Remote Monitoring

Products

Signal Intelligence offers a variety of remote monitoring solutions:

Spectrum Sentry™
Spectrum Sentry Net™
Remote Server/Remote Server Lite
Remote Monitoring Appliance I
Remote Monitoring Appliance II

Overview

Monitoring radio communications in remote areas poses unique challenges. Remote access to receivers is frequently required in the news media, public safety, law enforcement, government and two-way communities. By locating a radio receiver at a remote site, the coverage area can be extended beyond the existing radio horizon. Signal Intelligence remote monitoring solutions simplify the task of installing and operating remote receivers by utilizing existing network infrastructure to provide both control and audio features over a single low-speed data link.

A Remote Monitoring installation has two points of presence:

1)       A Remote Monitoring Appliance (RMA) located at the remote location.
2)       A base station PC running the Spectrum Series base station control software. Each base station can control multiple remote sites.

At the remote location, the appliance communicates with the attached radio receiver over an RS-232 or IEEE-488 interface. Audio from the receiver is digitized by the RMA. The RMA accepts incoming connections over the network (Ethernet TCP/IP) from the base station. When connected, received audio is compressed and blended with status information, and then transmitted to the base station over the network link. Status information includes frequency, PL tones, and ID codes. Additionally, control and programming commands received from the base station are sent to the radio.

At the base station, connections to remote locations are initiated and monitored. As audio and status data is received, the audio is rendered on the base station sound card and speakers, and the status information is displayed to the user on a graphical user interface (GUI). Control commands, such as scan or pause, are sent to the remote receiver from the GUI. Individual volume controls are supplied for each remote receiver.

Radio programming is performed by the base station, and can be password protected.

The base station has a record and playback feature that allows received audio from each remote location to be stored on the base station hard drive for later playback. The recorder is full duplex, meaning that recording continues even when playing back an earlier sound bite.

Remote Monitoring Appliance (RMA)

At the remote site, an RMA device is used. Using an RMA device has several advantages. Since it’s not a personal computer you don’t need to worry about rebooting the device. It doesn't have a hard drive or other external peripherals, so maintenance is simplified. The RMA Mini Box version is small, rugged and low power, providing more installation options, including mobile and solar-powered applications.

The RMA is available in both mini box and rack mount configurations:

RCIP Receiver Control Protocol

All Signal Intelligence remote monitoring products use the RCIP protocol to communicate between the base station and remote site. Signal Intelligence developed the RCIP proprietary protocol to enable high performance remote receiver control over standard network infrastructure. RCIP goes beyond standard VOIP solutions to deliver reliable remote access, even over slow or congested networks.

RCIP is highly optimized to maximize throughput and minimize bandwidth requirements. Both audio and control data is compressed, allowing network bandwidths as low as 30 kBPS to be used.

RCIP is also engineered to minimize the effects of network path delay and varying transmission conditions. This allows satellite links to be used.

Since the RCIP protocol works over any IP network, a wide variety of networks can be used. Possibilities include DSL, wireless Ethernet, LAN, WAN, microwave, satellite or the Internet.

Easy Setup and Use

The Spectrum Series software and the RMA are designed for easy setup and use. In many cases the RMA device can be used directly, with no initial setup necessary.

Remote Management

The RMA provides a remote management feature that allows system managers to interrogate the device remotely without disrupting ongoing activity. In addition, all configuration of the RMA device is done remotely.

Complete Systems

Signal Intelligence has experience in designing and implementing complete systems. We can provide system design, installation, training and priority support.