Very Interesting (Ocusync)

[Pappy]

A question was raised in other discussions about RC compatibility and in some of the reviews for the MA2S on YT the reviewer was using the SC. It was reported that the MA2S was using Ocusync 3.0, so how was that possible. Well apparently O3 is backwards compatible with O2.

From the MA2S spec sheet:

Video Transmission​

• Transmission System - O3
  2.4 GHz/5.8 GHz Auto-Switching (compatible with OcuSync 2.0)
  4-antenna 2T4R​

Remote Controller​

• Remote Controller Transmission System - OcuSync 2.0​

 

[Severian]

So the remote controller that comes with the A2s is the older OS2 one?

 

[Pappy]

So the remote controller that comes with the A2s is the older OS2 one?

According to the spec sheet for the MA2 and MA2S, the RCs are the same. I'm sure someone will verify that a MA2 RC can be bound to a MA2S.

 

[Severian]

Just read this in the A2s manual (p. 34). Looks like the A2s controller is new and not one of the older MA2 ones. I believe the older controller only had 2 antennas.

 

[sarimento1]

Soooo...maybe there will be an update to the Smart Controller to be OcuSync 3.0 capable??

 

[JustADude]

Just read this in the A2s manual (p. 34). Looks like the A2s controller is new and not one of the older MA2 ones. I believe the older controller only had 2 antennas.

Not necessarily, the model number is the same for both (RC231) and it's possible DJI just disabled 2 of the antennas in the Air 2 controller. It's hard to believe that there would be a physical difference in controllers while still keeping the same model number.

Soooo...maybe there will be an update to the Smart Controller to be OcuSync 3.0 capable??

Presumably, it has already happened. One of the YT channels is already using his smart controller with the Air 2s. That or the Air2s is backward compatible with OS2. If that were the case, the Air2 controller should work too but someone in the help forum said they could not get it to connect.

 

[gizmoboy]

Soooo...maybe there will be an update to the Smart Controller to be OcuSync 3.0 capable??

I don't know about that, but the smart controller definitely pairs with and operates my A2s... I only took it off in my office to confirm that after pairing, but it works.

Had to upgrade the firmware on the SC to get the A2s listed, and I had to upgrade the firmware on my A2s with the regular controller and my iPhone before I could get it to pair with the SC though...

 

[robwas]

Interesting discussion, I wonder if O3 vs O2 is a hardware or purely software based change. The MA2 controller has white LED's where the MA2s has green LED's, some of the buttons are also marked differently. My new MA2s controller is working with my old drone, I haven't gotten the old controller to work with the new drone yet however.

 

[Yeunglings]

Interesting discussion, I wonder if O3 vs O2 is a hardware or purely software based change. The MA2 controller has white LED's where the MA2s has green LED's, some of the buttons are also marked differently. My new MA2s controller is working with my old drone, I haven't gotten the old controller to work with the new drone yet however.

I cant speak to the MA2s controller since I don't have one but I know that my Mini2 and MA2 controller are identical other than the battery lights and some labels( I think they changed the tripod mode to cine because people thought they had to try and mount the drone)and both are RC231. I'm OCD so I switched them, green light on the MA2 battery now matches the lights on its controller as do the white lights on my Mini2? My thinking with all this is that the controllers are identical other than a firmware update to the RC. If you have both and choose to re-pair them then an update to the 'new' RC would happen and you'd have all the OC3 features available to you while flying it with the Air2s.

 

[Raffaello_IZ0QWM]

Inside the MA2 controller there are only 2 antennas, better, 2 antennas for every band.

I'm sorry only in Italian.

So, now I don't know how they got 4 antennas in the front of the controller. Space is very small.

This would also mean that Ocusync 3.0 has better functionality than the diversity technique, if they can use 4 antennas (just like many wifi router can do).

Another thing of difference could be the bandwidth. To have a better video it is necessary to increase the number of data to be transported and this is done by improving by switching to a better modulation and a "wider channel" at the expense of transmission power.

Indeed, in FCC they were forced to increase the power of the transmitter. Unfortunately in the EC they could not because of the regulations and therefore they lost in the possible distance.

Now it's possible that they moved from modulation 32-QAM to 64-QAM.
These are all things that can be added via software because the radio is an SDR and the modulator / demodulator is the processor of the radio itself. If it has enough computing power, the old one can do it too.


Now I only have the Mavic Air 2 but I'm thinking of buying the DJI FPV to better understand Ocusync 3.0.

I will make a video where I will explain a little more about Ocusync 2.0

 

[Phantomrain.org]

No one is more surprised about the Ocusync 3.0 working with the Smart Controller than me.

So the Smart Controller Update somehow enabled the 3.0 when I reached out to Alien Tech they mentioned something about the Ocusync is a protocol and nothing to do with the Hardware ?

I do hope to get a better understanding of that but as of now its just a blessing for SC holder and especailly if you have the Alientech Dual Booster 2 , what a wild ride that is going to be.

I would say the Drone is much more responsible for the Ocusync Protocol with its 4 antennas than the controller, thus the reason why the SC works.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Air 2S in the Rain and Land on the water.

 

[Raffaello_IZ0QWM]

I prefer to say that Ocusync is a radio communication technique that requires hardware and software.

It is capable of making automatic switching of the frequency band so the hardware must be double band and with a simultaneous double receiver (transmitter?) Because if the signal is about to drop at a frequency, the drone and the remote control will agree whether to use the other band

It is capable of doing diversity, ie choosing which antenna is to better receive the signal. Right or left and now (Ocusync 3.0), perhaps, also above and below. So you need to have hardware that receives the same signal at the same time (there are other techniques ... I know)

Then the Ocusync uses two modes of access to the frequency: one to transport the video and one to send commands

The video is carried with an access mode called OFDMA (like LTE phones).
The commands use FHSS (or DSSS, they are similar).

At this point, we enter the modulation layer which for the video uses a type called OFDM and for the commands, perhaps FSK (or something similar)

A modulation among those OFDM that is capable of carrying a lot of data at high speed is for example the QAM, in particular 32-QAM or 64-QAM or more. I have to do some calculations to understand which modulation can carry 20Mbps (Ocusync 2.0) 50Mbps (Ocusync 3.0)

The more data you transmit, the wider the bandwidth must be, so also in this case the hardware that must be able to support that bandwidth comes into play.
But as I said in the other post, the wider the band, the greater the power to be used at the same distance because the radiated power is distributed over a wider band.

The beauty of the DJI hardware is that they used an SDR radio and that is simply an amplifier and an analog / digital converter, everything else (modulation, encryption, etc.) is done by software.
This means that if the hardware is good and fast enough, any upgrade can be done simply by changing the software.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I prefer to say that Ocusync is a radio communication technique that requires hardware and software.

Im wondering the Latency on the Smart Controller has never been really fast, does this affect latency at all ?
Or is that processor related only ?>

Phantomrain.org
Coal

 

[Raffaello_IZ0QWM]

I think that what you see on the smart controller is the set of more problems due to a processor with little computing power.
Starting from the graphical interface which is slower and therefore cannot support the resolution of the video, as well as everything the software asks it to do, plus the commands, radio frequency management, etc.

 

[Severian]

Yes, I was wrong. I was reading too much into the new description of the controller on the A2S spec sheet. The controller for both the MA2 and the A2S are the same. Same model number. The controller uses O2. That's compatible with the A2S's O3 system. The RC 231 controller has always had 4 antennas. What's new is that the A2S bird now has 4.

 

[Raffaello_IZ0QWM]

I opened the Mavic Air 2 controller it has only two antennas that are dipoles with reflector. It means a yagi without directors.

I thought the name of the controller was another one but now I understand it's name is RC231

Anyway it has only two antennas as you can see in the video I posted before.

The difference is inside the AIR 2S that is possible it has 4 antennas to improve reception. Just like the goggles V2.

 

[Pappy]

My hunch was right, O3 is backwards compatible O2 controllers. See my post in the Firmware forum.

RC-N1 FW Update Allows Control of All 3 Aircraft

A new firmware update (V04.11.0016) for the RC-N1 remote controller included with the M2, MA2, and A2S will now allow it to control all 3 of these aircraft with just one controller. More than likely rebinding will be required when switching to another aircraft.

mavicpilots.com

 

[Korrd]

Hmm. It’s likely that O2 and O3 are the same protocol, but implementing minor differences and also having more antennae on the aircraft. Signal analysis would have to be performed to validate this though, as it’s only an hypothesis of mine.

 

[Raffaello_IZ0QWM]

Yes please, if you can, do a signal analysis. I don't have the AIR2S so I cannot check. Please, what is important to check is:

bandwidth of OFDM video transmission

I think I will buy a DJI FPV that uses Ocusync3.0

 

[Raffaello_IZ0QWM]

Hi all,
I downloaded the manual from the DJI website and it says that the remote controller is O2 and only the drone has 4 antennas

This means that another manual is online with a different explanation.

Really strange!!!!