A recorder for a vehicle comprises a crash survivable memory unit, which includes a first antenna assembly including a first resonant element configured for near field data communications and to receive near field power transmissions, and a crash protected memory assembly that operatively communicates with the first antenna assembly. The apparatus includes a processor adapted, on receiving from at least one E1 interface unit at least one E1-type frame addressed to a given E1 destination port, to encapsulate that E1-type frame in a payload data field of an Ethernet frame in order to send it to an Ethernet destination port providing access to the given E1 destination port. The method further includes monitoring a variable of interest output by the control process during the first and second portions of the evaluation period and switching the manipulated variable to a second extremum opposite the first extremum in response to the variable of interest moving toward an optimal value during the second portion of the evaluation period.