Better Vision Improves Troop Safety

Designed in response to the growing use of video in a broad range of defense applications, the ICS-8580 rugged high definition video compression XMC module allows very high quality moving images to be captured, transmitted and stored at very high speed with very low latency and with minimal consumption of precious bandwidth or disk space. As such, it can make a significant contribution to decision making and improved troop safety.

The module can capture video inputs and archive or stream them over Ethernet, managing multiple streams and performing capture, manipulation, conversion, compression, storage, decompression and video display. Its XMC form factor means that it is compact, lightweight and consumes little power, enabling it to be easily deployed in systems destined for deployment in harsh environments that are constrained by size, weight and power (SWaP).

Specifically, the enhancements from the previous version of the ICS-8580 include:
•The provision of two DSPs, each of which can be configured as an encoder or decoder.
•Support for PCI Express, allowing uncompressed data to be uploaded and downloaded and improving configurability within custom systems.
•Inclusion of six inputs and four outputs for flexible pass-through modes, allowing the use of any front end connector and facilitating integration with legacy systems.
•Out of the box ability to connect to a NAS (network-attached storage) for easier integration.
•Support for the synchronization of stereo or mono sound for improved flexibility.

The ICS-8580 features H.264 video compression/decompression (codec) technology, which is considered to be up to three times as efficient as other codec solutions, allows vital image detail to be retained while occupying the minimum possible bandwidth or storage. At the heart of the module lies a combination of FPGA device coupled with dual DSP signal processors. The FPGA enables video switching, format conversions, scaling, blending and other processing functions while the dual DSP processors enable multichannel video compression and decompression for over 100x reduction in bandwidth with minimal impact on video quality. It can handle up to two channels of full HD (1080p30) or UXGA (1,600 x 1,200 @ 30 frames/second) video, or up to four channels of standard definition video.

GE Intelligent Platforms
www.ge.com

::Design World::