Design and Development of High-Definition Rugged Digital Video Recorder

This case study details Mistral’s design and development of a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) solution tailored for airborne applications. The DVR was engineered to function reliably for 8 to 10 hours under severe conditions, with installations at Remote, Ground, and Viewing Stations. The customer operates in telecommunications and defense, requiring compliance with MIL-STD-810F for temperature and vibration, and MIL-STD-461D for electromagnetic compatibility. Mistral's solution included a compact XMC-based video processing unit utilizing TI’s DM8168 processor and Altera's Arria II FPGA. The DVR captures and encodes multiple HD video inputs from UAV cameras, transmitting data to ground and viewing stations for immediate analysis and storage. The system also features advanced capabilities such as remote firmware upgrades and auto-detection of video formats. Mistral’s expertise enabled the development of a lightweight, rugged solution that meets stringent operational requirements while optimizing costs.