Air Force Awards ITCN $5 Million IDIQ Contract

Sept. 22, 2009 - PRLog -- The IDIQ contract was awarded as a Phase III SBIR from the Department of the Air Force, and will allow ITCN to continue its development and transitioning of the BCIT (Bus Characterization and Integrity Toolset) from a prototype to a commercial product. The contract helps the US Government receive the benefit of its investments made with ITCN through the SBIR and CPP programs.


About the Contract

The IDIQ contract provides a focused and flexible contracting vehicle between the US Government, its Military Services, and ITCN, Inc. It gives all Government and Military Services an easy way to take advantage of the investment that has already been made in BCIT technology. They can place orders for customized BCIT technology easily with the IDIQ contract.

The contract also makes it easy for ITCN to enhance and expand BCIT features. The first $62.7K delivery order under the award is for the BCIT to support additional aircraft cable plants, including 50 and 55-ohm impedance semi-rigid RF coax cables. ITCN will also investigate additional cable groups used in aircraft and UAV military aerospace platforms. As more IDIQ orders come in, more features will become available as “off-the-shelf” products.


About the Technology

The BCIT is an all-in-one toolset for MIL-STD-1553 embedded computer systems. Its portable, rugged design allows BCIT use in the field and on the flightline to test 1553 databus network health and communication, and detect cabling problems to within 6 inches on up to a 1,000 ft twisted pair cable.

A semi-rugged model has been developed for those that work in a less demanding environment. It offers the same test capabilities and portability of the rugged BCIT, but without the additional cost associated with a unit that is ruggedized to meet military specifications.

Bus characterization testing provides data bus health monitoring for protocol errors, loading, status exceptions, and terminal response for up to four dual redundant MIL-STD-1553 buses. This feature helps capture faults that affect bus protocol, such as faulty stubs or terminals.

Bus integrity testing provides electrical analysis of cable networks through a Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR). The TDR allows technicians to analyze MIL-STD-1553 cabling to locate opens, shorts, and faulty shields and couplers within six inches of the fault location for cables of up to 1,000 feet long. The BCIT can find intermittent faults easily by capturing data only when an anomaly occurs, such as when a cable is "jiggled."

The BCIT has a database driven user interface that allows users to save and recall bus topology, test data, and historical reference data. This Windows(R) based software allows users to do comparative analysis with data cataloging. The historical database makes it easy to compare data over time by overlaying cataloged data with active tests. This makes the BCIT practical for both diagnostics and prognostics support. It can be used for product development, integration and debug now, and with time, can be used as a predictive tool for maintenance.  

The BCIT has a secure, removable hard disk drive, for classified or restricted working conditions. A portable case and user-friendly software makes it easy to move and set up for testing in-vehicle or in the lab.


For More Information

ITCN, Inc.
591 Congress Park Dr.
Dayton, OH 45459
937-439-9223
800-439-4039
www.itcninc.com
sales@itcninc.com

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About ITCN, Inc.

ITCN has provided embedded system test products and engineering services to customers in the Military/Aerospace market since 1991. Our products deliver time-correlated system-wide test data, collected non-intrusively, in real-time. ITCN’s staff of engineers stands ready to assist customers with requirements definition, up-front development, and complete product support. The result is both time and money saved at every stage of the product life cycle. ITCN, Inc. is ISO 9001:2000 certified.