Latest ASTi News

May 22, 2013 – Advanced Simulation Technology inc (ASTi), developer of networked voice and radio communications systems, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), developer of the Virtual Battlespace (VBS) training game series. Through this new partnership, ASTI's Voisus® communication products for VBS2 will be available for purchase directly from BISim's online store.

ASTi's Voisus client integrates directly into VBS2, replacing simplistic default in-game comms with high-fidelity simulated radios. These DIS-compatible radios simulate crypto, frequency hop, modulation, jamming, vehicle intercoms, and position-based ranging and noise. The audio processing is offloaded from the desktop application to the Voisus server to conserve CPU resources, provide maximum reliability, and simplify maintenance via centralized web-based management.

Other Voisus features include an automated constructive radio environment, live radio bridging, and remote radio control.

ASTi will highlight their latest voice and radio comms solutions at the ITEC expo in Rome, May 22 – 24, 2013, as an official BISim booth partner in stand D110. ASTi will showcase a JTAC-style training demo featuring interactive, synthetic training elements, 3-dimensional sound, and state-of-the-art voice recognition that enables synthetic entities to respond directly to 9-line call for fire requests from within VBS2.

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ASTi designs systems to deliver rapidly-deployable, low-cost, scalable VoIP communications for Live, Virtual, Constructive and Gaming (LVC-G) training environments. Our systems feature high-fidelity radio simulation, 3-D sound field reconstruction, communications and audio for serious games, speech recognition & synthetic speech, an automated constructive radio environment, and live radio bridging and remote control. Over the past 24 years, ASTi has fielded over 7,200 systems at 620 installation sites in the U.S. and 45 countries abroad.

ASTi to Exhibit at ITEC 2013

May 16, 2013 – Advanced Simulation Technology inc. (ASTi) will exhibit at ITEC, Fiera di Roma, Rome, May 22 - 24, 2013, in stand no. D110. ITEC is the annual international forum for the military training, education, and simulation sectors. This year ASTi will showcase a JTAC-style training demo featuring interactive, synthetic training elements, 3-dimensional sound, and state-of-the-art voice recognition that enables synthetic entities to respond directly to 9-line call for fire requests from within VBS2.

ASTi is the predominant voice and radio comms solution provider for Live, Virtual, Constructive, and Gaming (LVC-G) training environments. Our systems feature high-fidelity radio simulation, 3-D sound field reconstruction, communications and audio for serious games, speech recognition and synthetic speech, an automated constructive radio environment, and live radio bridging and remote control. Over the past 24 years, ASTi has fielded over 7,200 systems at 620 installation sites in the U.S. and 45 countries abroad.

ASTi Launches No-Cost Voisus Evaluation Service

April 24, 2013 – At the 2013 Defense Gametech Users’ Conference last week, ASTi announced the launch of HearVoisus.com, a no-cost evaluation service for its Voisus product. Voisus is ASTi’s ready-to-deploy, Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) and serious games audio and communications solution. The HearVoisus.com service allows prospective customers to create and manage their own Voisus server “in the cloud” for a full, 30-day evaluation period.

The Voisus server executes powerful audio processing, while lightweight software clients provide high-fidelity simulated radio and intercom communications. The Voisus communications suite includes:

Centralized, web-based management to configure and distribute exercise scenarios
Software communications clients with realistic radio skins; clients are easily downloaded to customer PCs and tablets
Point-to-point calling and conferencing
Integration with VBS2, Unity, CryENGINE, and other serious games for an immersive training experience
ASTi Construct, to create the illusion of more players in serious games by linking automated radio, voice, and sound with synthetic entities and game avatars to populate the training environment
ASTi Simscribe, a networked communications capture and replay tool for after-action review
RESTful API, to create custom user interfaces and integrate Voisus with other training systems

ASTi’s communications systems have enhanced the realism and effectiveness of government and industry programs since 1989.

ASTi to Exhibit at Aviation Training Industry Day

March 14, 2013 – Advanced Simulation Technology inc. (ASTi) will be at the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE), Fort Rucker, AL on March 21st, participating in the Aviation Training Industry Day. ASTi will be spotlighting our latest product solutions including: networked voice, highly-realistic and immersive simulated radio comms, and synthetic environmental sound generation.

ASTi is the predominate solution provider for military and first responder training programs, and delivers products that enable blended training across the Live, Virtual, Constructive and Gaming domains. ASTi has provided simulation-based training enablers to the U.S. Army's aviation programs since 1995.

ASTi Achieves Sign-Off for Tinker AFB Comm Switch

February 17, 2013 – ASTi recently achieved sign off for an upgrade to the communication switch located at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. The comm. switch allows 5 separate E-3 AWACS simulators to connect to a variety of live communication assets including phone lines, radios, encrypted VOIP channels, and shout lines. The functionality provides live-to-virtual bridging of radio traffic, giving students and instructors the ability to communicate to the outside world without ever leaving the simulator.

The comm. switch is a critical element of USAF's Mission Simulator Live Intercept Training Environment (MS LITE) exercises. By sharing communications and live radar with the outside world, crew members have the ability to control airborne aircraft while working in a ground environment. The upgrade allows AWACS personnel to have real world training and interaction with actual fighter units.

The communications switch was built upon ASTi's Telestra 4 product line and provided a fully-customized solution. ASTi's engineering team delivered custom hardware interfaces, and developed a specialized configuration tool to assist on-site personnel by leveraging Commercial, Off-the-Shelf (COTS) products and prices.

Working on a team with H2 IT Solutions, Inc. and ProActive Technologies LLC, the year-long program finished two months ahead of schedule, with ASTi providing assistance from kick-off to sign-off. ASTi supported all phases of the program with engineering services for design, integration, management, support, training, and documentation. By combining ASTi custom engineering with ASTi COTS products, the program was a success with lower risk and lower costs to the customer.

ASTi ships Voisus System for UAV Training

In December, ASTi shipped a new Voisus system to U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal, AL to support networked communications for multiple trainees using their Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) trainer.

Each trainee can access up to 8 audio channels featuring simulated radios or network intercoms using tablet computers inside custom Tactical Operations Center InterCommunication System (TOCNET) desktop Crew Access Unit (CAU) enclosures. The tablet computers' Windows 7 operating systems host ASTi's Voisus client software as the communications backbone. The powerful Voisus client provides functionality for an ASTi-developed software interface which replicates the appearance and operation of the CAU.

The CAU interface is only one of many ASTi-designed radio skins that lay on top of the core communications Voisus client software. Additional radio skins include: AN/PRC-117F, AN/PRC-117G, AN/PRC-150(C), AN/PRC-119 SINCGARS ASIP, AN/PRC-148 and AN/PRC-152 handheld radios.

ASTi to Present Tech Talk at Carnegie Mellon University

ASTi's Ross Kukulinski will be presenting a Tech Talk at Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering titled "Roger That: Flight Simulators, Serious Games, and the Global Training Network" on Tuesday, January 29, 2013, 4:30–6:30 pm in Hamerschlag Hall 1107.

Abstract

For decades, military and commercial aviation have been using flight simulators to help teach pilots to fly. Over the years, it has been shown that augmenting real-world training with virtual training results in cheaper, safer, and more effective training. These training devices have spread and evolved and now can be found throughout the military being used to train a wide variety of individual skills as well as complicated joint-operation teamwork skills such as call for fire.

This talk will explore some of the technological challenges we face when building communication products for a global dynamic training network. ASTi's products link together disparate training devices including serious games, full-fidelity flight simulators, and live-fire ranges so that soldiers may train in real-time with other units around the world in the same virtual world.

Ross is a Carnegie Mellon alumnus with a B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering.

I/ITSEC 2012 News

ASTi Highlights Serious Games at I/ITSEC 2012

ASTi's Voisus audio and communications product is built with serious games in mind, and this year's I/ITSEC is the perfect place to see it in action. We have a number of serious-game-related things on tap.

I/ITSEC 2012 Coming Attractions

Here's a list of what you can expect to see at ASTi's booth (#1149) at this year's I/ITSEC tradeshow.

I/ITSEC 2012 Floorplan

ASTi Ships 7,000th System

November 5, 2012 – On October 24, 2012, ASTi shipped the company's 7,000th system since its incorporation in 1989.

The 7,000th system was part of a 49-system shipment to L-3 Communications, Link Simulation and Training in Arlington, TX. These Telestra systems will be part of the U.S. Navy's ongoing F/A-18 training program, and will provide comms & aural cue to F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and E/A-18G Growler simulators.

This shipment represents the latest in a long list of ASTi systems to find a role in F/A-18 training. ASTi's first F/A-18 related shipment was to Hughes Training & Support Systems Group in 1991.

ASTi Comms Unify Army Centers of Excellence

October 17, 2012 – ASTi customers at three U.S. Army posts recently held a series of networking and communications experiments aimed at creating a professional development course for Army trainees. Instructors at the Fires Center of Excellence (Ft. Sill, OK); Maneuver Center of Excellence (Ft. Benning, GA); and Aviation Center of Excellence (Ft. Rucker, AL) investigated connecting all three sites over long-haul networks allowing students to participate in joint mission training exercises.

Each simulation center successfully linked to the others, and began using its existing training devices in a common synthetic environment. ASTi Telestra systems provide communications for Ft. Sill's Fire Control Simulator and simulated radios, whereas Ft. Benning uses ASTi Voisus for VBS2 in-game comms and ASTi DACS radios for CCTT. Ft. Rucker's Flight School XXI Reconfigurable Training Devices use a combination of ASTi DACS and Telestra systems. Its AVCATT trainers also use Telestra platforms, and Voisus again provides radios for VBS2 serious games. The experiment worked, and all three schoolhouses enjoyed an integrated, networked training environment complete with simulated radio communications.

The next step is to share a common terrain database between all three sites. But this experiment highlights how all generations of ASTi systems (from legacy to leading edge) interoperate not only with each other, but also with other successful training programs like AVCATT, CCTT and FSXXI.

ASTi Voisus Products Achieve DoD Information Assurance Accreditation

July 30, 2012 – Advanced Simulation Technology, Inc. (ASTi), a key provider of networked voice, radio-over-IP and military training and simulation solutions, announced today that their Voisus product line has been granted a significant U.S. Department of Defense information assurance (IA) accreditation. The accreditation designates that ASTi Voisus products have achieved Authority To Operate (ATO) status in full compliance with the DoD's Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP).

The U.S. Army's Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) approved the DIACAP ATO, signifying that Voisus products are approved to "process information that is important to the support of deployed and contingency forces" and are authorized to operate on US Army Classified Secret networks.

This latest accreditation is further proof of ASTi's longterm commitment to developing and maintaining a rich set of security and information assurance product features that are necessary to safeguard sensitive and classified information that's critical to the Warfighter's mission. ASTi's complete spectrum of solutions, encompassing the Voisus and Telestra mainline products, is now endorsed with DIACAP ATO status.

ASTi Refines Pax River F/A-18 Simulator Audio

May 8, 2012 – ASTi recently updated a Telestra audio and communications system running simulated F/A-18F Super Hornet engine models at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station (NAS) Manned Flight Facility in St. Mary's, MD. An ASTi engineer worked alongside an active-duty U.S. Navy F/A-18 pilot to adjust sounds produced by the engine model to better replicate the actual cockpit environment.

During the update process, the pilot identified a need for additional aural cues caused by air resonating around the aircraft based on airspeed and altitude. Using the pilot's input, ASTi's engineer was able to tune the model quickly and efficiently with the agile model development software. The ability of the ASTi sound system to position sounds at various locations within the cockpit further enhanced the simulation. Due to the ASTi updates, the simulator is slated to be used for carrier approach training.

ASTi also conducted on-the-job training for the site's engineering staff during the one-day trip. The customer's proficiency with ASTi's software allowed them to perform final tuning, as well as handle any future maintenance tasks.

The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a twin-engine, multi-mission fighter jet developed for a variety of combat operations. ASTi has provided the simulated communications and aural cue systems for the F/A-18 training program since 1989. ASTi has been providing networked communications and aural cue solutions to Pax River NAS facilities for over a decade.

ASTi and Bohemia Interactive Simulations Announce New Partnership