Universal Field Interface

Up to 32 monitored points, from installed airfield equipment to the facility monitoring environment, over fiber

The Universal Field Interface acquires status and analog monitoring points already available from installed airfield equipment and transports them over an electrically isolated fiber link to the facility-side monitoring environment.

Initial applications are Visual Guidance Lighting Systems, including PAPI, REIL, MALSR and ALSF-2, feeding an agency’s existing serial or network conversion equipment under the FAA Remote Monitoring and Maintenance Capability framework, JO 6000.53E.

The architecture is read-only by default and introduces no network-addressable device at the field cabinet where the application does not require one.

How It Works

Field interfaces incorporate signal conditioning, transient protection, EMI filtering and diagnostic supervision appropriate to exposed airfield installations. At the facility, the fiber link interfaces with existing serial infrastructure or upstream network-conversion equipment.

This allows legacy visual-aid equipment to be brought into modern remote-monitoring architectures without adding a network endpoint at the field cabinet. The platform provides:

  • Acquisition of digital status and analog monitoring points, up to 32 per system
  • Signal conditioning suited to legacy visual-aid equipment interfaces
  • Multi-stage transient and surge protection for exposed field interfaces
  • EMI-filtered and shielded field interfaces
  • Independent hardware supervision and automatic fault recovery
  • Event, alarm and trend processing with local retention
  • Electrically isolated multimode-fiber transport, long-distance capable
  • Serial or network integration with existing facility infrastructure
  • Read-only telemetry by default; control functions only where authorised

Platform Configurations

The architecture can be implemented with established industrial I/O or with purpose-designed embedded electronics, according to the environmental, lifecycle, packaging, qualification and quantity requirements of the application.

Industrial I/O configuration:

  • Established industrial control hardware within a protected field enclosure
  • Extended-temperature industrial modules
  • Shielded, EMI-filtered enclosure and interfaces
  • Mixed status and analog monitoring
  • Fiber communications to the facility
  • Event and alarm processing
  • Read-only telemetry
  • Point mapping to the applicable equipment specification
  • Suited where commercial modules meet the operating environment and lifecycle objectives
  • Suitable for rapid-deployment, retrofit and lower-volume installations

Purpose-Built Embedded Configuration

A compact embedded implementation is under development for applications requiring greater control over packaging, component lifecycle, environmental performance and configuration-specific qualification. Detailed design and qualification status is available from Engineering.

Design objectives:

  • Compact, line-replaceable field module
  • Extended-temperature component selection
  • Hardware fault supervision and automatic recovery
  • EMI-filtered and protected field interfaces
  • Power-entry filtering and EMC provisions
  • Shielded enclosure with fiber isolation
  • Field-replaceable architecture designed to preserve site configuration
  • Configuration-controlled, signed firmware
  • Protective coating and component derating practice
  • Common field wiring and facility interface with the industrial I/O configuration

Engineered Around the Applicable Requirements

The applicable requirement set is established for each delivered configuration and may include FAA, military and industry requirements for environmental performance, electromagnetic compatibility, lightning and transient protection, component derating, protective coating, reliability and maintainability.

Compliance is established through the analysis, inspection and testing required for the delivered configuration. Design intent alone is not represented as qualification. Requirement areas addressed:

  • Environmental performance and extended temperature range
  • Electromagnetic compatibility, MIL-STD-461 where applicable
  • Lightning and transient protection, FAA-STD-019 practice
  • Component derating and protective coating
  • Reliability and maintainability, line-replaceable design
  • Cybersecurity posture: read-only, no field network endpoint
  • Interface control documentation
  • Verification by analysis, inspection and test on the delivered configuration
READ-ONLY BY DEFAULT

Request the Platform Brief

Engineered for the requirements, verified on the delivered configuration.

The platform brief covers the point map, the interface control document outline, block diagrams and current qualification status. It is available to qualified customers from Engineering.