHz (Plate 4). Typical applications include the acquisition of signals from monopulse, pulse compression and passive radars.

HBVDR uses an original and highly flexible "mixed media" strategy for data storage. Data are captured initially in solid-state DRAM before being transferred to an integral hard disk from which they can be sent to a networked workstation or SCSI tape drive for off-line analysis.

Plate 4 HBVDR high bandwidth video data recorder

An important advantage claimed of the unit over traditional data recorders is the degree of flexibility offered by its system architecture, permitting complete scaleability of the storage resources to meet current or future application needs. In its basic configuration, HBVDR can be fitted with up to 10GBytes of DRAM while additional memory can be accommodated in an expansion chassis if required. Current internal disk options include two 5.3GByte hard disk drives while 9.1GByte or 18GByte drives can be specified for increased on-board storage. Typical SCSI tape drive options for data export/import include JAZ, DAT and DLT.

The system's inherent flexibility extends also to the conditioning of the input and output signals. For example, the standard wideband video input/output modules can be readily replaced with, say, modules designed to handle serial or parallel digital data at rates up 650Mbits/s, or even greater.

Another significant departure from the classical approach to magnetic tape based data capture is that all records are stored as conventional binary files on disk. Removable storage uses the TAR format to facilitate data exchange with UNIX systems for off-line data analysis.

The Somerdata/Racal team believes that HBVDR addresses an important gap in the high performance data capture market. For example, its "snapshot" capability is aflexible and convenient means of capturing radar and EW signatures with high precision in their original analogue form for subsequent replay, analysis or interpretation. For example, more than two minutes of continuous 30MHz video data can be stored in the unit's 10GB of DRAM memory. Alternatively, with a suitable signal interface, the 160MHz/1GHz IF video data output of a typical EW (electronic warfare) receiver can be captured.

The basic HBVDR is supplied as a portable or rack-mounted 31kg unit measuring approximately 381 × 534 × 500mm and conforming to a range of typical static and mobile military platform environmental specifications.

In addition to the existing analogue radar interface, the partnership anticipates the development of additional data input/output interfaces for other radar, EW and comms applications.

Further details can be obtained from Somerdata Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 1749 671481; Fax: +44 (0) 1749 671482; E-mail: infosomerdata.com; WWW: http://www.somerdata.com