The MFM-Ird logical device is part of the sat-nms MFM framework which interconnects a sat-nms VLC to the ND SatCom Media Fleet Manager.The MFM-Ird is a so called translation device which interconnects the MFM-PlayList device to a sat-nms IRD device driver.
Internally the Media Fleet Manager codes all equipment settings in binary enumerations (for choice parameters) and scaled integers for numeric values. The MFM-Ird translation device takes these settings and translates them into the parameter representation expected by the sat-nms device driver. For this, it inspects each parameter's range definition and matches the settings against the MFM encoding of the parameters.
Overview
The sat-nms MFM framework consists of the MFM-PlayList device and a number of so called translation devices. The MFM-PlayList device does the communication with the Media Fleet Manager using the proprietary protocol of this. It manages the sequence control of transmissions, even if there is no connection to the MFM.
Beside this, there are translation devices which have to be configured with one instance for each DVB uplink or downlink chain, for each IP encoder or decoder. The task of translation devices is to translate the settings commanded by the media fleet manager in it's own format into the individual format each sat-nms device driver expects. The translation devices also check if parameters have been set properly and forward this information to the MFM-PlayList device.
Adding a translation device for a certain physical device to the configuration automatically makes this device known to the MFM. The following types of translation devices are available with the sat-nms MFM framework:
Device window pages
The following table shows which device window pages are available with this individual device type. Tool-bar functions not mentioned here are described at the general description of device windows .
--- General status.
--- The device info page.
--- The maintenance page. The configuration parameters described below are set at this page.Configuration parameters
At the page 'Maintenance' the setup dialog contains some settings to configure this logical device.
| parameter | description |
|---|---|
| aliasName | The alias name of the device reported to the Media Fleet Manager |
| checkDelay | After receiving a set of parameters from the MFM-Playlist and setting these parameters at the IRD, the MFM-Ird device waits the time set here until it checks if all parameters have been set properly. |
| onAirFaultDelay | After going on air, the device suppresses faults for the time configured here. This helps to avoid receiver lock faults/warnings for the first seconds after the signal is switched on. |
| ignoreConfigFault | Setting this to 'YES' makes the device tolerate configuration faults at the IRD. Configuring the station proceeds even if the IRD cannot be configured. This mode is intended for IRDs in mobile SNGs where the IRD is not permanently switched on. All IRD faults are reported to the MFM as WARNING in this mode. Setting this parameter to 'NO' lets the device treat the IRD in normal way. |
| lockFaultMode | Selects how to treat IRD lock faults (one of the faults detected through the lockFault1Id .. lockFault3Id settings. 'OFF' ignores any faults detected this way, 'WARNING' sets the device state to (at least) WARNING if one of the lock faults is active, 'FAULT' sets the device state to FAULT in such a case. Lock faults are recognized only while the device id ONAIR and the 'onAirFaultDelay' has passed. This gives the opportunity to show an unused (unlocked) IRD device as OK in the station summary state by masking all input signal depending faults to OFF at the device. While a transmission is on air, the "lock faults" will be monitored separately and signalled to the operator. |
| irdDevice | The device name of the IRD. This is used to get the IRD's summary fault, it's communications fault and it's OPERATING/OUT-OF-SERVICE setting. |
| lockFault1Id | The message ID the first IRD lock fault to monitor. Lock faults are monitored only while the device is ONAIR, faults are recognized even if masked to OFF or INFO at the IRD device itself. |
| lockFault2Id | The message ID the second IRD lock fault to monitor. Lock faults are monitored only while the device is ONAIR, faults are recognized even if masked to OFF or INFO at the IRD device itself. |
| lockFault3Id | The message ID the third IRD lock fault to monitor. Lock faults are monitored only while the device is ONAIR, faults are recognized even if masked to OFF or INFO at the IRD device itself. |
| frequencyId | The message ID of the parameter controlling the receive frequency. The frequency is commanded in terms of true satellite frequency, so either the IRD resp. IRD driver itself has to do the LO calculations. |
| polarizationId | The message ID of the parameter controlling the receive polarization plane. |
| symbolRateId | The message ID of the IRD parameter controlling the symbol rate. |
| dvbModeId | The message ID of the IRD parameter controlling the dvb mode (DVB-S/DVBS2). |
| modulationId | The message ID of the IRD parameter controlling the modulation type (QPSK, 8PSK, etc). |
| fecId | The message ID of the IRD parameter controlling the FEC. |
| pilotsId | The message ID of the IRD parameter switching DVB-S2 pilots on/off. |
| rollOffId | The message ID of the IRD parameter controlling the roll off factor. |
| encryptModeId | The message ID of the IRD parameter controlling the encryption mode (BISS-1/BISS-E). |
| session1WordId | The message ID of the IRD parameter setting the BISS-1 session word. |
| sessionEWordId | The message ID of the IRD parameter setting the BISS-E session word. |
| rasKeyId | The message ID of the IRD parameter setting the RAS encryption key. |
All message ID settings above may be left empty. The MFM-Ird device will not control a parameter with an empty ID setting and it will not check if it is set properly. As many IRDs work best if parameters like modulation or FEC are kept in AUTO mode, it may be a good choice not to set the message IDs for these parameter with such a device.
Session word and encryption key parameters are not read back and compared to the commanded values, as IRDs normally do not support a readout of these values.
Remarks
Variables defined by this device driver
| name | type | flags | range |
|---|---|---|---|
| info.driver | TEXT | R/O | StringRange R/O |
| info.type | TEXT | R/O | StringRange R/O |
| info.port | TEXT | R/O | StringRange R/O |
| info.frame | TEXT | R/O | StringRange R/O |
| config.aliasName | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.checkDelay | INTEGER | SAVE SETUP | IntegerRange (0 .. 30) |
| config.onAirFaultDelay | INTEGER | SAVE SETUP | IntegerRange (0 .. 30) |
| config.ignoreConfigFault | CHOICE | SAVE SETUP | EnumRange (NO YES) |
| config.lockFaultMode | CHOICE | SAVE SETUP | EnumRange (OFF WARNING FAULT) |
| config.irdDevice | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.lockFault1Id | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.lockFault2Id | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.lockFault3Id | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.frequencyId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.polarizationId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.symbolRateId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.dvbModeId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.modulationId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.fecId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.pilotsId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.rollOffId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.encryptModeId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.session1WordId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.sessionEWordId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.injectedIDId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| config.rasKeyId | TEXT | SAVE SETUP | StringRange |
| set | TEXT | StringRange | |
| check | CHOICE | R/O | EnumRange R/O (IDLE PENDING SUCCESS FAILED) |
| errorCode | INTEGER | R/O | IntegerRange R/O (0 .. 0) |
| onAir | CHOICE | EnumRange (OFFAIR ONAIR) | |
| releaseCheckFault | TEXT | StringRange |