Field Compatibility Tests

Occasionally, customers will request a demonstration of compatibility with existing DIS-compatible systems that are currently in use. Of course, this is the rationale behind using a standard protocol like DIS so that disparate systems may exchange information easily. The following list shows several systems that  have been successfully tested with the V+ Networked Add-on package (Vcomm) product along with some notes that will be useful for anyone attempting to communicate to such systems.

• Motorola PAAR

• ECC PIE 

• ASTi DACS

Motorola PAAR

The PAAR (Performance After Action Review) system is a passive data logger that monitors DIS network traffic and stores it for playback. Communications PDUs are logged and can be played back through a set of headphones or speakers after the exercise has completed. The PAAR has been certified as a DIS-compliant system.

Of all systems that we have tested to date, the PAAR is by far the most robust in terms of the various options that the DIS protocol provides. It can understand all four DIS encoding schemes (mu-Law, CVSD, ADPCM, and PCM) at any sample rate and packet lengths without reconfiguring the system.

When using Vcomm with a PAAR system, set the following options in the Networked Audio tab of the V+ Platform Shell configuration dialog:

Send Port Number in Network Byte Order - This box should be checked.

Buffer Sizes - Select "V+ Optimal" from the droplist.

Protocol Version - Select "IEEE 1278.1-1995" from the droplist

ECC PIE

The PIE unit that is currently fielded in the CCTT prototypes is, of course, a DIS-compatible system, but does not offer a wide range of networking options. It is only compatible with CVSD audio streams encoded at 16Ksps. It also requires that the network signal packets be relatively small (around 256 bytes). Any other settings will cause erratic behavior and may even cause the PIE system to crash to the point of having to reboot.

When using Vcomm with a PIE system DO NOT use any other compression scheme other than CVSD at 16Ksps and set the following options in the Networked Audio tab of the V+ Platform Shell configuration dialog:

Send Port Number in Network Byte Order - This box should be checked.

Buffer Sizes - Select "V+ Optimal" from the droplist.

Protocol Version - Select "IEEE 1278.1-1995" from the droplist.

ASTi DACS

The DACS system is compatible with a number of encoding schemes and sample rates, but the configuration must be configured on the target machine beforehand. If a different encoding scheme is sent to a DACS unit, it will ignore those signal packets. If a different sample rate is sent, the signal packets will be heard, but the playback pitch will be shifted from the original.

Also, the DACS unit has a tendency to drop signal packets if packets are sent faster than real-time. For example, if a relatively large signal buffer is captured and broken into smaller packets and sent over the network at a high rate, the DACS unit will lose some of the trailing packets and cause blank spots in the received audio.  This is normally not a problem with real-time voice.   However, the SimPhonics system can be used to transmit any audio stream including a .WAV file or a playback which can use larger buffers.

When using Vcomm with a DACS system, set the following options in the Networked Audio tab of the V+ Platform Shell configuration dialog:

Send Port Number in Network Byte Order - This box should NOT be checked.

Buffer Sizes - Select "DACS" from the droplist.

Protocol Version - This selection should match the configuration of the DACS unit: