VComm GENERIC Radio, V8 DIS/HLA

ID:  2031

Object Description

The VComm GENERIC Radio, V8 DIS/HLA object employs a high-fidelity radio model to implement the Radio Communications protocol of the Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) standard (refer to the IEEE standards 1278.1a-1995, 1278.1a-1998, and 1278.1a-2xxx). This radio has input pins to control the basic functionality of any radio being modeled. However, an output pin provides a handle for the radio which can be used by several other VComm objects to enhance the run-time control of the radio, and to monitor the radio's data.

Note: Attachable objects require additional processing. It is advisable to only use attachable objects if they are needed in a given design.

For more information, refer to the VComm User Manual.

Input Pins

ANT X

ANT Y

ANT Z

Locations in the simulated DIS world are identified using a right-handed, Geocentric Cartesian coordinate system called the world coordinate system in the DIS specification. This Geocentric coordinate system is sometimes called ECEF, or Earth Centered Fixed Cartesian. The origin of the coordinate system is the centroid of the earth. The axes of this system are labeled X, Y, and Z, with the positive X -axis passing through the prime meridian at the equator, the positive Y-axis passing through 90 east longitude at the Equator, and the positive Z-axis passing through the north pole as shown. A distance of one unit measured in world coordinates corresponds to a distance of 1 m in the simulated world.

FREQ Hz

Frequency of the radio in units Hertz (Hz).

Range: Any floating point number.

VOLUME

Volume of the radio heard at the headsets.

Range: 0.0 to 1.0.

SQLCH

This radio object expects a squelch input of 0 to 1 in units of volts. This value is normally connected to a squelch control on a simulated radio. This value is internally converted to dB (log scale) so that an input value of 0 to 1 is converted and limited to a value of 0 to –100 dB.

EX ID

DIS Exercise ID.

Range: 0 to 255.

ON/OFF

Power state of the radio. Any non-zero value provides power to the radio; a value of 0 does not.

PTT

Push-To-Talk switch for radio transmissions. Any non-zero value engages radio transmission; a value of 0 does not.

Output Pin

HND

The HND output pin provides a unique radio handle for this object for use by other objects (see below).

Static Data

Site Number

Application Number

Entity Number

Radio Identifier

These four single precision floating point values create a unique Entity Identifier for this radio on a DIS network. The DIS specification requires that each entity participating in a DIS exercise must have a unique site/app/entity identifier. The radio ID is provided to distinguish between multiple radios attached to a single entity (see IEEE 1278.1 DIS standard for details). V+ interprets each of the values as a 16 bit unsigned number, so only whole numbers between 1 and 65534 are valid.

 

If you do not need to set specific Entity Identifier for your radios, simply leave the site/app/entity/radio numbers at zero. VComm can create an automatic Entity Identifier for radios if the radio is not attached to an object that sets IDs, and if Site Number, Application Number (Host ID) or Entity Number is set to zero at startup. In this case, the computers IP address is used to establish an Entity Identifier. A computer IP address is divided into four fields called octets. VComm uses the third octet (left to right numbering) to set the Site Number and the fourth octet to set the Application Number. The Entity Number is set to one, and the Radio Identifier is set automatically based on the execution sequence (order of creation) of the radio in V+. For example, if a machine has an IP address of 192.168.1.200, the radio’s Entity Identifier would be as follows:

 

Site Number

1 (Third Octet)

Application Number

200 (Fourth Octet)

Entity Number

1 (Default, hard coded)

Radio Identifier

n, where n is the creation order

 

More about DIS Entity Identifiers:

Encoding

This parameter defines the way the signal packets are encoded before being sent over the network.  The following values are valid for this parameter:

1 - µ-Law (pronounced Mew-Law), 2:1 compression

2 - CVSD per MIL-STD 188-113, 16:1 compression

3 - ADPCM per CCITT G7.21, 4:1 compression

4 - 16 bit PCM (Big Endian), 1:1 compression

5 - 8-bit Linear PCM, 1:1 compression

6 - VQ (Vector Quantization), Variable compression, (Not Supported in VComm)

7 - CVSD CCTT (bit reversed), 16:1 compression

8 - 1.625-bit GSM 06.10, Variable compression, (Currently in development in VComm)

9 - 0.7 bit GSM Half Rate 06.20, Variable compression, (Currently in development in VComm)

100 - 16-bit Linear PCM (Little Endian), 1:1 compression

255 - CVSD, 16:1 compression
(Some vendors use this for CVSD encoding)

 

This parameter only affects signal transmissions. Received signal packets will be properly decoded based on the transmitted encoding scheme, regardless of the setting of this parameter.

Note: The Encoding value may be changed dynamically while V+ is running and will take effect without having to stop and start V+.

Channel

(Input/Output)

This parameter designates which sound device input/output channel pair is to be used for the analog input and analog output during transmission and reception of digital voice streams.

If using an SMx system, this number is the Wave In channel for the input stream (microphone), and its corresponding Wave Out channel for the output stream (headphones).

More about Devices and Channels:

 

Send To Network

Determines how the radio communicates on the network. This parameter is a bit mask which is a combination of four distinct modes: DIS Primary Network, DIS Secondary Network, DIS Loopback, and HLA. Internally, each of these modes is represented by a separate bit, which can be combined to form unique values. The following are the only recognized values for this static datum:

1.0 - DIS Primary Network only

2.0 - DIS Secondary Network only

3.0 - DIS Primary and Secondary Networks

4.0 - DIS Loopback

8.0 - HLA only

9.0 - DIS Primary Network and HLA

10.0 - DIS Secondary Network and HLA

11.0 - DIS Primary and Secondary Networks and HLA

12.0 - DIS Loopback and HLA

 

For more information on network modes and how to configure them, refer to the VComm User's Manual.

VComm Radio Control  Objects

  1. VComm DIS Radio Data

  2. VComm Radio Model Data

  3. VComm Radio Transmission Delay

  4. VComm DIS/HLA Entity Attach

  5. VComm Entity Filter

  6. VComm Radio Data Advanced

  7. VComm Crypto System

  8. VComm Set Radio Data Duplex Mode

  9. VComm Software Sidetone

  10. VComm Set DIS TRANSMITTER PDU Source Field

  11. VComm S/W VOX

  12. VComm Force Stereo RX

  13. VComm HAVEQUICK

  14. VComm Transmit Audio Format

  15. VComm Set RX Audio Gain

  16. VComm Radio Audio Emulation Filter

  17. VComm Audio Compressor

  18. VComm Radio Transmitter Wave File Player

  19. VComm Basic Fidelity SINCGARS

  20. VComm Set Radio/ICS Name

  21. VComm Force Stereo TX

  22. VComm Transmit Frequency

  23. VComm Scanner

  24. VComm Radio Scan Channel

  25. VComm Recorder

  26. VComm HF Control

  27. VComm Min Range

  28. VComm Radio Entity Type

  29. VComm Parametric EQ

  30. VComm Max Range

VComm Radio Monitoring Objects

  1. VComm Signal Strength

  2. VComm Get Number of Incoming Transmitters

  3. VComm Get Strongest Transmitter ID

  4. VComm Radio Data Monitor

  5. VComm Receiver Audio RMS Level

  6. VComm Terrain Server Status

  7. VComm Is Incoming Transmission Secure

  8. VComm Radio Input Status

Example

The figure below presents an example of a VComm GENERIC Radio, V8 DIS/HLA object with all of the other VComm attachable objects shown. There are two groups of attachable objects: those that control the radio, and those that monitor the radio.