US Air Force deploys digital video worldwide with VBrick Systems

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, Feb 9, 2004

VBrick Systems, (www.VBrick.com), a provider of digital video solutions, has announced that the United States Air Force Electronic Systems Center (ESC) has selected VBrick solutions to provide DVD-quality streaming video for 85 deployable Air Force communications units. As an innovative technology-insertion upgrade to its Theater Deployable Communications (TDC) Program, ESC will provide each deployable unit the ability to deliver up to six channels of DVD-quality television to every desktop on the deployed network. Air Force communications units equipped with this new TDC package will leverage the flexibility of the TDC infrastructure to deliver any type of video required to support their deployed mission - from sports, news, and entertainment for morale to surveillance feeds for Intelligence and Force Protection.

A central goal of the TDC Program is to provide the latest COTS technologies in packages that can be rapidly delivered anywhere in the world, while reducing airlift and manpower requirements.

With bases around the world actively engaged in combat operations, the US Air Force relies upon robust, mobile and easily deployed communications to ensure the quick and accurate execution of missions. The Air Force ESC was challenged to deliver news, intelligence and entertainment to base populations of up to several thousand military personnel. As part of the TDC, the Air Force ESC sought to standardize video communications across mobile bases worldwide while utilizing the on-base local IP networks TDC currently provides. The simplicity of the VBrick solution allows deployed units to immediately provide high-quality live streaming video to any desktop that plugs in to the TDC infrastructure, with minimal setup and administration.

"This deployment ushers in a new era of enhanced communications for the US Air Force," said Michele Ferreira, Director of Federal Sales at VBrick Systems. "The TDC program's selection of VBricks will have an immediate positive impact on both the critical missions within an Operations Center, as well as the day to day morale of Air Force personnel on the ground. The VBrick solution is the first video distribution system to be delivered across the Air Force in support of its deployed combat mission."

The VBrick solution brings elegant ease to the crucial end-user points of the TDC's worldwide communication networks. Each of the 85 kits includes six VBrick 6200 MPEG-2 appliances capable of both streaming DVD quality video to desktops and providing high quality video conferencing. Deployed communications troops simply connect the VBrick appliance to a video source - ranging from video surveillance feeds to satellite television - and plug the VBrick into the high-capacity TDC IP network. The encoded video stream is then multicast throughout the base to any desktop on the network and viewed as high-quality 30-frame-per second full-screen video. Alternatively, a second VBrick connected anywhere on the network can "tune in" to the stream and decode it back into analog video for viewing on a standard television for interactive conferencing.

Deploying the VBrick solution to 85 units furthers TDC's mission of providing rugged, portable, and lightweight on-base communications that can be up-and-running immediately upon arrival at any site. VBrick appliances seamlessly integrate into the deployable units' existing TDC-based networks. This capability helps the TDC meet its goal to have an on-base system built from the ground up in a matter of hours, even in the worst conditions.