ATC
Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department - Integrated Recoding & Playback for Controller Working Positions
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Hong Kong is a leading center of international and regional aviation and the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HK SAR) committed to a safe, efficient and sustainable air transport system by ensuring that a high standard of safety in the provision of air navigation services is established, achieved and maintained. CAD is committed to facilitating the growth of aviation through the application of leading-edge technology in air navigation systems. |
The Requirements
In 2019, CAD set about expanding the ATC capability in its East Air Traffic Control Centre facility to meet projected future demand. As a result of the expansion, CAD sought an integrated recording system for the capture and storage of synchronous audio and At-The-Glass (ATG) video at the controller working positions. They needed audio and video data to be simultaneously captured locally and transmitted over a secure network infrastructure to dual-redundant servers with recorded data to be retained online for a minimum of 120 days. In addition to the controller working positions, CAD also needed four playback and management workstations, two of which required 4K UHD monitors.
The Solution
EIZO provided an integrated solution comprised of EIZO’s SafeGuard data capture & content management servers, Re/Vue Pro lossless video encoding & streaming devices, FlexScan monitors for system access at playback and management positions, additional ancillary hardware including network devices and a master time server.
Each controller working position using EIZO’s solution was fitted with two Re/Vue Pro 2 Max devices to support the capture of the video from two monitors and two local analog audio channels. Re/Vue provides true lossless encoding and streaming of connected video and audio sources while remaining independent of the source. This allowed CAD to install the recording system with no impact on the operational ATM system and ensures that any future ATM software or hardware updates will not require modification to the recording system. This independence between the two systems guarantees faithful reproduction of captured data during playback operations in the highest quality possible. The Re/Vue device captures the video at a rate of 30 frames per second, streaming across two independent networks, and safely stores the data on dual redundant SafeGuard servers provided by EIZO. Each server was fitted with sufficient storage capacity to allow up to 120 days of online storage, negating the need for regular archiving or backups to external media.
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When required, playback is easily carried out from one of the playback or management workstations through a web browser which ensures safe and secure playback access to authorized personnel without needing to transfer data or copy files. This allows full access to SafeGuard’s features and ensures the necessary level of security for managing access. CAD’s playback workstations are fitted with FlexScan EV3285 monitors supporting playback of video at native resolution through the 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) monitor, while management workstations are equipped with FlexScan EV2450 monitors. |
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EIZO's Re/Vue products are encoding & streaming devices developed for mission-critical ATC applications. They deliver industry-leading, true lossless compression ratios of 10,000:1 to 40,000:1 for typical ATC data, optimizing the balance between image quality and data size.
SafeGuard is EIZO’s comprehensive end-to-end solution, integrating software, servers, and support services. Designed as a turnkey solution, SafeGuard ensures secure archiving and facilitates the management, analysis, and distribution of data from communication interfaces used in mission-critical environments.
Re/Vue and the SafeGuard are fully interoperable, offering a seamless solution for ATC data streaming, archiving, and management.
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Having an end-to-end solution from a single provider incorporating multiple parts of the imaging chain ensures interoperability between products and streamlines technical support through a single point of contact. Furthermore, EIZO provided a range of services in support of the successful deployment including a Factory Acceptance Test, Training, and Site Acceptance Tests for the installation and commissioning phase.
The Challenges
The working position auxiliary monitors were installed in portrait mode, so a solution was needed to ensure that the content was displayed in the correct orientation during playback operations. While this could have been re-configured on the source system, it was imperative that the solution was wholly independent of the source data, so EIZO implemented an option to the SafeGuard user interface that allows image orientation at playback for images recorded in landscape mode. This allowed the operators to see the data in the correct format, without making any changes to the source at the point of capture.
CAD required system monitoring to be implemented on all third-party hardware in the system. EIZO added system monitoring support to specific third-party products including capture servers, network switches and the master NTP time server. The master time server receives time from a centralized station master clock via an IRIG-B signal and transmits the synchronized time over the local network, using Network Time protocol (NTP), to all SafeGuard components ensuring the accuracy of captured data timestamps. EIZO implemented new software features to allow the SafeGuard system to send notifications for events such as PSU failure or loss of IRIG time source at the master NTP time server to the Management workstations. These additions ensure that CAD are immediately notified of error conditions on all recording system components for taking remedial actions promptly.
While EIZO’s product management team successfully address the technical challenges, the logistical constraints posed by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis limited on-site support during installation and testing phases. To ensure success, EIZO responded by providing remote training to the local team for SafeGuard system setup and configuration.
Following Up
Following successful deployment of the SafeGuard solution in July 2020, CAD embarked on further extensions to the recording facilities for other controller working positions at the East Air Traffic Control Centre. As a result, in 2022 an extension to the recording system became a requirement. Through discussions with CAD during the initial project design phase, servers and system components had already been specified with sufficient capacity and capability to support future upgrades in audio and video interfaces without the need for system hardware refresh. This approach ensured that the resultant project to increase the capacity of the system had a negligible impact on operations. During this expansion, end users made requests for software enhancements including automating the image rotation during playback and export operations and other user specific functions to the GUI. These updates were implemented as part of the phased upgrade of the system which was completed in 2023.
The Future
During the various phases of deployment, CAD provided feedback on their specific operations and usage of the system and made recommendations to EIZO for additional features. EIZO implemented a number of these features to meet the CAD requirements recognizing that customer feedback and experience will allow the SafeGuard product to grow in alignment with market and industry trends. EIZO will continue to enhance SafeGuard’s capabilities based on customer input and real-world application to ensure it remains future-focused and customizable to meet specific installation needs.
Brian Barrelle, EIZO’s ATC Product Manager commented, “This project has been a great example of what can be achieved in trying circumstances. The implementation and delivery phases of the project have been significantly affected by events due to COVID, but with the close cooperation between end customer and EIZO we have collectively risen to the challenge and delivered a system with limited impact on the schedule. We look forward to a long-term relationship with CAD in helping them to deploy state of the art systems to enhance aviation safety”.
