Company combines IP networking with signal and image processing in a flexible, standards-based approach that delivers unprecedented information intelligence to the tactical edge: SigmaNET VXS-based sensor networking solution enables networked combat system for defense: Mercury Computer Systems introduced the revolutionary Converged Sensor Network (CSN) Architecture at the 2008 Joint Symposium of the Army Team C4ISR in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Mercury also introduced the SigmaNET VXS-based solution of hardware and software enhancements that enable sensor networking and converged management in existing embedded systems. This solution has been delivered to a leading defense customer for the processing and dissemination of sensor data including electronic imaging, video, and weapons systems. The CSN Architecture transforms embedded, high-performance computing systems into a converged sensor network environment. By combining the power of information management – data fusion, exploitation, and dissemination – with signal and image processing, Mercury delivers transformational ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) capabilities and benefits to the field, or “tactical edge.” “Imagery from a new generation of sensors lets the military see the world differently. However, most imagery systems are still largely platform-centric, and the data from them is primarily moved in a linear fashion, up and down command structures,” said J. Michael Johnson, RADM USN (Retired) and former President and CEO of Recon Optical, Inc. “The challenge is to use imagery and other sensors more effectively, getting not just their data, but their embedded meta-data and its potential critical information, to those warriors in the field who really need it. We need solutions that are network-centric, capable of moving imagery information in a dynamic fashion using minimal bandwidth from one intelligent node to another. Mercury's Converged Sensor Network Architecture clearly makes significant strides to address these critical needs.” By combining the agility of cluster computing with sensors at the tactical edge, the CSN Architecture supports a more robust sensor computing and networking environment, providing the flexibility to get information quickly to authorized users via industry-standard networking. At the same time, it enables the combination of information from different types of sensors to provide more in-depth intelligence – for example, an infrared image overlay on a radar image of a parking lot would register heat signatures for vehicles recently used. The CSN Architecture also supports accelerated deployment of new applications by rapidly migrating from clustered lab systems to fielded platforms. New image processing software is typically developed and tested in labs on clusters of computers connected by standard networking, then re-written to run on deployed systems. However, with the CSN Architecture, a deployed computer appears to the software as a cluster of compute nodes on an IP network, thereby avoiding the need for re-writing the application. Application developers can thus maximize compute resources dynamically for mission-specific tasking across a network of diverse sensors and platforms, and information analysts can synthesize networked sensor data into coherent information for exploitation and dissemination. These capabilities significantly reduce cost and time to market. “At a technical level, the CSN Architecture supports the capture, processing, fusion, and storage of large streams of data from multiple sensors in real time. More importantly, it also enables a new level of access to data, information, and computing resources deep inside a sensor, so that information analysts – and troops on the ground – can get the information they need before it’s too late,” said Mark Aslett, President and CEO, Mercury Computer Systems. For more information on the Converged Sensor Network Architecture, visit Mercury in Booth #332 at the 2008 Joint Symposium of the Army Team C4ISR at the Atlantic City Convention Center, in Atlantic City, New Jersey; visit its Web site; or contact Mercury at (866) 627-6951 or info@mc.com.