RVP

Data Sheet
Radar Video Processing

Features
ŠŠSupport for
--Radar video distribution
--Plot extraction
--Radar tracking
ŠŠRadar video acquisition from analog and/or digital
signals
ŠŠSupports broad range of radar video formats Radar Video Processing Overview
ŠŠVariety of system packaging options The RVP product family spans a range of capabilities
--Industrial 4U 9" rack-mount from radar video servers through to full auto-tracking
--Naval qualified enclosures solutions for naval, air traffic control and vessel traffic
applications. Based on proven solutions for radar
--OEM card supply
acquisition and processing, RVP builds on Curtiss-Wright
ŠŠInterfaces to a wide variety of radar types Controls Embedded Computing's experience in offering
integrated and OEM-level solutions that meet demanding
ŠŠ0-500 NM range
requirements. Modular software design and open-systems
ŠŠUnattended operation using local configuration hardware allows a rich set of capabilities to be provided in
parameters and optional remote control a compact and cost-effective form factor built on standard
COTS hardware platforms. At the heart of RVP is a set of
ŠŠClutter processing
integrated software modules that provide radar processing
ŠŠCell averaging CFAR capabilities. These software modules are designed to work
on industry-standard operating systems and computing
ŠŠRadar video distribution on LAN
platforms, ensuring that systems can be upgraded and
ŠŠOptional moving platform support maintained over their operating life.
ŠŠOptional radar video recording
The RVP software modules are typically built into an RVP
ŠŠMulti-channel support server system. The configurations of these systems represent
an integration of software modules with an appropriate
ŠŠRadar video PPI display engineering and control interface
computing platform and set of radar acquisition and
ŠŠSoftware support for Windows® XP, Windows® 7 and display hardware. These system configurations are broadly
Linux® on 32-bit and 64-bit Intel® hosts classified as RVP Radar Video Distribution Server, RVP Plot
Extractor and RVP Tracker.

Learn More
Web / sales.cwcembedded.com
Email / [email protected]

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 Figure 1: The Flow and Extent of RVP’s Capabilities

Radar Processing
CFAR, Thresholding

Radar Radar
Input Acquisition

Radar Video
Plot Extraction Compression

Radar
Video
Recording

Target Tracking

Local Display
and Control

Network and
Command Interface
Radar Video
Distribution

Radar Video Distribution Radar Video Acquisition

An RVP Radar Video Distribution server allows primary RVP can receive radar video from a Curtiss-Wright radar
radar video to be received in a central location and input card, for example Osiris, or through a network
distributed across a standard Ethernet based local area interface. Radar turning signals and analog/digital video
network (LAN) to any number of client displays, where it are received by the radar input card and processed to
can be scan-converted and displayed. generate integrated digital data for subsequent analysis.
An extensive range of radar input types are supported,
including ACP/ARP, Synchro, RADDS, ASDE-3 and various
parallel and serial azimuth formats.

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Radar Video Compression radar video. Significantly, loading on the server and the
network remains constant as additional client displays are
Digitized radar video is compressed using Curtiss-
added.
Wright’s RACE radar coding scheme, which is based
on a onedimensional variable length encoder. Under
The network loading depends on the acceptable level of
configuration control, the parameters of the RACE
image loss and the level of detail in the original video.
compression may be adjusted to balance network
Sample figures for an air search radar, 20 rpm, 2k x
bandwidth usage with data loss. An adaptive compression
4k polarstore, per video, are: 15 Mbits/s (no loss), 2.5
scheme supports automatic adjustment of the compression
Mbits/s (some loss of low-level noise etc), 0.8 Mbits/s
ratio to meet an average channel capacity. In the lossless
(thresholded video).
case, RACE is able to encode 8-bit video from the polar
store, or in the other extreme the compression parameters
Figure 2 below shows a typical system where there are
may be set up to compress to 1-bit video, minimizing
requirements for multiple RVP Servers and client displays (or
network utilization at the expense of image quality.
Multi-function Console [MFC] Displays).

Network Distribution
Client Displays
The RVP Radar Video Distribution server is designed to use
The compressed radar video needs to be decompressed
standard network technologies and protocols to send radar
and scan-converted on each client console and Curtiss-
video and receive control commands. Typical configurations
Wright is able to supply software and hardware
can use 10/100/1000Base-T networks to send encoded
modules to support this. RVP Video Receiver is a set of
radar video as multicast UDP packets over Ethernet,
software functions that receive the network radar video
allowing any number of workstations on the network to
and decompress it to reconstruct the polar-format data.
receive the video. Because the RVP Video Server sends the
Application software running on the client can then access
complete polar-store of radar data, each display client can
this data for processing or display.
scan-convert and display its own independent view of the

Figure 2: RVP Facilitates the Creation of Multi-Radar Multi-Console Networks

KEY:

MFC #1 receives and displays RVP data from RVP Server #1,
#2 and #3. MFC #1 is also used to control RVP Server #1.

MFC #2 receives and displays RVP data from RVP Server #2

and #3. MFC #2 is also used to control RVP Server #2.

MFC #3 receives and displays RVP data from RVP Server

#2. MFC #3 is used as a passive display and is not used to
control any of the RVP Servers.

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In a typical application, each client display contains a RVP Set-up & Maintenance Display
radar scan-converter, which converts the reconstructed
All configurations of RVP provide a graphical user interface
polar-format data into a PPI image in one or more windows.
GUI to configure and maintain the server. The user interface
The control of the window position and view of the radar
provides a full set of tools for visualization of the primary
video within the window is entirely under the control of the
radar video, plots and track data, in addition to supporting
client application. Curtiss-Wright supplies a full range of
the display of ancillary information, such as maps and
radar scan-converters for VME, PMC and PCI form factors
range rings. A maintenance operator interacts with RVP GUI
as well as the GPU-based SoftScan product. For example,
using a keyboard and mouse.
in a PCI system an Advantage Xi radar scan-converter
accepts the polar format radar video and scan-converts into
one or more PPI windows that may then be combined with RVP Remote Control Interface
underlay and overlay maps. A VME or VPX-based system
The RVP Remote Control Interface supports network-based
might use the Eagle-2 scan converter PMC. Application
control of an RVP system. A complete command interpreter
software using Curtiss-Wright's range of scan-converters
is provided to allow full remote control of all aspects of
will use the RVL+ software library to transfer the radar
the operation of the system, including distribution, plot
video decompressed with RVP Video Receiver into the
extraction, tracking and radar recording, according to
scan converter. This library, which is available for a range
the installed options. The control protocol is based on
of operating systems including Windows® and Linux®,
simple ASCII command strings, which are packaged into
provides the application programming interface (API) to
UDP datagrams according to Curtiss-Wright’s standard
control the presentation of radar video in a window. In
messagepassing protocol. It is straightforward to write
addition to custom application software developed using the
software to send commands to RVP and sample code is
RVP Video Receiver and RVL+ library, Curtiss-Wright offers
provided with the RVP release for Linux and Windows-
METROview, a complete turnkey application package for
based clients.
the display of radar video on a Windows-based PC display.

Figure 3: Structure of a Typical RVP-based Radar Video Application

RACE PARIS Curtiss-Wright's

Application
Decompression or RVL Radar Scan
Software Converter
Software
Compressed
Radar Primary Radar
Signals RVP Radar Video
Video Ethernet Display Clients
Distribution
Server

RACE PARIS Curtiss-Wright's

Application
Decompression or RVL Radar Scan
Software Converter
Software

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 Figure 4: The RVP Engineering Display Presents the Radar in PPI and A-Scan Format and is Used for Configuring RVP

RVP Radar Recording Stationary objects build up in the clutter map as their returns
integrate, and this may be used as the basis of a moving
Radar video that is encoded with the RACE compression
target detector, which differentiates moving targets from a
scheme may be stored on a local disk, in data files that
stationary background. A simple application of the clutter
may subsequently be replayed back through the front-end of
map is to subtract it from incoming video, to emphasize the
RVP for processing. The recording and replay process may
moving targets. In more complex situations, for example
be done through the RVP GUI, or else remotely through the
in ship-board processing, the clutter map may be updated
RVP network command interface. The capability to record
in both radar-relative modes (eliminating clutter that is
radar video is a licensed software option, which may
tied to the ship's frame of reference) and world-based
not be available with all combinations of hardware and
modes (eliminating clutter from land for example). The
software.
gain and time-constant of the clutter map processing are
configurable and may be adjusted during operation of the
RVP Plot Extractor unit. For moving platform applications, clutter processing
The RVP Plot Extraction module processes radar video is performed in both ship-relative and world coordinate
in defined areas-of-interest to identify candidate targets. systems.
The areas-of-interest may be set in polar or Cartesian
coordinates and plots are extracted as areas of connected CFAR Detection
video that exceed local thresholds which are user
To identify a detection threshold for candidate targets, RVP
configurable. Once extracted, the plots are characterized
uses either a fixed-level or cell-averaging CFAR (CA-CFAR)
by their position, size, weight and time-stamp. Plot data
detector that calculates a local cell average as a function
may then be distributed on the network to a remote tracker
of range for each of the azimuths in the polar-store. RVP's
or fusion system, or may be passed directly to the RVP
implementation of CA-CFAR supports either a single or dual
Tracker process.
window, providing enhanced control of false target rejection
at both the leading and trailing edge of clutter cells. In
Clutter Processing keeping with the philosophy of RVP, all parameters of the
RVP Plot Extractor can automatically generate a high- CA-CFAR moving window averager may be configured
resolution clutter map as an integration of video over time. at start-up and changed at run time across the network
interface.

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Plot Extraction stamp. This information is packaged into a message that
is sent onto the network using Curtiss-Wright's Message
The plot extraction process itself operates on the thresholded
Passing Format (MPF), which is a simple byte-oriented
radar video and seeks to identify target like signals derived
general-purpose message format comprising a header and
from targets of interest. The plot extraction process is highly
a data block.
configurable and flexible.

Initially, an extraction area is defined as a combination of RVP Radar Tracking

polar-format (range-azimuth) and Cartesian polygons, which
The RVP Tracking module is designed to accept plots from
may add to or subtract from the active area. In an airport
the RVP Plot Extractor or from a separate plot extractor.
ground-movement application, for example, a map of the
These plots are used to update a database of targets of
airport runways and taxiways can serve as a definition of
interest, in addition to generating new tracks through
the areas for plot extraction. When an area of interest has
a process of Automatic Track Initiation (ATI). Tracks are
been defined, the plot extraction process extracts connected
created either through manual initiation from an external
regions of signal that exceed the detection threshold.
system, or through automatic initiation from the tracker
itself, and are maintained in an active track database. Each
A set of range-dependent minimum and maximum limits
rotation of the radar creates a new set of plot data which is
are imposed on the extracted plots to eliminate unwanted
used to update entries in the database and estimate filtered
returns. A typical target may be detected as a number of
position, speed and accelerations of the target. Typically
separate but closely-spaced plots. Although in some cases
there are far more plots generated than targets maintained,
it may be required to output these broken plots directly,
so one responsibility of the RVP Tracking module is to select
it is more usual for RVP to be configured to automatically
the appropriate plots to match with the entries in the track
merge these plots together. The merging rules are designed
database. Plots that remain after this matching process are
to allow parts of a real target to be combined into a single
potentially new targets, and may be initiated as new tracks
plot, whilst minimizing the possibility of plots from two
if they pass acceptance rules on their motion. Updated
adjacent targets being combined. An extracted plot is
track data is reported on the network in the form of a track
characterized by a centroid, bounding box, size and time-
report.
Figure 5: Data Flow Through the Plot Extraction and Target Tracking Modules
Radar Data

Polar
Store

Plot
Extraction

Automatic
Track Track
Initiation Data Base

Plot Track Track Track

Data Base Association Update Prediction

Track Reports

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Plot Extraction – Tracking update, the tracker must decide which, if any, is the best
association, or whether the individual plots need to be
The area of radar coverage to be used for ATI is
merged to achieve a single observation.
programmed in polar or Cartesian coordinates. In the
simplest sense this can be programmed as the complete
radar coverage, or in the other extreme a complex map Track Reports
of polygonal or range azimuth segments may be used.
Whether effected using a new plot measurement or by
Plots that are within the active area and are not required
estimation, a new estimate of the track's state becomes
to maintain tracking on existing tracks are inputs to the
available once per scan and is reported to an external
ATI process. An M out of N integrator is used to require
system over the network interface. Track reports are
that a valid plot is visible from M out of N scans, and that
formatted in Curtiss-Wright's standard message passing
within this period the apparent motion of the candidate
format as a UDP datagram. In keeping with normal UDP
track conforms to restrictions of minimum and maximum
addressing, these datagrams may be sent to a single
speeds and accelerations. When a candidate track meets
address or sent to a multicast address that can be received
the M from N criterion it is promoted to a primary track and
by any number of clients. The internal details of the track
thereafter maintained by a tracking process that updates the
report are configurable within RVP Tracker. This allows as
estimated and predicted state of the target on each update.
much or as little state information as is required to be sent
on to the network.
Tracking Filter
When a new track is created, either through ATI or manual RVP Specifications
initiation, the tracker builds a dynamic model of the track
General
motion so it may be followed by subsequent measurements.
Like the ATI area, the active tracking area is defined ŠŠInterfaces to a wide variety of radar types
using polygonal and polar segments, allowing complex
tracking areas that are independent of the ATI areas to be
ŠŠRange up to 1000 km (500 NM)
defined. RVP's tracker is based on an adaptive alpha beta ŠŠProgrammable polar-store sizes
model, which supports a number of gain control modes
to implement different strategies for dynamic adjustment
ŠŠUnattended operation using local configuration
parameters and optional remote control
of the filter gains for different applications. In one mode,
for example, there are steady-state filter gains, which ŠŠSamples analog video at up to 50 MHz and 8-bits per
are switched to maneuver gains when the filter detects a sample
significant change in the motion of the target. Other filter
Radar Distribution
modes support more specialized models of tracking, such as
adapting the filter gains in accordance with the measured ŠŠCompression and coding of video distribution on LAN
speed of the target. RVP Tracker provides considerable using RACE algorithm
flexibility in the parameters associated with the filter gains,
and even permits dynamic switching of the gain control
ŠŠCompression ratios typically 2:1 to 10:1 (Situation-
dependent)
mode.
ŠŠUses standard UDP/IP protocol on Ethernet networks
Each rotation of the radar generates a number of plots
that become associated with a track. In the simple case, a
ŠŠDelivery to single (unicast) or multiple (multicast) clients
target is sensed as a single plot, which becomes a single ŠŠOptional library software (RVP Video Receiver) to support
measurement update for the track filter. After the update, receipt and decompression on host processor
a prediction stage follows to anticipate the motion of the
target ahead of the next detection. In other situations,
ŠŠProgrammable compression and network bandwidth
there may be no plot detections for a track, a situation that ŠŠLocal display of raw or transmitted video
causes the filter to coast the measurement by predicting its
position for next detection based on the current estimate
ŠŠRemote control of distribution process over network
interface
of dynamics. If there are multiple plot detections for an

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 Plot Extraction Packaging
ŠŠAutomatic extraction of plot data in real-time ŠŠIndustrial (e.g. 19” rackmount enclosure)
ŠŠUp to 10,000 plots per scan ŠŠNaval/airborne (typically ruggedized enclosure)
ŠŠFixed or dynamic thresholding using single or dual ŠŠOEM board-level (VME, VPX, CompactPCI)
window cell-averaging CFAR
Figure 6: Typical RVP Systems
ŠŠCentroiding (range and azimuth), bounding box, time
stamping
ŠŠProgrammable minimum and maximum size of plots
ŠŠProgrammable extraction area in polar or Cartesian
coordinate system
ŠŠAutomatic plot merging
ŠŠAutomatic calculation of clutter map, with programmable
time constant
ŠŠProgrammable combination of clutter with main polar-
store
ŠŠLow latency of plot report transmission to network
Warranty
ŠŠSupport for platform-relative and absolute clutter maps
This product has a one year warranty.
Tracking
ŠŠAlpha-beta filter with maneuver detection and adaptive Contact Information
filter gains
To find your appropriate sales representative:
ŠŠTracking capacity over 500 targets
Website: www.cwcembedded.com/sales
ŠŠTracking speeds up to 1000 kts (subject to minimum
tracking range and radar rpm) Email: [email protected]

ŠŠProgrammable minimum and maximum tracking speed

Technical Support
ŠŠProgrammable tracking area in polar or Cartesian
For technical support:
coordinate system
Website: www.cwcembedded.com/support1
ŠŠProgrammable report structure
Email: [email protected]
ŠŠOptional moving platform support
ŠŠManual or automatic track initiation
The information in this document is subject to change
ŠŠProgrammable ATI area (independent from tracking area) without notice and should not be construed as a
in polar or Cartesian coordinate system commitment by Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded
ŠŠProgrammable minimum and maximum ATI speeds Computing. While reasonable precautions have been
taken, Curtiss-Wright assumes no responsibility for any
ŠŠProgrammable M from N initiation criteria errors that may appear in this document. All products
All Rights Reserved. MKT-DS-RVP-Family-121611v3

ŠŠOptional rejection of plots from clutter map shown or mentioned are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
© Copyright 2007, Curtiss-Wright Controls

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