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Air Force Awards First CPP Contract to ITCN, Inc.
Air Force Awards First CPP Contract to ITCN, Inc.
ITCN, Inc. | 04 Oct 2008
The Department of the Air Force has awarded its first Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP) to ITCN, Inc., of Centerville, OH. The established program involves a $700K investment to transition prototype 1553 databus network test equipment, the Bus Characterization and Integrity Toolset (BCIT), developed by ITCN, into a ruggedized, deployable, commercial preproduction design in order to test embedded military systems under rigorous field conditions.
The BCIT was originally developed through an Air Force Small Business Innovative Research contract (SBIR). During prototype testing, the need for a more rugged unit was identified to allow field engineers and technicians to troubleshoot MIL-STD-1553 buses and embedded avionics systems on the flightline without concern for mechanical or environmental constraints. The enhanced, ready for deployment BCIT resulting from the CPP will be an all-in-one test instrument for troubleshooting cables, diagnosing bus health, and monitoring bus performance.
Bus characterization testing provides data bus health monitoring for protocol errors, loading, status exceptions, and terminal response for up to four dual redundant MIL-STD-1553 buses. This feature helps capture faults that impact bus protocol, such as faulty stubs, terminals, or LRU's.
Bus integrity testing provides electrical analysis of cable networks via a high performance Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR). The TDR allows technicians to analyze MIL-STD-1553 cabling to locate opens, shorts, and faulty shields and couplers within six inches of the fault location for cables of up to 1,000 feet long. The BCIT also provides a Triggered mode of TDR operation. This mode can find intermittent faults easily by capturing data only when an anomaly occurs, such as when a cable is "jiggled."
The BCIT’s Windows(TM) based, database driven user interface software allows users to save and recall bus topology, test data, and historical reference data. A historical database makes it easy to compare data over long periods of time, thus providing possible applications in prognostics support. This also allows users to do comparative analysis by overlaying cataloged data with active tests.
“We are pleased and excited about being the first to receive the Air Force CPP award. The BCIT is a great test tool for maintenance and troubleshooting of embedded systems. It can pinpoint wiring and cabling problems to within 6 inches, and is a versatile, programmable test tool as well,” said Roy Penwell, President of ITCN, Inc. “Now with more rugged features added through the CPP, it will also be a tough, weather-resistant piece of instrumentation, suitable for field maintenance.” He added, “With military cutbacks and fewer personnel available, this tool will prove to be even more valuable as time passes. The eBCIT will make development, maintenance and troubleshooting quick and accurate.”
For more information about ITCN, Inc. or the new BCIT instrumentation, contact:
Contact:
Kimberley White
Marketing Specialist
kwhite@itcninc.com
Mike Bolton
Corporate Development
mbolton@itcninc.com
Tim Myers
Sales
tmyers@itcninc.com
ITCN, Inc.
591 Congress Park Dr.
Dayton, OH 45459
Phone: 937-439-9223
Toll-Free: 800-439-4039
Email: sales@itcninc.com
Web: www.itcninc.com
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About ITCN, Inc.
ITCN has provided embedded system test products and engineering services to customers in the Military/Aerospace market since 1991. Our products deliver time-correlated system-wide test data, collected non-intrusively, in real-time. ITCN’s staff of engineers stands ready to assist customers with requirements definition, up-front development, and complete product support. The result is both time and money saved at every stage of the product life cycle. ITCN, Inc. is ISO 9001:2000 certified.
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