Cattrax System Configuration and Control Software
Network control application that allows any PC on a facility network to become a full-featured controller and status monitor for all PESA processing products in the facility.

Overview
Cattrax is PESA’s Windows® based system control software application that allows any PC on a facility network to become a full-featured controller and status monitor for all PESA processing products in the facility. Cattrax is used to configure, retrieve real-time information and monitor the operational status of controlled devices such as routers, extenders, control panels and processing gear within the facility network.
Automatic Device Discovery and Display – Automatically “discovers” PESA devices and control panels operating over the facility’s internal network or connected through a USB port of the host PC and displays located devices in a hierarchical tree structure to provide a global view of the system. The entry for a device “discovered” through the USB port is displayed in the device tree with a USB icon overlay to differentiate it from network devices.
Alarm Monitoring – Monitors alarms and events from the discovered devices, and displays them in a table format. Table columns may be sorted to make search and diagnosis of reported alarms and events faster and more convenient.
Menu Driven Configuration and Control – Uses a standard Windows operating system tree structure for quick access to menus. Current configuration of multiple devices may be displayed simultaneously, reconfigured and controlled in real-time to optimize device functions.
Configuration Management – Helps users manage the configuration of their system more quickly and effectively. It allows configuration of individual devices; or the entire system configuration may be saved to a file, and then restored by the user when needed. Cattrax also supports automatic device configuration restoration.
Remote Access over VPN – Network parameters can be configured to allow use of Cattrax over a VPN link.
Automated Batch Firmware Update – Allows you to update software or firmware code on multiple PESA devices of the same type simultaneously.
Features
- JITC Compliant for Military and Government Applications
- Windows based control software application
- Operates with PESA’s full line of Audio and 3G Video Routing Switchers
- Setup and configure system features under one menu structure
- Control Routers, Vidblox Extenders, and Signal Processing Gear
- Setup salvo for quick-switch applications
- Multiple users can configure sytems at the same time

New PESA Cheetah Router Manages Media Throughout Rogers Communications Centre at Ryerson University
Faculty, staff, and students use Cattrax, PESA’s Windows-based system control software, to monitor and manage the Cheetah router throughout the Rogers Communication Centre. The software provides an intuitive, menu-driven interface that Haswell said is very easy to use. Plus, engineers have been impressed with the salvos, which simplify the execution of a series of operations. “We wanted the simplicity of use for our staff and students,” he said.
Applications
Additional Features:
- Auto-Detect of frames and modules in the managed network.
- Display Frames and Cards in a tree structure that can be expanded to show modules in the frame.
- Displays Frame and Card Details including general product information, operational status, alarms and configuration.
- Virtual System Design facilitates design and configuration of system – prior to the availability of actual hardware – to speed up and lower the cost of system development.
- Batch Configuration allows simultaneous configuration of multiple selected frames or processing modules.
- Global Monitoring displays all alarms and status messages of the managed systems in a single list.
- Save and Restore allows the user to save the configuration of each device in the system and load it on-demand to any device of the same type.
- Auto-Restore automatically restores the configuration of a newly inserted card in the frame with the previously saved configuration.
- Access Security provides user id and password protection to the system and its function.
Configurations
Cattrax-J
In many specialized installations, PESA routing and processing infrastructures are installed in secure or limited access facilities. For such situations, PESA’s Cattrax-J control software with Military-Unique Features provides a secure, encrypted, password-protected application. Cattrax-J is certified compliant with UCR 2008, Change 3 for use as the control element with PESA’s Cheetah Rel. 5.1 baseband Video Distribution System (VDS) as listed on the DoD Unified Capabilities (UC) Approved Product List (APL).
In addition to all the control and monitoring capability of standard Cattrax, Cattrax-J adds the military-unique requirements for password-protected access, administrator and user level account classes, and account control functions for each class.
Users and passwords must be assigned by an administrator level operator and all passwords must meet specific syntax requirements. Passwords may be assigned a specified expiration time and are not allowed to include identifiable names, telephone numbers, dates, dictionary words or the username on the user’s account.
Cattrax-J adds the following capabilities to the Cattrax application:
Secure Access – No user is allowed to access the operating screens and control menus of Cattrax without following a security login procedure.
User Classification – Every installation of Cattrax-J has a permanent account with Administrator Level privileges. In addition, any number of user accounts may also be created and assigned Administrator or User Level classification.
Password Protection – Each user is required to enter and maintain a unique password for system access. An administrator can set the amount of time a user password remains valid before requiring change. Passwords cannot be changed more than once in a 24 hour period and cannot be repeated for at least 10 password changes.
Unauthorized Login Attempt Lockout – Cattrax-J locks a users’ account after a specified number of failed logins.
Administrator Privileges – An administrator level user may create or delete user level accounts, unlock accounts that are in lockout status, change password for any user level account, and set certain operating parameters for the security and access functions of Cattrax-J.
Cattrax-IP
With PESA Secura systems, the Cattrax-IP application must be installed in conjunction with either Cattrax or Cattrax-J on the host PC. The Cattrax host, combined with a Secura Command Center Control System becomes an integral part of a complete system for configuring and controlling Secura Receive and Transmit endpoints through Ethernet fabric.
Cattrax and Cattrax-J are the base applications for building router configuration files. While similar in function, in many specialized installations, PESA IP routing infrastructures are installed in secure or limited access facilities. For such situations, PESA’s Cattrax-J control software with Military-Unique Features provides a secure, encrypted, password-protected application. As of 2019, PESA has received JITC Interoperability (IO) certification renewal for Cattrax-J. The Cattrax-J software application is required when configuring the encryption control functions for the Secura HTR devices for matrix environments and Secura AVoIP and KVM in IP switch environments.
Cattrax-IP is the application which configures the Secura Atlas Virtual Matrix (VM) element of the Secura Command Center system controller. The VM function allows IP video sources and destinations to be included in a router configuration file in the same way an SDI signal would be configured.
Cattrax-IP maps the IP multicast address of Secura Receive or Transmit Endpoints to common configuration names and mnemonics such as Satellite 15 (SAT 15) and Monitor 43 (MON 43), which are “routed” through the VM.
IP nodes and endpoints are automatically discovered on the network and presented in a table-style format which is very intuitive to configure. Once the Secura Command Center control system is configured, it is not necessary that the Cattrax host remain connected.
Specs & Ordering Info
The Cattrax applications must be installed on a host PC running the Microsoft Windows® operating system, with a minimum of 512 MB RAM.
CATTRAX-STD | CatTrax Network Software – Windows based Control Management – Frame Size 64/128/144 |
CATTRAX-288X288 | CatTrax Network Software – Windows based Control Management – Frame Size 288×288 |
CATTRAX-288X576 | CatTrax Network Software – Windows based Control Management – Frame Size 288×576 |
CATTRAX-576X576 | CatTrax Network Software – Windows based Control Management – Frame Size 576×576 |
CATTRAX-864X864 | CatTrax Network Software – Windows based Control Management – Frame Size 864×864 |
CATTRAX-J-STD | Cattrax Network Software – Windows based Control Management – JITC Approved Version – Frame Size 64/128/144 |
CATTRAX-J-288X288 | Cattrax Network Software – Windows based Control Management – JITC Approved Version – Frame Size 288×288 |
CATTRAX-J-288X576 | Cattrax Network Software – Windows based Control Management – JITC Approved Version – Frame Size 288×576 |
CATTRAX-J-576X576 | Cattrax Network Software – Windows based Control Management – JITC Approved Version – Frame Size 576×576 |
CATTRAX-J-864X864 | Cattrax Network Software – Windows based Control Management – JITC Approved Version – Frame Size 864×864 |
CATTRAX-IP | Cattrax-IP (Includes Base Cattarax and Cattrax IP) |
CATTRAX-J-IP | Cattrax-J-IP (Includes Base Cattarax-J and Cattrax IP) |