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Class: ICD
Doc. no: 794948-DI
Rev: G CAGE code: R0567
Prepared by: CHR
Approved by: CGL

SCANTER ASTERIX Protocol


Template no: 199997-FA, Rev. L4

© Terma, Denmark, 2018. Proprietary and intellectual rights of Terma A/S and/or its subsidiaries are involved in the subject-matter of this material and all manu-
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by authorized staff.
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Record of Changes
ECR/ECO Description Rev Date
Released. A 2012-08-31
Corrected I048 data-item numbers for FRN6 and FRN22+. A1 2013-08-05
45210/65526 Added sector support for CAT 034 and multicast. B 2014-10-21
46848/66927 Added FRN 6/7/8 to CAT 034. C 2015-06-18
“Always” -> “Defaults to”.
Minor textual changes.
Added note that output of coasting and termination mes-
sages in CAT 048 can be disabled.
Added section “Unimplemented Fields in ASTERIX mes-
sages”.
47781/67933 Added CAT 240 video messages. D 2015-12-03
Minor textual touch-ups.
Added bandwidth usage.
50111/70143 Added CAT 010 Track and status messages. E 2016-11-24
RAB bit is set to 1 for permanent echoes in CAT 048
Target Report Descriptor.
Clarified data transmitted in CAT 240.
Updated examples in CAT 240 to show that only instru-
mented video is sent.
50285/70566 Field CBS corrected to GBS in CAT 010. E1 2017-02-21
Field RAP corrected to RAB in CAT 010.
Field TFF corrected to TTF in CAT 010.
FRN 40, Measured Position in Polar Co-ordinates in CAT
010 is not affected by the TCC bit.
53166/72766 Added FRN 25 (I010/210) to CAT 010. F 2018-02-14
In the CAT 010 field FRN 3 Target Report Descriptor
(I010/020), the CHN and RAB fields are supported.
Made CAT 010 Periodic Status Message transmission
interval configurable.
Added clarification of the CAT034 CH-A/B field in FRN 4
(I034/050) and active/passive multicast port options for
dual transceiver configurations.
54043/73786 FRN 9 Calculated Track Velocity in Cartesian Coordinates G See front
(I010/202) supported in CAT 010. page
FRN 22 Standard Deviation of Position (I010/500) sup-
ported in CAT010.
Made publication of optional fields configurable in CAT
010, 034, 048 and 240. Recommended UAPs added.

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Contents
1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Purpose ............................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Scope ................................................................................................................ 4
2 References ....................................................................................................... 4
3 Definitions ........................................................................................................ 4
4 Supported ASTERIX categories ...................................................................... 4
4.1 Unimplemented Fields in ASTERIX messages .................................................. 5
4.2 Connection ........................................................................................................ 5
4.3 Category 010 – Monosensor Surface Movement Data ....................................... 6
4.4 Category 034 – Monoradar Service Messages ................................................ 10
4.5 Category 048 – Monoradar Target Reports...................................................... 13
4.6 Category 240 – Radar Video Transmission...................................................... 16
5 Network Bandwidth Usage ............................................................................ 20
5.1 Category 010 ................................................................................................... 20
5.2 Category 034 ................................................................................................... 20
5.3 Category 048 ................................................................................................... 21
5.4 Category 240 ................................................................................................... 21

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1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose
The purpose of this document is to specify the ASTERIX data categories and data fields
supported in the implementation of the SCANTER ASTERIX data.

1.2 Scope
The scope of this document is to describe the implemented parts of the supported ASTERIX
categories. For details on the protocol implementation, see documents [1] [2] [3] [4].

2 References
Ref. Doc. No. Title
[1] SUR.ET1.ST05.2000-STD-01-01 Surveillance Data Exchange – part 1 (ASTERIX) v1.26
[2] SUR.ET1.ST05.2000-STD-02b-01 Surveillance Data Exchange – part 2b (ASTERIX) v1.27
[3] SUR.ET1.ST05.2000-STD-04-01 Surveillance Data Exchange – part 4 (ASTERIX) v1.21
[4] EUROCONTROL-SPEC-0149-240 Surveillance Data Exchange – ASTERIX Category 240 v1.3
[5] RFC 1950 ZLIB Compressed Data Format Specification version 3.3 - 1996
[6] SUR.ET1.ST05.2000-STD-07-01 Transmission of Monosensor Surface Movement Data v1.1

3 Definitions
Term Definition
ASTERIX All Purpose Structured Eurocontrol Surveillance Information Exchange
ET2 Embedded Tracker 2
SAC System Area Code
SIC System Identification Code
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
UAP User Application Profile
UDP User Datagram Protocol
Permanent Echo A target that the radar always has to detect to verify that the radar is functional

4 Supported ASTERIX categories


Systems configured with the ET2 will publish service messages, plot and track messages as
binary network data in accordance with the ASTERIX protocol format [1] and the following:
 ASTERIX Data Category 010 (Monosensor Surface Movement Data) [6]
 ASTERIX Data Category 034 (Monoradar Service Messages) [2]
 ASTERIX Data Category 048 (Monoradar Target Reports) [3]
Systems capable of publishing network video, will do so in accordance with the ASTERIX
protocol format [1] and ASTERIX Data Category 240 [4] (Radar Video Transmission).

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Publication of each data category can be disabled/enabled at run time by adjusting equiva-
lent parameters. It is furthermore possible to configure publication of optional fields within
each data category and message type according to the standard UAP. Each implemented
optional data item can be suppressed using configurable parameters at the service level.
In the ASTERIX protocol a sensor is identified using an area code (SAC, an octet) and a sys-
tem identifier (SIC, an octet) which is unique within the SAC. The SIC and SAC codes are
configurable parameters at the service level under the Track Publisher parameter category.
Each transmitted ASTERIX Data Block contains the SAC/SIC code pair in a Data Source
Identifier Data Field.
Note that all time stamps in ASTERIX are time-of-day time stamps. Thus, date information is
assumed to be known from elsewhere. Thus a date log need to be maintained elsewhere if
unambiguous date and time information for logged ASTERIX data is to be reestablished in
later offline analysis.

4.1 Unimplemented Fields in ASTERIX messages


Some fields in the ASTERIX messages are not implemented / not supported and therefore
hardcoded to a described value outlined in this document. These values may be subject to
change in later revisions of this document and therefore any client cannot assume a
field/value always will be not present / not available and set the same always.

4.2 Connection
ASTERIX data is obtained by connecting to TCP to port 19000 or a configurable multicast
address. For dual systems, it is possible to configure different multicast ports for the publica-
tion of ASTERIX data depending on whether the individual transceiver is actively transmitting
or in a passive standby role.
ASTERIX Category 240 is sent on a separate configurable “multicast address” / ”UDP port”
and is also available on TCP port 1400 for Surface video and 1401 for Air/OSD video.

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4.3 Category 010 – Monosensor Surface Movement Data


For details on category 010 see [6].
M=Mandatory. O=Optional and has configurable publishing (*=disabled is recommended).
FRN Data Item Data Item Description T1 T2 T3 T4

1 I010/010 Data Source Identifier M M M M

2 I010/000 Message Type M M M M

3 I010/020 Target Report Descriptor M - - -

4 I010/140 Time of Day M M M M

5 I010/041 Position in WGS-84 Co-ordinates O - - -

6 I010/040 Measured Position in Polar Co-ordinates O - - -

7 I010/042 Position in Cartesian Co-ordinates O - - -

8 I010/200 Calculated Track Velocity in Polar Co-ordinates O - - -

9 I010/202 Calculated Track Velocity in Cartesian Co-ordinates O - - -

10 I010/161 Track Number O - - -

11 I010/170 Track Status O - - -

12 I010/060 Mode-3/A Code in Octal Representation - - - -

13 I010/220 Target Address - - - -

14 I010/245 Target Identification - - - -

15 I010/250 Mode S MB Data - - - -

16 I010/300 Vehicle Fleet Identification - - - -

17 I010/090 Flight Level in Binary Representation - - - -

18 I010/091 Measured Height - - - -

19 I010/270 Target Size & Orientation O - - -

20 I010/550 System Status - O* M M

21 I010/310 Pre-programmed Message - - - -

22 I010/500 Standard Deviation of Position O* - - -

23 I010/280 Presence - - - -

24 I010/131 Amplitude of Primary Plot O - - -

25 I010/210 Calculated Acceleration O - - -

26 Spare - - - -

27 SP-Data Special Purpose Field - - - -

28 RE-Data Reserved Special Purpose Field - - - -

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Track cancellation message is when TRE = 1 in FRN11 I010/170 Track Status. Note, it is
possible to disable output of coasting or termination messages if needed.
Four types of category 010 is transmitted:
T1 = Target Report Message
T2 = Start Of Update Cycle Message
T3 = Periodic Status Message
T4 = Event-Triggered Status Message
The “Target Report Message” is sent each time a track is updated.
The “Start Of Update Cycle Message” is sent every time the azimuth passes north.
The “Periodic Status Message” is sent with a configurable interval between 100-10000ms.
The “Event-Triggered Status Message” is sent each time the system status updates to a new
state.

FRN I010/010, Data Source Identifier


SAC/SIC are configurable parameters of the radar system.

FRN I010/000, Message Type


As described.

FRN I010/020, Target Report Descriptor


First Part:
TYP: Set to 011 for PSR.
DCR: Not used. Defaults to 0.
CHN: In dual systems, the value is set to 0 for transceiver A, 1 for transceiver B.
In single systems, the value is set to 0.
GBS: Not used. Defaults to 0.
CRT: Not used. Defaults to 0.
FX: Set to 1.
First Extent:
SIM: Set to 0.
TST: Set to 1 for permanent echoes, all other it is set to 0.
RAB: Set to 1 for permanent echoes, all other it is set to 0..
LOP: Not used. Defaults to 0.
TOT: Not used. Defaults to 0.
FX: Set to 0.

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FRN I010/140, Time of Day


Time-of-day the antenna beam sweeps over north or sector crossing boundary for
tracks/plots else current time for status messages.

FRN I010/041, Position in WGS-84 Co-ordinates


Not present if message is a track cancellation.
If TCC in track status is “1”:
The position will be corrected using:
horizontal range = √(slant range)2 − (antenna height)2
If slant range < antenna height, the track position will equal the antenna position.

FRN I010/040, Measured Position in Polar Co-ordinates


Not present if message is a track cancellation.

FRN I010/042, Position in Cartesian Co-ordinates


Not present if message is a track cancellation.
If TCC in track status is “1”:
The position will be corrected using:
horizontal range = √(slant range)2 − (antenna height)2
If slant range < antenna height, 𝑋 = 0 and 𝑌 = 0.

FRN I010/200, Calculated Track Velocity in Polar Co-ordinates


Not present if message is a track cancellation.

FRN I010/202, Calculated Track Velocity in Cartesian Co-ordinates


Not present if message is a track cancellation.

FRN I010/161, Track Number


In case of more than 4095 simultaneous tracks, new tracks are ignored and not sent out. The
Track Number is a unique reference to a target at any instance in time. When a track is can-
celled, the Track Number can be reused for a new track.

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FRN I010/170, Track Status


CNF: 0 for Confirmed, 1 for tentative track. ET2 tracker only publishes
confirmed tracks.
TRE: 1 to indicate track cancellation. Else 0.
CST: 11 if track is coasting. 00 on detection. Other values not used.
MAH: Not used. Defaults to 0.
TCC: Set to 1 when position is slant range corrected, else 0.
STH: 1 if track is coasting, track is a track cancellation or if system is configured to use
smoothed position as track position.
0 on detection if system is configured to use measured position as track position.
FX: Set to 0.

FRN I010/270, Target Size & Orientation


Not present when track is coasting or track cancellation message.

FRN I010/500, Standard Deviation of Position


Not present if message is a track cancellation.

FRN I010/550, System Status


NOGO: Is set to 10 is the system is not operational for instance if it has a critical error.
OVL: Is set to 1 if overload detected.
TSV: Is set to 1 when no time source is available; or if time is out of sync or offset from time
source with more than a configurable amount of time.
DIV: Not used. Defaults to 0.
TTF: Set to 1 if a “Permanent Echo” warning or error is present.

FRN I010/131, Amplitude of Primary Plot


Value represents maximum intensity of the target. Value ranges from 0-255 and equals the
8-bit video level from the radar.
Not present when track is coasting or track cancellation message.

FRN I010/210, Calculated Acceleration


Not present if message is a track cancellation.

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4.4 Category 034 – Monoradar Service Messages


For details on category 034 see [2].
M=Mandatory. O=Optional and has configurable publishing (*=disabled is recommended).
FRN Data Item Data Item Description T1 T2

1 I034/010 Data Source Identifier M M

2 I034/000 Message Type M M

3 I034/030 Time-of-Day M M

4 I034/020 Sector Number - M

5 I034/041 Antenna Rotation Period - -

6 I034/050 System Configuration and Status O O

7 I034/060 System Processing Mode O O*

8 I034/070 Message Count Values O O*

9 I034/100 Generic Polar Window - -

10 I034/110 Data Filter - -

11 I034/120 3D-Position of Data Source - -

12 I034/090 Collimation Error - -

13 RE-Data Reserved Special Purpose Field - -

14 SP-data Special Purpose Field - -

Two types of category 034 is transmitted:


T1 = North Marker Message
T2 = Sector Indication Message.
The north marker message is transmitted once every scan period of the radar antenna.
There will be 32 sectors per rotation.

FRN1 I034/010, Data Source Identifier


SAC/SIC are configurable parameters of the radar system.

FRN2 I034/000, Message Type


Set to 1 for a “North Marker Message”, 2 for a “Sector Crossing Message”

FRN3 I034/030, Time-of-day


Time-of-day the antenna beam sweeps over north or sector crossing boundary.

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FRN4 I034/020, Sector Number


Azimuth of antenna at time indicated in message.

FRN4 I034/050, System Configuration and Status


Information of the status and configuration of the system.
COM: COM subfield #1 present, defaults to 1.
SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.
SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.
PSR: PSR subfield #4 present, defaults to 1.
SSR: Subfield #5 not present, defaults to 0.
MDS: Subfield #6 not present, defaults to 0.
SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.
FX: Never extended. Defaults to 0.

COM subfield #1:


NOGO: Is set to 1 is the system is not operational for instance if it has a critical error.
RDPC: Not used. Defaults to 0.
RDPR: Is set to 1 if an event occurs that will assign new track numbers. Only set once after the
event.
OVL RDP: Not used. Defaults to 0.
OVL XMT: Not used. Defaults to 0.
MSC: Not used. Defaults to 0.
TSV: Is set to 1 when no time source is available; or if time is out of sync or offset from time
source with more than a configurable amount of time.
SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.

PSR subfield #4:


ANT: Defaults to 0.
CH-A/B: Single systems:
Defaults to 1.
Dual systems:
Set to 01 if transceiver A is the active system.
Set to 10 if transceiver B is the active system.
OVL: Is set to 1 if overload detected.
MSC: Not used. Defaults to 0.
SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.

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FRN4 I034/060, System Processing Mode


Status of the processing system components.
COM: COM subfield #1 present, defaults to 1.
SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.
SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.
PSR: PSR subfield #4 present, defaults to 1.
SSR: Subfield #5 not present, defaults to 0.
MDS: Subfield #6 not present, defaults to 0.
SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.
FX: Never extended. Defaults to 0.

COM subfield #1:


SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.
RED-RDP: Not available. Defaults to 0.
RED-XMT: Not available. Defaults to 0.
SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.

PSR subfield #4:


POL: Is set to 0 if Linear Polarization or 1 if Circular Polarization is used.
RED-RAD: Not available. Defaults to 0.
STC: Not available. Defaults to 0.
SPARE: Not used. Defaults to 0.

FRN4 I034/070, Message Count Values


Message count values for the last completed antenna revolution, counted between two North
crossings.
REP: Count of measurements attached.

Single PSR target reports:


Number of target reports messages sent.
TYP: Set to 1 for Single PSR target reports.
COUNTER: Number of Single PSR target report messages. In case of more than 2047 messages, the
value is truncated to 2047.

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4.5 Category 048 – Monoradar Target Reports


For details on category 048 see [3].
M=Mandatory. O=Optional and has configurable publishing (*=disabled is recommended).
FRN Data Item Data Item Description Present

1 I048/010 Data Source Identifier M

2 I048/140 Time-of-Day M

3 I048/020 Target Report Descriptor M

4 I048/040 Measured Position in Slant Polar Coordinates M

5 I048/070 Mode-3/A Code in Octal Representation -

6 I048/090 Flight Level in Binary Representation -

7 I048/130 Radar Plot Characteristics O

8 I048/220 Aircraft Address -

9 I048/240 Aircraft Identification -

10 I048/250 Mode S MB Data -

11 I048/161 Track Number O

12 I048/042 Calculated Position in Cartesian Coordinates -

13 I048/200 Calculated Track Velocity in Polar Coordinates M

14 I048/170 Track Status M

15 I048/210 Track Quality O

16 I048/030 Warning/Errors Conditions -

17 I048/080 Mode-3/A Code Confidence Indicator -

18 I048/100 Mode-C Code Confidence Indicator -

19 I048/110 Height Measured by 3D Radar -

20 I048/120 Radial Doppler Speed -

21 I048/230 Communication/ACAS Capability and Flight Status -

22 I048/260 ACAS Resolution Advisory Report -

23 I048/055 Mode-1 Code in octal representation -

24 I048/050 Mode-2 Code in octal representation -

25 I048/065 Mode-1 Code Confidence Indicator -

26 I048/060 Mode-2 Code Confidence Indicator -

27 SP-Data Special Purpose Field -

28 RE-data Reserved Special Purpose Field -

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Track cancellation message is when TRE = 1 in FRN14 I048/170 Track Status. Note, it is
possible to disable output of coasting or termination messages if needed.
FRN1 I048/010, Data Source Identifier
SAC/SIC are configurable parameters of the radar system.

FRN2 I048/140, Time-of-day


Observation time of the plot associated with an updated track or the prediction time for a
coasting track.

FRN3 I048/020, Target Report Descriptor


TYP: 1 for detection or 0 when track is cancelled or coasting.
SIM : Defaults to 0.
RDP: Not used. Defaults to 0.
SPI: Not used. Defaults to 0.
RAB: 1 for permanent echoes, 0 for everything else.
FX: Never extended. Defaults to 0.

FRN4 I048/040, Measured Position in Polar Co-ordinates


RHO / THETA for measured position or predicted position when track is coasting. Not pre-
sent in track cancellation message.

FRN7 I048/130, Radar Plot Characteristics


Not present when track is coasting or track cancellation message. PAM = 1, only Subfield #
5, Amplitude of Primary Plot is sent.
The primary plot amplitude is not available in dBm but in a relative 1-75 dB scale.
Closely spaced plots can be compared relative to each other on this scale, but not between
short/long range tracks or between regions with different clutter density due to local varying
processing gains.

FRN11 I048/161, Track Number


In case of more than 4095 simultaneous tracks, new tracks are ignored and not sent out. The
Track Number is a unique reference to a target at any instance in time. When a track is can-
celled, the Track Number can be reused for a new track.

FRN13 I048/13, Calculated Track Velocity in Polar Representation


Estimated speed over ground and course over ground of track. Not present in track cancella-
tion message.

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FRN14 I048/170, Track Status


CNF: 0 for Confirmed, 1 for tentative track. ET2 tracker only publishes
confirmed tracks.
RAD: 1 for PSR Track.
DOU: Defaults to 0 for Normal confidence.
MAH: 0 when estimated maneuvering probability <= 0.5, else 1.
CDM: Defaults to 3 (=11) for Invalid.
FX: Defaults to 1 for Extension into second extent.
TRE: 1 to indicate track cancellation. Else 0.
GHO: Defaults to 0 for True Target.
SUP: Defaults to 0 for no track information from neighboring Node B on the cluster or network.
TCC: Defaults to 0 for 'Radar plane'
FX: Defaults to 0 for End of Data Item

FRN15 I048/210, Track Quality


Always included. The values are derived from the estimated covariance matrix for the kine-
matic track state vector. The state vector contains the Cartesian position and velocity as well
as the turn rate in the horizontal plane using a local reference frame centered on the antenna
position. For uncertainties larger than allowed in message, the value are truncated to mes-
sage maximum. E.g., for very slow air targets, like a hovering helicopter, the uncertainty on
the course over ground increases the lower the speed, and may exceed 22.5 degrees.

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4.6 Category 240 – Radar Video Transmission


ASTERIX Category 240 is sent on a separate configurable multicast address/port. For details
on category 240 see [4].
M=Mandatory. O=Optional and has configurable publishing (*=disabled is recommended).
FRN Data Item Data Item Description T1 T2

1 I240/010 Data Source Identifier M M

2 I240/000 Message Type M M

3 I240/020 Video Record Header - M

4 I240/030 Video Summary M -

5 I240/040 Video Header Nano - -

6 I240/041 Video Header Femto - M

7 I240/048 Video Cells Resolution & Data Compression Indicator - M

8 I240/049 Video Octets & Video Cells Counters - M

9 I240/050 Video Block Low Data Volume - -

10 I240/051 Video Block Medium Data Volume - M

11 I240/052 Video Block High Data Volume - -

12 I240/140 Time of Day O O

13 RE Reserved Expansion Field - -

14 SP Special Purpose Field - -

Two types of category 240 is transmitted:


T1 = Video Summary Message
T2 = Video Message containing video.
The video summary message is transmitted once every scan period of the radar antenna or
once a second if the antenna is not rotating. This can be used to indicate the presence of the
radar system on the network.
Only the video within instrumented range is transmitted. For example, if the radar is setup for
a maximum of 8192 cells in a sweep, but the radar is instrumented so there is only video in
the first 6000 video cells, only 6000 video cells is send in the video block.
The number of range cells and azimuth sweeps depends on the system configuration. The
system can be configured, such that the number of range cells does not exceed 4096 and
the number of sweeps does not exceed, for example, 2048 (*).
The system always sends out data for all sweeps (*), but the following may occur:
 The sweep is transmitted with zero length
 The sweep is transmitted with zeroed data for the instrumented range.

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The client needs to be able to handle both scenarios.


* If the system is sending north stabilized video, there may be more or less sweeps for a
scan if the ship is turning. Very sharp turns may result in missing sweeps.

FRN1 I240/010, Data Source Identifier


SAC/SIC are configurable parameters of the radar system.

FRN2 I240/000, Message Type


Set to 1 for a “Video Summary message”, 2 for a “Video message”

FRN3 I240/020, Video Record Header


Increasing counter for each “Video message” (Type 2) sent. The value overflows to zero.
MSG_INDEX: Increased by one for each type 2 message.

FRN4 I240/030, Video Summary


This message contains an ASCII string. Currently this message contains no meaningful con-
tent and it is only used to indicate a radar system presence on the network. The system
sends one char as a null termination.
REP: Defaults to 1.
CHAR: Defaults to one byte that is set to 0.

FRN5 I240/040, Video Header Nano


Currently not used by radar system.

FRN6 I240/041, Video Header Femto


START_AZ: Starting flank of the video slice in azimuth.
END_AZ: Ending flank of the video slice in azimuth.
START_RG: 0 means first cell is from center to cell size in range.
CELL_DUR: Cell size in range expressed in femto-seconds.

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FRN7 I240/048, Video Cells Resolution & Data Compression Indicator


The radar system is cable of delivering both compressed and uncompressed video. In case
of compression, ZLIB [5] (http://www.zlib.net) is used.
C: As specified in the standard.
RES: Set to 4 for 8-bit video resolution.

FRN8 I240/049, Video Octets & Video Cells Counters


Used to decipher the content of the video block.
NB_VB: Number of valid bytes in the video block, not counting the zero padding.
NB_CELLS: Number of valid cells in the video block.

Example: Compression used on an 8-bit 6000 cells radial (sweep) that ends up having the
compressed size of 1502 bytes:
NB_VB = 1502
NB_CELLS = 6000

Example: No compression used on an 8-bit 6000 cells radial (sweep):


NB_VB = 6000
NB_CELLS = 6000

FRN9 I240/050, Video Block Low Data Volume


Currently not used by radar system.

FRN10 I240/051, Video Block Medium Data Volume


Contains video for one video radial (sweep).
REP: Number of video blocks following
VIDEO_BLOCK: Blocks of 64 bytes video. Last block is zero padded.

Example: Compression used on an 8-bit 6000 cells radial (sweep) that ends up having the
compressed size of 1502 bytes:
REP = ⌈1502/64⌉ = 24
VIDEO_BLOCK = 24 * 64 bytes blocks
Last block has the last 34 bytes zero padded (24*64-1502).

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Example: No compression used on an 8-bit 6000 cells radial (sweep):


REP = = ⌈6000/64⌉ = 94
VIDEO_BLOCK = 94 * 64 bytes blocks
Last block has the last 16 bytes zero padded (94*64-6000).

FRN11 I240/052, Video Block High Data Volume


Currently not used by radar system.

FRN12 I240/140, Time of Day


Timestamp for the message. When the antenna is rotating, the timestamp is taken when the
video source was sampled (see note below). Video summary messages are sent when the
antenna is north. When the antenna is not rotating, the timestamp is generated at transmis-
sion time of the message.
NOTE: Depending on radar system type, sampling may be higher or lower in the processing
chain. Inquire on the timestamp, if it is critical that the value is without processing delays. i.e.
the video received is used for tracking.

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5 Network Bandwidth Usage


For multicast, the bandwidth required is constant regardless of number of clients. For TCP
connections, the bandwidth required must be multiplied by the number of clients.
NOTE: The results only includes the bandwidth for the transmission of raw data on the appli-
cation layer. Extra allowance shall be given to e.g. TCP/IP transmission overhead.

5.1 Category 010


The average data bandwidth ADBW in kbit/s required for sending track messages depends
on:
1. The number of maintained tracks, Ntracks
2. The radar antenna rotation rate measured in revolutions per minute (RPM)

To calculate the average bandwith use:


ADBW [kbit/sec] = 0.0043 × Ntracks × RPM

Example: The tracker publishes 1000 concurrent tracks per rotation, and is set up in a 20
RPM profile. The average required data bandwidth is then:
ADBW = (0.0043 × 1000 × 20) kbit/s = 86 kbit/s

NOTE: The calculated bandwidth is an average value. If the tracks are concentrated in cer-
tain directions, extra bandwidth is needed to avoid additional transmission latency. For in-
stance, if the radar system is setup with a 180º transmission sector and the tracks can be as-
sumed to uniformly distributed in azimuth in that sector, the actual required bandwidth will be
twice the ADWB in order to avoid additional transmission latency.

5.2 Category 034


The data bandwidth DBW in kbit/s required for sending sector and status messages depends
on the radar antenna rotation rate measured in revolutions per minute (RPM)
To calculate the bandwith use:
DBW [kbit/sec] = 0.0491 × RPM

Example: The radar is set up in a 20 RPM profile. The required data bandwidth is then:
DBW = (0.0491 × 20) kbit/s = ~1 kbit/s

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5.3 Category 048


The average data bandwidth ADBW in kbit/s required for sending track messages depends
on:
1. The number of maintained tracks, Ntracks
2. The radar antenna rotation rate measured in revolutions per minute (RPM)
To calculate the average bandwith use:
ADBW [kbit/sec] = 0.0033 × Ntracks × RPM

Example: The tracker publishes 1000 concurrent tracks per rotation, and is set up in a 20
RPM profile. The average required data bandwidth is then:
ADBW = (0.0033 × 1000 × 20) kbit/s = 67 kbit/s

NOTE: The calculated bandwidth is an average value. If the tracks are concentrated in cer-
tain directions, extra bandwidth is needed to avoid additional transmission latency. For in-
stance, if the radar system is setup with a 180º transmission sector and the tracks can be as-
sumed to uniformly distributed in azimuth in that sector, the actual required bandwidth will be
twice the ADWB in order to avoid additional transmission latency.

5.4 Category 240


The amount of data transmitted from the transceiver to the display application depends on
four factors, namely the azimuth and range resolution, antenna RPM and compression type.
The formula for calculating the bandwidth usage for compressed video is as follows:
BW [kbit/sec] = 0.0001333 × Azimuth Resolution × (Number of cells in instrumented range + 33) × RPM × Com-
pression Ratio

Typically configured system configurations results in azimuth and range resolutions of 4092 ×
4096 or 4096 × 8192. Antenna RPM is from 2 – 60 RPM and video type can be both com-
pressed and uncompressed.
Type Estimated Compression Ratio

Uncompressed (100:100) 1

ZLIB (100:30) 0.3

NOTE: The calculated bandwidth is an average value. If the video/clutter is concentrated in


certain directions or not uniformly, extra bandwidth is needed when using compression to
avoid additional transmission latency in these directions.

5.4.1 Uncompressed
The bandwidth usage for the uncompressed is constant, i.e. the compression ratio does not
change depending on the amount of information in the radar image.
So for a 4096 × 4096 azimuth and range resolution, instrumented range set to cover full 4096
range and an antenna RPM of 30 the bandwidth usage will be:
0.0001333 × 4096 × (4096 + 33) × 30 × 1 = 67633 kbit/s = 68Mbit/s.

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5.4.2 Compressed
The bandwidth usage for compressed video depends on the amount of information in the ra-
dar image and is very site specific. Over land with almost no processing enabled the com-
pression ratio will typically be 10:3 (30%) whereas a scenario with aggressive processing
over land and sea, the compression ratio will be less than 100:2 (2%) of the original size.
So for a 4096 × 4096 azimuth and range resolution, instrumented range set to cover full 4096
cell range, an antenna RPM of 30 and a 10:3 (30%) compression ratio, the bandwidth usage
will be:
0.0001333 × 4096 × (4096 + 33) × 30 × 0.3 = 27290 kbit/s = 27Mbit/s.

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