March 9, 2022
As part of the Army’s ongoing effort to modernize and enhance the service’s readiness, it is currently upgrading one of its most pivotal communication and logistics processes — the Total Asset Visibility (TAV) In-transit Processing Station – Write (TIPS-Write) software platform.
TIPS-Write, an Automated Movement and Identification Solutions (AMIS) program within PEO EIS’s Army Data and Analytics Platforms portfolio, is part of the TAV system that uses radio frequency (RF) tag technology to track military cargo and equipment. The software platform records and feeds content from shipments being moved to the Radio Frequency In-Transit Visibility (RF-ITV) server. To accomplish this, TIPS-Write communicates with RF identification (RFID) devices via a reader or USB cable, reading and importing shipment data from various formatted information sources used in the field, and uploading the data to the RFID server.
To increase the platform’s efficiency, a first round of changes was implemented in November 2021. During that stage, upgrades were made to the TIPS-Read capability to enhance its usability on tablet computers that are part of Portable Deployment Kits (PDK), versions PDK II and PDK III.
In December 2021, the AMIS product office completed two more significant modifications:
- TIPS-Write User Screens – The TIPS-Write user screens were updated to fit tablet computers used in PDK II and PDK III, by increasing the font size and window size of the installation and user screens.
- Enhanced Latitude/Longitude Functionality – The new enhancements will allow certain PDK users to obtain the latitude/longitude of their location from the modem. This upgrade also increases the accuracy of the latitude/longitude, degrees/minutes/seconds by providing two additional decimal places of “seconds” to accommodate more precise latitude and longitude of sites registered on the ITV server.
As the Army forges ahead in its mission to modernize, it is essential that its communication and logistics systems are as up-to-date and efficient as possible. The improvements made to the TIPS-Write program are another step in PEO EIS’s support for Soldier readiness.