SPx Development Library FAQs

Yes. The SPx Development Library is Cambridge Pixel's open-standards SDK for building or enhancing applications that need radar processing and display. It provides a library of C++ and .NET classes, with example applications, documentation and engineering support.

Typical uses include command and control (C2) systems, vessel traffic management systems (VTMS), ECDIS, counter-UAS displays and other surveillance software. Software built with the SPx Development Library is used by the US Navy, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Raytheon and the Royal Navy.

Cambridge Pixel's in-house team uses the same development platform to build complete applications.

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The SPx Development Library provides C++ and .NET classes, with Windows and Linux/X11 options. It runs on standard, low-cost processing hardware and uses multi-core processors and graphics processors for high performance with low CPU usage.

For radar display, you can write your application for Microsoft Windows (Win32, MFC or .NET) or Linux X11, optionally using a third-party toolkit. The scan conversion module also offers a .NET/Java interface, and a C++/C#/Java control class is available for the HPx-346 radar converter.

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The SPx Development Library includes radar processing modules for scan conversion, compression, video and clutter processing, plot extraction, target display, network distribution and recording, plus supporting modules for graphics, GUI widgets and data receivers. Example applications and documentation are included.

• Scan conversion: PPI, A-Scan and B-Scan displays
• Compression: ORC and zlib
• Radar video processing: scan-to-scan integration, dynamic thresholding (cell-averaging CFAR), plot extraction, area, sector and range blanking, statistics monitoring, signal enhancement, LUT processing, range correction, and FTC and STC filters
• Clutter processing: clutter mapping, clutter subtraction and scan-to-scan integration
• Target processing: AIS, ADS-B and track decode and display
• Network distribution: SPx, ASTERIX and NMEA-0183
• Radar recording and replay
• Supporting modules: graphics renderers, GUI widgets, and NMEA, AIS and ADS-B data receivers

Optional modules are available for camera video processing. Each module is fully parameterised, and you can insert your own modules into the processing chain to add your own algorithms.

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The SPx Development Library is available with single developer, dual developer and project licensing options, each with Windows or Linux/X11 options. Engineer-to-engineer support is provided by phone or email.

Like every Cambridge Pixel product, it comes with 12 months of support as standard, including access to software updates. Training can also be provided; see licensing, support and training. Contact us for pricing.

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SPx Server is a ready-made application that acquires, processes and distributes radar video, plots and tracks. The SPx Development Library is the toolkit for building radar processing and display into your own code. You can use either, or both together.

For example, SPx Server can deliver radar video from the point of acquisition to multiple display consoles, with the SPx Development Library used on the client side. SPx supports client-server configurations or integrated applications with all capability in a single executable. Everything in SPx is open, so you choose where to interface.

SPx Server can also be controlled from your own application through its network API. Cambridge Pixel's ready-made applications, such as RadarView, are built from SPx modules.

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The SPx Development Library is supplied with documentation and example applications that demonstrate key features. If you have a licence but cannot find them, contact Cambridge Pixel support.

Public documents on the product page include the SPx Development brochure, the SPx Scan and SPx Radar Display Coprocess datasheets, and application notes on scan conversion software architectures, multi-channel scan conversion, and inserting radar video into an existing graphics application.

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Yes. The scan conversion module of the SPx Development Library adds PPI, A-Scan or B-Scan radar displays to an existing Windows or Linux application. Its Radar Insertion technology inserts the radar image into your application with minimal changes to your code.

You can scan-convert in three ways:

• inside your client application, using a C++ or .NET class library
• in a separate process, with a lightweight socket-based interface from your client (the RDC method)
• in a server that delivers images to a web client, as SPx Radar Web Server does

The scan converter supports radars up to 240 rpm, multiple screens, multiple windows per screen and multiple radars per window. See SPx Radar Scan Conversion.

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Yes, with SPx Open Access. It is a set of tools and libraries for reading and decoding radar video in Cambridge Pixel Recording (CPR) files from SPx Server, RadarView or RDR, so you can analyse recordings or develop new algorithms in C++, .NET or MATLAB.

SPx Open Access runs on Windows and Linux and includes sample applications for Visual Studio and Linux. You can select start and end times and a channel from multi-channel recordings. A version that includes RDR is available if you need to make new recordings; radars that need a special unlock code, such as Simrad and Furuno, need an extra licence.

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