Architecting HD full motion video into military avionics infrastructures

Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) tactical and strategic airborne avionics capabilities are maturing to support counter insurgency (COIN) hybrid warfare in urban settings. A key ISR military visual situational awareness capability for manned and unmanned tactical aircraft is the incorporation of High Definition (HD) full motion video (FMV) EO/IR sensors into legacy avionics system architectures. HD FMV sensors require a special visual clarity definition process to categorize scene detail resolution capabilities. The National Geo-spatial intelligence Agency (NGA) Video - National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (Video-NIIRS) process assesses FMV sensor visual output capability in terms of resolution, sampling rate (frame-rate), and scene complexity. Video-NIIRS ranks an EO/IR sensor's capability to produce fine visual content details that the human vision system can recognize on a digital video display system [1,2]. Open FMV standards conformance and sensor front end avionics technology architecting approaches drive the level of Video-NIIRS ranking possible in an airborne cockpit display system. Integrating commercial broadcast, Internet multimedia and cinema high definition (HD) video COTS technology to deliver progressively higher Video-NIIRS ranking becomes a systems-of-systems architecting challenge across the military airborne avionics enterprise. Identifying how much video signal distortion and visual content filtering is occurring between the originating HD FMV sensor output throughout the avionics platform architecture to the final cockpit display assists the avionics systems integrator in determining what architecture changes are necessary to attain higher Video-NIIRS scores. Applying a modular open system approach (MOSA) to incorporate HD FMV technology across an avionics system provides the systems integrator a methodical process for making architectural trades in adopting EO/IR sensor video imaging standards, video compression standards, video file and transport standards, video timing and synchronization standards, and video metadata standards. By identifying the critical systems integration parameters that adversely affect HD FMV content delivery and impact warfighter visual clarity, avionics system architects can avoid incorrectly integrating system HD FMV infrastructure components that reduce Video-NIIRS scoring. Prior to presenting an architecting approach to incorporate HD FMV into avionics systems, a focused review of terrestrial HDTV broadcasting, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and Video Over IP Network (VOIPN) technology will be presented to highlight COTS capabilities that have the potential to increase avionics Video-NIIRS scores.

HD FMV Commercial Enterprise Architecture Evolution

During the 1990 time frame, HD FMV commercial architectures evolved out of a need for television broadcasters to deliver program content to home viewers in broadcast resolutions close to the original program creator's visual content resolution (i.e., motion film resolutions). Developing affordable HDTV technology for the home required system architects to incorporate the human vision system (HVS) perception and visual acuity requirements [4] necessary to provide cinema content viewing quality across the broadcast television enterprise.