STAR Training and User Support Report · 2016-01-04 · Jason McInnis Akoostix Inc. Prepared By:...

DEFENCE DÉFENSE&

Defence R&D Canada – Atlantic

Copy No. _____

Defence Research andDevelopment Canada

Recherche et développementpour la défense Canada

STAR Training and User Support Report

Joe HoodAkoostix Inc.

Prepared by:Akoostix Inc.10 Akerley Blvd, Suite 12Dartmouth, NS B3B 1J4

Contract Project Manager: Joe Hood, 902-404-7464PWGSC Contract Number: W7707-4500847084

Contractor's Document Number: AI CR 2011-014

CSA: Cristina Tollefsen, Defence Scientist, 902-426-3100 ext. 226

Contract Report

DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174

December 2013

The scientific or technical validity of this Contract Report is entirely the responsibility of the Contractor and the contents do not necessarily have the approval or endorsement of Defence R&D Canada.

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Joe Hood Jason McInnis Akoostix Inc. Prepared By: Akoostix Inc. 10 Akerley Blvd, Suite 12 Dartmouth, NS B3B 1J4 Contractor's Document Number: AI CR 2011-014 Contract Project Manager: Joe Hood, 902-404-7464 PWGSC Contract Number: W7707-4500847084 CSA: Cristina Tollefsen, Defence Scientist, 902-426-3100 ext. 226

The scientific or technical validity of this Contract Report is entirely the responsibility of the Contractor and the contents do not necessarily have the approval or endorsement of Defence R&D Canada.

Defence R&D Canada – Atlantic

Contract Report


December 2013

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence, 2013

© Sa Majesté la Reine (en droit du Canada), telle que représentée par le ministre de la Défense nationale,

2013

DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174 i

Abstract

This report summarizes work performed during the Software Tools for Analysis and Research

(STAR) Training and User Support call-up. The objective was to provide timely support for a

variety of STAR training and technical support related requirements. Akoostix successfully

accomplished this by facilitating training of DRDC staff, improving documentation, repairing

STAR defects, and implementing new features in STAR. Significant progress was achieved under

this call-up, but more effort is required.

Résumé

Le rapport présente un résumé du travail effectué pendant l’appel de formation et de soutien des

utilisateurs des outils logiciels d’analyse et de recherche (STAR). L’objectif était de fournir un

soutien opportun dans le cadre d’une variété de besoins en matière de soutien technique et de

formation concernant les STAR. Akoostix a réussi à accomplir cette tâche en favorisant la

formation du personnel de RDDC, en améliorant la documentation, en répondant aux lacunes des

STAR et en mettant en œuvre de nouvelles fonctions des STAR. D’importants progrès ont été

réalisés dans le cadre de cet appel, et il y a encore du travail à faire.

ii DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174


DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174 iii

Executive summary


Joe Hood; Jason McInnis; DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174; Defence R&D Canada – Atlantic; December 2013.

Introduction or background: The purpose of this project was to support DRDC staff in the

efficient and effective use of STAR for their research. This included group training, one-on-one

tutorials, documentation improvements and usability improvements.

Results: The project was successful, providing group and one-on-one training to seven students

comprised of DRDC staff, co-op students and one employee of the Department of Fisheries and

Oceans (DFO). Feedback from the training session was very positive.

DRDC feedback and suggestions were used to create new forms of user documentation and to

improve existing documentation. A number of minor improvements and bug fixes were

completed in the STAR-IDL, Signal Processing Packages (SPPACS) and Omni-passive display

(OPD) components of STAR. The documentation and improvements were included in a software

release, provided to DRDC at the end of the contract.

Significance: This project represents a significant advance in DRDC’s ability to make direct use

of STAR, reducing their reliance on contractors for data processing and analysis tasks. The

training also served to increase awareness of STAR’s capability, garnering additional interest in

the capability. For example, a co-op student and the call-up’s PA were able to produce a scientific

paper related to analysis of ambient noise recordings with only minor support from Akoostix.

Future plans: DRDC plans to continue incremental improvement of STAR including structural

and usability enhancements, documentation and user training. This will serve to increase

awareness and confidence in the tools and related processes, increasing the efficiency,

effectiveness and productivity of DRDC scientists.

iv DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174

Sommaire


Joe Hood; Jason McInnis; DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174; R & D pour la défense Canada – Atlantique; decembre 2013.

Contexte: L’objectif de ce projet était d’appuyer le personnel de RDDC en ce qui concerne

l’utilisation efficiente et efficace des STAR pour leur recherche. Cet appui comprenait de la

formation de groupe, des tutoriels individualisés, des améliorations à la documentation et des

améliorations à la convivialité.

Résultats: Le projet a été un succès et il a permis de fournir de la formation de groupe et

individuelle à sept stagiaires venant du personnel de RDDC, à des étudiants venant d’un

programme d’enseignement coopératif et à un employé du ministère des Pêches et des Océans

(MPO). Les commentaires recueillis à la suite de la séance de formation étaient très positifs.

Les commentaires et les suggestions de RDDC ont été utilisés afin de créer la nouvelle

documentation pour les utilisateurs et pour améliorer la documentation existante. Un certain

nombre d’améliorations mineures et de corrections de bogues ont été effectués dans les STAR

IDL, le Progiciel de traitement des signaux de sonar (SPPACS) et les éléments d’affichage Omni

passif (OPD) des STAR. La documentation et les améliorations font partie de la nouvelle édition

du logiciel offert à RDDC à la fin du contrat.

Importance: Ce projet représente une avancée importante dans l’habileté de RDDC à utiliser

directement les STAR, puis à réduire le recours aux entrepreneurs pour le traitement des données

et les tâches d’analyse. De plus, la formation a permis d’augmenter la sensibilisation à la capacité

des STAR et de générer plus d’intérêt envers la capacité. Par exemple, un étudiant du programme

d’enseignement coopératif et l’AA responsable de l’appel ont été capables de produire un article

scientifique lié à l’analyse d’enregistrement de bruits ambiants avec seulement un appui mineur

de la part d’Akoostix.

Recherches futures: RDDC prévoit continuer l’amélioration progressive des STAR, y compris la

modernisation de la structure et de la convivialité, la documentation et la formation des

utilisateurs. Ainsi, la sensibilisation et la confiance à l’égard des outils et des processus connexes

seront renforcées, ce qui améliore l’efficience, l’efficacité et la productivité des scientifiques de

RDDC.

DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174 v

Table of contents

Abstract ... ........................................................................................................................................ i

Résumé .... ........................................................................................................................................ i

Executive summary ........................................................................................................................ iii

Sommaire . ...................................................................................................................................... iv

Table of contents ............................................................................................................................. v

List of tables ................................................................................................................................... vi

1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1

2 Technical ................................................................................................................................... 2

2.1 STAR Training and User Support ................................................................................. 2

2.1.1 Group Training ................................................................................................ 2

2.1.2 One-on-one Training ....................................................................................... 2

2.2 Software and Defect Repair and Enhancement ............................................................. 3

2.2.1 OPD Enhancements ........................................................................................ 3

2.2.2 Miscellaneous Improvements .......................................................................... 3

2.3 Improvements to STAR Documentation ....................................................................... 4

2.3.1 One-page Information Sheets .......................................................................... 4

2.3.2 SPPACS Help Improvement ........................................................................... 4

2.3.3 STAR User Manuals ....................................................................................... 4

2.3.4 Enhancing the Main STAR Documentation Page ........................................... 5

3 Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 6

3.1 Additional STAR Training ............................................................................................ 6

3.2 Additional Documentation Improvements .................................................................... 6

3.3 Additional Software Improvements............................................................................... 6

4 Configuration Management ...................................................................................................... 7

4.1 STAR Branch and Release Information ........................................................................ 7

4.1.1 STAR Software Documentation ..................................................................... 7

4.2 Issue Summary .............................................................................................................. 7

5 Summary and Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 9

References ..................................................................................................................................... 11

Annex A .. Software Tools............................................................................................................. 13

A.1 Signal Processing Packages (SPPACS) ....................................................................... 13

A.1.1 Background and Design Information ............................................................ 13

A.2 STAR-IDL ................................................................................................................... 14

A.3 Omni-Passive Display (OPD) ...................................................................................... 15

List of symbols/abbreviations/acronyms/initialisms ..................................................................... 17

vi DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174

List of tables

Table 1: Issue Summary (Severity vs. Status) for all software on STAR release 6.6.10. ............... 8

DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174 1

1 Introduction

This report documents work performed under contract W7707-4500847084 for Project Authority

(PA), Cristina Tollefsen. The work was performed between June 2011 and January 2012.

The objectives of this contract were to improve the functionality, efficiency, and consistency of

software in STAR. This was achieved by performing the following:

Conducting STAR training seminars and one-on-one training sessions;

Repairing defects and implementing usability enhancements in STAR; and

Improving STAR documentation by improving user manuals and quick reference cards then

including these with the software release.

This report provides a description of the work performed for each of the tasks listed in the

Statement of Work (SOW). The report is organized as follows:

Section 2 details the work performed under this contract.

Section 3 documents recommendations for future work.

Section 4 provides configuration management (CM) information to help users understand

which version of the software contains this work.

Section 5 summarizes the results of the project with conclusions.

Annex A provides a brief description of the software related to this project.

2 DRDC Atlantic CR 2012-174

2 Technical

This section contains a description of the execution of tasks required by the SOW.

2.1 STAR Training and User Support

The objective of this task was to conduct group and one-on-one training using a similar approach

as for previous efforts [1].

2.1.1 Group Training

Two group training sessions were conducted with approximately 7 students in each session.

Students were provided with background information on STAR-IDL prior to training. The first

session provided an introduction to STAR and the process required to use it effectively for

manual data analysis. The second session introduced users to automated analysis and more

advanced concepts including use of STAR-IDL library functions to perform custom analysis.

Specific topics included:

Introduction to STAR components;

Formatting data for STAR;

Processing data using STAR;

Manual visualization and analysis;

Automated analysis;

Writing customer analysis programs; and

Use of IDLDoc to find and use capability in STAR-IDL.

In addition to these topics, additional time was allocated to practical lab exercises.

Students were provided with a copy of the course notes, which are also archived in Akoostix’s

document management system.

2.1.2 One-on-one Training

Individual training sessions were scheduled for all students that requested additional support. All

but two students took advantage of this opportunity, while one of the others received training

through a call-up focused on their objectives.

Each student was given the opportunity to present a problem related to their area of interest. An

appropriate Akoostix analyst was then selected to provide the training. That analyst spent time

preparing for the session by reviewing the problem and considering options in STAR that could

support the analysis. Students then worked with the analyst for about four hours on their problem.


Each training session resulted in useful analysis, enabling students to carry on with analysis after

the training was complete. Additional support, often through email or telephone calls, was

provided on a case-by-case basis.

2.2 Software and Defect Repair and Enhancement

Effort related to this SOW task is recorded in JIRA ticket STTS-3 and tickets linked to STTS-3.

2.2.1 OPD Enhancements

The PA experienced a number of issues related to advanced OPD functions and WAV files. As a

result four improvements were made and documented in the OPD user manual:

OPD and SPPACS now calculate the start time of a file by taking the filesystem time (last

modified) and subtracting the file duration. For files with a timestamp corresponding to the

last write time, this will provide a start time that is a reasonable estimate of the true data

start time.

When WAV is selected as the source file type, the configuration dialogue indicates how the

start time is computed.

Users have several options to specify how WAV files are extracted to try and avoid

overflow and underflow issues.

Users may specify an arbitrary time offset (floating point hours) to allow for correction of

the data time.

2.2.2 Miscellaneous Improvements

A large number of miscellaneous improvements were completed during these efforts. They are

summarized herein, while more detail is available in the STAR issue tracking system:

sp_ambient was improved to avoid numerical issues when converting data including 0.0 to

dB.

sp_wav2dat now provides an option to output floating point data.

Memory corruption issues related to string copies were repaired in 14 SPPACS applications.

Potential memory corruption issues related to an unsafe string compare and uninitialized

strings were repaired in 13 SPPACS applications.

OPD annotation rendering and editing was fixed so that annotations that weren’t currently

being displayed could not be accidentally edited.

Scaling of EPS output in STAR-IDL was improved.

Suspending the tactical database in STAR-IDL now returns the related software object.

A number of minor improvements and fixes were performed on the STAR-IDL trial

reconstruction application:


The application now closes properly without memory leaks;

Tactical plotting is now the default reconstruction option;

The tactical plot includes a simple range scale;

A number of issues with plot background and pen colours were resolved;

The plot selection control was fixed to correctly display the active plot;

Stability was improved for a number of plotting options related to echo analysis;

A large amount of extraneous code was removed; and

A UML design diagram was created to reduce time required to understand the

software;

JIRA issue AKOT-224 was created as a result of user training, but could not be addressed

under this call-up.

2.3 Improvements to STAR Documentation

This SOW task required improvements to various forms of STAR documentation. Four objectives

were established in the SOW and progress was achieved against all four.

2.3.1 One-page Information Sheets

Six one-page information sheets were created:

STAR Overview;

SPPACS Applications Overview (organized alphabetically and by functional group);

STAR Analysis Directory Structure;

Non-acoustic Data Directory Structure and Purpose; and

STAR File Extensions and Workflow.

These were converted to PDF format and links to each are provided on the STAR Documentation

html page that is provided with the STAR software release.

2.3.2 SPPACS Help Improvement

The online help provided with all SPPACS applications was standardized to conform to standard

format and content requirements.

2.3.3 STAR User Manuals

Original STAR documentation was captured in one large document that contains information on

process, data formatting, data processing, application function and software design. Users find


this document difficult to use as the location of content is not clear. Other documentation exists in

contractor reports, but it is again difficult to find the most current relevant information.

Upgrading this documentation is a large task, beyond the scope of this call-up. Regardless,

significant progress was achieved.

User instructions contained in final reports was formatted into stand-alone STAR-IDL application

guides and converted to PDF. Links to each document are provided on the STAR Documentation

html page that is provided with the STAR software release including:

Echo Repeater Delay and Response Adjustment User Manual;

Feature Extraction User Manual; and

ITAC User Manual.

In addition, a draft version of the following manuals was created, but these did not achieve

sufficient quality for release:

NAD Formatting Instructions; and

Smart Automation User Manual.

2.3.4 Enhancing the Main STAR Documentation Page

An html-formatted document is provided with STAR releases. Users can open this page in an

internet browser and find a range of information to assist with use of STAR. Prior to this call-up

the page contained links to the outdated STAR Analysis Manual [3] discussed in Section 2.3.3,

API documentation and software version information in the form of history files.

At the end of this call-up four additional document types were added to the release and links to

each were provided from this page:

Quick reference guides described in Section 2.3.1;

STAR-IDL application user manuals described in Section 2.3.3;

STAR application user manuals (e.g. OPD, Passive LAND buoy); and

External references (e.g. Bash and Python user guides).


3 Recommendations

Ideas for improvement are frequently generated during a contract. This section documents those

recommendations, capturing both a high-level description of each suggestion.

3.1 Additional STAR Training

DRDC investment in STAR training increases the ability of staff to improve productivity through

the use of STAR. Significant progress was achieved over the last year, but more effort is required

to:

Introduce other users that can benefit from STAR to the related tools and processes.

Provide direct support to new STAR users to help them efficiently learn how to use STAR

to achieve their objectives. This support will also help to avoid frustration when attempting

to work with components that require further documentation. Akoostix maintains expert

users that can guide and consult DRDC users for relatively small cost.

Provide advanced training to existing STAR users to help them understand how to fully

exploit the vast capability available in STAR. This should include training on available IDL

and C/C++ libraries with relevant capability.

3.2 Additional Documentation Improvements

As indicated in Section 2.3, there is a large amount of disparate documentation related to STAR.

This call-up started the process of improving documentation, but more effort is required to

complete the process, maintain documentation and iteratively improve the documentation and

related processes. These improvements are best guided by DRDC users who know best what they

need to be effective. Often new users are the best resource for high-value documentation-related

recommendations.

This effort should result in improved documentation and a standard process for creating

documentation to ensure consistency and quality.

3.3 Additional Software Improvements

Individual scientific efforts regularly add new capability to STAR that remains available to other

users. Less priority is placed on structural maintenance and improvement that is vital to the long-

term viability of STAR. As well, generally applicable improvements are often given lower

priority, though their implementation could significantly improve the utility and usability of

applications, providing significant long-term value.

New users are often the source of valuable ideas. Those provided to Akoostix are documented in

the STAR issue tracking system, JIRA. A summary of these issues is provided in Section 4.2.

Regular maintenance effort should be applied to address these issues, avoiding code rot and

ensuring the continually improving utility of STAR.


4 Configuration Management

The final software deliverable for this contract was provided on the STAR release CD—version

6.6.10. The CD was generated and delivered on October 31st, 2011. This software release contains

the original project deliverables. This section of the document describes the content of that CD.

4.1 STAR Branch and Release Information

Each logical grouping of software modules has been independently versioned on the CD that is

also versioned. The current STAR release version is 6.6.10 and contains the following:

OPD 2.5.0;

ACDC 2.1.7;

SPPACS 1.2.0; and

Analysis Tools 6.12.0 (STAR-IDL).

The 6.6.10 release CD was generated in conjunction with other DISO call-ups. Installation

instructions are located in the root directory on the release CD.

4.1.1 STAR Software Documentation

Some manuals, API documentation, and other design documents are provided with the 6.6.10

software release CD. In a standard STAR distribution they can be found by opening the

/usr/local/atools/star-6.6.10/documentation.html file in a standard web browser. This page

contains links to several sets of documentation including:

Software revision history;

IDLDoc for the analysis tools (STAR-IDL) and DOxygen generated documents for OPD,

ACDC and SPPACs;

The STAR user manual;

STAR quick reference guides;

STAR-IDL application user manuals;

STAR application user manuals; and

Useful third-party Documentation.

4.2 Issue Summary

The issue summary in Table 1 shows the current state of known defects for all of the software

release candidates listed in Section 4.1 as of October 31, 2011.


The distribution of issues is indicative of the maturity of the software. Though maturing, much of

this software is composed of various evolutions of an iterative design, especially command line

SPPACS applications and STAR-IDL components. This software would benefit from general

design improvements and refactoring. There are no active blocker issues but there are several

critical issues. These are obscure or infrequent bugs that were discovered during current work, but

budget or schedule has been insufficient to address them yet. Critical issues are issues that still

allow the operator to perform their function but could cause erroneous results or loss of data in

those instances. These bugs should be fixed in the near future. Only Blocker issues do not have a

work-around and need to be addressed before a contact can be completed successfully.

Table 1: Issue Summary (Severity vs. Status) for all software on STAR release 6.6.10.

New Reopened Resolved Closed

Blocker 0 0 0 33

Critical 14 1 0 70

Major 113 4 6 213

Minor 36 2 0 25

Trivial 7 0 0 3

Undecided 0 0 0 5


5 Summary and Conclusions

This project focused on supporting DRDC with the use of STAR including training,

documentation updates, and software updates. The project was successful in delivering on these

objectives.

This project represents a significant advance in DRDC’s ability to make direct use of STAR,

reducing their reliance on contractors for data processing and analysis tasks. The training also

served to increase awareness of STAR’s capability, garnering additional interest in the capability.

For example, a co-op student and the call-up’s PA were able to produce a scientific paper related

to analysis of ambient noise recordings with only minor support from Akoostix.

Though significant improvements have been made, regular effort should be applied to STAR

training, documentation and maintenance.


References

[1] Hood, J., Flogeras, D. and Ryan, G. (2012), STAR Support 2010 (DRDC Atlantic

CR 2011-077), Akoostix Inc., Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

[2] Hood, J. and Glessing, B. (Unpublished), The Software Tools for Analysis and Research:

Data Analysis and Technical Manual - Revision 1 (Unpublished DRDC Atlantic Contract

Report), MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

[3] McInnis, J. and Ryan, G. (2011), OPD User Manual Version 1.5 (AI MA 2008-001),

Akoostix Inc., Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.


Annex A Software Tools

This section provides background information necessary to understand the various software that

applies to this call-up. Each of the following sections provides a high-level description for a

major functional group of STAR software supported under this call-up.

A.1 Signal Processing Packages (SPPACS)

SPPACS is a group of software programs that are written in the C/C++ programming languages,

with each application providing a specific processing or utility function. They are designed to run

on Linux and OSX based PCs and typically work with Defence Research Establishment Atlantic

(DREA) formatted data files (DAT), though format converters are also contained in the suite.

SPPACS has slowly evolved to its present day state.

The SPPACS software suite consists of two types of software. One type is runtime executables.

These applications have proven to be very useful in simplifying data management and sonar

processing tasks by providing a set of tools from which to build the necessary, often very

customized, processing streams. These streams can be run from the command line or assembled

into scripts to perform batch-processing tasks allowing large amounts of data to be automatically

and incrementally processed.

The second form of the software is a group of library functions that can be used by other

programs to efficiently perform standard tasks. These library functions are extensively used by

the runtime software, but can also used for other applications, such as OPD. There are several

types of libraries of which three are most commonly used in SPPACS:

Utility (e.g. math, geo, filesystem, …) libraries that consist of utility routines for performing

tasks, such as header manipulation, geospatial data representation, and command line

parsing.

Signal Processing (e.g. splib) libraries that contain modules for low-level signal-processing.

A new SPPACS module typically consists of one or more SPLIB modules linked together

with an SPPACS user interface.

Sonar Processing (e.g. sonlib) libraries that contain modules consisting of several SPLIB

modules linked internally to create a complex sonar module, such as passive processing.

A.1.1 Background and Design Information

More generic and reusable software was created by separating the library code above from

SPPACS. These modules are independent of the data header format, time-stamping method, etc.,

and are suitable for integration in real-time processing systems. The libraries can be built to run

on a number of Unix, OSX or Microsoft Windows platforms and on less common processors such

as the ARM core and Texas Instruments (TI) DSP. Once successfully ported, the CMAKE build

environment supports subsequent builds with a command line option.


The C and C++ elements of the libraries are intentionally separated to ensure that the core

capability, found primarily in the C modules, can be readily ported to systems that don’t support

the more complex language features employed in the C++ version of the libraries. For the most

part, the C++ layer consists of a wrapper on the C layer that provides a more generic method of

instantiating, connecting and running modules. This is provided by inheritance that is, in part, the

adoption of a common interface from a base class allowing parts of the system to interact with a

module without knowing the details of the module. Connection of SPPACS applications using

Unix pipes provides similar functionality at the application layer.

SPPACS is also supported by a number of libraries, such as the Fastest Fourier Transform in the

West (FFTW), helping to ensure that the SPPACS software runs as efficiently as possible, while

providing a significant reduction in coding effort. These dependencies, and the associated

licenses, are tracked for those projects that require knowledge of intellectual property (IP).

A.2 STAR-IDL

The STAR-IDL1 tools were developed to support general research and analysis objectives at

DRDC Atlantic. The actual software goes hand-in-hand with an analysis process that is intended

to help formalize a reliable and consistent research and analysis methodology [2]. The primary

objectives of the STAR-IDL tools are:

Provide scientific grade analysis tools that allow for efficient, detailed quantitative and

qualitative analysis of a data set.

Provide scientific grade algorithm prototyping and refinement tools that can be used to

quickly realize a variety of algorithm options, validate the basis of the algorithm, and

determine the best approach to use for system prototypes.

Support synergy between DRDC groups and the Department of National Defence (DND) by

providing a common software base for analysis. This synergy encourages inter-group

communication and simplifies user training, analysis process development, documentation

and data portability.

Support cost and analysis efficiency by providing software reuse and common tools and data

formats. Examples of efficiency would be using the output of analysis from one group to

feed the inputs of another, or using common software components to lower development

cost of several custom analysis tools.

Most STAR-IDL components are currently implemented using Interactive Data Language (IDL),

though the design is not restricted to IDL. For example, localization algorithms contained in C++

libraries are accessed from IDL.

Applications in the STAR-IDL tools are built using a combination of reusable and custom

components that meet the requirements of each application. The layered design and common

components allow for rapid and logical development of new capabilities. Though currently

focused on two main areas—sonar data processing and analysis, and target localization, tracking,

1 The STAR-IDL tools were formerly referred to as the Software Tools for Analysis and Research (STAR).

The STAR Software Suite has now come to mean the greater tool set, including OPD, ACDC, SPPACS, etc.


and multi-sensor data fusion—the tools are capable of expanding to meet other analysis and

research requirements.

A.3 Omni-Passive Display (OPD)

OPD is a standalone signal processing application designed to run on UNIX, OSX, and Microsoft

Windows platforms. It can be used to quickly produce sonogram, energy-time integration (ETI),

amplitude-line integration (ALI), and timeseries output from DREA digital acoustic tape

(.DAT/.DAT32) files, wave files, sound card, EADAQ, Rapidly Deployable System (RDS), and

Northern Watch. The following functions summarize its capability (detailed information can be

found in the OPD User Manual [1]):

A user can quickly set up the desired signal processing by loading in a preset configuration

from storage, or by simply defining the desired frequency and time resolution. A more

sophisticated user can define a wide range of parameters, including Fast Fourier Transform

(FFT) size, zero padding, overlap, quantization range and much more.

OPD provides an optional beamformer.

Annotations can be added to the data.

The user can assign a category (or classification) to the annotation from a list of

presets as well as provide free-form text to associate with the annotation.

Previously generated annotations are displayed on screen when processing data

associated with the annotation.

The annotation format is compatible with STAR-IDL and ACDC.

Each processing result is stored in memory and can be selected for viewing and analysis.

Analysis tools include a crosshair cursor for time-frequency measurements.

The entire sonogram can be saved to an image file to capture the output for reports, etc.

A WAV extraction tool allows the operator to define a region within a sonogram and clip

the raw data associated with the selected bounds into a wave file.

Operational measurement tools such as harmonic, banding, and Doppler cursors can be used

to analyze advanced features in data and learn tactical information about potential targets.


List of symbols/abbreviations/acronyms/initialisms

ACDC Acoustic Cetacean Detection Capability

ALI Amplitude Line Integration

API Application Programming Interface

ARM An incorporated technology company

AS Acoustic Subsystem

CD Compact Disk

CM Configuration Management

CMAKE A cross platform build tool

CR Contract Report

DAT DREA Data Format

DAT32 32-bit version of DAT

dB decibel

DFO Department of Fisheries and Oceans

DISO Departmental Individual Standing Offer

DND Department of National Defence

DOxygen An inline documentation generator

DRDC Defence Research and Development Canada

DREA Defence Research Establishment Atlantic

DSP Digital Signal Processing/Processor

EADAQ Environmental Acoustic Data Acquisition

EPS Encapsulated Postscript

ETI Energy Time Indicator

FFT Fast Fourier Transform

FFTW Fastest Fourier Transform in the West

IDL Interactive Data Language

IDLDoc IDL Documentation (similar to DOxygen)

IP Intellectual Property

ITAC Integrated Tracking and Aural Classifier

JIRA A tick tracking system by Atlassian

LAND Lagrangian Ambient Noise Drifter


NAD Non-Acoustic Data

OPD Omni-Passive Display

OSX Operating System X (Ten) - Apple OS

PA Project Authority

PC Personal Computer

PDF Portable Document Format

PWGSC Public Works and Government Services Canada

R&D Research and Development

RDS Rapidly Deployable Systems

SOW Statement of Work

SPLIB Signal Processing Libraries

SPPACS Signal Processing Packages

STAR Software Tools for Analysis and Research

STAR-IDL IDL specific applications of STAR

UML Unified Modeling Language

UNIX A computer operating system

WAV Wave file format (i.e. .wav)

DOCUMENT CONTROL DATA (Security classification of title, body of abstract and indexing annotation must be entered when the overall document is classified)

1. ORIGINATOR (The name and address of the organization preparing the document.

Organizations for whom the document was prepared, e.g. Centre sponsoring a

contractor's report, or tasking agency, are entered in section 8.)

Akoostix Inc. 10 Akerley Blvd - Suite 12 Dartmouth NS B3B 1J4

2. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION (Overall security classification of the document

including special warning terms if applicable.)

UNCLASSIFIED (NON-CONTROLLED GOODS) DMC A REVIEW: GCEC APRIL 2011

3. TITLE (The complete document title as indicated on the title page. Its classification should be indicated by the appropriate abbreviation (S, C or U)

in parentheses after the title.)


4. AUTHORS (last name, followed by initials – ranks, titles, etc. not to be used)

Hood, J.; McInnis, J.

5. DATE OF PUBLICATION (Month and year of publication of document.)

December 2013

6a. NO. OF PAGES (Total containing information,

including Annexes, Appendices,

etc.)

28

6b. NO. OF REFS (Total cited in document.)

3

7. DESCRIPTIVE NOTES (The category of the document, e.g. technical report, technical note or memorandum. If appropriate, enter the type of report,

e.g. interim, progress, summary, annual or final. Give the inclusive dates when a specific reporting period is covered.)

Contract Report

8. SPONSORING ACTIVITY (The name of the department project office or laboratory sponsoring the research and development – include address.)

Defence R&D Canada – Atlantic 9 Grove Street P.O. Box 1012 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 3Z7

9a. PROJECT OR GRANT NO. (If appropriate, the applicable research

and development project or grant number under which the document

was written. Please specify whether project or grant.)

11am07

9b. CONTRACT NO. (If appropriate, the applicable number under

which the document was written.)

W7707-4500847084

10a. ORIGINATOR'S DOCUMENT NUMBER (The official document

number by which the document is identified by the originating

activity. This number must be unique to this document.)

AI CR 2011-014

10b. OTHER DOCUMENT NO(s). (Any other numbers which may be

assigned this document either by the originator or by the sponsor.)


11. DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY (Any limitations on further dissemination of the document, other than those imposed by security classification.)

Unlimited

12. DOCUMENT ANNOUNCEMENT (Any limitation to the bibliographic announcement of this document. This will normally correspond to the

Document Availability (11). However, where further distribution (beyond the audience specified in (11) is possible, a wider announcement

audience may be selected.))

Unlimited

13. ABSTRACT (A brief and factual summary of the document. It may also appear elsewhere in the body of the document itself. It is highly desirable

that the abstract of classified documents be unclassified. Each paragraph of the abstract shall begin with an indication of the security classification

of the information in the paragraph (unless the document itself is unclassified) represented as (S), (C), (R), or (U). It is not necessary to include

here abstracts in both official languages unless the text is bilingual.)

This report summarizes work performed during the Software Tools for Analysis and Research

(STAR) Training and User Support call-up. The objective was to provide timely support for a

variety of STAR training and technical support related requirements. Akoostix successfully

accomplished this by facilitating training of DRDC staff, improving documentation, repairing

STAR defects, and implementing new features in STAR. Significant progress was achieved

under this call-up, but more effort is required.

Le rapport présente un résumé du travail effectué pendant l’appel de formation et de soutien des

utilisateurs des outils logiciels d’analyse et de recherche (STAR). L’objectif était de fournir un

soutien opportun dans le cadre d’une variété de besoins en matière de soutien technique et de

formation concernant les STAR. Akoostix a réussi à accomplir cette tâche en favorisant la

formation du personnel de RDDC, en améliorant la documentation, en répondant aux lacunes

des STAR et en mettant en œuvre de nouvelles fonctions des STAR. D’importants progrès ont

été réalisés dans le cadre de cet appel, et il y a encore du travail à faire.

14. KEYWORDS, DESCRIPTORS or IDENTIFIERS (Technically meaningful terms or short phrases that characterize a document and could be

helpful in cataloguing the document. They should be selected so that no security classification is required. Identifiers, such as equipment model

designation, trade name, military project code name, geographic location may also be included. If possible keywords should be selected from a

published thesaurus, e.g. Thesaurus of Engineering and Scientific Terms (TEST) and that thesaurus identified. If it is not possible to select

indexing terms which are Unclassified, the classification of each should be indicated as with the title.)

STAR; Sonar; Training; Technical Support

STAR Training and User Support Report · 2016-01-04 · Jason McInnis Akoostix Inc. Prepared By:...

Documents

Transcript of STAR Training and User Support Report · 2016-01-04 · Jason McInnis Akoostix Inc. Prepared By:...