Edition: October 2011

Ukkxj foekuu Áf'k{k.k dkyst

bykgkckn Òkjr
Civil Aviation Training College
Allahabad, India
 RICOCHET DVTR

Introduction

Recording and storage of all voice communications is a basic requirement for air traffic
control units. The requirement applies to all communication, i.e. ground-ground
communications (G/G) and air-ground communications (A/G). The G/G is the
communications among air traffic control units or centers where as the A/G
communication is between air traffic controllers and pilots.

Recording facilities shall be provided on all voice communication channels. Each station
is provided with multi channel voice recording systems (analog/digital) for recording of
channels which includes operational voice communications on all ATS channels and all
important telephones and intercoms.

Voice Recording and Retention

¾ Voice recording facilities shall provide a chronological record of all voice

communications for each operational position of an ATS service incorporate time
injection.
¾ All recording media shall be clearly labeled or indexed unambiguously in
accordance with standard practice. Labels shall include start and end times and
the subject recording(s)/position(s).

¾ Recordings shall be retained in safe storage for at least 30 days. When the
recording is pertinent to accident or incident investigations they shall be retained
for longer periods until they are no longer required.

¾ The quantity of removable recording media on site shall be sufficient to cover the
rotation period before re-use with contingency provided for a loss of media
through impounding for investigations or unforeseen damage arising from
equipment fault or normal wear.

¾ On receipt of notice of an accident or incident from the appropriate authority,

recorded media pertinent to investigation shall immediately be removed from the
recording facilities, regardless of the available recording time remaining, and
placed, after sealing in safe custody of the designated officer. The removal of the
media shall ensure that there is no loss of recording during the process. All such
media shall be clearly labeled.

¾ Recording media may only be released to a designated accident/incident

Investigation Unit.

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Recording of Surveillance Data

Surveillance data from Primary and Secondary radar equipment provided at different
airports shall be recorded automatically and continuously in the hard disc of computer. It
is required that back-up of the recorded data files be taken everyday for retention.

The surveillance data from primary and secondary radar equipment used as an aid to
air traffic services shall be automatically recorded for use in accident and incident
investigations, search and rescue, air traffic control and surveillance systems evaluation
and training.

Automatic recording shall be retained for a period of at least thirty days. When the
recordings are pertinent to accident and/or incident investigations, they shall be retained
for longer periods until no longer required.

Retention of Surveillance Data Recordings

The recorded tapes / DVDs shall be labeled properly with date of recording and details
of the recorded files and shall be preserved under safe custody of a designated
responsible officer. The recorded tapes/DVDs may be erased after thirty days unless
there has been an incident/accident within that period and if required for incident and
accident investigation.

RICOCHET DVTR

Ricochet is a modular system capable of being expanded and interfaced with a variety
of data source. Ricochet is designed to be adaptable to virtually any type of data
source. Other than audio recording, the system can record RADAR data and CCTV
images.

Hardware or Sub-systems of the Ricochet Digital Voice Tape Recorder (DVTR):

Followings are the hardware or sub-systems of the Digital Voice Tape Recorder (DVTR)

I. Ricochet Line Units(RLU) for 8,16,32,40,64,128 channel DVTR Systems

II. National Instrument Analog / Digital Converter Digitizer Cards & Cables
a. NI Card (PCI6013 for 8/16/32 channel systems) ,SH 6868 cable
b. NI Card (PCI6071E for >32 channel systems), SH100100 cable
III. Advantech P4 Industrial Rack mountable PC for 8, 16 , 32 Channels DVTR
Systems

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IV. Advantech
h Xeon Ind
dustrial Ra
ack mounttable Servvers for 40
0, 64, 128 Channelss
DVTR Sysstems
V. Accessorie
es
a. 15” Acer LCD
D Monitor, Keyboard
K & Mouse
b. Ate
en KVM sw
witch box
c. Dlin
nk 8 port Ethernet
E Hu
ub
d. Kro
one Distribu
ution Fram
me
nfiguration 12U & 20U
VI. Cabling & Rack Con U (Option)

Front & Rear Vie

ew of Rico
ochet DVT
TR System
m

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System
m Architec
cture

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I. Ricochet Line Unit – RLU

• RLU is an Interface module for analogue input lines.
• The purpose of the module is to adapt and isolate the line input signals before
connecting to the digitizer board.
• DC and Ring Voltage are removed and the input signals are isolated from the DA
converter by use of transformers.
• Each line can be selected for 600ohms or high impedance.
• The RLU can be equipped with upto 4 Line Interface cards each supporting 19
input lines.
• The input lines could be balanced or single ended input.
• RLU 8/16 is housed in Advantech Servers for interfacing 16 channels
• RLU-32 is housed in external chassis with 2x RLU 8/16 interface cards
• RLU-48 is housed in external chassis with 3x RLU 8/16 interface cards
• RLU-64 is housed in external chassis with 4x RLU 8/16 interface cards
• The RLU requires no external power.

RLU for 8/16 Channels DVTR systems

RLU PCI

The RLU PCI is actually an assembly of 2 PCI cards connected together via a flat cable.
The first card is an ordinary RLU 16 channels interface module for analogue input
signals. The purpose of the module is to adapt and isolate the line input signals before
connecting to the digitizer board. DC and Ring Voltage are removed and the input
signals are isolated from the DA converter by use of transformers.
The second card is a backplane card that interfaces to the 16 channel audio card and
the watchdog circuitry for external alarm output. This card also interfaces to the National
Instruments PCI card via a National Instruments cable.

The NI cards used are usually NI PCI 6014.

The RLU PCI supports up to 16 audio channels per card. The input lines can be either
balanced or single ended input. Each line can be selected for 600ohms or high
impedance.

The RLU PCI requires no external power.

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RLU PCI Line Interface

The RLU PCI Line Interface card has a layout as shown in Figure below.

Figure: RLU PCI Line Interface Card

The channels are numbered from the top, channel 1 to 4 on plug J1 Channel 5-8 is J2,
channel 9-12 is J3 and channel 13-16 is J4.

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RLU PCI Backplane

The RLU Backplane card is shown in Figure below.

Figure: RLU PCI Backplane Card

Assembly

Figure below shows how an RLU PCI solution is assembled. The cards are mounted in
PCI slots in the computer. A flat cable connects the two RLU cards internally in the
computer, whereas an external NI cable connects the RLU Backplane to the NI Digitizer
card.

Figure: RLU PCI Schematic Layout

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RLU for 32/40/64/128 channels DVTR systems

For DVTR 32 channels onwards, RLU is an external unit.

Assembly
The RLU Line Interface cards are connected with RLU backplane through connectors
J7 to J10. Maximum four such cards can be connected to RLU backplane. An external
NI cable connects the RLU Backplane to the NI Digitizer card.

Figure: RLU Schematic Layout

Output connectors

NI Connectors
The connectors are used to connect the RLU to the national Instruments cards in the
Ricochet computer. The two 68 pin connectors are in parallel with the 100 pin
connector. Connectors J1, J4 and J5 are NI connectors.

J4 :
A 68 Pin Connector marked as ‘Digitiser Lines 1-16’ is used to connect NI Digitizer card
via cable SH6868.

J5 :
A 68 Pin Connector marked as ‘Digitiser Lines 17- 32’ is used to connect NI Digitizer
card via cable SH6868.

J1 :
A 100 Pin Connector marked as ‘Digitiser Lines 1- 64’ is used to connect NI Digitizer
card via cable SH100100.

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Watchdog/Dry contact Interface

WD1
RJ45 Watchdog/dry contact relay output. The RJ45 plug labelled “J3” on the rear of
backplane of RLU is the watchdog connector.

The watchdog output is used to interface to external alarm circuitry. A dry contact is
available with both “Normally Open” and “Normally Closed” set-up. The watchdog will
be pulsed twice a second by software. Then it will close Relay [Link] system is OK,
relay K1 is closed. On error, relay K1 is opened.

The pin definition on the WD1 output are as follows

Pin Signal
Pin#1 Common
Pin#2 Normally open
Pin#3 Normally closed
Pin#4 Common

DIO1
Digital Input/Output, RJ45. – Future use only

Front view of RLU for 32/40/64/128 channels DVTR systems

Figure: RLU Front Panel

Watchdog LED's
Green and Red LED's reflecting the status, as reported by the Ricochet Alarm Manager
software. Green LED is flashing when system is operating normally and red LED is
flashing on error.

RJ 45 Modular Connectors
The RJ45 line input connectors connects the audio lines. Normally these are coming
from the RKC Panel.

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Rear view of RLU for 32/40/64/128 channels DVTR systems

Figure: RLU Rear Panel

Figure above shows the connectors at the back of the RLU. The digitizer line
connectors are used to connect the RLU to the digitizer boards(NI Digitizer) in the
recorder.

If a single 64 channel NI board is used this is connected to the RLU via a NI SH100100
cable to the "Digitizer lines 1-64" plug. If one or two smaller NI digitizer boards are used
in the recorder, one or both of the smaller connectors "Digitizer lines 1-16" and "Digitizer
lines 17-32" are used
The dry relay output contact from the Watchdog is an RJ45 plug marked as WD1.
DIO1 is a multi-purpose digital I/O plug.

Ricochet Krone Connector (RKC)

The Ricochet Krone Connector (RKC) is a connection board for connecting external
sources to the Ricochet. It is used to normalize the cabling to the RLU line input sockets
at the front of the RLU. Input source wires are connected at the bottom row of each
krone connector. RLU cables are connected to the corresponding connectors on the top
rows. The RKC is mounted vertically at the back of the rack. The RJ45 cables are
threaded alongside the RLU, inside the rack from the RKC to the front of the RLU.

Figure below shows the numbering of connections on a single block of connectors.

Figure: Ricochet Krone Connectors – Pin Definitions

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II. National Instrument (NI) Digitiser Cards

Function:- Analog to Digital converter

NI Card PCI6013 , cable SH6868 for 8/16/32 systems

NI Card PCI6071E , cable SH100100 for 40, 64 128 systems

III. Advantech P4 Industrial Rackmountable PC for 8, 16 and 32

Channels Systems
Specifications:

- MB & Cabinet: ACP-4000MB-00XE ACP-4000MB Bare Chassis RoHS

- SMPS: PS-300ATX-ZBE POWER 300W ATX WITH ACTIVE PFC AC-DC(FSP) RoHS

-Processor: Intel P4 2.8GHz/FSB 533/L2 512KB/TRAY (Socket 478)

- RAM: Kingston 512MB PC-400 DDR SDRAM

- Hard Disk: Seagate 80GB Barracuda Alpine SATA-II HDD 7200rpm 8MB Cache RoHS

-DVD R/W: Sony DVD WRITER DOUBLE LAYERINT (16xDVD+/-RW & DVD-RAM)

- OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition (OEM) w/SP2

IV. XEON Industrial Rack mountable Server for 48, 64 & 128 Channels
Systems
Specifications:

- Cabinet & SMPS: Industrial Rack mount Server PC c/w 645W ATX PS

- MB: X5DPL-8GM Dual Xeon IMB w/VGA/SCSI/GBLAN/LAN

- Processor: Intel Xeon 2.8GHz 533FSB L2 512KB CPU Tray (RK80532KE072512)

- RAM: Kingston 512MB ECC Registered DDR266 CL25 RAM

- Hard Disk: Seagate Cheetah 10K RPM 146GB U320 LW 68PIN (ST3146807LW)

- DVD R/W: Sony DVD WRITER DOUBLE LAYERINT (16xDVD+/-RW & DVD-RAM)

- OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition (OEM) w/SP2

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System Configuration

Hardware

Ricochet DVTR is based on LAN architecture. Main & Secondary systems are
connected in LAN using Ethernet hub. Same information is recorded simultaneously in
both Main and Secondary systems. Analog signal is fed to the system through Krone
connector whereas Digital signal is fed to the system through LAN. The IP Address/
Machine name of Main and Secondary systems are [Link]/ ARM_M and
[Link]/ ARM_S respectively.

8-Channel and 16-Channel Systems

These systems comprise Ricochet Line Unit (RLU) PCI for line impedance matching &
isolation and Digitising NI card installed in PCI slots inside a workstation computer. The
digitising process runs on the digitising card and the workstation software. Digitised
voice recording files are stored on a high performance hard disk of 80 Gigabyte.

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32-Channel Systems

For this system, the Ricochet Line Unit (32 channels) is installed externally in a sub-rack
and connected to the workstation. The digitising process runs on the digitising card and
the software. As with the smaller systems, high performance hard disks of 80Gigabyte
are used.

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40-Channel and 64-Channel Systems

For these systems, the Ricochet Line Units (48 and 64 channels) are installed externally
in a sub-rack and connected to the Server for 40 channels and 64 channels
respectively. The digitising process runs on the digitising card and the Server software.
For these systems, high performance SCSI hard disks are used.

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128-Channel Systems

For the 128 channels systems, two 64 channels Ricochet Line Unit are used. The
source input is digitised by a pair of Digitiser Servers using the digitising card and
digitiser processing software. The digitised files are then recorded to hard disk on a pair
of Recorder Servers. The Digitising Servers are connected to the Recorder Servers via
a Local Area Network (LAN).

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SYSTE
EM DESCR
RIPTION

Basic Functions
s

Ricochhet is a mo
odular systtem. Itl prim
marily recoords LAN information
n. This info
ormation iss
time sttamped annd stored too disk, succh that it can
c be repllayed syncchronously y in exactly
y
the same sequence and formf that the
t information had at real tim
me. Source es of LANN
informaation are defined as
a Dispatc chers to tthe systemm. The A Audio Digittiser is an n
example of dispaatcher.

ystem usess
The sy
• Interface modules
m to
o accept diffferent data
a signals
• Recordingg and Rep play Server(Kernel) m module to handle re ecording of
o acquired
d
data, manage replay
y sessions,, handle seecurity andd alarm con
nditions.

The recording ma anager recceives data a on LAN ffrom all the dispatch hers and re
ecords it to
o
the disk. For replay, the Re eplay Mana ager is invo
oked, whic ch reads thhe recorded
d data and d
providees it to the replay clie
ents over LAN.
L Primaary replay tool
t is Rico
ochet Repllay Control
panel which
w feattures a use er friendly interface for selectiion of audio data for replay. Itt
also features storage mana agement fa acilities. Otther replay
y tools can be Ricochhet Moving g
Objectss Display ((radar plotss).

The Ricochet Log gging & Re eplay Systeem consistts of a set of executa
able progra
ams (.exe),
a set of
o configuraations files
s (.XML), a set of sho
ortcuts (.ln
nk) and dattabase (VC
[Link] b
or SQLL Server).

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Softwa
are

The Ricochet Log

gging & Re
eplay Syste
em is a clie
ent/server system.

erver prog
The se grams are::

i) Audio Digitize
er
ii) Reccording Se
erver
iii) Rep
play Serve
er
iv) Disk Managerr
v) Alarm Manager
vi) We
eb Server

The client progrrams are:

o Rep
play Contro
ol Panel
o We
eb Client (In
nternet Exp
plorer)
nfiguration Tool
o Ricochet Con

ss Overvie
Proces ew

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AUDIO
O DIGITISE
ER

The annalogue au udio signals

s are digitized in a so
oftware moodule knowwn as Audio Digitiserr
Module e. It can be
e seen as an
a externa al dispatcheer. The ma
ain task of the Audio Digitizer is
s
to digittize analog
gue input lines. The e other funnctions include: Commpression, Detection,
AGC and
a Guardb band.

RECORDING SE
ERVER
The Re
ecord Manager is one omponents of recording server.
e of the co
The Record
R Ma
anager is the centtral compo onent of the
t record
ding application. All
dispatc
cher inform
mation and file system parame
eters are defined with
hin the sco
ope of this
s
compoonent.

The recording seerver handles all inco

oming data a and routes this to the selecte
ed storage e
media. Data is sttored in FA
AT32/NTFS S file syste
em. All data
a is time sstamped wh
hen stored d
on disk
k. When reeplaying, th
he system will recognnize the ch
hannel storred and the
eir specific
c
time stamps.

Any otther proce

ess never interrupts
s the recording proc
cess.

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REPLA
AY SERVE
ER

The Reeplay Manager is res

sponsible for
f replay of data stoored in the
e defined fiile system.
Replayy manager replays da
ata by sen
nding it ontto the LAN
N as speciffied in the dispatcherr
configu
uration.

y can be pe
Replay erformed frrom:

- Default log
gging folde
er
- CD,DVD
- Quarantinee data area

DISK MANAGER
M R

The Diisk Manager is the central

c com
mponent ofo the disk managem ment appliccation. Thee
Disk manager
m w
will be resp
ponsible fo
or online monitoring
g of disk aand mainttenance off
storagee space. A
Alarms aree sent by use
u of the Alarm Clie ent if any limits are violated
v orr
errors occur.
o

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Disk Manager can be configured with a few important parameters, such as-
• Desired number of days of recorded data on on-line storage if space is available
• Minimum number of days of recorded data on on-line storage only
• Minimum Megabytes of free space on on-line storage

NOTE: The Disk Manager is only working in the Directory folder, but disk space is
calculated for the drive.

NOTE: The system monitors these limits and if the MinNumberOfDays cannot be kept
due to lack of storage, an alarm will be sent to the Alarm Manager. In fact it is the limit
Min Mega Bytes, which will trigger of the test. If the test fails, log data is still written to
the storage and alarms are sent every 5 minutes until either the MinMegaBytes is
adjusted, or files elsewhere on the storage area is deleted (do not delete in log
directory).

Desired Number Of Days is used to limit the continuous number of log-days. This
enables the users with excessive storage to keep data for longer than the minimum
number of days required.

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ALARM
M MANAG
GER

The Alarm
A Manager supeervises all Ricochet processe es. It rece
eives errorr or Alarm
m
messages from the proceesses and d can hanndle them in various ways. The T Alarm
m
ger issues an
Manag a Alarm iff a process
s does not respond.

Alarms s are writte

en on the Ricochet
R da
atabase. Iff configure
ed, it will also trigger an audible
e
alarm and/or
a triggger the wa
atchdog. Allarm can be
b viewed anda ackno owledged thhrough thee
Web Service.
S All alarms aree stored in
n the datab
base until an
a adminisstrative clean-up task k
is perfo
ormed, also o through the
t Web service.

CHET WEB
RICOC B SERVICE
E

Ricochhet Web Service pro ovides information on

n available
e disk spa
ace and anny error orr
warning related to the sttorage me edia. There
e are sev veral configurable parameters
p s
d to the con
related ntrol of disk
k space.

Ricochhet Web Service

S is a set of web pagees for intra
anet use, providing additional
functions to the Ricochet Logging and
a Replayy System, related to
o alarms, status
s and
d
mainteenance.

alized by having
It is rea h the Ricochet recorder hosting
h a MS
M Internet Information Server.
But it is
s not open for visitors
s over the Internet.

The Web Service eached using a regular MS Inte

e can be re ernet Explo
orer on any
y computerr
cted to th
connec he same LAN. The e three main
m sectio
ons are: Status,
S Allarms and
d
Adminiistration.

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Status
The status pages show log disk status and the Disk Manager Configuration parameters.

Alarms
Here alarms issued by the Ricochet system are displayed. Alarms can be
acknowledged one by one or all at once. Also alarms can be configured here in such a
way that it becomes possible to select alarm to be issued for an external alarm panel, or
an alarm to just give an audible alarm.

Maintenance
The main feature in the maintenance section is the Incident Management feature. Here
it is possible to enter details on incidents and have the relevant recorded data
automatically copied to a quarantine directory. Also a report is automatically generated
together with the copy of the recorded data. This means that there is a quick and user-
friendly standardized way of handling and reporting incidents. The copy of recorded
data in the quarantine directory can be put on a CD, together with the report and
Ricochet replay software and sent to the proper investigating authorities.

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RICOCHET REPLAY CONTROL PANEL(RCP)

The application used for controlling replay of recorded data and reproduction of audio.

The RCP is an important part of the Ricochet Logging and Replay system. It provides
the user a Windows based user interface to the recording system, for selection of data
to replay and control of replay sessions.

Ricochet supports recording and synchronous replay of multiple sources. An advanced

feature of the system is its ability to operate in real-time. This offers the user an instant
replay function and access to historical data from the recorded sources.

The user interfaces are designed with emphasis on user friendliness and simplicity of
use. For accessing functions related to replay, dedicated windows clients are
implemented to achieve high performance. Functions related to configuration,
maintenance and diagnostics are implemented by use of both Web technology and
Windows Clients.

Replay Equipment

The Replay Control Panel may be hosted on any computer equipped with a sound card
compatible with Direct Sound 3.0 and a LAN adapter. The software communicates
directly with the Replay Server and the system supports multi-session replays for a
limited number of users simultaneously.

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RICOCHET SERVICE CONTROL PANEL

A small administrative application used on the servers for interacting with the Ricochet
components.

The Ricochet Service Control Panel is a service monitor program. Its only purpose is to
control and monitor the different Ricochet Services. Ricochet Service Control Panel is
referred to as RSP.

User interface

The user interface is a simple form with a list of services. The list box holds a list of all
the services the RSP is configured to start and monitor. Right-clicking an item will show
a pop up menu where the user can show/hide/start/stop the selected process. If the
application is minimized it will show up in the Windows system tray in lower right corner
of the screen.
If the RSP is closed, either accidentally or by purpose, starting RSP again will result in
only the running services being shown. If some of the services are stopped, RSP will
start them if configured to do so. The RSP also displays external and internal
(computer) time if Ricochet Time Manager is running and an external time source is
attached. The green LED’s does not indicate alarm status for any of the services;
it is only an indication for the service’s run state.

Figure: Ricochet Service Control Panel

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Preventing shutdown of Windows

It is important to note that when the RSP is running it will prevent Windows from
shutting down. If the RSP is closed by the close button in the dialog it will just drop
down in the system tray next to the PC clock and be visualized as a blinking green LED.
By selecting File/Exit in the RSP menu the application itself will close.

RICOCHET MANAGEMENT CONSOLE

The main administrative tool used to manage a Ricochet system. Includes many
different user interfaces for different tasks, such as tuning, alarm management, user
management, etc.

The console is an application that can run on one or more Ricochet computers,
including replay clients if applicable. It provides a set of user interfaces to the various
operational and administrative tasks related to a Ricochet system. Most of the controls
are administrative. The controls are also called plug-ins. It may vary what plug-ins are
available, according to the specific application of Ricochet.
The Management Console will be available on the Start Menu and may also be
available with a direct link from the desktop.

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RICOCHET CONFIGURATION TOOL

A tool which provides detailed access to edit the configuration files.

Ricochet Configuration Tool is used to create and edit the XML files that represent
the configuration of the Ricochet software.

The tool is both a general XML editor, in that it can edit XML files based on any XML
schema, and also a Ricochet specific tool in that symbols and many functions are
specifically adapted for editing Ricochet configuration files.

Configuration files (XML files) are opened and loaded into the main tree, which shows
the structure of the files in a tree-view with different symbols representing the elements
used in the Ricochet XML Schema. An XML Schema is an XML file that defines XML
structure. All the functions in the tool is for editing the main file, and local configuration
files.

Figure: Ricochet Configuration Tool

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RICOCHET PROGRAM FILE LOCATIONS

C:\Ricochet
This directory and its sub folders contain all the files necessary to run the Ricochet
Logging & Replay System.

C:\Ricochet\Bin
All executables and DLLs are stored in C:\Ricochet\Bin.

C:\Ricochet\Tools
All programs needed for installation are available in the tools directory. This may contain
batch files and executables.

C:\Ricochet\Shortcuts
This directory contains all shortcuts defined for the installed system

C:\Ricochet\DLLs
The folder contains 3’rd party DLLs used by Ricochet.

C:\Ricochet\Database
The folder contains databases used by Ricochet.

C:\Ricochet\Include
The folder contains type library information needed during installation of Ricochet.

RICOCHET DATA FILE LOCATIONS

Log Folder:- C:\Log” (can be changed to any drive)

This is the main logging and replay folder. All log files will be created in this directory
and can be replayed from this directory. The folder is maintained by the Disk Manager.
Files may be erased after a certain time (defined by configuration).
The layout of the folder is as shown in Figure below.

Figure: Log Folder Structure

The folders directly below the log folder, called date folders, are created by the Ricochet
system every day. The name of the folder reflects the date it was created and has the
format of yyyymmdd. Where yyyy is the year, mm is month and dd is day.

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 RICOCHET DVTR

In the Log folder, there is a file called [Link]. This file defines the log file resolution of
the system and cannot be changed after the system has started its operation. The
content of the file is a number, which defines the duration, in minutes, of the log file. The
number must be of modulo 5 and not larger than 60. Normal value is 5 minutes and
default is 60 if file is missing.

Log files are created in the date folder at the interval specified in the [Link] file. For a
5 minutes file interval, typical contents will look like the as follows:

Figure: Typical Log Folder Content

The [Link] file will automatically be copied to the date folder when this is created.
Every dispatcher defined in the system will have its own file, and the dispatcher ID is
shown in the file extension. The log file has the following format: [Link] where
the name reflects the creation time (hour, minute and second) and the extension reflects
the dispatcher ID (dd in the extension).

In addition there will be an index file [Link] for fast indexing of the log files.

Quarantine Folder
This folder contains date folders with log files that an operator or administrator has
selected to keep away from the Disk Manager and hence the automatic erase
mechanism. The Quarantine folder can be specified in the Playback Path of the Replay
Manager and is therefore accessible for direct playback.

Figure: Quarantine Folder

When copying files from log directory to Quarantine directory it is important that the
[Link] file is copied as well.

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 RICOCHET DVTR

DVTR ARCHIVE SOFTWARE

The DVTR Archive Software is written specifically for daily data archiving on the DVTR
System. Only DVD-RAM discs are usable and new discs have to be erased by Nero
Burning Software for the first time before using on the software. Users must configure
the DVTR Archive Software before using it for operation. The software will start burning
5 minutes after the stated burning time.

The software will auto start up with the PC so no user intervention should be involved in
the starting up of the program.

2
1 5

7
6

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 RICOCHET DVTR

Legend

Channels

1: This part is a configuration of the software and MUST be edited by the user when the
software starts up.

Types of channels: The user MUST select the type of channels that the current system
is using. The recommended number of DVD-RAMs to be used will be determined by
this selection.

2: Intervals for burning: The number selected in the drop down list here will determine
when to start burning. The software will burn X hours of data from current burning time.
For example, if the 3 hours option is selected and the current time is [Link] PM, the
software will burn data from [Link] PM to [Link] PM.

User Intervention

This portion is only used when there is a need for users to intervene in the processes of
the software.

3: Time setter: This is to set the time for a force burn. The user will have to set the time
if they require to burn information on the DVD-RAM in case there was an error and the
auto burn time has been missed. The data burnt will be tied in with 1: Types of channels
and 2: Intervals for burning and will be X hours before time stated in the drop down list
where X the number of hours stated in 2.

4: Burn button: This will start the burning after 1, 2 & 3 are configured.

5: Erase button: This will do a quick erase on the DVD-RAMs in both drives.

6: Threshold editor: This is to edit the threshold date of the data on used discs. If the
archived data on the used disc is more than or equal to the number of days stated in the
text field, it will be allowed for erase so that new data can be written in. To edit the
threshold information, just click on the Change Threshold button to enable the text field,
put in the new threshold date and click the Update button (which is also the Change
Threshold button).

Miscellaneous

7: Progress bar. This shows the progress of burning and verifying the DVD-RAM.

8: Information field. This displays the information about what the software is currently
doing.

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 RICOCHET DVTR

In case the program is accidentally closed, double click ok the icon found on the
desktop:

Process

When the discs/disc is done burning and verifying, the software will prompt a message
box to the user; telling the user that it will eject the disc. After clicking on the message
box, the DVD-RAMs will be ejected from the drive. Another message box will prompt the
user to insert new DVD-RAMs into the drives for the next burning. The software will also
detect and check for discs in the drives. Before burning, another checking will be done
to ensure the validity of the discs.

Burning Time Schedule

Intervals for burning Burning time

24 [Link] AM

[Link] AM
12
[Link] PM

[Link] AM

8 [Link] AM

[Link] PM

[Link] AM

[Link] AM
6
[Link] PM

[Link] PM

[Link] AM

[Link] AM

[Link] AM

[Link] AM
3
[Link] PM

[Link] PM

[Link] PM

[Link] PM

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 RICOCHET DVTR

SUMMARY
Recording and storage of all voice communication between Air to Ground and Ground
to Ground is a basic requirement which is fulfilled by voice recording system or Digital
Voice Tape recorder (DVTR) equipments installed at airports. Recording media is
retained for at least 30 days.

Ricochet DVTR equipment can stores various types of data e.g. voice information,
Radar display or CCTV information. It is a modular system. It is based on LAN
architecture. Main & secondary systems are connected in LAN using Ethernet switch.
Simultaneous recording takes place both in Main and Secondary systems. Digital
information are fed to the system through LAN. The IP address/Machine name of Main
& Secondary systems are [Link]/ ARM_M & [Link]/ ARM_S respectively. In
AAI, Ricochet DVTRs are available in 8, 16,32,40,64 and 128 channels. Hardware sub
systems are RLU, NI Digitiser, rackmountable PC’s or Servers, Ethernet hub, Krone
distribution frame and cables. RLU is an interface module for analog input lines. It
receives analogue signals from Krone connecter and feeds it to NI digitizer. RLU is
available for 8,16,32,48 and 64 channels. For 8 and 16 channels, RLU PCI is
[Link]-32, 48.64 are external devices. NI Digitiser carries out analogue to digital
conversion. The digital signal so obtained is routed via LAN to Recorder where it is
stored on Hard disk. Digital data is fed to Recorder PC/server through LAN directly.

The Software is developed as Server/Client system. There are server programs and
client programs. These programs are developed as various software modules to run the
system. Examples of such modules are Audio Digitiser, Recording Server, Replay
Server, Disk Manager, Alarm Manager, Ricochet Web Service, Ricochet Replay Control
Panel(RCP), Ricochet Service Control Panel, Ricochet Configuration Tool, Ricochet
Management Console etc.

In Ricochet system, program files are stored in C:\ Ricochet folder. Data files are stored
by default in LOG folder available in root directory or one of the partitions of Hard disk.
Data is copied from hard disk to DVD as backup and to Quarantine folder to prevent it
from Automatic erase mechanism. Automatic copy of data from Hard disk to DVD is
achieved by DVTR Archive Software.

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 Table of Content

Exercise. No. CHAPTER NAME PAGE No.

Exercise 1 Hardware familiarization 1
Exercise 2 Describe all the icons on Desktop 4
Exercise 3 Show and explain Ricochet Service Control Panel 5
applications
Exercise 4 Show and explain Ricochet Replay control Panel 7
applications
Exercise 5 Show and explain Ricochet Management console 20
applications
Exercise 6 Show and explain Ricochet web service applications 30
Exercise 7 Show and explain Ricochet DVTR Archive Software 40
window
 Exercise 1

Hardware familiarization

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 Exercise 2

Describe all the icons on Desktop.

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 Exercise 3

Show and explain Ricochet Service Control Panel applications

RICOCHET SERVICE CONTROL PANEL

The Ricochet Service Control Panel is a service monitor program. Its only purpose is
to control and monitor the different Ricochet Services.

Figure 1 Ricochet Service Control Panel

The user interface is a simple form with a list of services. The list box holds a list of all
the services the RSP is configured to start and monitor. Right-clicking an item will
show a pop up menu where the user can show/hide/start/stop the selected process. If
the application is minimized it will show up in the Windows system tray in lower right
corner of the screen. If the RSP is closed, either accidentally or by purpose, starting
RSP again will result in only the running services being shown. If some of the services
are stopped, RSP will start them if configured to do so. The RSP also displays
external and internal (computer) time if Ricochet Time Manager is running and an
external time source is attached. The green LED’s does not indicate alarm status for
any of the services, it is only an indication for the service’s run state.

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Preventing shutdown of Windows
It is important to note that when the RSP is running it will prevent Windows from
shutting down. If the RSP is closed by the close button in the dialog it will just drop
down in the system tray next to the PC clock and be visualised as a blinking green
LED. By selecting File/Exit in the RSP menu the application itself will close.

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 Exercise 4

Show and explain Ricochet Replay control Panel applications

RICOCHET REPLAY CONTROL PANEL

Getting Started

To open the Replay Control Panel, double-click on its icon on the Windows desktop.

Login

Figure 1 Ricochet Replay Control Panel Login

In order to access any function in the panel, the user is required to log in with a valid
Windows user name and password. Each user may be granted different access levels
to individual replay functions and sources by an administrator.

Initial Display of RCP

When it appears the RCP is shown with all the functions and display areas visible.

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 Figure 2 Ricochet Replay Control Panel

There are four main areas

Replay controls
Replay controls features playback control such as play, pause, rewind and fast
forward. In addition the clock and time sectors are also placed here.
Source Selection
Features a tabbed list view where all the recorded sources are listed, grouped by type
of source, such as audio, radar, CCTV, etc. Each source has a checkbox for enabling
or disabling playback of that particular source.
Information
It features a tabbed list view, where the user can select to display stored bookmarks.
Dispatcher Activity
The largest and most useful area is the dispatcher activity view. This view shows one
line for each source, and draws a graphical view of the activity of each channel, on a

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variable time scale. The dispatcher activity view behaves differently in Real-time and
Playback mode.

Playback and Real-time Modes

An important feature in the RCP is the ability to quickly switch between the two modes
Real-time and Playback. These two modes are explained in detail in the next two main
sections of this manual. There are two buttons at the top left of the RCP that are used
to select mode, as shown in the figure below.
Playback mode is, as the term indicates, used when previously recorded data shall be
replayed.
In Real-time mode the panel can be used to monitor whatever traffic is being recorded
at the moment.
Thus, the user can through the RCP select for instance one or more radio channels
and listen to the ongoing voice communication(s).
In reality the Real-time mode operates as an instant playback, where playback of
recorded data is performed instantly, such that there is practically no delay, typically a
fraction of a second, thus the term real-time is used. When the system is in playback
mode the button labelled “Playback” will flash green

Figure 3 Playback or Real-time Mode Selection

Source Selection
It is valid for both Real-time mode and Playback mode. Depending on configuration of
the system the Source Selection area will show a list of sources, with tabs for
selecting sources of different types, such as Audio, Radars, CCTV, etc.
For each group all channels (sources) are listed. The names are as configured for the
system .Each channel can be selected by clicking on the checkbox next to the name.
Selected channels are displayed with a check mark in the list.
Only the selected audio channels will be audible. Source selections have the same
effect in Real-time mode as in Playback mode. In Real-time mode the user can select
and deselect channels by clicking on the checkboxes. If more than one audio channel
is selected, the user will hear a mix of all the selected channels.

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 Figure 4 Source Selection

Display Filter
It is possible to limit the number of sources displayed in the Dispatcher Activity View
by applying a Display Filter.
Right-click in the dispatcher activity view and the pop-up menu will appear.

Select Display Filter and a dialogue as shown in Figure 5 will appear. In this dialogue
it is possible to select which sources that shall be displayed in the dispatcher activity
view. The example of selections in the dialogue shown here will produce the result
shown in the bottom part of the figure. Select and deselect sources by clicking in the
[Link] buttons Show all and Hide all will select all and deselect all,
respectively.

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 Figure 5 Display Filter

Server Information
The RCP's server information, displays the current recording server we are connected
to and the current playback location.

Figure 6 Server Information

Playback Location
Selecting this item enables replay from an alternative [Link] playback
locations are: D:\LOG (default log directory);E:\LOG (CD/DVD Drive);E:\ (CD/DVD
Drive)
The RCP must be in Realtime mode when selecting new playback path. The location
field will be greyed out if the system is running in Playback mode. Alternative locations
can be added on customer’s demand.

Figure 7 Select Playback Location

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Real-time Mode
When the RCP opens in Real-time mode, the clock shows the present time and no
sources will be selected and therefore no audio is heard. The communication on the
selected channels can be heard in the speakers. The volume can be adjusted in two
ways
· Adjust the volume with the proper knob on the speakers, if such are present.
· Adjust the volume button in the control panel using the mouse. Place the cursor over
it, left click and hold the mouse button while turning the button.
Note that when listening to audio in Real-time the data comes from the Digitiser
process and have not actually been recorded to disc.
Dispatcher Activity View
One of the most useful features of the RCP is the Dispatcher Activity View as
illustrated in Figure 9. It shows graphical information for each channel in the selected
source group.
In Real-time mode it plots the activity relative to the baseline for each channel as
audio is detected. Selected channels are plotted in bright yellow and not selected
channels are plotted in grey. This means that it is possible to see whether there is an
activity on channels that are not selected. The time scale, which is the horizontal axis,
can be varied between the limits 7.5 minutes and 24 hours. The defaults scale is 15
minutes when RCP starts.

Figure 8 Range Selector

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 Figure 9 Dispatcher Activity View - Real-time

Current Dispatcher Activity

Figure 10 shows the current dispatcher activity bar. It continuously shows the activity
level for each channel. The name of each channel can be seen in a tool tip by moving
the cursor over the display.

Figure 10 Current Dispatcher Activity

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Bookmarks
Bookmarks may be stored with an associated text field. Typically the user assigns a
bookmark to an particular scenario or conversation, and can later use the bookmark
list to quickly replay that scenario.
- Bookmarks can be added by clicking the BA button in the Play Control area.

- This opens a simple dialogue where a description of the bookmark can be entered
for later reference. Simply add a description and click OK.

Figure 11 New Bookmark Dialogue

All bookmarks appear in the Bookmark List, as shown in Figure 12. The list shows
date and time for each bookmark as well as the description. Bookmarks are
permanently stored in the user’s workspace and can be retrieved at any time.
· Click on a bookmark in the list to view the complete description in the text area below
the list.
· To delete a bookmark, click on it in the list to select it and press the Delete button on
the keyboard.

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 Figure 12 Bookmarks
Playback Mode
The main purpose of the Replay Control Panel is to control playback of previously
recorded data. It features tools for finding and selecting data, as well as playback
controls.
Finding and Selecting Data for Replay
Sections of recorded data can be retrieved in 2 different ways. The next two sections
describes this in detail.
1) Get History
i) Before recorded data can be selected, the RCP must be in Playback mode. If it
is not click the Playback button.
ii) Press the Get History button. This will show the Dispatcher History dialogue, as
shown in Figure 13. The leftmost list shows all the dates for which recorded
data exist on-line.

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 Figure 13 Dispatcher History Dialogue

iii) Select a date by clicking on it. The rightmost list will then display all the log files
present for that date.

iv) Select a time by clicking on it in the list.

v) Click the OK button to activate the selection

vi) The playback starts from the time selected.

2) Selecting from Activity View

If the time span to replay is within the time span shown in the Dispatcher Activity View,
a short cut selection can be made. Just click inside the Dispatcher Activity view and
replay starts automatically.
Select one or more channel(s) to hear audio in the loudspeakers.

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Dispatcher Activity View on Playback
In Playback mode the Dispatcher Activity view shows segments of recorded data for
all the sources over the selected time-span. The selected time is placed in the centre
of the window. This means that the user may look at data ahead of selected time and
see what data is available.

Figure 14 Dispatcher Activity - Playback

The red vertical line is always placed in the middle of the screen and represents the
time selected through the Replay controls or through a bookmark.
The green vertical line moves towards the right during replay to indicate the progress.
When moving the cursor over the view a tool tip shows the time.
a. During replay, the operator can right click anywhere within the activity screen to
show the popup menu, then select the Playback from menu item, and replay will
jump to that time. This can also be achieved by just clicking inside the activity
view.

b. The centre of the view can be changed by right click inside the view and select
“Offset display” from the popup menu. The view will be centered about the
selected time.

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c. It is possible to loop playback of a selected time span. Check the Loop checkbox
below the Dispatcher Activity View. The symbol on the Play button will change to
indicate that looping is selected. Mark a selected area by holding down the shift
key and dragging the mouse. A blue area will be indicating the loop selection.

d. If Auto Enable Source is checked the channel under the mouse position is
automatically enabled when playback is started by clicking on the channel.

Playback Controls
The Play Control area features standard functions like Play, Stop, Pause, Fast
Forward and Reverse.
These are accessed through common symbols used on ordinary replay equipments
like tape recorders etc.
The panel also contains buttons for functions related to bookmarks and message
indicators.

Figure 15 Replay Controls

Current replay time is shown together with selected time zone information. A VU meter
indicates audio signal strength (the highest if more than one source is selected).
Play and Pause
When Play is pushed the arrow on the button turns to green and the button clearly
shows that it is pushed in. Replay is stopped by pressing the Play button again and it
will be released and appear in an inactive state.
Rewind and Fast Forward
There are two buttons for selecting fast forward play and reverse play.
A speed control is used for changing the speed at which the replay is performed.
If the Audio Filter component is registered inside the RCP then the “timestretch”
function is enabled. The effect is that the speed of the audio playback is changed
based on the speed control’s value. Setting Speed control to 1 (default) means normal
audio playback, slower means slower playback of audio etc.

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Playback from Bookmarks
· If there is a replay in progress, stop it by clicking the Play button to release.
· To replay from a bookmark simply double click on it in the bookmark list. The RCP
will change to Playback mode and start playing from the time stored in the selected
bookmark. The channels selected when the bookmark was created will also be
enabled automatically.
It is also possible to add new bookmarks in Playback mode.
Quarantine
The RCP also features copying data into quarantine. This can be done in two ways,
1) By selecting the time span in the history activity view (hold down shift while
dragging the mouse) and clicking the Quarantine button
2) By clicking on the “Quarantine” button. If no time span is selected the dialog
box appearing will ask for “from date/time and to date/time”. All data for the
selected period is then copied to the Quarantine folder (usually D:\Quarantine).
Data in Quarantine will not be deleted automatically.

Creating WAV file

Wav files can be created directly from the RCP. Select a channel, mark the time span
in the history activity view (hold down shift while dragging the mouse), right click inside
the blue ribbon and select “Create Wav file”. The files are pr. default saved in
C:\RicoWave on the recorder.

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 Exercise 5

Show and explain Ricochet Management console applications

RICOCHET MANAGEMENT CONSOLE

It provides a set of user interfaces to the various operational and administrative tasks
related to a Ricochet system. Most of the controls are administrative. The controls are
also called plug-ins. It may vary which plug-ins are available, according to the specific
application of Ricochet. The Management Console will be available on the Start Menu
and may also be available with a direct link from the desktop.

Logon
On invoking the management console application, the console will prompt the Logon
dialogue. Enter a valid Windows and Ricochet user name and password to enter the
console.

Figure 1 Ricochet Logon

User Interface
The console is a container for various plug-in functions and features a menu and a
button bar to the left. The Menu has two items belonging to the console itself, and one
menu item for each plug-in loaded.

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 Figure 2 Ricochet Management Console

Common Controls
The menu items corresponding to the plug-ins are disabled unless the plug-in is in
focus. When a plugin is displayed its menu becomes available item.

The button bar is shown in the following figure. It has one item for each plug-in loaded.
To display a plug-in click the symbol in the button bar. It will be highlighted with a
green border.

Figure 3 Button Bar

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If there are more plug-ins loaded than there is room for in the button bar, the bar can
be scrolled up and down using the scroll buttons at the top and bottom of the bar.

The following figure shows an example of a plug-in menu, in this case the Alarm
Handler. All menu functions applicable to the plug-in are listed under the single plug-in
main menu item.

Figure 4 Plug-in Menu

Source Names
This plug-in is one of the simplest and provides the possibility to name the sources
recorded by a Ricochet system. These sources are stored in the configuration file
(XML file) on each computer.
To display the Source Names , click its icon in the button bar. It consists of a drop-
down menu for selection of dispatcher and a list of source names.
Select the appropriate dispatcher and the list of current source names will be
displayed.
Double click on a source name to open it for editing and type in the desired name.
To save the changes click the Save button below the list.

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 Figure 5 Source Names Plug-in

Audio Line Configuration

The Audio Configuration plug-in offers the possibility to view and tune signals through
the Ricochet digitiser software. It connects directly to the digitiser and views live
signals. Also adjustments can be made directly and the effect immediately seen (and
heard if a replay control panel is running in realtime alongside).
To display the plug-in, click its icon in the computer bar.

It is split into three main parts, line activity bar, line signal scope and configuration
parameter grid.

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 Figure 6 Audio Configuration Plug-in
Select sampler (often only one) from the drop-down menu at the top of the plug-in
working area.
Signal Displays
After selecting sampler, activity on all the lines will be displayed in the line activity bar
at the top.

Figure 7 Line Activity Bar

To view the signal for a single line, select it by clicking on it in the line activity bar.

Figure 8 Line Signal Scope

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Scaling of the scope can be done using the slider to the right of the scope.
Dragging the blue line will result in new readings indicated in the “Reading” and “DBm”
text fields. This is for manual measurement only, and does not affect the
configuration.
The yellow line indicates the threshold level, and is fixed based on the configuration
set in the XML file.
Average value indicates the signal level from the National Instruments digitizer
card(s).
Check the “Logarithmic” checkbox to change the graph layout to using a logarithmic
view instead of a linear view.

Click the “Autoscale” [Link] will scale the graph to match the level of the signal.

The following parameters are available for adjustment for each line. Use the input
fields, checkboxes and drop-down menus to set values.

Figure 9 Line Configuration Grid

ADRng (AD Range)

Specifies the range of the AD converter. Refer to HW manual for the digitiser card
to determine available range.

[Link] (Threshold)
Levels, of average normalized value of current sample window, above this value will
be sent on LAN. The threshold is used to remove silence periods. And should only
be applied for a well defined background level.

[Link] (Threshold delay)

This is the amount of time in n*120msec before the threshold mechanism is
engaged when the signal level drops below the threshold level.

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Codec
The digitiser supports up to 32 codecs. The codecs are identified by the digitiser, as
indexes,where every index is represented by a predefined codec.
Gband (Guardband)
Defines a percentage of the AD Range at which we will expect the nominal input
signal. Signals above this level will be normalized.
AGC Parameters
- AGC Enable : Enables AGC on the selected channel.
- AGCDetect : Lowest Rms level at which AGC will engage.
- AGCMaxGain : Maximum gain factor the AGC algorithm will use to amplify or reduce
the signal. The factor is defined in dB (default is 40 dB).
- AGCTargetAmplitude : - Desired signal level after amplification or reduction. The
parameter is given in dB. Default value is 3dB.

To set the parameters entered for a line click the Set button at the far right of the
appropriate line’s parameters.

Version Check
This plug-in is one of the simpler and provides the possibility to check software
component versions installed against a pre-set list of component version for each
Ricochet release. To display the plug-in ,click the Version button in the button bar.

Figure 10 Version Check Plug-in

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Alarm Management

To display the Alarm Handler click its icon in the button bar.
Below is a sample screenshot with some alarms just for informational purpose:

Figure 11 Alarm Handler Plug-in

Alarm Handling
When a computer is selected, unacknowledged alarms will be displayed in the list,
with different icons for information, warning and critical type alarms, as shown in
Figure 12.

Figure 12 Alarms List

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To acknowledge alarms select the applicable alarm(s) in the list and either right click
in the list and select acknowledge, or select the “Acknowledge selected” menu item in
the Alarms menu .
To acknowledge all alarms on a computer select the computer and select the
“Acknowledge all” menu item.
To refresh (is done automatically after acknowledging alarms) select “Refresh” from
the menu.
To delete all alarms for a computer select the computer and then select the “Delete
all” menu item.

Figure 13 Alarm Handler Menu

Figure 14 Acknowledge Alarm

Alarms Report
To print or save a list of alarms select “Report…” from the Alarms menu. This will
produce the form shown in Figure 15.
Select desired period using the date controls, select computers to be included and
click the Generate Report button. This will display an alarms report in the form.
To print the report click the Print Report button and use the regular print for to select
printer and printer options.
To save the report, click the Save to File button. This will produce the standard
Windows Save as form. Enter a file name and save. Note that it is saved as an HTML
file (web page).

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 Figure 15 Alarms Report

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 Exercise 6

Show and explain Ricochet Web service applications

RICOCHET WEB SERVICE

Ricochet Web Service is a set of web pages for intranet use, providing additional
functions to the Ricochet Logging and Replay System, relate to alarms, status and
maintenance.
It is realised by having the Ricochet recorder hosting a MS Internet Information
Server. But it is not open for visitors over the Internet. The Web Service can be
reached using a regular MS Internet Explorer on any computer connected to the same
LAN. The three main sections are: Status, Alarms and Administration.

Status
The status pages show log disk status and the Disk Manager configuration
parameters.

Alarms
Here alarms issued by the Ricochet system are displayed. Alarms can be
acknowledged one by one or all at once. Also alarms can be configured here, such
that it is possible to select which alarms that shall issue an alarm to an external alarm
panel, and which ones that shall just give an audible alarm.

Administration

Relevant here are details on Ricochet computer name and locations of configuration
files (XML file), administration of Web Service users and database maintenance.

GETTING STARTED
In order to get into the Web Service you need three things
• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• The URL to the Web Service
• A user name and password

The system administrator is the one that can provide the user name and password.
Open Internet Explorer and type the URL into the address field and click the Go
button.

Figure 1 Web Service URL

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Login
The first page shown is the welcome page, with the logon form, see Figure 2.
To enter the Web Service type the user name and password into the fields and click
the Enter button with the mouse.

Figure 2 Login Screen

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The three main sections can be reached by clicking on the buttons at the top right
corner.

Figure 3 Main Menu

Each main section has its own sub-menu, as shown in the left part of the screen in
Figure 5

Status
The status section provides simple disk status.

Disk Status
Click the Status button in the main menu and then select the Disk Status sub-menu
item to display the disk status, as shown in Figure 5

Figure 5 Disk status

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The top table shows the data most recently entered into the database by the Disk
Manager software. It shows the following information
Amount of logged data
Information displayed in days, hours and minutes rather than bytes.
Used space on log disk
Information displayed both in bytes and percent
Size of log disk
Information displayed in bytes
Limits violated?
Either YES or NO. If yes it means that the actual state of the log disk does not comply
with one or more the values set for the parameters
1. Minimum disk space
2. Required number of days on-line
3. Desired number of days on-line
The bottom table shows the values of some of the parameter values set for the Disk
Manager in the configuration file.

Alarms
The Alarms section displays details on alarms issued by the system. The Alarm list by
default, only show unacknowledged alarms and messages, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Alarms Main Screen

The details in the list are

Date and time when the alarm was issued.
Which application on which computer that issued the alarm.

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A message field with the standard message for the specific alarm, as well as
additional information provided by the software module that raised the alarm.
The severity, where the severity critical has specific significance, as will be explained
below.
The Ackn column, which shows a red checkbox if the alarm has not been
acknowledged and shows a checked green checkbox if the alarm has been
acknowledged.

There are a few different options on what to display in the alarm list. Default is
unacknowledged alarms and messages only.
To display all alarms and messages check the Show acknowledged checkbox and
click the Refresh button.
To display alarms only (in any combination with the other checkbox) check the Show
alarms only checkbox and click Refresh.

Figure 7 Alarm List with Acknowledged alarms

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Acknowledge Alarm
Alarms can be acknowledged in two ways
Click in the red checkbox in the Ackn column next to the relevant alarm to
acknowledge one alarm only.

Click the Ackn All button at the top of the list to acknowledge all alarms at once.
In both cases a message is sent to the Ricochet Alarm Manager to read the database
for new alarm status. If any of the alarms were enabled for WatchDog and audible,
this action will silence the alarm and reset the external alarm panel to normal
conditions.

Alarm Details
More details on each alarm can be displayed by clicking on the small icon to the right
in the Message column in the alarm list. This will open a separate window with a
report type display showing all the details present in the database for that alarm.
Some of this information will be general for the particular alarm type, as will be
explained below.
The alarm details are displayed as shown in Figure 8 in order to make it an easily
printable format.

Figure 8 Alarm Details

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Alarm Messages
All alarms are of a predefined type, thus associated with a specific alarm message.
When an alarm is issued, the details pertaining what actions to be taken by the Alarm
Manager and to some extent what messages to display, are predefined and stored in
the database. These predefined alarm types can be edited on administrator level. To
enter alarm messages select the Alarm Messages sub-menu item. A list of alarm
messages will appear as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9 Alarm Messages

Alarm Actions
In the three columns to the right in the alarm messages list, Audible, SNMP and
WatchDog there are checkboxes for enabling and disabling these actions for each
individual alarm. For each alarm
Check the Audible box to make the Alarm Manager play an alarm sound if this alarm
is issued.
Check the SNMP box to enable the SNMP trap mechanism, which can be set up to
send messages to technical personnel.

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Check the WatchDog box to make the Alarm Manager active the signal on the dry
contact interface, which if such implemented that it will active the alarm lamp in the
control room.

Administration

Database Maintenance

There are a few simple links to functions that perform cleanup in the database, as
stated in the list, as shown in the figure below.

Click the relevant link to perform the clean-up action stated.

A confirmation box will be shown, where it is possible to cancel.
If the action is not cancelled the clean-up action is not reversible.

Figure 10Database Maintenance

Configuration Files
NOTE Do not make changes to configuration details without consulting your Ricochet
dealer as changing settings here could cause the Ricochet system to seriously
malfunction.
Click on the “Config. files” menu item to show the list of configuration files. There
should always be two files in the list, no more and no less.

Figure 11 Configuration Files

To edit the details click the icon in the left column. This will produce the form shown
in Figure 12.
Edit details as applicable, and as instructed by your Ricochet supplier and click
Update to Save.
In some cases a re-boot of the computer may be necessary for the changes to take
effect.

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 Figure 12 Configuration File Details

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 Exercise 7

Show and explain Ricochet DVTR Archive Software window.

RICOCHET DVTR ARCHIVE SOFTWARE

The DVTR Archive Software is written specifically for daily data archiving on the DVTR
System. Only DVD-RAM discs are usable and new discs have to be erased by Nero
Burning Software for the first time before using on the software. Users must configure
the DVTR Archive Software before using it for operation. The software will start
burning 5 minutes after the stated burning time.

The software will auto start up with the PC so no user intervention should be involved
in the starting up of the program.

2
1 5

7
6

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Legend

Channels

1: This part is a configuration of the software and MUST be edited by the user when
the software starts up.

Types of channels: The user MUST select the type of channels that the current
system is using. The recommended number of DVD-RAMs to be used will be
determined by this selection.

2: Intervals for burning: The number selected in the drop down list here will
determine when to start burning. The software will burn X hours of data from current
burning time. For example, if the 3 hours option is selected and the current time is
[Link] PM, the software will burn data from [Link] PM to [Link] PM.

User Intervention

This portion is only used when there is a need for users to intervene in the processes
of the software.

3: Time setter: This is to set the time for a force burn. The user will have to set the
time if they require to burn information on the DVD-RAM in case there was an error
and the auto burn time has been missed. The data burnt will be tied in with 1: Types of
channels and 2: Intervals for burning and will be X hours before time stated in the drop
down list where X the number of hours stated in 2.

4: Burn button: This will start the burning after 1, 2 & 3 are configured.

5: Erase button: This will do a quick erase on the DVD-RAMs in both drives.

6: Threshold editor: This is to edit the threshold date of the data on used discs. If the
archived data on the used disc is more than or equal to the number of days stated in
the text field, it will be allowed for erase so that new data can be written in. To edit the
threshold information, just click on the Change Threshold button to enable the text
field, put in the new threshold date and click the Update button (which is also the
Change Threshold button).

Miscellaneous

7: Progress bar. This shows the progress of burning and verifying the DVD-RAM.

8: Information field. This displays the information about what the software is currently
doing.

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In case the program is accidentally closed, double click ok the icon found on the
desktop:

Process

When the discs/disc is done burning and verifying, the software will prompt a message
box to the user; telling the user that it will eject the disc. After clicking on the message
box, the DVD-RAMs will be ejected from the drive. Another message box will prompt
the user to insert new DVD-RAMs into the drives for the next burning. The software
will also detect and check for discs in the drives. Before burning, another checking will
be done to ensure the validity of the discs.

Burning Time Schedule

Intervals for burning Burning time

24 [Link] AM

[Link] AM
12
[Link] PM

[Link] AM

8 [Link] AM

[Link] PM

[Link] AM

[Link] AM
6
[Link] PM

[Link] PM

[Link] AM

[Link] AM

[Link] AM

[Link] AM
3
[Link] PM

[Link] PM

[Link] PM

[Link] PM

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