What is EO/IR (Electro-Optical/Infra-Red)?

Military personnel always need to be able to detect, track, and engage with enemy threats, whether during the day or at night. 

In this blog, you'll learn what EO/IR is, how it works, and how Trenton's new 3U BAM XRS server enables our warfighters to stay vigilant of enemy attacks at all times. 

What is EO/IR (Electro-Optical/Infra-Red)?

EO/IR (Electro-Optical/Infra-Red) involves imaging systems that consist of electro-optical and infrared sensors supported by computing architectures. 

Spanning the visible and infrared wavelengths, EO/IR systems enable complete situational awareness during both the day and at night, as well as in conditions with limited light. 

EO/IR can be used for a variety of use cases across the military sector, especially for security and C6ISR applications, to detect, track, and engage with enemy threats. 

EO/IR sensors and systems

There are two kinds of EO/IR sensors: electro-optical and infrared. 

Electro-optical sensors can convert light into electric signals, whereas infrared sensors can detect any structure in its surroundings by either emitting or detecting infrared radiation. 

EO/IR systems are divided into two kinds: imaging EO/IR and non-imaging EO/IR. 

Imaging EO/IR systems are dedicated to scanning the structure of targets and delivering noise-free images for accurate detection, whereas non-imaging EO/IR systems are mainly focused on long-range target monitoring. 

How does an EO/IR system work?

EO/IR systems are most often used for their long-range imaging and image stabilization capabilities. 

Here's how each works:

EO/IR sensors are commonly mounted on aerial vehicles, ground vehicles, or ships, and they can also be hand-carried.

These sensors must detect and track targets from a distance in the harshest of environments. 

Information from these sensors is then sent to servers, which process, analyze, and deliver the data to military personnel, so they can stay aware of any enemy activity. 

In recent years, there has been an increased demand for small, lightweight, and portable EO/IR systems. (More on that in the next section.)

EO/IR and Trenton Systems

At Trenton Systems, our high-performance computing solutions help enhance EO/IR applications, increasing situational awareness and, as a result, shortening response times. 

Our 3U BAM XRS, for example, can support multiple high-end, double-wide NVIDIA® A100 GPUs to enhance parallel processing, AI inferencing, data analytics, and graphics rendering to deliver real-time, actionable insights. This enables military personnel to see further and in every direction. 

This server's SWaP-optimized architecture increases compute density while reducing footprint and total cost of ownership; it can fit into the most constrained platforms, enabling rapid deployment of EO/IR systems anywhere, anytime. 

Supporting up to 8 front-removable NVMe, SAS, and SATA SSDs, the 3U BAM XRS delivers maximum storage capacity, increased read/write speeds, and reduced latency, making mission-critical data easily accessible. 

It is also equipped with dual Intel® 3rd Gen Xeon® SP CPUs and high-speed I/O, increasing bandwidth and data transfer rates at the edge. 

Certified to MIL-STD-461G, the 3U BAM XRS has extra depth and an EMI-filtered (electromagnetic interference) power supply to reduce damage to critical components and avoid interference with existing compute infrastructure. 

Data-at-rest, in-transit, and in-use is fully guarded against unauthorized access across the hardware, firmware, software, and network stack with multi-layer, advanced cybersecurity technologies. 

EO/IR sensors can feed information to the 3U BAM XRS for rapid, secure processing and analysis to help warfighters gain a strategic, tactical, and operational advantage over adversaries across a wide range of environments. 

Final thoughts

With enemy threats becoming increasingly sophisticated and hard to detect, EO/IR applications must be strengthened to help military personnel stay vigilant of enemy threats, whether at night or during the day. 

Combining advanced sensors with high-performance computers that can meet the most demanding technical, performance, and environmental specifications, EO/IR systems enhance decision-making capabilities to ensure mission success across the modern, multi-domain battlespace anywhere, anytime. 

Want to learn more about how we can help you construct a custom solution for your EO/IR applications? Just drop us a line anytime here. We'd be happy to help. 😎