Automated Scoring and Collection of Operational Test Audio (ASCOT)

The Army purchases and manages diverse Handheld, Manpack and Small Form Fit tactical radio solutions from multiple vendors providing the tactical edge Warfighter with an on-the-move, at-the-halt and stationary Line of Sight (LOS)/Beyond the Line of Sight (BLOS) capability.  Modern software defined radios are field or depot upgradable with new waveforms and security, providing different performance characteristics over the life of the radio.  The variety of radio features, waveforms, and vendors makes it difficult to characterize and evaluate the performance of radios in operational test use.  Lab testing does not capture the impact of field use and lab equipment is not suitable for use in operational testing due to size, weight and power. ATCorp proposes Automated Scoring and Collection of Operational Test Audio (ASCOT), a compact, low-cost solution to collecting and correlating voice communication, both sent and received, among a large array of radios under test in an operational environment.  ASCOT uses a small data collection module attached to each handheld or manpack radio unobtrusively, without affecting radio operation or significantly increasing weight.  A centralized web application facilitates collecting audio samples from multiple radios and generates general and custom reports summarizing the call completion and voice quality of communicating radios.