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Government Video Magazine
December 2008
AV Systems
New Command Center Helps Marines Oversee Pacific
Information can be shared simultaneously throughout the command and it makes a big difference.
by Joy Zaccaria
In Honolulu, HI, the Command Operations Center responsible for two-thirds of the operational forces in the U.S. Marine Corps as well as bases and installations from Arizona to Japan recently received a much needed communications system overhaul.
The Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC) is the senior U.S. Marine Corps commander in the Pacific. He exercises command and control from the COC at Camp H.M. Smith, Honolulu. The new system in the COC is being used to help keep track of and support military operations in the Pacific Region.
The main area of the COC features almost three dozen watch stations, as well as two video wall displays.
With the new system, the Marines can communicate more efficiently and effectively with ground forces throughout the region and around the world. Due to the mission of the COC, it was it imperative that the facility provide state-of-the-art functionality and be able to function 24/7.
For Chantilly, VA-based Audio Video Systems, the goal was to provide a reliable AV display system that would meet todaysneed for higher information density displays. The previous facility didnt allow for simple reconfiguration of workstations among various networks to meet complex needs of various crises. The AV systems were patched around as required on a daily basis in order to conduct a basic presentation at a meeting or complete a videoconferencing call.
The new system allows for multiple networks to be up at once, and users at every workstation can jump between networks at the touch of a finger.
During briefings and ongoing monitoring of situations, anyone at any station can show what they are seeing on the main COC displays, which are viewable to the entire watch floor. Plus, a subject matter expert, such as a logistics officer, can pass information to the commanders desk and throughout the command center and all connected conference rooms at the same time.
Jose Tablada, III, director of MARFORPAC Command Operations Center, designed the system to leverage technologies they didnt have available to them in the past. On a day-to-day basis, it has expanded our ability to collaborate intra-staff within the whole headquarters, he said. Sharing information simultaneously throughout the command and all its spaces makes a big difference.
Overall, its a flexible, intuitive system with one of the most user-friendly interfaces seen for a system of its size. Someone assigned to a workstation can be trained in 30 minutes to operate the entire system.
The AV installation is spread across several rooms the watch floor, which is the main area of the COC, has 35 watch stations. There are 10 watch cells (each containing three watch stations), four master watch stations, and one master controller station.
There was not enough space to fit all the required personnel in the spaces in proposed and initial plans, said AVS marketing communications specialist Allan Childers. Recommendations were made to redesign the layout of the floor into its current configuration, which is how the concept of the watch cell cluster came about.
AVS designed the watch stations, then had a custom woodworker build a mock-up. We then integrated the system and completed testing on our integration floor [in Chantilly, VA] and made sure that everything fit and that the systems worked properly, he added. The woodworker then built the tables at their facility. They were then shipped in pieces to Hawaii, where they were put together and installed with some small modifications.
The Battle Cabin overlooks the watch floor and features its own AV master controller station.
A small, glass-encased conference room for quick meetings or briefings is positioned at one end of the watch floor, complete with its own watch station. In addition, a conference room, also known as the Battle Cabin, overlooks the watch floor and is used for high-level briefings. There is a second master controller station in the Battle Cabin. The facility also has seven additional watch stations in offices and conference rooms, along with one at a remote location.
Designed to fit into the limited space of the facility, two video wall displays using custom-sized Stewart SnoMatte screens are on either end of the COC watch floor. The larger display (32-foot diagonal) uses simultaneous vertical and horizontal edge blending of highresolution images through six Panasonic 10,000- lumen projectors. The smaller display (20-foot diagonal) uses three additional Panasonic projectors horizontally blended.
The configuration is unique because of an extremely long throw approximately 50 feet and the edge blending. The projectors are mounted above and below the opposite video walls, and the displays are blended both horizontally and vertically. Due to the throw distance and configuration of the displays, all the projectors were at the extreme edge of their lens shift.
Vista Spyder video processors working with the IT and AV systems were used to create multiple blended image layouts on both video walls. Pre-defined layouts can be selected by the master controller to display various sources (including information from each watch station, satellite receivers, tuners, and other video components) on each wall and share information with any of the various conference rooms. Using one of two touch panels, the master controller can use various display layout configurations to call up information from the workstations for briefings. Each workstation contains a secure touch panel acting as a KVM switch over IP, providing access to up to four PCs through a massive centralized switching system. The distance between devices was lengthy (computer racks were 200 feet away from stations), so connections are made over Cat 5.
Each watch cell on the watch floor has three watch stations -- the cluster design was configured to help work within the space restrictions.
The majority of video is distributed over Cat 5 using standard LAN patch panels. All the Ethernetenabled equipment is connected to the AV network to allow for easy configuration and maintenance. Power to the system is provided over Ethernet.
In the Battle Cabin, the AV system can display any of the sources being displayed throughout the entire system, in addition to videoconferencing, on a single video wall (using two projectors). An additional video processor allows display of up to 10 video presets. All audio and video routing is controlled by the master controller station or at the rooms lectern. The Battle Cabin features a variety of microphones (including table and ceiling microphones) and an intercom panel. Various Extron components are used including video scalers, image processors, matrix switchers, fiber optic extenders, and DVI-to-RGB computer interfaces. ★
MORE INFO
Extron Electronics extron.com
Panasonic panasonic.com/business
Stewart Filmscreen stewartfilmscreen.com
Vista vistasystems.com