Real-Time Interface and Conversion Item (RICI)
When it comes to the RICI, it's true that good things come in small packages. The Real-Time Interface and Conversion Item (RICI) has the smallest form factor of any member of the Sunhillo Data Communications Gateway (DCG) family. It provides a small, affordable solution to meet any number of data protocol conversion needs. The RICI's small footprint is a mere 3" high x 7" wide x 5" deep. Extensions are available for 19" rack mounting or the RICI's can be stacked one on top of the other.
But don't let the RICI's small size fool you. It is every bit as powerful and flexible as the larger members of the DCG family. The RICI is an intelligent computer with plenty of on board memory and disk space to meet just about any data communication need that you can imagine.
Ideal for Radar Data Manipulation and Surveillance Data Network Applications
The RICI was designed to receive four channels of synchronous serial data directly from a radar site. With four DB-25 RS-232 serial connections located on its back panel, output from a radar site can directly plug into the RICI's chassis. No octopus cable is needed.
In addition to four serial connections, the RICI also comes equipped with two 10/100MB Ethernet ports on its front panel, enabling the RICI to receive serial data from a radar site and then multicast it across any standard Ethernet LAN interface. This architecture makes it the ideal solution to enable legacy radars to send surveillance data across a modern data network.
The reverse is true, as well. Data received across one of the RICI's Ethernet ports can be converted and transmitted out the serial ports to support legacy end users on a surveillance data network who still require a synchronous serial data interface.
A few examples of some of the radar data conversions that can be performed by the RICI are listed below:
| CD-2 Synchronous Serial | Radar multicast on IP LAN |
| ASR-9 Synchronous Serial | Radar multicast on IP LAN |
| Radar multicast on IP LAN | CD-2 Synchronous Serial |
| Radar multicast on IP LAN | ASR-9 Synchronous Serial |
| 3 channels of 2400bps | 1 channel of 9600bps |
| 1 channel of 9600bps | 3 channels of 2400bps |
| FAA ECGP LAN format | Canadian IP ASTERIX format |
| Canadian IP ASTERIX format | FAA ECGP LAN format |
The RICI also comes with a COM port to receive Coded Time Source (CTS) or Global Positioning System (GPS) time synchronization inputs, as well as a USB port to facilitate system configuration changes and functional updates.
Status lights on the front panel provide a quick and easy health check of serial data activity. Green LEDs are used to indicate the transmission or receipt of radar data. The Sync Status LED is used to indicate whether a port is properly synchronized to receive radar frames. SNMP is used to facilitate remote health monitoring.
Perfect for Other Types of Data Communication Applications As Well
The RICI is extremely flexible and can be used to meet other data communication related needs as well. Radar information is only one particular type of data that the RICI is capable of handling. For example, the RICI is used in the banking industry to pass information between ATMs residing on legacy HDLC / SDLC synchronous serial networks and more modern Ethernet LANs.
The fact that the RICI is an intelligent computer capable of bidirectional movement of both serial and LAN data enables a wide range of data conversion possibilities.
The RICI chassis design facilitates stacking of the RICI units one on top of the other. No additional space is needed in between the units, which is a great option to have when space is an issue.
In addiiton, brackets are available to rack mount the RICI in a standard 19" rack. Different types of mounting brackets are available to allow for the mounting of either one or two RICIs per 2U row in the 19" rack.
The RICI Rear Panel
The RICI Front Panel
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RICI 4300
Technical Specifications |
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Type |
Section |
Specific |
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Module |
Central
Processing Unit (CPU) |
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Chassis |
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External Interfaces |
Synchronous
Serial Interfaces |
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CTS
Port |
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Ethernet
LAN Interface |
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Universal
Serial Bus (USB) Interface |
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Light
Emitting Diode (LED) Interface |
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Power
Switch |
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Standards |
RICI
conforms to the following standards |
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