NTA has developed a general-purpose data recorder for use in harsh environments. This recorder combats the most common data corruption issues: FAT file system and operating system overhead, minimal data buffering prior to storage on the SD card, and too many write events to the SD card.
NTA has overcome these issues by creating a custom light-weight file system in a bare-metal C application which utilizes external DDR buffering and High-speed FPGA-hosted data bus for large, fast transfers to the SD card in fewer write events. Data security is ingrained as recorded data can only be accessed with a proprietary application.
Specialized recorder variants utilize an IRIG 106 chapter 10 packet storage format and record multiple parallel channels of SDLC, 1553, proprietary serial data protocols, and analog-to-digital data. They have been qualified to fly on Army Apache AH-64 and Air Force MQ-9 Reaper platforms and have been used in CONUS and OCONUS testing. The recorders themselves are small enough to be installed in these platforms’ launchers, missiles, and avionics bays.