AN IP-BASED RECORDING SYSTEM

Abstract

Traditionally, acquired instrumentation data on a non-destructive test article is recorded to a nonvolatile memory recorder. The data acquisition system usually samples and formats its inputs before transmitting the data to the recorder (also known in this paper as a data sink) via a PCM serial data stream (i.e., clock and data). In a network-based data acquisition architecture, the inclusion of an IP-based recorder adds a new dimension to the data acquisition process. Any IP network inherently allows for the bi-directional exchange of data. In this environment, the IPbased recorder can be treated as both a data sink for parameter recording and a data source for parameter extraction, data rate statistics, and recorder status reporting. The network model recasts the data recorder’s function as a file server to which multiple clients could be simultaneously requesting services. Those clients that represent the data acquisition nodes are requesting storage of their acquired parameters. Clients, such as transmitters or test engineers, are requesting access to archived data or status information for further processing. This paper presents the advantages of using an IP-based recorder in a network-based data acquisition system. The availability of an IP interface along with the intelligence built into the recorder expands its capabilities beyond that of a conventional PCM recorder. These capabilities include real-time health monitoring, support for the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), data mining, reporting of real-time performance and network statistics.