Louis-Charles Cuierrier, Author at Davicom Official Website

CORTEX Firmware 6.20: a new web server, rebuilt from the ground up

Louis-Charles Cuierrier — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000

CORTEX firmware 6.20 is the most significant release in years. The entire web
architecture has been rewritten, and a long list of new functions has been built on top of it. It is
on DEX
now, the upgrade is free, and it is the same release for the CORTEX 320 and the CORTEX 360.

A new web server, rebuilt from the ground up

Almost everything else in version 6.20 sits on top of this one change. We rebuilt the CORTEX web
interface from the ground up. The screens you know are still the screens you know. The engine
underneath them is new.

The difference shows up first on the backhaul links where data throughput is expensive: a cellular
modem on a mountaintop, a satellite backhaul, a VPN that adds latency to every single request. The
browser now holds far more of the interface in memory, the data format behind the configuration
screens is leaner, and there are fewer round trips to load a screen.

Modernized configuration screens, redrawn on the new web server, with live feedback while you configure.

Measured on firmware 6.20.1227 against 6.16.40, same unit and configuration:

4.0×

less over the link, compressed
12.32 KB → 3.09 KB

3.2×

less raw, before compression
48.67 KB → 15.3 KB

3.0×

fewer HTTPS requests to load
122 → 41 requests

Your own figures will vary with the size of your configuration. The new web server also gives our engineering team more freedom in how screens are designed, so new functions will reach your sites sooner.

What else is new

Summary States

A Summary State collects up to 128 I/O points into a single reading that goes active as soon as any member of the list goes active. One per shelter turns a 200-point site into a handful of lines on a dispatch screen. Up to 32 per unit, and each one behaves like a normal I/O point, so it can be alarmed, logged, trended and read via SNMP like anything else.

Roll up to 128 I/O points into one state. Thirty-two times over.

Eight times the log memory

A CORTEX unit shares one pool of sample memory across all of its custom logs. In version 6.20 that pool has expanded eightfold, from 1,024 samples to 8,196, on the same hardware, with no option to buy. Two new controls, Inhibit State Change Logging and Inhibit Logging, keep the noise out so the memory holds what actually matters.

Alarm Call Instructions

64 sets of 256 characters, attached to any alarm call. The operator who takes the call at 3 a.m. reads exactly what you want done about that alarm, on that site. No instruction binder to hunt down, and nobody has to wake up the one person who knows the site.

Stop memorizing I/O numbers

Any field that expects an I/O identifier now opens a search panel. Pick the category, type part of the description, select from the list. It saves time on every screen, and it removes the most common source of configuration errors: the right function pointed at the wrong point.

Filter by category and description, then apply.

A MIB browser built into the unit

Integrating a third-party device used to mean opening its MIB in a separate browser on a PC and transcribing the OID by hand. Load the MIB into the CORTEX unit and you can now browse it right there. Select an object and its OID, entry name, value type and description come with it.

A real toolbar in the Workspace editor

Building a site mimic is now a drawing job. A proper tool palette runs down the left edge of the editor: shapes, logic symbols, lines, text, images, meters, status indicators and live I/O boxes, with undo, redo, save, open and download always within reach.

Bulk configuration by CSV Licensed option

Export the current configuration, edit hundreds of rows in a spreadsheet, import it back. For a network where every site carries the same 200 OIDs with a different IP address, this is the difference between an afternoon and a week. Contact dvsales@davicom.com for availability on your units.

Stronger security

All default passwords have been removed. On the first connection to a new unit, or after a factory reset, a fresh user-generated password must be set for the Director user before start-up can continue. Upgrading an existing unit keeps its users and passwords as they are. SNMPv3 authentication now supports HMAC-SHA-224, 256, 384 and 512, and privacy adds AES192 and AES256, algorithms a security team will recognize on an audit sheet.

Get firmware 6.20

Version 6.20 and the full release notes are on DEX. The upgrade is free, and it keeps your users and passwords as they are.

Ready when you are.

Download firmware 6.20 →
Read the full release bulletin (PDF) →

This post was produced with the help of AI and validated by the Davicom team.

Use Case – Fire Station Alarm Dissemination and Electrical Control

Louis-Charles Cuierrier — Thu, 16 Jun 2022 19:37:18 +0000

We recently completed a project where we designed a building automation system with voice notifications for city fire stations using our Davicom Cortex RTU units.

To achieve the goals of the project we worked with Komutel and their TARGA Interactive Dispatching Alert solution to implement a workflow that transformed information from the 911 calling center into audio files and building automation commands. Subsequent phases are planned in order to display an on-screen timer as well as to integrate carbon monoxide detectors, open doors, geo-locate trucks, synchronize traffic lights, etc. Statistics will also be compiled on response times achieved.

In short, the city needed to make its operations more efficient and improve response times to alarm calls by automating certain functions in the fire stations and by having voice notifications sent to the buildings’ PA systems. The system was installed in 2019 and has been in operation since the end of 2020 in 3 stations. To ensure that the concept was reliable and ready to be deployed to other fire stations, it was operated in test mode for over one year. This allowed us to iron-out all the small bugs and validate its reliability and robustness.

Installation of the on-site equipment was done by a local Davicom dealer and consisted in installing one Davicom CORTEX unit per fire station for building control (turn off the oven breakers and turn on the emergency lights) as well as to play back alarm-dependent audio files on the PA system. In one of the three stations, audio was also sent to a P25 radio system to notify off-site fire chiefs and other personnel.

Installation Performed by Orizon Mobile, Authorized Davicom Integrator

The overall process happens as described below:

An alarm call comes in, and once the dispatcher has finished entering the call information, the 911 system sends the calling card to different groups in TARGA. It has a vocal group and a building automation group for the recommended station.
TARGA does a complete ingest of the information and concatenates everything into the proper order: Recommended station, Nature of call, Time, Address of the incident.

Using a « text to speech » program, TARGA then transforms the data into a .wav file and sends it to the FTP servers of the 3 Davicom Cortex units installed in the 3 stations.

Using the SNMP protocol, the TARGA system also sends commands to the Davicom CORTEX in order to play the audio and activate the building automation IF the station concerned is recommended to respond to the alarm. A 3-alarm circular buffer allows a second voice message to be played-out if a first one is already playing.

The alarm is played-out once on both the P25 radios as well as on the PA system in the 3 stations. And then a second time but only on the PA systems so that the radio channel is available for urgent communications. As an example, the audio playout could read as follows: STATION 50, Nature of the call: Building fire, Time of call: 2:58 p.m., Address: 120 McCune Road.

The Davicom CORTEX unit will also use its internal relays to turn-off oven and stove breakers as well as to turn on emergency lighting. Latch time and other parameters can be easily set in the software.

The figure below shows the overall system block diagram:

The system is very flexible and can be customized to pretty much any building automation requirement. Since the Davicom Cortex has extra inputs and outputs available for adding sensors and controlling devices, practically any operating scenario imaginable can be realized.

We at Davicom are always available to help.

Wide-eyed and Green, NAB 2022

Louis-Charles Cuierrier — Wed, 25 May 2022 19:08:18 +0000

Moment of truth

I’ve got some confessions. I’m not an engineer. Not even a little bit. I don’t have years of radiocommunication experience or an impressive advanced technical degree. I’ve been told that I do learn quickly at least. Oh, and I had never even heard of the NAB before this year… Phew, I feel better getting all that out in the open!

Getting Ready

After about a month at the office here in beautiful Quebec City, I was asked if I’d like to represent Comlab and Davicom at the biggest broadcasting industry event of the year in Las Vegas. I said yes, of course. So started several weeks of industry research, product research… and research to figure out what the heck the NAB even was. John, Louis-Charles, Andrew and everyone else here at the office patiently answered my questions, suggested topics to study and generally tried to make sure that I wasn’t going to embarrass myself and the company. Their time was well spent and their mission was a success- as far as I know!

How it started

We arrived late at night a couple days before the show started. It wasn’t too late LV time but it was very late EST and I was looking forward to a nice soft bed after a long travel day.

Of course, that wasn’t the hand that I would be dealt. There was a problem with my room- and the hotel was booked-up. This led to a rushed search for another room and a late-night walk through the neon lit Las Vegas streets dragging all my luggage behind me like in a movie. I checked-in to my new room and ‘’enjoyed’’ the soothing sounds of a nearby nightclub until just before dawn. It could only get better from here- I hoped.

DEX Breakfast 2022 (at the High Roller Wheel House)

This was my first DEX breakfast and I felt prepared; but still somewhat unsure of what to expect. No one was completely sure what to expect this year. This was our first event since COVID, it was a very uncertain year as far as the entire NAB was concerned, and we were deviating from the normal and popular DEX breakfast format.

We usually ask members of our community to share the creative ways they use the power and flexibility of Davicom products. Everyone really seems to look forward to this. Who doesn’t like to see new ways to use their tools to make life easier? This format also gives our Davicom community a way to bounce ideas, win congratulations, and to just socialize and network a bit. Would everyone miss this more structured approach or would they enjoy the relaxed welcome back that we planned?

This year, we really wanted to provide a place to see friends and colleagues who had been kept distant by travel and gathering restrictions. We planned for Louis-Charles Cuierrier and Radica’s Alan Brown to give short presentations on what Davicom had been working on for the past two years and then break to give people time to say hi.

I was given a few tasks but the most daunting was to introduce myself. I’m usually pretty comfortable with public speaking. I really should be at this point! But I had to address a group of industry professionals, all of whom were more knowledgeable and experienced than me- by far (remember my confession?). Oh yeah, and I had to do it at 8 AM in Vegas. I assumed that, for a lot of people, 8 AM in Vegas was not the same as 8AM at home! I wasn’t anticipating a lot of energetic and smiling faces happy to meet the new guy…

The Convention Floor

Our booth was well placed and surrounded by friendly exhibitors. The people to one side were from Arkansas and the people across the aisle were from Texas. I spent a lot of time in both states when I was in the military and while I was studying at LSU. We chatted when there was time and they answered my questions and told me stories of how the NAB and the industry have evolved.

There were times that I was left alone to answer questions about our products. Everyone was very understanding if I referred to Louis-Charles, told them that I’d have to get back to them, or asked them for more detail if I was unsure that I understood a question. No one made me feel unhelpful or unwelcome and I really couldn’t have appreciated it more. It was time to exhale- I hadn’t even realized that I was holding my breath.

On the last day, we celebrated by trying out the Tesla Loop on the way out of the convention center and then having dinner at Louis-Charles’ favorite LV restaurant- again. Lol

Verdict

I know that I left the section about the DEX breakfast unfinished. It turned out that I had worried for nothing. I was impressed by how welcoming everyone was and I did fine with my introduction. I think that I avoided all vocal pauses or embarrassing slips of the tongue! On the floor, no one made me feel like an imposter, interloper or tourist. I felt like a welcome member of the community.

My first NAB experience was great. I got to meet a lot of people in the industry, many that I had already heard of by name. I gained greater exposure to the ecosystem of products and companies with which I’ll be working and I got to enjoy a little of Vegas at the same time. A special thanks to the Inovonics crew and everyone at MNC software. I look forward to NAB 2023 and I’m excited to show off some of the new things that we’re working on right now!

I left for Las Vegas thinking that I had found a special company in Davicom. A unicorn. One that was willing to accept someone new to the industry, mentor them, and welcome them to a real work family. I returned to Quebec City knowing that what I had actually found was a special industry. One that is willing to do all those things and more! Thank you and I look forward to seeing you again or meeting you at the next NAB. Come by the booth and say hi.

Getting to know you

Did you attend NAB 2022 or others? If so, what’s your favorite part?

Have you never been to NAB but want to go? What do you look forward to seeing or doing?

Do you know Louis-Charles’ favorite Las Vegas restaurant? I gave you a really strong hint!

Please comment below. I look forward to reading your replies!

N+1 Transmitter Controller Project with Eddystone & Radica

Louis-Charles Cuierrier — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 22:45:41 +0000

Davicom’s Cortex site management systems are just starting to flex their muscles and show how versatile they can be. Alan Brown, a Davicom power-user, has taken a stock Davicom Cortex360 and with a few days of work programmed the unit to function as a dedicated N+1 transmitter controller.

See below pictures & screenshots of the final system!

DV-200 Trade-in Program

Louis-Charles Cuierrier — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 13:54:52 +0000

Trade-in your DV-200 Units and Save up to $1200*

We have big news for our Dealer & Rep Community that will hopefully help drive your sales in 2022!

Until June 30st your customers are able to trade-in / swap out their old DV-Micro, DV-Mini, DV-208 and DV-216 units, and save up to $1200 on the purchase of brand new Davicom Cortex 320 or 360 units, starting February 1st of this year

*Conditions: Trade-in rebates are available for operational DV-200 units having manufacturing dates after January 1st 2011, which must be returned to the factory once the new Davicom Cortex unit is received. A rebate check will be issued directly to the client thereafter.

See below for the Trade In value of each unit.

Contact us

DV-200 End-of-Sale Notice

Louis-Charles Cuierrier — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 22:05:46 +0000

Davicom announces the End-Of-Sale of its DV-200 units due to the limited availability of key electronic components.

Beginning on January 1st 2022, Davicom will no longer be accepting orders for delivery of the Davicom DV-Micro, DV-Mini, DV-208 and DV-216 (DV-200) products.

Davicom will continue to provide support & repair services for existing DV-200 products for as long as its parts inventory allows. We will also continue to support the embedded firmware of these units with updates until December 31st 2024, or for as long as is reasonably possible. No new functionality will be added however.

Following this End-Of-Sale Notice, for any future expansion of their networks, customers are encouraged to migrate to the Davicom Cortex family of products which offers superior performance, additional functionality and increased memory capacity all at a similar or even lower price. In addition, Davicom Cortex & DV-200 SNMP MIB files are compatible as are the DavNet & DavLink software packages. A network of Davicom MACs, DV-200’s and Davicom Cortex units can therefore all be tied together thanks to the DavNet software. A DV-200 to Davicom Cortex wiring interface adapter is available and the family of MEXM expansion modules remains the preferred means of expanding GPIO counts.

Many first generation Davicom units are still humming along after more than 20 years in the field, and our 2nd generation of products can be expected to perform just as well. So if your current setup isn’t broken, there is no obligation to fix it!

However, for customers wishing to modernize their fleet, an advantageous trade-in /swap-out program is available for DV-Micro, DV-Mini, DV-208 and DV-216 units. Rebates of up to $1200 are possible on the purchase of Davicom Cortex 320 or 360 units between January 1st and June 30th, 2022. To be eligible for these trade-in rebates, operational DV-200 units having manufacturing dates after January 1st 2011 must be returned to the factory once the new Davicom Cortex unit is received. A rebate check will then be sent to the customer.

The Davicom DV-200 family of products has been extremely successful in delivering superior value and performance to broadcasters and telecom site operators for their remote site management needs since 2007. This near-15 year product lifespan is a testimony to the innovative design, flexibility and advanced functionalities like SNMP & MODBUS that were added to the units (at no cost to the end-user) over the years. In the present age of planned obsolescence and throw-away designs, not many companies can say that they have been manufacturing a product that has remained leading-edge for close to 15 years!

For more details call +1-877-282-3380 or contact us at www.davicom.com/contact