Connect Your Safety-Critical Assets to One Universal System

 

Wade Evans is the Product, Project and Solutions Manager for Aviation and Digital.

   Mason Sugars is the Product Marketing Coordinator for Aviation.

Avlite maintains a strong focus on delivering connectivity-enabled assets that work seamlessly with our Star2M asset management portal.

However, safety assets and systems have different methods of critical communication. Asset managers of airfield, heliport and obstruction lighting currently use a range of varying interfaces to talk to every product in their system. They cannot unify this due to the varying communication protocols used by each product. They may also want to talk to their current assets, but may not be ready to upgrade.

With these challenges facing asset managers, how do they undertake the integration, control and monitoring of their assets into a single system and display when they all have varying inputs?

Using the new Universal Gateway. What is it, and how does it work?

The Universal Gateway (AV-UGW) is a protocol converter. It connects to products of various protocols which allows the asset to talk to an entire system. As a result, assets can work together to access, exchange, integrate and cooperatively use data in a coordinated manner.

It is bi-directional, allowing the system to communicate and command back to the asset for control or monitoring purposes. It includes fully configurable interface mapping via Bluetooth® or USB interface, and can be implemented by an integrator or end-user to align with their products.

The Universal Gateway supports the following interfaces:

• RF mesh network communication
• Serial configuration interface via USB
• Satellite communication (SATCOM) interface
• GSM communication interface
• MODBUS TCP/IP
• MODBUS RTU via RS-485
• Dry contact relay interface via electromechanical or high current variants
• Discrete IO via general-purpose input and outputs

How and where can I use the Universal Gateway?

The Universal Gateway can be used across all aviation lighting applications where a communication interface can be connected. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Cascaded networks
• Third-party integrations
• IoT Mesh networks
• Wireless SCADA via SATCOM or RF
• CMS integrations
• Retrofitting or supplementing SATCOM in a controller
• Wireless expansions
• Protocol conversions (e.g. MODBUS to IO)

When specified with RF, the Universal Gateway utilises our AvMesh^TM RF Network to expand and then cascade an airfield or heliport lighting system. This means all safety-critical assets can communicate no matter the length of the runway or distance to the control tower.

This product can also supplement an Avlite lighting control system. It perfectly integrates into Avlite products as well as existing lighting control systems and is optimised for third-party equipment integration as well. This adds the capability for third-party products to be monitored via the SATCOM or GSM communication interface.

These interfaces add the ability for your product to provide critical data using our Star2M. It is our proprietary asset management software that allows all connected assets to controlled, monitored and maintained.

Your choice of smart product to connect to assets

The Universal Gateway is available in in a variety of configurations with AC or DC power inputs.

It can be installed as a complete mechanical assembly or as a board only (PCA) option for Avlite or third-party control enclosures.

Want to know more?

Our upcoming launch of the Universal Gateway will explain more shortly. If you have any questions, ask one of our sales team who will help explain this unique product in more detail.