GE Intelligent Platforms has launched the daq8580 streaming network computer for capturing, processing and transmitting high-resolution video information in unmanned vehicles. The video streaming technology ingests high bandwidth, high resolution video streams from on-board sensors and compresses the data by a factor of up to 100:1, says the company. The reduced bandwidth video feed can then be transmitted over the communication link to the ground station for observation and analysis. The computer is 10.1inch long and 7.3inch deep, weighs 5lbs and consumes 25W. It resists the shock, vibration and other hostile characteristics of unmanned vehicles. Its 28V power supply is designed to meet MIL-STD-704E and MIL-STD-1275B, making it suitable for aircraft and ground vehicle operations. The appliance can acquire two parallel streams of HD (high definition) at 30frames/s or up to four channels of SD (standard definition) video. It can also support DVI or VGA modes up to 2048x2048pixel and processes these streams using an Altera Arria II GX FPGA combined with Texas Instruments media processors. The video streams are encoded to the H.264 standard prior to transmission. The embedded Altera FPGA controls data capture and routing and the processors provide streamlined video data processing. The appliance can be loaded with custom FPGA and DSP codes.
