A MODULAR, FAULT TOLERANT, FIELD PROGRAMMABLE NAVIGATION SENSOR INTERFACE.

THE PROLIFERATION OF ELECTRONIC NAVIGATION SENSORS AND INSTRUMENTS WHICH MAKE USE OF NAVIGATIONAL DATA (ECDIS, ARPA RADAR) HAS RESULTED IN A COMPLEX DATA SHARING PROBLEM. EFFORTS AMONG MANUFACTURERS AND TRADE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE RESULTED IN A SET OF INTRA-DEVICE COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS WHICH GREATLY SIMPLIFY THE INTEGRATION TASK. EACH SHIPBOARD INSTALLATION HAS SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS WHICH ARE NOT ADDRESSED BY COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS ALONE. HOWEVER, THIS PRESENTS THE SYSTEM INTEGRATOR WITH SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES AND THE OPERATOR WITH HIGH COSTS AND UNQUANTIFIED RELIABILITY IN POTENTIALLY CRITICAL SYSTEMS. A UNIVERSAL NAVIGATION JUNCTION BOX IS PROPOSED TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF SHIPBOARD ELECTRONICS INTEGRATORS AND SHIP OPERATORS. THE PROPOSED SYSETM WILL CONSIST OF SMALL, RUGGED, LOW COST MODULES WHICH MAY BE INTERCONNECTED TO PROVIDE VARYING NUMBERS OF INPUTS AND OUTPUTS AND A HIGH DEGREE OF FAULT TOLERANCE. FOUR LEVELS OF CONFIGURABILITY WILL BE PROVIDED TO ACCOMODATE INSTALLATIONS OF VARYING COMPLEXITY AND INSTALLERS WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF TECHNICAL SOPHISTICATION.