nControl Squared – Initial Layout

July 10th, 2009 No comments

We have started the initial PCB layout today for the nControl^2 product. This run at the layout is more to get a feel for the required overall dimensions of the finished product. At this stage it is looking like the product will fit into a 75mmx75mmx20mm case which is pretty close to the size that we were hoping for. There will be 8 USB ports stacked vertically down one side, and then the Power, Ethernet, HDMI, and a Console port on the opposite side.

Rough PCB layout for the nControl Squared product

With this PCB rough layout done, we are now able to focus on the case design to suit the PCB. It is a bit of a balancing act to get the case and the PCB designs to match up however we are hoping that the new versions of the Altium PCB tools that we are using will allow to verify the fit.

nControl Squared – USB Design

July 9th, 2009 No comments

Today saw the design of the USB circuits for the nControl^2. The goal of the design is to provide 8 USB 2.0 Host ports all capable of providing 500mA power to peripheral devices. To maxamize the bandwidth available to the end devices, I am using 2 High Speed interfaces on the OMAP processor and then using a 4 port USB Hub chip to provide the four powered ports from each of the OMAPs host ports.

The 500mA at 5V required by each port means that in total all 8 ports will require 4A at 5V, or 20W. This will be the major factor in the specification and design of the Power Supply for the nControl^2.
On each of the ports, an common mode EMI filter, has been added to the D-/D+ lines. ESD protection is also added to these lines and Ferrite Beads have been used to try and prevent any EMI issues with the power lines on the ports.
I found on the last nControl project that EMI certification was an issue, and we were only able to achieve FCC Class A certification as there was some intermodulation products from the 25MHz oscillator for the Ethernet PHYs. I am hoping by going to these lengths I will avoid conducted emmissions, and also minimise rediated emmissions to make for an easier certification track down the road.
If anyone has had experience with FCC / CE Certification of USB hubs, I would be keen to hear if there is anything else that I need to look out for on this one.

Clearbox Systems at SMPTE09

July 7th, 2009 Comments off

SMPTE09Clearbox Systems is pleased to announce that it is exhibiting at the 2009 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) Conference and Exhibition.

The exhibit will showcase Clearbox Systems’ latest Monitoring and Control (M & C) product and service offerings.  Additionally, Clearbox Systems will be representing Newpoint Technologies Inc., its key international partner, at the show; strengthening Clearbox Systems as an expert global provider of Monitoring and Control Systems.

Clearbox Systems delivers world leading Monitoring and Control systems with the aim of Keeping You In Control of your devices. To showcase how Clearbox Systems is meeting this aim the stand will contain:

Newpoint Compass Live Demonstration

Clearbox Systems will have a live demonstration of Compass™, Newpoint’s powerful Monitoring and Control suite.

This will include monitoring and control of several common broadcast devices locally on the stand. This will be accomplished using Newpoint’s Mercury Element Manger, of which Clearbox Systems is the official Australian reseller.

Also, in a SMPTE first, Clearbox Systems will be interfacing their Newpoint Compass demonstration system with the equipment on display at the stands of several other participating exhibitors.  This will include equipment on display by Lumina Broadcast Systems, TJH Systems and other exhibitors. (see map for stand locations).  Remote monitoring will be accomplished ‘at the device’ using nControl – Clearbox Systems’ flagship hardware solution to the M & C problem.

nControl: An innovative solution to the M & C Problem

Clearbox Systems is pleased to be showcasing nControl, an Australian developed and manufactured product that is sold internationally. Offering unmatched cost effective reliability and scalability, and harnessing the power of Newpoint’s Compass™ software suite, nControl is the ideal network management solution for small isolated sites.

For the first time Clearbox Systems will also be providing a sneak peek at nControl2; the latest generation in the nControl family. Be the first to witness the new, smaller look and an awesome increase in performance and unmatched flexibility.

Monitoring and Control Experts

Clearbox Systems’ boasts a number of Monitoring and Control experts from around the globe including:

Paul Solomon (General Manager, Clearbox Systems);
Richard Antecki (Development and Operations Manager, Clearbox Systems);
and a senior representative from Newpoint Technologies Inc.

These experts will be available at the stand to ensure any M&C queries are answered.

Where you can find Clearbox Systems:

Clearbox Systems will be exhibiting on Stand D38 find us on the map here.

Exhibition Details:

July 21 – 24, 2009

Tuesday – Thursday 10am – 6pm

Friday – 10am – 3pm

Sydney Exhibition Centre

Darling Harbour, Australia

www.smpte.com.au

For more information about Clearbox Systems at SMPTE09 or any other queries, contact:

info@clearboxsystems.com.au

nControl Squared development begins

July 7th, 2009 No comments

I have started the development of the nControl^2 (or nControl Squared). The nControl^2 follows on from the nControl which was a small embedded Linux device that was designed specifically to act as a remote monitoring and control node for use with the Newpoint Compass software.

The new nControl^2 will be half the size and square (which is how we came up with the squared name). We have an initial case design following the stylings of the original nControl as shown in the pic to the right.
We are basing this board around the Gumstix Overo CPU module which will give it 600MHz of processing power and 256MB of RAM. It is an ARM core CPU which means it can run Ubuntu (ARM Port) and Windows CE right out of the box. Which should make it easy for people to use.
The initial tech specs that we are shooting for are:
  • 600MHz OMAP 3503 CPU
  • 256MB RAM
  • 1 x 10/100BaseT Ethernet Port
  • 8 x USB 2.0 Host ports
  • 1 x DVI-D video output
  • 1 x USB Debug console port
  • 1 x Mini SD for Filesystem (up to 8GB)
  • Battery backed RTC
  • Power: 9-28VDC, 25W Max (when all USB ports are providing power)

I am hoping that this will be a useful little computing device for many people and would like feedback on any specifications or features that you would like to see in this product. It is expected that we will have the first prototypes ready in approximately 3 months, post comments now if you would like to see any other features included in this development.

Let me know what applications that you would use a product like this for, I am currently expecting the end use to be in areas like:
  • Remote Monitoring & Control
  • Automation
  • Car PC
  • Robotics development
  • Experimantal flight computer (UAV / Hobby)

We will make USB peripherals and drivers available to suit the different markets, for example industrial grade USB serial ports for Automation, and USB GPS for Robotics etc… Also post back to let me know what peripherals would be good to develop.

For reference there are at least 2 other projects based on this same CPU (the OMAP35xx series) and that is the Beagle Board, and the Pandora Console.

Clearbox Systems reseller for Newpoint Technologies

April 20th, 2009 Comments off

Following the partnership between Newpoint Technologies Inc. and Clearbox System for the release of nControl; Clearbox Systems if pleased to announce that it has become an authorised reseller of Newpoint NMS Products.

This further cements Clearbox Systems as a leader in Monitoring and Control system product and service offerings.

Clearbox Systems continues to offer full turnkey installations, help desk and support contracts for Network Management Systems in Australia and abroad.

For more information on purchasing Newpoint NMS products, email:
info@clearboxsystems.com.au

Newpoint Technologies Inc.

Case Study – GlobeCast Australia

November 28th, 2008 Comments off

Clearbox Systems has undertaken installation of a Network Management System (NMS) for GlobeCast Australia. The system was installed at a site in the heart of Sydney.

The NMS provides 24/7 remote site monitoring and control of satellite uplink equipment and is synthesised with a 24/7 MCR environment.

The key tasks performed on the project were:
  • Specialist software development;
  • Customer specific scripting and automation;
  • Custom graphical and representation of devices and functionality.

The installation included use of Newpoint Technologies monitoring and control systems, of which Clearbox Systems is an authorised reseller.

GlobeCast Australia

PRESS RELEASE: Newpoint Technologies and Clearbox Systems Join Forces

April 7th, 2008 Comments off

SALEM, N.H. and SYDNEY, Australia, April 7, 2008.

PRESS RELEASE

Newpoint Technologies, Inc. and Clearbox Systems Pty. Ltd today announced the introduction of the new nControl product to allow management of small sites that previously were cost prohibitive to effectively manage remotely. nControl is an innovative, cost effective entrant into the market specifically designed to be the complete solution for small remote sites. Usually, these sites are unmanned and as such, it is expensive and time consuming to dispatch technicians to the site to resolve problems, but previously there were no cost effective solutions available on the market to remotely monitor and control these sites.

“The partnership between Clearbox and Newpoint with the introduction of the nControl product will allow customers to manage sites that were previously too small to economically monitor and control remotely.” stated Wally Martland, President of Newpoint, “Operators will be able to easily and rapidly remotely manage and recover these sites without incurring the high costs of dispatching technicians to recover routine failures, providing an immediate return on their investment.”

Each nControl module consists of a low power, industrial CPU with dual isolated serial and Ethernet ports. A removable SD card allows software and configuration to be moved from module to module, making replacing units or deploying new sites very quick and easy. The SD Card also houses the powerful Newpoint Compass(TM) Software Suite. nControl’s low power design (<10W) and broad input voltage range makes it an ideal choice especially in sites that have power constraints.

Compass(TM) provides an extensive driver library which includes support for over 700 different devices ranging from transmitters, microwave radios, UPS and power generators, to standard earth station equipment. Compass also has an SNMP manager which allows the nControl unit to monitor SNMP compatible equipment such as routers, bridges, and firewalls. The Compass SNMP Agent allows data from the remote site to be made available to other management applications. nControl neatly integrates with existing Compass installations by supporting Newpoint’s centralized system administration and management software.

“By combining a small, resilient module with the experience and stability of Newpoint’s Compass software suite, nControl offers exciting new possibilities for operators of smaller sites. This new approach means that for many customers, monitoring and control can reach further out into a network than was previously feasible because of cost constraints.” said Paul Solomon, President of Clearbox Systems.

nControl will be displayed on the Newpoint Technologies stand, Booth C9837 Central Hall, at the NAB Show, in Las Vegas from April 14-17th 2008.

About Clearbox Systems

Clearbox Systems Pty. Ltd, is an Australian firm proudly developing market leading technology for the satellite, broadcast, and telecommunications industries. Clearbox Systems has specialist knowledge in product development and years of experience in remote control and monitoring. Clearbox Systems provides a range of services including software development, hardware design, project management and turnkey design and installation of remote monitoring and control solutions.

About Newpoint Technologies

Newpoint Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Integral Systems, Inc., is an industry leader in Satellite and Terrestrial Network Management Systems for control of data, Internet, broadcast, telecom, and hybrid networks. Newpoint has also been the industry’s dominant supplier of software and hardware for remote site management products. Newpoint’s principal customers are commercial satellite operators, telecommunications companies, broadcasters, and broadband service providers. Newpoint delivers a range of services, from out-of-the-box software to complete turnkey solutions that manage large enterprise-level infrastructure systems.

About Integral Systems

Founded in 1982, Integral Systems is a leading provider of satellite ground systems and has supported more than 205 different satellite missions for communications, science, meteorological, and earth resource applications. Integral Systems was the first company to offer an integrated suite of Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) software products for satellite command and control: the EPOCH Integrated Product Suite (IPS) product line. EPOCH IPS has become the world market leader in commercial applications with successful installations on five continents.

Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, SAT Corporation, Integral Systems provides satellite and terrestrial communications signal monitoring systems to satellite operators and users throughout the world. Through its Newpoint Technologies, Inc., subsidiary, Integral Systems also provides software for equipment monitoring and control to satellite operators, broadcasters, and telecommunications firms. Integral Systems’ RT Logic subsidiary builds telemetry processing systems for military applications, including tracking stations, control centers, and range operations. Integral Systems’ Lumistar, Inc., subsidiary provides system- and board-level telemetry acquisition products. Integral Systems has approximately 500 employees working at its headquarters in Lanham, MD, and at other locations in the U.S. and Europe. For more information, visit http://www.integ.com.