Airborne Platforms Embrace Open Architecture Standards

An RTC Group Publication December 2015 Volume 17 Number 12 cotsjournalonline.com

Airborne Platforms Embrace Open Architecture Standards

Hi-Def Video Management Solutions Climb in Sophistication

COM Express and PC/104 Contend for Low SWaP Mindshare

Data Sheet: XMC and FMC Boards Roundup

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

J O U R N A L

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DEPARTMENTS

COTS (kots), n. 1. Commercial off-the-shelf. Terminology popularized in 1994 within U.S. DoD by SECDEF Wm. Perry’s “Perry Memo” that changed military industry purchasing and design guidelines, making Mil-Specs acceptable only by waiver. COTS is generally defined for technology, goods and services as: a) using commercial business practices and specifications, b) not developed under government funding, c) offered for sale to the general market, d) still must meet the program ORD. 2. Commercial business practices include the accepted practice of customer-paid minor modification to standard COTS products to meet the customer’s unique requirements.

—Ant. When applied to the procurement of electronics for he U.S. Military, COTS is a procurement philosophy and does not imply commercial, office environment or any other durability grade. E.g., rad-hard components designed and offered for sale to the general market are COTS if they were developed by the company and not under government funding.


J O U R N A L

On The Cover: The Army’s Black Hawk helicopter cockpit modernization program includes a digital cockpit upgrade that makes use of off-the-shelf SBC, network and graphics boards and is aligned with the FACE open standard architecture. Here U.S. Army soldiers fly a Black Hawk near the snow covered mountains in Parwan province Afghanistan. (U.S. Army photo).

6 Editorial Parallel Paths

8 The Inside Track

32 COTS Products

44 Annual Article Index

50 Marching to the Numbers

DATA SHEET XMC and FMC Board Roundup

24 XMCs and FMCs Help Shake Up the Definition of “System” Jeff Child

26 XMC and FMC Board Roundup

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT COM Express vs. PC/104 Form Factors

20 COM Express and PC/104 Vie for Small Form Factor Dominance Jeff Child

TECH RECON Signal Chain: Video Distribution Technology Advances

16 Video Management Technologies Deliver HD Solutions for Warfighters Jeff Child

SPECIAL FEATURE Open Architectures for Airborne Platforms

10 Open Standards Ease Development of Airborne Platforms Jeff Child

Coming in January See Page 42

CONTENTS December 2015 Volume 17 Number 12

FEATURED p.10 Open Standards Ease Development of Airborne Platforms

COTS Journal | December 2015 3

EditorialEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeff Child, [email protected]

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Johnny Keggler, [email protected]

SENIOR EDITOR Clarence Peckham, [email protected]

MANAGING EDITOR James Pirie, [email protected]

Art/ProductionART DIRECTOR Jim Bell, [email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Hugo Ricardo, [email protected]

AdvertisingWESTERN REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Mark Dunaway, [email protected] (949) 226-2023

EASTERN REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Ruby Brower, [email protected] (949) 226-2004

FinanceCONTROLLER Trudi Walde, [email protected] (949) 226-2000

PublisherPRESIDENT John Reardon, [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT Aaron Foellmi, [email protected]


J O U R N A L

COTS Journal

HOME OFFICE The RTC Group 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150 San Clemente, CA 92673 Phone: (949) 226-2000 Fax: (949) 226-2050 www.rtcgroup.com

PUBLISHED BY THE RTC GROUP Copyright 2014, The RTC Group. Printed in the United States. All rights reserved. All related graphics are trademarks of The RTC Group. All other brand and product names are the property of their holders.

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J O U R N A L

EDITORIALJeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

Parallel Paths

First off I want to thank all of you in our industry for your sup-port of COTS Journal in 2015. Here’s wishing you all Happy Holidays and a healthy, prosperous New Year. Please join me and RTC Group in thanking all of our nation’s servicemen and

women who serve in harm’s way. They are in our thoughts always, especially at this time of year.

This month Tom Williams, Editor in Chief of our sister publi-cation RTC Magazine is retiring. Our professional history together has a beginning, middle and now an end—but our friendship will remain timeless. I’ve worked with Tom at three different companies and on several different publications. Way back in 1990 I was hired as an entry level New Products Editor on a magazine called Computer Design. While long gone, Computer Design was in its heyday in the early 90s. Tom was one of the—metaphorically—“50 foot tall” Senior Technology Editors on Computer Design and me as a true rookie looked up to Tom with a lot of reverence. Even at that point, Tom was already the acknowledged expert technology editor covering the software side of computer design.

Tom and I got to work together again—and closer together—when we ended up at Penton Publishing in the late 90s. Tom along with another editor had launched a start-up publication called Em-bedded Systems Development. When that other editor left, I came on board and had the rewarding experience of producing a two-man technology magazine in its early days. The magazine’s life was short lived, but our friendship continued. And during this phase of my career I was flattered that Tom treated me completely as an equal despite his decades more experience.

Then Tom and I finally ended up here at RTC Group. Tom was hired to take over as Chief Editor of RTC Magazine in the fall of 2000 when then Editorial Director Warren Andrews recognized that soft-ware was becoming a critical part of embedded computing. When I took over as Chief Editor on COTS Journal in 2005 Tom and I began a fruitful 10 year run as side by side editors of sister publications. During this run Tom here again not only treated me as his equal but whole-heartedly accepted my advice and input on RTC Magazine’s editorial calendar topics.

Despite our great working relationship and my huge respect for Tom’s professional talents , it’s definitely my appreciation of Tom as a human being that supersedes all of that. Over the decades Tom and I have had countless meals together,, meetings together and conference calls together. His wry, dryly cynical outlook on life al-ways meshed nicely with my own point of view. Tom’s love of good food and drink had us sharing a lot of good meals together when at the same industry events. Tom and I also knew each other before we each were married. And when I was raising my two daughters, and he was raising his mini-herd of Alpacas we were often sharing pictures of our growing “families.”.

Some of my best memories with Tom are the couple times he invited a bunch of industry friends to his home in Scotts Valley at the end of a week at the ESC show. Those dinners were legendary, not just for the great conversation among friends, but for Tom’s home brewed beer, and homemade sausages. (There’s a great story about Tom and his sausage making talent). While attending Embed-ded World in Nuremburg Tom learned that there was a “secret” local Nuremburg sausage recipe that the locals strictly avoided sharing with outsiders. Tom being fluent in German out-flanked that hurdle by going to a local library and translating the recipe, and bringing it home to try out.

Tom touched a lot of lives in this technology industry over these many decades and made many friends. Please join me in wishing Tom Williams a joyous and fulfilling new phase of his life as he en-ters his well-deserved retirement. Tom – thank you for your friend-ship, your talent and for being you.

Finally, turning to a sad note, we are devastated by the loss of our friend Amos Deacon Jr. Amos was founder of Phoenix Interna-tional Systems He lost his battle with cancer on November 19 at his home in California. Our thoughts are with his family. RTC Group president John Reardon was among those fortunate to have had a long friendship with Amos, and John offers his tribute to him on page 9 of this issue.


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Atrenne Tapped to Degraded Visual Environment Pilotage System (DVEPS) Chassis

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altitudes and ranges to validate operational effectiveness. Success-ful integration of an improved ice detector system was also validated during OA with an alert to the test team of icing during a flight. This system allowed for necessary altitude corrections by descending the helicopter until the indication cleared so that the mission could resume its target detection runs. MQ-8C Fire Scout completed the developmental flight tests program earlier this year and now the program will prepare for milestone “C” next year.

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The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman completed a successful land-based operational assess-ment (OA) with the unmanned, autonomous helicopter MQ-8C Fire Scout, at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, Nov. 20. The OA demonstrated the endurance and sensor integration capabili-ties on the new MQ-8C airframe. The Fire Scout collected real time data points during OA flights to validate system performance parameters and assess risk to future operational testing (Figure 1). The Navy’s Air Test and Evalu-ation Squadron VX-1 performed all of the flights over three weeks culminating in 83.4 hours of flight and 72 data points.

MQ-8C sensors and systems were vigorously tested at different

Figure 1

During the OA flights the Fire Scout collected real time data points to validate system performance parameters and assess risk to future operational testing.

MQ-8C Fire Scout Concludes Operational Assessment

Mercury Systems Receives $42 Million Navy Contract for DRFM Jammers

Mercury Systems announced that its Mercury Defense Systems (MDS) subsidiary was awarded a firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) time and material contract worth up to $41.8 million to deliver 200 advanced miniaturized Digital RF Memory modulators (Mini DRFM) to the U.S. Navy. The contract was received in the Company’s fiscal 2016 second quarter. Work will be performed at the Company’s Cypress, Calif. facility and is expected to be completed in November 2020.

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The U.S. Marine Corps has awarded BAE Systems’ team a contract worth $103.7 million for the Engineer-ing, Manufacturing, and Development (EMD) phase of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) 1.1 program. The company, along with teammate IVECO Defence Vehicles, will deliver a solution that will be built from the ground up to be an amphibious vehicle and will provide significant capability improvements to satisfy the Marine Corps’ current and future needs.

The award is one of two EMD contracts issued. During this phase, BAE Systems will produce 16 proto-types that will be tested by the Marine Corps beginning in the third quarter of 2016. BAE Systems’ ACV 1.1 solution is an advanced 8x8 open ocean-capable vehicle that is based on a platform developed by IVECO Defence Vehicles (Figure 3). It is equipped with a new 6-cylinder, 700HP power pack, which provides a significant power increase over the current Assault Amphibious Vehicle.

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Embedded Group Separates from GE and Becomes Abaco Systems

Abaco Systems has announced its separation from the General Electric opening a new chapter in the com-pany’s history. Bernie Anger, president and CEO of Abaco Systems said he sees opportunity as an independent embedded technology and systems company to take their extensive ex-perience, mission-critical technology and the repeatable business processes we have developed to continue building a business that combines a commitment to technical innovation with extreme focus on customer ser-vice. Veritas Capital, a leading private equity firm that invests in companies that provide critical products and ser-vices to government and commercial customers worldwide, acquired Abaco Systems from GE.

Abaco Systems Huntsville, AL (866) 652-2226 www.abaco.com

BAE Team Get Development Contract for USMC ACV 1.1 Program

Figure 3

BAE Systems’ ACV 1.1 solution is an advanced 8x8 open ocean-capable vehicle that is based on a platform developed by IVECO Defence Vehicles

In Memory of “Big” Amos Deacon November 19, 2015

In 1986 I met Amos—for some reason he befriended me. I was 26 at the time and he was larger than life with staff of more than 100 people building rugged computers at MDB Systems. He marched to his own drummer, hiring women in a male dominated industry, sponsoring race cars and airplane races—a man who never turned away from a challenge and built his place in the world through sheer determination.

Our friendship—like many that span decades—would have moments of pause. But his interest in aiding in my success was always present. An introduction, a forwarded press release, a suggestion on how I could improve the magazines—his spirit of generosity always came through when you least expected it. And he never asked for anything in return.

Shining larger than life, there are many stories about Amos that will soon become legends. I don’t know why memories are the way they are, but I remember being dog-tired after setting up a tradeshow at the Huntsville Mar-riott—sitting in the bar—when a single malt scotch found itself in front of me. I looked around only to find Amos sitting on a bar stool smiling at me. I am not sure if there was a message, a thanks or just one friend buying another a drink—but there was something in his smile. I will never know why this memory is so vivid, but I knew at that mo-ment his friendship was something that made me better.

Amos had many industry firsts and worked with many industry icons throughout his career. He found joy in the success of others. He was fiercely loyal and patriotic. He had a special place in his heart for those who sacrificed for this country. In the end he was a man I was proud to have as a friend and colleague. I will miss him.

John Reardon Friend



SPECIAL FEATUREOpen Architectures for Airborne Platforms

SPECIAL FEATURE

Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

For the U.S. DoD open architecture approaches enjoyed a generous amount of lip ser-vice for many years. But over the past year in particular open standards that have been long in the works have broken down the last vestiges of resistance. System stan-dards like FACE and computing architectures like OpenVPX are finding acceptance

among airborne programs. The reduction of costs and complexity of the open approach are just too attractive to ignore.

What’s driving this is the recognition that it’s wasteful in time and money to reinvent the wheel for every new software need. But open standards have been slow to catch on. The Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) standard defines the software computing environment and interfaces designed to support the development of portable components across the general-purpose, safety and security profiles. FACE uses industry standards for distributed communications, programming languages, graphics, operating systems and other areas. Its goal is to establish a common computing software infrastructure supporting portable, capability-specific software components across DoD avionics systems.

Open architecture standards are becoming entrenched in today’s systems development efforts. Standards like the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) are fueling more efficient implementations of airborne computing systems.

Open Standards Ease Development of Airborne Platforms


SPECIAL FEATURE

A Common Operating EnvironmentThe FACE Consortium got its start in

2010 as a collaborative approach to develop a common operating environment support-ing portability and reuse of software com-ponents across DoD aviation systems. The FACE Consortium has developed a supplier-independent, standardized environment for DoD aviation systems allowing software components to be rapidly migrated across systems conforming to the FACE Standard.

With any initial growing pains now in the past, the FACE efforts has blossomed with many design-ins to airborne platforms both fixed-wing and rotary-wing. Mean-while several embedded industry hardware and software vendors have created technol-ogies and solutions that align and support the FACE standard.

An example program leveraging the FACE standard is the Army’s Black Hawk helicopter cockpit modernization program. Last year Northrop Grumman was tapped by Redstone Defense Systems to supply and integrate mission avionics equipment for a digital cockpit upgrade of the U.S. Army’s

UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters. Northrop Grumman provided a scalable, fully inte-grated mission equipment package for the UH-60L cockpit and will replace the older analog gauges with digital electronic in-strument displays (Figure 1). The new des-ignation for this upgraded aircraft will be UH-60V. The system virtually replicates the newer UH-60M pilot-vehicle interface, pro-viding a common training environment.

Northrop Grumman’s design solution has already been demonstrated through a flight test on a UH-60L helicopter. The sys-tem is aligned with the Future Airborne Ca-pability Environment (FACE) standard and supports integration of off-the-shelf soft-ware and hardware, enabling rapid insertion of capabilities while reducing cost and risk for system integration and upgrades

As technology supplier for this mod-ernization program Northrop Grumman contracted Curtiss-Wright Defense Solu-tions to supply its ruggedized SBC) net-work switch, and graphics display module technology to provide a digitized cockpit solution for use in the U.S. Army’s UH-60V

program. Under the agreement, Curtiss-Wright provided Northrop Grumman with its DMV-186 SBC, SMS-652 network switch and XMC-715 graphics and video display products, upgrading the avionics in the UH-

Figure 1The upgraded Black Hawk UH-60L cockpit will replace the older analog gauges with digital electronic instrument displays

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SPECIAL FEATURE

60L aircraft’s cockpit with digital electronic instrument displays.

As stated earlier, the UH-60V’s avionics system is aligned with the FACE standard and supports integration of off-the-shelf soft-ware and hardware, enabling rapid insertion of capabilities while reducing cost and risk for system integration and upgrades. Sup-ported with a Safety Certifiable operating system and graphics driver, the DMV-186 and XMC-715 combination provides a hardware solution to host Candidate FACE software ap-plications and operating systems to develop, integrate and test future portable FACE avi-onics software components.

Integrated Modular Avionics and FACEIn March of this year, Wind River also

was brought into the Black Hawk cockpit upgrade program when Northrop Grumman selected Wind River VxWorks 653 Platform for the helicopter digitization avionics mis-sion equipment package to be integrated onto the Black Hawk UH-60V helicopter. Part of the Wind River product portfolio of safe and secure operating systems, VxWorks 653 is a COTS platform for supporting de-livery of safety-critical, integrated modular avionics (IMA) applications.

Wind River recently released updates to VxWorks 653, including support for multi-core silicon and robust partitioning for applications that enable multilevel RTCA DO-178C certification, as well as support for the Safety Base Profile of Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) 2.1 Techni-cal Standard. By using VxWorks 653 enables Northrop Grumman is able to align with the FACE Technical Standard, achieve DO-178C certification, and consolidate our avion-ics technology on multi-core hardware, re-sulting in superior performance and lower lifecycle costs.

FACE on Unmanned HelicopterAnother interesting FACE implemen-

tation is in the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS). In a demonstration of Lockheed’s OPTIMUS mission system aboard the AACUS, the craft was able to accomplish an autonomous approach and landing in an unprepared environment. The system enhances the onboard intelligence of the vehicle and provides an advanced mis-sion-planning capability that can be applied

to current and future helicopters and rotary wing aircraft.

The AACUS demonstration tested Lockheed Martin OPTIMUS technology aboard a K-MAX unmanned helicopter, which served as a test bed for the system (Figure 2). During the demonstration, an active duty Marine interfaced with the mis-sion system’s handheld flight control device to complete a resupply mission. The system successfully planned, routed and executed the mission without requiring user input. The Lockheed Martin OPTIMUS suite of sys-tems and sensors use an open architecture positioned for Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) compliance.

Pieces of the FACE PuzzleThe leading military embedded soft-

ware vendors each have technologies sup-porting FACE in different ways. RTI, for ex-ample plays its part in the transport services part of FACE. Within the FACE architecture, the Transport Services Segment (TSS) pro-vides the APIs and capabilities that portable components use to exchange data. To help component developers and systems integra-tors meet their connectivity requirements, RTI offers TSS related software, support, consulting and engineering services. Among

Figure 2The Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS) demonstration tested Lockheed Martin OPTIMUS technology aboard a K-MAX unmanned helicopter.

these is RTI’s FACE 2.1 TSS Reference Imple-mentation for developers and integrators who want to take advantage of the Data Dis-tribution Service (DDS) standard (Figure 3). The RTI TSS implementation provides a thin software layer that maps the FACE Trans-port Services (TS) Application Program-ming Interface (API) to the DDS API sup-ported by RTI Connext DDS products. RTI provides the TSS Reference Implementation at no charge to customers with a license to Connext DDS.

Meanwhile, a couple years ago Lynx Software Technologies and Twin Oaks Com-puting teamed up to deliver Twin Oaks Computing’s’ CoreDX Data Distribution Service (DDS) communication middleware on Lynx Software Technologies’ LynxOS-178 safety-critical embedded real-time operat-ing system (RTOS). Together, and Twin Oaks Computing’s open-standards based solution is in alignment with the Future Airborne Ca-pability Environment (FACE) Technical Stan-dards, enabling applications to be even more portable and reusable than before for the air-borne computing environment used by the U.S. Army, Navy and other military branches.

The current FACE Operating System APIs are heavily POSIX-compliant, which plays well into Lynx Software Technologies’


SPECIAL FEATURE

rich history of POSIX-compliant software. LynxOS-178 is the only time- and space-partitioned RTOS that has been awarded the FAA Reusable Software Component (RSC) certification. It targets both the Intel x86 and PowerPC platforms, was quickly modi-fied to enable over 340 APIs in alignment with the newly approved FACE Technical Standards.”

The FACE Technical Standards also provide guidelines for creating a Data Dis-tribution Service (DDS) based on the Ob-ject Management Group (OMG) standard that provides a messaging paradigm for the Transport Services Segment. Twin Oaks Computing’s’ CoreDX DDS is an implemen-tation of the FACE DDS Standard that al-lows application communication and re-use across multiple DoD avionics systems. CoreDX DDS meets all DDS requirements laid out in the FACE Reference Architecture and provides all of the benefits of the DDS technology, including: CoreDX DDS pro-vides all these features in an extremely small and safety-certifiable footprint for resource-constrained systems.

FACE for Flight Management SystemGreen Hills Software has a FACE design

win in its selection by Esterline CMC Elec-tronics’ (CMC) of Green Hill’s INTEGRITY-178B single-core operating system as the ba-sis for their CMA-4000 Flight Management System (FMS). The INTEGRITY-178B RTOS functionality selected by CMC for DO-178B Level A certification includes capabilities required to host applications that align with the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Technical Standard. This includes integration of existing Green Hills Software DO-178B Level A Partitioning-Journaling File System (PJFS-178B) and IPFLITE Eth-ernet stacks as part of the PowerPC-based CMA-4000 system.

The CMA-4000 is be capable of hosting FACE aligned applications developed using C, C++, and Ada95 programming languages. CMC will develop FMS applications that are FACE aligned. The FMS applications developed by CMC will interact with the INTEGRITY-178B RTOS via ARINC 653 API calls defined in the FACE Safety Operating System Profile. Adherence to an Operating

Figure 3RTI’s FACE 2.1 TSS Reference Implementation provides a thin software layer that maps the FACE Transport Services (TS) API to the DDS API supported by RTI Connext DDS products

System Profile defined in the FACE Techni-cal Standard is a necessary part of satisfying requirements for an application to become FACE conformant.

Green Hills Software Santa Barbara, CA. (805) 965-6044 www.ghs.com

Lockheed Martin Bethesda, MD (301) 897-6000 www.lockheedmartin.com

Lynx Software Technologies San José, CA (408) 979-3900 www.lynx.com

Northrop Grumman Los Angeles, CA (310) 553-6262 www.northropgrumman.com

Twin Oaks Computing Castle Rock, CO (720) 733-7906 www.twinoakscomputing.com

Wind River Alameda, CA (510) 748-4100 www.windriver.com


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With this the final story in COTS Journal’s year-long “Signal Chain” series, this month looks at the fi-nal stage of the signal chain where

information has presented warfighters with the end result of the signal chain process. The particular aspect of that explored here in the video distribution and management part of that arena.

Today’s video requirements are getting ever more sophisticated. On one hand there’s the desire to enable warfighters to share video information with almost any level of the DoD’s operation. Beyond that there’s the idea of automating the process of change detection and automatic target recognition of video data to enable automated cueing that identifies and calls attention to poten-tial threats. Capabilities like face recognition could, for example, enable high-fidelity full-motion video to identify individuals of inter-est. At the platform level doing such process-ing on board a UAV for example means that the link bandwidth can then be reserved on transmitting only what’s needed.

Metadata Capture SupportCurtiss-Wright Defense Solutions added

some enhancements to its VRD1 high defini-tion (HD) video management system (VMS) this summer in the form of support for precise

switches, outputs, records, and streams/downlinks video via Ethernet.

The system also supports video scaling, windowing, and quad picture-in-picture/picture-by-picture display to provide flight and mission crews with the viewing flex-ibility they require for mission success. De-livered fully integrated, the VMS speeds and eases the deployment of intelligent video management capabilities. The ability of the system to combine precise metadata with HD video camera inputs, means the VRD1 lets airborne crews know exactly when and


Today’s military has become an advanced user when it comes to video, both for situational battlefield awareness and for automated real-time platforms that interface with video data. A slew of box-levels products are feeding these platform designs.

Video Management Technologies Deliver HD Solutions for Warfighters

Figure 1The VRD1 high definition (HD) video management system (VMS) provides a single unit VMS for fixed and rotor-wing aircraft used in aerospace, defense, and SAR and public safety missions.

and accurate metadata capture. Designed for capturing critical situational data and com-bining it with camera and sensor data, the VRD1 provides a single unit VMS for fixed and rotor-wing aircraft used in aerospace, defense, and SAR and public safety missions. With interface support for all of the leading camera types, including HD multi-spectral cameras such as the FLIR 380 HD, the VRD1 eliminates the need for system designers to integrate their own VMS solution (Figure 1). The extremely rugged COTS-based system uniquely captures, compresses, distributes,


TECH RECONSignal Chain: Video Distribution Technology Advances

TECH RECON

ber cards, graphical processor units, and other I/O modules. It will provide computing resources for the primary Operator’s Control Station (OCS) on the Surveillance and Battle-field Reconnaissance Equipment (SABRE) system from DRS Technologies, Inc.

The SABRE system from DRS is a highly modular sensor suite that integrates radar, thermal imaging, and laser systems on a sta-bilized mast and is compatible with any type of battle command network (Figure 2). It pro-vides scouts, forward observers, and tactical air controllers with the ability to perform reconnaissance and targeting at extended ranges. The system facilitates operations while hidden or on the move in rugged envi-ronments, share targeting data from multiple sensors across battle command networks.

where their video images were captured and exactly when and where their aircraft was when its cameras captured those video im-ages. This is a big deal for airborne defense helicopters seeking adversaries, for police surveillance crews that need accurate evi-dence, and for Search & Rescue teams who need pinpoint location accuracy.

3U VPX Video SolutionRugged video management technol-

ogy was also key to a two-year development and production contract won by Mountain Secure Systems to provide ruggedized video management units (VMUs) DRS Technolo-gies. The rugged VMU from MSS is a 3U VPX system comprised of several single board computers, high definition (HD) frame grab-

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TECH RECON

The SABRE system was updated to accom-modate the Canadian Army Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) Surveillance Program.

Video Over Internet ProtocolMilitary system developers generally

made the choice several years back that the Internet Protocol is the most efficient technology for networking data, and video distribution is definitely part of that trend. Along those lines, RFEL launched a new video management solution for Video-over-Internet-Protocol (Video-over-IP) systems at this year’s DSEI show in London. The systems are designed to provide highly op-timized distribution and processing solu-tions for the management of low latency video data from one or more sensors to the type of Video-over-IP displays and compute nodes that are now commonplace in mod-ern vehicle and airborne mission equipment systems.

The first product of the line, FlexNet-2, is a Mil-spec, optimized video processing

sub-system, powered by RFEL’s HALO ar-chitecture and realized from the tried-and-tested hardware and embedded IP of the wider HALO video processing eco-system. The unit is packaged in a rugged, water-proof small-form-factor (SFF) housing and is ready to be mounted straight into any sys-tem that needs efficient video management solutions. Functionally, the device accepts up to four analogue input video channels. It offers multiple options to map input video to Ethernet output, offering extreme low la-tency, compression and overlay options for symbols, text and graphics. The product is a small size, but uses standard mil-spec circu-lar connectors that is easily integrated with standard cabling. With a power consump-tion of approximately 8 watts and a wide operating temperature and power supply range, the device is suited for space-con-strained vehicle or airborne applications..

Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA. (703) 779-7800. www.cwcdefense.com

DRS Technologies Parsippany, NJ (973) 898-1500 www.drs.com

Mountain Secure Systems (303) 678-9898 Longmont, CO www.mountainsecuresystems.com

RFEL Limited Newport, Isle of Wight United Kingdom +44 (0)1983 216600 www.rfel.com

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Many companies choose to focus on what they offer to the customer by way of solutions and skills. System providers and niche market OEMs often sub-contract their computer hardware design. If your application has unusual requirements, Sundance has the skills and resources to specify, design, manufacture and test a custom solution for you.

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COM Express and PC/104 Vie for Small Form Factor DominanceCOM Express cards and PC/104 boards together feed military system developers hunger for low SWaP systems. But each offers unique tradeoffs in terms of legacy and how they fit into deployed systems.


Both COM Express and PC/104—in-cluding the myriad PC/104 family spinoffs—offer advantages for mili-tary system developers. The choice

is between a computing core module on a baseboard versus an SBC with stacking ca-pability. Both serve today’s needs for reduc-ing size, weight and power (SWaP), but in different ways.

With 20 years of legacy, the PC/104 form factor and its follow-on variants remain staples for both legacy and new military em-bedded systems. Since the initial release of the PC/104 specification in March of 1992, the technology’s open design provides the power and flexibility of a PC compatible com-puter in a size ideally suited for embedding. PC/104 along with its wider family of follow on versions including PC/104-Plus, PCI-104, PCIe/104, PCI/104-Express and EPIC—pro-vide a mix of functionality and low SWaP footprint that today’s military system devel-opers are hungry for.

This year’s roundup on the next couple of pages showcases a mix of representative examples of PC/104, PC/104-Plus, PCIe/104 and PCI/104-Express board products. There’s a mix of PCIe/104 and PCI/104-Express boards along with PC/104 and PC/104-Plus designs upgraded to sport the latest processor and memory technologies. Also gaining ground are boards that include Mini PCIe sockets. Mini PCIe acts as a ling of

small mezzanine function, and leverages the emerging ecosystem of Mini PCIe peripheral cards that have become available.

Revision to PCIe/104For its most recent enhancement to the

PC/104 universe, earlier this year the PC/104 Consortium announced the latest revi-sion of the PCI/104-Express and PCIe/104 Specification, Revision 3.0, that provides an additional option called “OneBank”. The PCIe/104 OneBank utilizes a smaller, lower-cost bus connector which is compatible to the full size PCIe/104 connector currently in use today. It allows designers to stack boards using a complimentary format that

frees up PCB real estate for additional com-ponents as well as potential cost savings.

The OneBank connector concept con-sists of removing two of the three “banks” of the standard PCIe/104 connector, result-ing in a 52-pin connector as opposed to the full-size 156-pin connector. The OneBank connector is positioned so that it will plug into the bank 1 of the standard PCIe/104 connector. Thus, the signals of the OneBank include the same four x1 PCI Express Links, Two USB 2.0, ATX power and control sig-nals: +5V Standby, Power supply on, Power Good, Power: +3.3V, +5V (reduced current) as found on the first bank of the standard PCIe/104 bus making them plug in compati-ble. This preserves the stackability and com-

Figure 1OneBank and standard PCIe/104 boards can be combined together in a system. This OneBank board from Diamond Systems is installed above a standard PCIe/104 board.


SYSTEM DEVELOPMENTCOM Express vs. PC/104 Form Factors

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

just four x1 PCIe links. As shown in Figure 1, OneBank and standard PCIe/104 boards can be combined together in a system.

PC/104-Plus is used as the form factor for the computer powering Black-I Robot-ics’ LandShark unmanned ground vehicle (UGA) (Figure 2). This fully electric UGV

patibility of PCI/104-Express and PCIe/104 modules along with the new OneBank mod-ules. By removing two of the banks, 0.513 in2 of PCB real estate on each side is freed up. And with speed scales up to PCIe Gen 3 on the PCIe/104 bus, developers are given plenty of bandwidth for the future even with

Figure 2Using a PC/104-Plus SBC as its control computer, the Black-I Robotics’ LandShark unmanned ground vehicle (UGA) is a fully electric UGV. It is an IP-based system, which allows for maximum scalability of external payloads, sensors and computing power.

is an IP-based system, which allows for maximum scalability of external payloads, sensors and computing power. It uses the JAUS Protocol (OpenJAUS V3.3.0b) for com-munications. The LandShark has a runtime of 2 to 60 hrs depending on use, terrain and attached payloads. The LandShark is gen-erally tele-operated by an operator from a remote location. It may also have various onboard third-party payloads that provide full or semi-autonomous command behav-iors. In 2012 Black-I Robotics won a contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, NY to supply unmanned ground ve-

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SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

have to pass through multiple connectors, the signal integrity remains intact.

COM Express board de-velopers keep pushing the envelope in terms of perfor-mance level. Exemplifying that trend, Congatec rolled out its Conga-TS97 board this sum-mer with either Intel Core or Intel Xeon processors (code-name Broadwell) manufac-tured in 14nm technology. The new conga-TS97 COM Express Basic module in the Intel Xeon version delivers server-grade performance not achieve in these size boards before. The modules are equipped with the latest 14nm quad-core Xeon processors and offer 6 Mbytes of L2 cache with a TDP of 47 W (Figure 3). With super-fast 32 Gbyte 1600 DDR3L mem-ory support, the modules meet server-grade requirements and are specifically designed for use in data-intensive applications.

COM Express in ActionAs an example of COM Express in use,

the Cornell University Autonomous Under-water Vehicle (CUAUV) team has used the technology multiple times in its entries for the Annual International RoboSub compe-tition. CUAUV’s 2015 vehicle, Argo, is pow-ered by ADLINK’s Express-HL COM Express computer-on-module, featuring a 4th gen-eration quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Mobile Intel QM87 Express chipset. The Express-HL acts as the lone on-board computer and handles complex and essen-tial tasks, including integrating data from sensors such as sonar, a Doppler Velocity Log, hydrophones, and on-board cameras. In addition, the Express-HL module and car-rier board run the computer vision code and mission logic that make it possible for Argo to be autonomous.

The international RoboSub competition is co-sponsored by the Association for Un-manned Vehicle Systems International (AU-VSI) Foundation and the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) with the goal of advancing the development of AUVs. The event serves to foster ties between young engineers and organizations developing AUV technologies.

The competition mission elements and tasks are designed to simulate real-world chal-lenges, such as visual recognition of objects, navigation, and acoustic sensing.


Acromag Wixom, MI (248) 624-1541 www.acromag.com

ADL Embedded Solutions San Diego, CA (858) 490-0597 www.adl-usa.com

ADLINK Technology San Jose, CA (408) 360-0200 www.adlinktech.com

Advantech Irvine, CA (949) 519-3800 www.advantech.com

American Portwell Fremont, CA (510) 403-3399 www.portwell.com

Congatec San Diego, CA (858) 457-2600 www.congatec.com

hicles and related consulting services. The program had a goal of making unmanned vehicles and automobiles more secure from cyber hackers.

COM Express Focuses on Compute Core

COM Express boards for their part trace their lineage back to mezzanine boards followed by processor-based mez-zanine boards. The Computer-on-Module (COM) concept captured a clear foothold in military embedded designs. Today COM Ex-press adds high-speed fabric interconnects to the mix. COM boards provide a complete computing core that can be upgraded when needed, leaving the application-specific I/O on the baseboard. COM Express adds high-speed fabric interconnects to the mix.

One could say that the COM Express form factor is on a sure path to future suc-cess. The progression of semiconductor integration means that a single computing module will only get more powerful. Mean-while the case for a two-board solution—COM module and baseboard—only gets stronger as complete system electronics are possible on a single baseboard. That doesn’t mean other, larger solutions—like slot-card boards or stackable solutions like PC/104—are going away any time soon. But the mind-share COM Express can gain for military ap-plications will keep increasing.

Tradeoffs in Connector ApproachA comparison between COM Express

and PC/104—including PC/104 family spec-ifications like PCI-104-Express and so on—is a natural one particularly since both target space and weight constrained applications. The double-sided connectors of PC/104 are hard to justify unless there’s some rea-son for a stacked solution because they are more costly than single-sided connectors used by COM Express. Another advantage of COM Express is that it lets users handle transitions from legacy connectors and of-fers native interface support for modern-day I/O interfaces. On top of offering more PCI Express and USB ports than PC/104-Express modules, additional connecters can be added for LAN, SATA, video, audio, USB and PCI Express, delivering maximum I/O flexibility to meet specific application requirements. And because signals don’t

Figure 3The Conga-TS97 COM Express Basic module sports the latest 14nm quad-core Xeon processors and offer 6 Mbytes of L2 cache with a TDP of 47 W


SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA. (703) 779-7800. www.cwcdefense.com

Diamond Systems Mountain View, CA. (650) 810-2500. www.diamondsystems.com

Dynatem Mission Viejo, CA (800) 543-3830 www.dynatem.com

Extreme Engineering Solutions Middleton, WI (608) 833-1155 www.xes-inc.com

Kontron Poway, CA (888) 294-4558 www.kontron.com

MEN Micro Ambler, PA (215) 542-9575 www.menmicro.com

MSC Technologies San Bruno, CA (650) 616-4068 www.mscembedded.com

RadiSys Hillsboro, OR (503) 615-1100 www.radisys.com

RTD Embedded Technologies State College, PA. (814) 234-8087 www.rtd.com

Sensoray Tigard, OR. (503) 684-8005 www.sensoray.com

VersaLogic Tualatin, OR (503) 747-2261 www.versalogic.com

WinSystems Arlington, TX. (817) 274-7553 www.winsystems.com

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The two most active mezzanine standards in the industry continue to be XMC and FMC. This year’s XMC and FMC roundup on the next several pages includes an unprecedented 18 vendors that have had a new XMC or FMC new product within the last 12 months. XMCs stands as the natural successor to PMC (PCI Mezzanine Card). Meanwhile fabric-based Processor XMCs allow military system integrators to swap out just the computing core and leave the baseboard unchanged. The proliferation of PrXMCs combined with XMC that are complete graphics, Ethernet or storage subsystems are an indication that XMCs are now subsystem-level solutions in their own right.

Defined under VITA 42, the XMC specification extended the PMC card by adding new connectors to support gigabit serial interfaces plus list of alternative I/O standards. XMCs also match well with the emerging OpenVPX architecture leveraging the same switched fabric technologies as that system specification. Like VME itself, XMC continues to evolve with technology. In standards activity, the draft specification of the 2014 revision of XMC—ANSI/VITA 42.0-2008 (R2014)—has been approved to move to the ANSI balloting phase.

Another mezzanine technology seeing a lot of design activity these days is the FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC). FMCs provide

modular functions commonly used with FPGAs linking to an FPGA on the host board. As called VITA 57, the specification is about half the size of a XMC or PMC mezzanine module. FMCs provide a small footprint, reduced I/O bottlenecks, increased flexibility and reduced cost through the elimination of redundant interfaces. Interest in FMC is huge. According to Jerry Gipper, Executive Director

of VITA, the FMC specification right now the most frequently downloaded specification in VITA’s inventory of nearly 100 specifications.

Late last year the VITA 57 working group began work on an update the specification was started aimed at extending the VITA 57.1 FMC specification to handle up to 32 Gbps transceivers. The next-generation specification calls for a new set of connectors to support higher-speed serial interfaces. At last report, the working group is reviewing pinout proposals and plans to finalize a specification for working group ballot by the end of this month.

An example of FMC in use, Curtiss Wright Defense Solutions this summer announced it completed the development phase of a contract received from LIG Nex1 to supply its rugged COTS-based radar processing module technology for use in the Korean Army’s Next-Generation Local Air Defense Radar and Korean Air Force’s Long-Range Surveillance Radar programs (Figure 1). Under the agreement, Curtiss-Wright provided LIG Nex1 with its latest generation high performance OpenVPX modules, including high performance FPGA, single board computer, DSP, Network Switch and FMC processing module products. These modules provide the pulse compression and beamforming processing for the Radar’s new Signal Processing system.

Once functioning as a method of adding peripheral functionality to system, todays XMC are better defined as complete subsystems in their own right. Meanwhile, FMCs ride the wave of FPGA popularity with new next gen version of FMC in the works.


XMCs and FMCs Help Shake Up the Definition of “System”

Figure 1The Korean Army’s Next-Generation Local Air Defense Radar and Korean Air Force’s Long-Range Surveillance Radar programs make heavy use of COTS-based radar processing module technology including FMCs.


DATA SHEETXMC and FMC Board Roundup

XMC and FMC Board RoundupDATA SHEET



ARINC 429 XMC Aids Both Development and Deployment

Abaco Systems ( formerly GE Intelligent Platforms) offers its RAR-XMC ARINC 429 High Density XMC Interface supports maximum data throughput on all channels while providing onboard message scheduling, label filtering, multiple buffering options, receive message time-tagging and error detection, and IRIG-B receiver (AM or DC/TTL) and generator (DC/TTL).

• Up to 16 Rx and 16 Tx/Rx fully compliant ARINC 429 channels.

• XMC.3 (PCIe 4 lane) host interface.

• Front I/O, or P14 or P16 rear I/O.

• Standard Industrial operating temperature of -40 to +85 degrees C at the XMC rail.

• 64-bit message time-tagging; 1 microsecond timing resolution.

• Supports maximum data throughput on all channels simultaneously.

• Support for 2-wire ARINC 573, 575 and 717.


FMC Provides Sixteen 16-bit D/A Channel at 312.5 Msamples/s

The FMC216 from 4DSP is a sixteen-channel DAC FMC Daughter Card which is fully compliant with the VITA 57.1-2008 standard. The FMC216 provides sixteen D/A 16-bit 312.5Msps (2.5 Gsamples/s with x8 interpolation) channels which can be sampled by an internal clock source (optionally locked to an external reference) or an externally supplied sample clock. A trigger input for customized sampling control is also available. The FMC216 has the HPC (high-pin count) connector, front panel I/O, and is conduction cooled capable.

• 16-channel D/A 16-bit 312.5 Msps.

• VITA 57.1-2010 compliant.

• Single-ended, DC-coupled analog signals.

• Breakout cable with SMA connectors available from the front panel.

• Clock source, sampling frequency through SPI communication buses.

• Flexible clock tree.

• Power-down modes to switch off unused functions for system power savings.

4DSP Austin, TX. (800) 816-1751 www.4dsp.com

XMC Modules Feature Xilinx Artix -7 FPGA with 200l Logic Cells

Acromag’s XMC-7A200 modules feature a high-performance user-configurable Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA enhanced with 200k logic cells, high-speed memory and a high-throughput serial bus interface. The result is a powerful and flexible I/O processor module that is capable of executing custom instruction sets and algorithms. Typical uses include hardware simulation, communications, in-circuit diagnostics, military servers, signal intelligence, and image processing.

• Reconfigurable Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA with 200k logic cells.

• 128M x 64-bit DDR3 SDRAM; 32M x 16-bit parallel flash memory for MicroBlaze FPGA program code storage.

• 4-lane high-speed serial interface on rear P15 connector for PCIe Gen 1/2 (standard), Serial RapidI/O, 10Gb Ethernet, Xilinx Aurora.

• 60 SelectI/O or 30 LVDS pairs plus 2 global clock pairs direct to FPGA via rear P4 port.

• 34 SelectI/O or 17 LVDS pairs plus 2 global clock pairs direct to FPGA via rear P16 port.

Acromag Wixom, MI. (248) 295-0310 ww.acromag.com




Rugged XMC Simultaneously Delivers Video Streams in Separate Formats

Aitech's M596 6-Head Multiple Output Graphics XMC provides a high-performance, highly versatile embedded video and graphics solution for harsh environment applications. Designed around the AMD E8860 Six Head GPU, the M596 can simultaneously drive several independent video streams in a wide variety of output formats. It integrates multiple supporting hardware engines such as graphics language accelerators, parallel processing engines, video and audio de-compression units, and more.

• Single Width XMC with PCIe x8 Gen 2.0 Host Interface.

• AMD Radeon E8860 GPU; 6 Independent Graphics Heads; 2 Gbytes of GDDR5.

• Digital Inputs: 2x, SD-SDI, HD-SDI; Analog Inputs: 7x, Composite (RS-170A, NTSC, PAL), 1x, STANAG 3350 or Qty 3 S-Video.

• Digital Outputs: 2x, DVI or 1x HDMI + DVI; Analog Outputs: 2x, Composite, 1x S-Video, STANAG 3350 (B, C), 1x RGBHV.

• Supports DirectX 11.1, Shader 5.0, OpenGL 4.2 and OpenCL 1.1.

Aitech Defense Systems Chatsworth, CA (888) 248-3248 www.rugged.com

XMC Serves Up UltraScale FPGA and 8 Gbytes DRAM

Alpha Data’s ADM-XRC-KU1 is a high performance reconfigurable XMC (compliant to VITA Standard 42.0 and 42.3) based on the Xilinx UltraScale range of platform FPGAs. It features 8 Gbytes of DDR4 memory in four independent banks. Enhanced system monitoring enables the board to be managed by PCI Express or via USB.

• PCI Express Gen2 x4 host interface.

• Xilinx Kintex UltraScale (KU060, KU115} (A1517).

• 8 Gbytes of SDRAM in 4 independent banks.

• 2x QSPI serial NOR flash; Configuration flash provides an initialization design for automatic loading into the target FPGA.

• Drivers for Microsoft Windows, Linux and VxWorks.

• SDK provides the example C and HDL

source code, giving software engineers and FPGA designers a head start in creating applications.

Alpha Data Denver, CO (303) 954-8768 www.alpha-data.com

FMC Serves Up 10-bit, 2.5 Gsample/s Analog-to-Digital Conversion

The 2.5 GSps 10-Bit ADC FMC from Annapolis Micro Systems provides high fidelity and high speed analog-to-digital conversion along with a rugged design. The 2.5 GSps 10-Bit ADC FMC is shipped with a custom heatsink which enables proper cooling of the ADC. An on-board temperature monitor is also supplied which allows for real-time monitoring of the ADC’s internal die temperature.

• 2.5 GHz Max Input Sample Rate.

• 10-Bit A/D conversion with e2v EV10AS150A or EV10AS150B Analog-to-Digital converter.

• Trigger Input options range from 2.5V LVPECL to 3.3V LVCMOS.

• Internal Clock options: 1.8 GHz, 2.5 GHz and custom.

• External clock can be driven from a single ended 50 ohm signal source.

• Optional 10MHz Internal, Backplane and Front Panel Reference Sources.

• Motherboard with FMC(s) installed occupies a single AMC slot.

Annapolis Micro Systems Annapolis, MD (410) 841-2514 www.annapmicro.com

Our new “Data Sheet” style round-up formatLinks to the full data sheets for each of these products

are posted on the online version of this section.


DATA SHEET | XMC and FMC Board Roundup



PrXMC Board Sports Atom Bay Trail CPU and Optional Cisco Routing

The XMC-120 from Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions is a low-power quad-core Intel Atom (“Bay Trail”) E3845-based XMC Processor Mezzanine SBC. With a typical power consumption of only 15 W, the XMC-120 is also available pre-integrated with the Cisco Systems 5921 Embedded Services Router (ESR) Software, enabling system designers to deploy a single-slot solution that combines both Cisco network routing and Intel multi-core processing.

• Intel “Bay Trail” Atom processor XMC.

• Quad-core E3845 processor at 1.91 GHz.

• Up to 8 Gbytes of DDR3L with ECC at 1,333 MT/s.

• Up to 32 Gbytes of SATA NAND flash.

• Quad Gigabit Ethernet ports, serial RS-232/422, USB, SATA, and DIO interfaces; Dual display with DVI/DP and VGA outputs.

• Low power (15W typ, 20W max).

• Available pre-loaded with Cisco IOS.Embedded Services Router (ESR) software.

Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA (703) 779-7800 www.cwcdefense.com

Conduction-cooled 10 Gbit Ethernet XMC Supports Rear I/O Connectivity

Concurrent Technologies’ XM530/x22 provides two 10 Gbit Ethernet ports. This module supports rear I/O connectivity making it suitable for deployment in harsh environments where boards are typically mounted inside a rugged enclosure with all external connectivity through suitable grade connectors. The conduction cooled version has been tested to survive harsh levels of shock and vibration.

• 2 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces supporting 10GBASE-T/1000BASE-T/100BASE-Tx.

• Link and speed indicators for each interface.

• Pn6 rear I/O with option for VITA 46.9 X8d or X12d signal mapping.

• XMC format single size CMC with up to x8 PCI Express interface.

• Air-cooled version (N-Series) operates from 0 to 55 degrees C; Rugged conduction-cooled versions (RC-Series) operates -40 to +85 degrees C, conformally coated.

• Conduction cooled to ANSI/VITA 20-2001 (R2005).

Concurrent Technologies Woburn, MA (781) 933-5900 www.gocct.com

QorIQ P3041-based SBC XMC is Safety-Certifiable

Creative Electronic Systems’ MFCC-8557 is a safety-certifiable, rugged, SBC XMC mezzanine module engineered for the most stringent mission-critical and safety-critical defense applications. The card has been engineered for DAL safety certification, systematically applying DO-178C/DO-254 design guidelines. It can be delivered with all documentation, certification evidences and supporting artifacts required to prove compliance.

• Design Assurance Level C (DO-178C/DO-254).

• Extended range conduction-cooled.

•Freescale QorIQ P3041 processor.

• Low power: 15W typical.

• Four PCIe Gen2 interfaces on XMC (Full Mesh Support).

• One FETH interface on XMC (DAL-C).

• Maintenance / Mission mode with specific hardware logic.

• Safety optimized board management controller.

Creative Electronic Systems Geneva, Switzerland. +41 (0)22 884 51 00. www.ces-swap.com



XMC/PMCs Boast High Channel Count, Multi-Protocol Data Bus Networking

Data Device Corp.’s BU-67118 XMC/PMC cards offer Multi-Protocol Data Bus Networking XMC and PMC cards capable of supporting all avionic I/O requirements. The cards’ high channel mix enables this single, compact solution to replace several individual I/O cards providing significant size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) savings. Unique features include onboard DMA and 4 kbyte address space boundaries for critical real-time applications.

• Up to 4 Dual Redundant MIL-STD-1553 Channels.

• Up to 20 Programmable Tx/Rx ARINC 429 Channels.

• Up to 2 Programmable Tx/Rx ARINC 717 Channels.

• Up to 2 ARINC 825 (CANbus 2.0) Channels.

• Up to 8 Programmable RS-232/422/485 Channels.

.• Up to 10 Avionics/Digital Discrete I/O.

• 48-bit/100ns Time Stamp; IRIG-B Input.

Data Device Corp. Bohemia, NY (631) 567-5600 www.ddc-web.com

XMC Blends Virtex-7 FPGA and 14-bit 2,500 Msample/s DAC

The XPedite2400 XMC module from Extreme Engineering Solutions uses the Xilinx Virtex-7 Family of FPGAs to merge high throughput, configurable I/O, and DSP-level processing with exceptional thermal efficiency. The combination of high-end signal processing and high-speed Analog-to-Digital or Digital-to-Analog conversion makes the XPedite2400 an optimal solution for demanding RF signal acquisition, SDR, and DSP requirements.

• Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA XC7VX690T.

• Conduction- or air-cooled XMC module.

• 14-bit 2500 Msample/s AD9739 DAC.

• Up to 2 Gbytes of DDR3 SDRAM in two channels.

• Front panel I/O.

• 22 FPGA differential/LVDS user I/O.

• Non-volatile FPGA configuration flash.

• 128 Mbytes of user NOR flash.

• Linux support.

Extreme Engineering Solutions Middleton, WI (608) 833-1155 www.xes-inc.com

SBC Blends Zynq Z7045 SoC with FMC I/O Expansion

The Cardsharp from Innovative Integration is a user-customizable, turnkey embedded SBC that provides two A9 CPU cores directly-coupled with FPGA fabric. Uniquely customizeable due to its XMC footprint and FMC I/O expansion site, Cardsharp is ideal for applications such as distributed data acquisition. It is L3-ruggedized, booting from eMMC flash in a compact, 150 x 75mm footprint that is ready for operation in harsh environments.

• Zynq Z7045 SoC with FMC IO module.

• Dual, floating-point ARM A9 CPU.

• Rugged, XMC form factor: 149 x 74 mm.

• Self-bootable, stand-alone operation; Able to operate diskless and headless.

• Configurable IO uses standard HPC FMC IO module. Add anything from RF receivers to industrial control modules.

• IO site (VITA 57) deliver up to 6 Gbytes/s to PL memory, 2 Gbytes/s to PS memory.

• USB2.0, 1 Gbit Ethernet, eMMC, SPI, RS232 ports.

Innovative Integration Simi Valley, CA (805) 578-4260 www.innovative-dsp.com







Conduction-cooled H.264 XMC Video Encoder Card Runs on 7W

The VC100xX H.264 from Tech Source is a high quality video capture and compression card. This rugged and fully conduction-cooled card simplifies the video compression task in challenging surveillance/C4ISR applications using the VPX Platform. Featuring an H.264 video encoder with baseline, main and high profile support up to Level 4.1, the board supports up to 4 composite video inputs (NTSC/PAL/SECAM) or up to 2 SDI inputs (HD-SDI/SD-SDI).

• H.264/AVC baseline, main or high profile up to L4.1 or MJPEG.

• Low power (less than 10W).

• 2 Channels up to 1080p30 or 4 Channels of TV (Composite).

• 2 stereo audio inputs.

• Video streaming over TCP/IP (host machine or dedicated); Video recording (on host machine); Raw video capture (VC102x).

• Front or rear I/O.

• Convection or conduction cooled.

Tech Source Altamonte Springs, FL. (407) 262-7100 www.techsource.com

XMC Module Provides Dual Channel Adaptive IF Relay

Pentek’s Model 71624 is a dual channel, 34 signal, adaptive IF (Intermediate Frequency) relay XMC with a Virtex-6 FPGA. As an IF relay, it accepts two IF analog input channels, modifies up to 34 signals, and then delivers them to two analog IF outputs. Any signal within each IF band can be independently enabled or disabled, and changed in both frequency and amplitude as it passes through the module. Targeted applications include signal monitoring, signal jamming, channel security, countermeasures, beamforming and radar applications.

• Modifies 34 IF signals between input and output.

• Up to 80 MHz IF bandwidth.

• Two 200 MHz 16-bit A/Ds; Two 800 MHz 16-bit D/As.

• 34 DDCs and 34 DUCs (digital downconverters and digital upconverters).

• Signal drop/add/replace; Frequency shifting and hopping; Amplitude boost and attenutation.

• PCI Express Gen 1: x4 or x8.

Pentek Upper Saddle River, NJ (201) 818-5900 www.pentek.com

XMC I/O Module Features In-Mission Dynamic FPGA Reconfiguration

Mercury Systems’ Ensemble IOM-300 series are rugged, programmable I/O XMC modules and the industry’s first fiber-optic modules which are supported by two FPGA devices. The primary Altera industrial-grade Stratix-V FPGA is a formidable, customizable processing resource for low-latency signal processing and is supported by a second configuration-FPGA that enables in-mission, real-time image refreshes.

• Main FPGA processor: Altera Stratix V - 5SGXA5 or 5SGXA7.

• Configuration FPGA: (PCIe Gen 2.1 interface).

• 5 Gbytes DDR3 SDRAM; 128 Mbytes of flash memory.

• Gen 2 x8 or Gen 3 x8 PCI Express ports to host processor.

• Up to 12 pairs of fiber optic links at 10 Gbits/s each, full-duplex 850 nm multi-mode fiber (~range 150m).

• XMC P16 ports: 8 SERDES at up to 10 Gbit/s; 12+19 LVDS pairs (various speeds, 19 LVDS pairs separable to single ended).

Mercury Systems Chelmsford, MA. (866) 627-6951. www.mrcy.com.



Advanced 32-channel RS485/422 XMC Offers Rich Features

Technobox’s 7757 is an advanced FPGA-based module for configurable digital I/O that offers in the XMC form factor many of the features and functions of the long-running Technboox P/Ns 2674 and 4289. The standard assembly is built around an Altera Cyclone FPGA and features a total of 32 general-purpose RS422/RS485 driven digital I/Os wired to both the front panel and rear PN4 connector.

• FPGA-based, 32-channel general-purpose Digital I/O XMC (VITA 42 or VITA 61).

• Altera Cyclone V architecture (5CGXFC4C6 standard population).

• Front I/O via 68-pin SCSI; Rear I/O via PN4 connector.

• External SRAM (256k x 32b).

• GEN-1 PCI Express, 2 lanes (2.5 Gb/s each); CvP mode limits operation to 1 lane.

• Programmable from host via PCIe, on-board flash, or direct via Altera USB Blaster.

• User defined LEDs; User accessible temperature sensor; Silicon delay lines.

Technobox West Berlin, NJ (856) 809-2306 www.technobox.com

XMC Module Family Delivers User-Programmable FPGAs

TEWS Technologies has two XMC compatible modules providing a user programmable FPGA Xilinx XC6SLX45T-2 or Xilinx XC6SLX100T-2 Spartan6 FPGA.. The TXMC633 and TXMC635 are designed for industrial, COTS, and transportation applications, where specialized I/O or long-term availability is required. They provide a number of advantages including a customizable interface for unique customer applications and a FPGA-based design for long-term product lifecycle management.

• Xilinx XC6SLX45T-2 or Xilinx XC6SLX100T-2 Spartan6 FPGA.

• TXMC633: 64 ESD-protected TTL lines or 32 differential I/O with EIA 422 / EIA 485 compatible, ESD-protected line transceivers.

• …or 32 TTL I/O and 16 differential I/O with Multipoint-LVDS Transceiver.

• TXMC635: 48 TTL I/O, 8 channels single-ended 16 bit analog output with up to ±10.8V output voltage range, and 32 single ended or 16 differential 16 bit analog inputs with full-scale input voltage range of up to ±24.576V.

TEWS Technologies Reno, NV. (775) 850-5380 www.tews.com

Quad 10GbE Port FMC Features Signal Conditioning

The FMC109 from Vadatech is an FMC per VITA 57 specification. The FMC109 has quad SFP/SFP+ cages which allows for Quad GbE/10GbE to be routed to appropriate FMC pins. The FMC109 has quad re-driver on board to allow long copper cables for the SFP+ vs. fiber to reduce total system cost.

• FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) per VITA-57.

• Single FMC slot module; Four port Gbit Ethernet, 10 Gbit Ethernet.

• Quad SPF/SPF+ cages for quad ports.

• Re-driver on all four ports for a better signal quality.

• Operating temperature -5 to 55 degrees C.

• Storage temperature -40 to 85 degrees C.

• Compliant to PICMG 3.0 Rev 3.0, RoHS 2 and NEBS Level 3.

VadaTech Henderson, NV. (702) 896-3337 www.vadatech.com





intelligentsystemssource.comCOTSPRODUCTS



1,600 W Converters and Battery Chargers Meet Severe Environmental Requirements

Schaefer has introduced the C/B 4500 Series of 6U DC/DC and AC/DC converter modules and battery chargers that delivers up to 1,600W of output power. The highly efficient C4500 Series offers three output powers of up to 900W, 1200W and 1600W along with nine standard dc input voltage ranges: 10-16V, 20-32V, 40-64V, 50-80V, 80-160V, 160-320V, 320-640V and 450-800V. AC input options are 1-Phase 115VAC or 230VAC, as well as 3-Phase inputs of 3 x 200VAC, 3 x 400VAC, or 3 x 480VAC. Battery charging models are also available. Units feature single outputs in 10 standard ranges from 12-400VDC. All outputs are adjustable and tightly regulated to 0.2 percent or better (load) and 0.1 percent (line). Custom input and output ranges are readily available.

Schaefer Hopkinton, MA (508) 436-6400 www.schaeferpower.com

XMC Provides Dual Channel SFP+ 10 Gigabit Interface

TEWS has introduced a range of XMC networking products. The TXMC888 provides a two channel 10 Gbit Ethernet Enhanced Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP+) interface. The XMC-Connector P15 provides access to the Intel 82599ES dual port 10GbE controller via an x8 PCIe link. The TXMC888's SFP+ Cages accept various SFP and SFP+ transceiver modules which are available directly from the respective manufacturers. These two SFP+ hosts are connected to the Ethernet controller's SFI interfaces. The controller is equipped with a 1 Mbit serial flash memory for Boot ROM and a 128 Kbit EEPROM storing configuration data. LEDs in the front panel indicate the different network activities. The TXMC888-10R provides two 10GbE interfaces via front panel SFP+ connectors.

TEWS Technologies Reno, NV (775) 850-5380 www.tews.com

Themis Computer has announced Hyper-Unity, the first rugged all-flash hyper-converged, scalable infrastructure, featuring Atlantis USX. Hyper-Unity seamlessly integrates four ruggedized, eight-drive, RES-XR5-1U rack mounted servers, with a high-speed, 12-port Mellanox Infiniband switch, and Atlantis USX, the award-winning, patented Software-defined Storage (SDS) solution. According to Themis, Hyper-Unity is the first turn-key, Mil Spec, SWAP-optimized, hyper-converged infrastructure platform, to deliver all-flash performance for virtualized applications, at less than half the cost of traditional storage or other hyper-converged platforms.

Hyper-Unity delivers the performance of an all-flash array in a four-server cluster, enabling IT organizations to meet the performance requirements of any workload. Atlantis USX software performs in-memory, in-line deduplication and compression, before data is written to storage, leading to extremely low latencies, higher IOPS and lower storage and network traffic. Hyper-Unity lowers costs, using Atlantis Computing’s patented data reduction and IO acceleration technology to reduce the amount of physical RAM and local flash required per Terabytes of effective storage capacity.

Instead of integrating costly and complex SAN, NAS or all-flash array storage with servers, Hyper-Unity delivers an all-flash hyper-converged platform, comprising pre-integrated nodes, each with its own compute, enterprise-class SSD storage, Atlantis USX SDS, high-performance networking and virtualization. Organizations can quickly deploy a turnkey solution cluster that provides from 96 up to several hundred CPU cores, from 1 to 8 Terabytes of RAM and 6 Terabytes of all-flash storage to support several hundreds of server VMs w/12 to 100s of Terabytes of effective storage capacity.

Themis Computer Fremont, CA (510) 252-0870 www.themis.com

Ruggedized Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Platform is All-Flash Based


COTS PRODUCTS

NanoSWITCH

Rugged Sixteen Port Gigabit Ethernet Switchwith Embedded X86 PC

The NanoSWITCH brings enterprise level layer 2/3 switching into the rugged environments found in military ground, air and sea vehicles, and unforgiving industrial environments such as offshore oil platforms. Typical applications include:

• Vehicle network switching• Distributed architecture vehicle controller• VICTORY compliant switch, router, timing, and control• WAN – LAN interconnectivity and firewall• Shared processing and peripheral communications

47200 Bayside Parkway, Fremont CA 94538 | 510-252-0870 | www.themis.com

©2015 Themis Computer. All rights reserved. Themis and the Themis logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Themis Computer. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information, go to www.themis.com/nanoswitch

Curtiss-Wright has announced that its Defense Solutions division has introduced its next-generation compact Axon Data Acquisition Unit (DAU) for Flight Test applications. Axon combines unprecedented flexibility and scalability with outstanding reliability for demanding flight test applications. Designed to deliver maximum reliability, Axon’s hardware-based acquisition engines eliminate data loss, support deterministic operation, and ensure immediate recovery in the case of power brownout. Axon’s high-speed serial backplane (1 Gbps dedicated link per module) enables off-the-shelf data acquisition modules to be placed in ultra-miniature Axonite housings and located remotely, separated from the chassis by up to 20 meters.

Locating data acquisition closer to the sensors can significantly decrease the installation time and cost of the instrumentation while simultaneously reducing wiring weight. Using Axonite housings (less than 8 cubic inches in volume), flight test engineers can place their data acquisition hardware in any location on the flight test article. Further flexibility is provided by Axon’s dual Gigabit Ethernet outputs, which simplify the addition of Ethernet nodes or allow multiple DAU chassis to be daisy chained. An on-board processor speeds configuration, pre-flight checks, and in-service firmware upgrading.

Axon’s solid chassis design provides environmental ruggedness and supports rapid configuration changes. The DAU’s high-speed serial backplane ensures that the chassis’ throughput can scale with future increases in data source bandwidth, protecting the customer’s investment in the current generation of acquisition modules.

Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, Ashburn, VA. (703) 779-7800. www.cwcdefense.com

Compact Flight Test Data Acquisition Unit (DAU) Provides Reliable, Flexible Solution



COTS PRODUCTS

DC- 26 GHz SPDT MMIC Switch Offers Low Insertion Loss and High Isolation

Custom MMIC has added a new SPDT switch to their rapidly growing standard product portfolio —the CMD230. Its 1.4 dB insertion loss is the company’s lowest yet for an SPDT. The CMD230 is a general-purpose, broadband, high-isolation reflective MMIC SPDT switch in die form. Covering DC to 26 GHz, it features low insertion loss of 1.4 dB, Input IP3 of 37dBm and high isolation of 40 dB at 13 GHz. The CMD230 operates using complementary control voltage logic lines of 0/-5 V and requires no bias supply. The CMD230 switch is pin-compatible with the now obsolete CSW0118 from Celeritek. Applications for the CMD230 include microwave radio, test instrumentation, and military radar/EW.

Custom MMIC Westford, MA (978) 467-4290 www.custommmic.com

PC/104 SBC Servers up Latest 1 GHz Vortex86DX3 System-on-Chip

ADLINK Technology has introduced a new PC/104 form factor SBC featuring the Vortex86DX3 System-on-Chip (SoC), running at 1.0 GHz and supporting 2 Gbytes soldered DDR3L. The new ADLINK CM1-86DX3 delivers ruggedness by design and longevity by extended lifecycles. The ADLINK CM1-86DX3 offers full ISA bus support according to the PC/104 2.6 specifications to extend the lifecycle of applications using ISA bus. To be able to connect to today’s high-speed data interfaces, the CM1-86DX3 features one SATA port and one CFast socket. It offers further connectivity via one Gigabit Ethernet and one Fast Ethernet port. The CM1-86DX3 also features two USB 2.0 ports, eight GPIOs, two RS-232/422/485 serial ports and two RS232 serial ports. In addition, the CM1-86DX3 is designed to withstand 50G shock and 12G vibration per MIL-STD-202F, and also supports an extended temperature range.

With built-in SEMA (Smart Embedded Management Agent) Cloud platform functionality, the ADLINK CM1-86DX3 is ready-made for IoT applications. SEMA Cloud’s remote monitoring, management, and control capabilities enable users to connect legacy devices and other IoT systems to the cloud, extract raw data from these devices, and determine which data to save locally and which to send to the cloud for further analysis.

ADLINK Technology San Jose, CA (408) 360-0200 www.adlinktech.com

1,000 W Full Brick DC/DC Converter Has Paralleling Capability

Calex has announced the introduction of the FXP series of DC/DC Converters. The FXP series features an ultra wide 9 to 36 VDC input range and up to three full bricks can be set up in parallel with no external circuitry required for output power of up to 2.8 kW. Current sharing among the converters is achieved using the droop method therefore no current share pin is required. The output voltages of the FXP are 24 and 28 VDC. Input to output isolation is 2,250 VDC. The efficiency of the FXP runs as high as 96.5 percent. High power density is accomplished through the use of high efficiency synchronous rectification technology, advanced electronic circuit, packaging and thermal design.

Calex Concord, CA (925) 687-4411 www.calex.com

ATX Motherboard Sports 6th Gen Intel Core Processors

American Portwell Technology has announced the Portwell RUBY-D718VG2AR which adopts the ATX form factor and is based on Intel

Q170 chipset and Skylake desktop processor SKU like Intel 6th Gen Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. The processors support two-channel DDR4 DIMMs and PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0 to provide fast memory and I/O performance. The board offers advanced features, including SATA storage specification with up to 6 Gbits/s, six SATA III interface connectors to support RAID 0/1/5 and 10 modes, the latest PCIe 3.0 (one PCI Express x16 slot) to enhance speed and bandwidth, as well as two PCIe 3.0 x4 slots and four PCI slots. The card has 14 USB ports (six USB 3.0 ports and eight USB 2.0 ports); up to 64 Mbytes of DDR4 SDRAM.

American Portwell Fremont, CA (510) 403-3399 www.portwell.com

COTS PRODUCTS

w w w . g a i a - c o n v e r t e r . c o m

CONVERTERAIA

Flexible DC-DC Power Systemsfor Military & High Reliability Applications

• 800 Watts Conduction Cooled (No Fans) • 9~45 or 16~80 VDC Input Ranges• MIL-STD-704, 461 & DO-160 Compliant• Measures only 180 x 120 x 60mm

GPack800 800 Watt Modular DC-DC Power System

• Up to 4 Isolated Outputs

• Parallel or Serial Connections • -40~+85°C Ambient (-55°C Option), Conduction Cooled Operation

• Ultra-Wide input ranges:

- 9~45Vdc (transient 60Vdc/100ms) - 16~80Vdc (transient 100Vdc/100ms)

• Reverse Polarity Protection

• Inrush Current Limiting

• Advanced Status & Control

- Global Output Enable / Inhibit - Individual Voltage Enable / Inhibit - Synchronization In/Out (560kHZ) - Over Temperature Monitor - Remote Sense (≤10% compensation) - Output Voltage Trimming - Output Current Trimming - Active Current Share (± 5% Accuracy)

• Up to 88% efficiency

Pentek has introduced a new addition to the Talon Series of recorders, the Model RTR 2750 rugged rackmount recorder. This new recorder, optimized for rugged operating environments increases the performance of the Talon Rackmount Series with twice the number of channels, over 50 percent more storage capacity, 25 percent faster sampling rates and nearly twice the sustained aggregate recording rate.

The RTR 2750 is a turnkey recording system in a single 4U rackmount chassis. It provides phase-coherent, synchronous recording of sixteen independent input channels at a sustained aggregate data rate up to 8 Gbytes/s. Transient signals and radar pulses can be precisely captured through external gating and triggering inputs. Each input channel includes a 250 MHz 16-bit A/D and an FPGA-based digital downconverter with independent tuning and programmable decimation from 2 to 65536 to capture RF signal bandwidths ranging from 3 kHz to 100 MHz. The RTR 2750 offers a storage capacity up to 61 Terabytes, utilizing up to 32 hot-swappable solid-state drives (SSDs) that can be easily removed or exchanged during a mission to retrieve recorded data extends. The Talon RTR 2750 Rugged Series recorder starts at $85,000. Optional GPS time and position stamping, IRIG-B time stamping, and DC-coupled inputs are available.

Pentek Upper Saddle River, NJ (201) 818-5900 www.pentek.com

4U Rackmount Data Recorder Boasts 61 Terabytes of Storage


COTS PRODUCTS

Swissbit has released the new S-450 and S-450µ series SD and Micro SD memory cards that combine SLC flash components with a powerful system architecture and intelligent firmware. The new memory cards are available at distributor Rutronik. The S-450/S450µ cards comply with UHS-I bus mode, speed class 10 and offer a sequential data rate up to 90 Mbytes/s for reads and 75 Mbytes/s for writes. Swissbit’s intelligent algorithms enable the memory cards to deliver up to one hundred times longer data retention than conventional SD memory cards. They are optimized for the most challenging SD applications where a high percentage of write operations occur and where data retention at maximum program-erase (PE) cycles is required.

Equipped with intelligent read disturb management (RDM) alongside an autonomous, performance-neutral background “auto refresh” process, the memory cards provide data reliability beyond the already high levels achieved by SLC. Thanks to a combination of fast flash devices and powerful controller, these complex management tasks can be achieved efficiently. S-450 and S450µ memory cards prevent read disturb bit errors even in intensive read applications. Users benefit from the shortest possible downtimes due to an extended operating life in the field and long data reliability. The SD/ micro SD cards operate in commercial and in industrial temperature ranges as well as in especially rough environmental conditions.

Swissbit NA Port Chester, NY (914) 935-1400 www.swissbit.com

SD and Micro SD Cards with SLC Flash Feature Intelligent Firmware


The industry’smost trusted and widely used USB interfaces

Portable Avionics Databus Interfaces

AS9100 / ISO 9001 Registered

A reliable USB interface from Astronics

Ballard Technology does it all – databus test,

analysis and simulation. Use it in the lab or

in the field – it’s fully powered by a single

USB port. Simply connect it to any available

laptop, desktop or tablet PC and it’s ready to

go. Add our CoPilot® interactive software

for a complete easy-to-use solution.

NEW models with multiple protocolsmean the best is now even better!

www.ballardtech.com/USB or call 425-339-0281

Get the best solution – all the protocols and channels you need in a single device

· MIL-STD-1553, EBR 1553· ARINC 429, 708, 717· Serial, Discrete

ABT_Jet_COTS_Half-Page-Island.indd 1 4/10/2015 12:28:07 PM

COTS PRODUCTS

TDK has announced the 250W rated TDK-Lambda i6A series of non-isolated DC-DC converters. Capable of operating from an input voltage of 9V to 40V, the step-down converter delivers an output voltage that can be adjustable from 3.3V to 24V and output currents of up to 14A. The series is designed to be used in a wide range of applications including medical, communications, industrial and test and measurement equipment.

In a 1/16th brick form factor, measuring 33 x 22.9 x 12.7mm, the converters can be used in conjunction with a single output 12V or 24V AC-DC power supply to generate additional regulated high current outputs, with or without battery back-up. With efficiencies of up to 98 percent, power losses are minimized allowing the products to operate in harsh ambient temperatures of -40 to +125 degrees C even with low airflow requirements. The need for external output capacitance is reduced due to an optimized dynamic voltage response, thus reducing board space requirements.

The basic feature models include an output voltage adjustment pin, positive or negative logic remote on-off, remote sense, input under-voltage, over-current and thermal protection. Full feature models are equipped with a power good signal, output voltage sequencing and the ability to synchronize the operating frequency to minimize system noise. All models are certified to UL/CSA 60950-1, IEC/EN 60950-1 and carry the CE mark for the Low Voltage and RoHS2 Directives.

TDK-Lambda Americas San Diego, CA (619) 628 2885 www.us.tdk-lambda.com/lp

Wide Input Range 250W DC/DC Converters Offer 3.3V to 24V Output


COTS PRODUCTS

Digital Signal Boosters Increase Coverage Mobile Comms Systems

Untitled-1 1 9/17/09 3:09:10 PM

Bird Technologies has introduced the 614 Series digital signal boosters that are designed to increase the signal strength of land-mobile/public safety communications systems operating at either 450 to 470 MHz or 470 MHz to 488 MHz. The highly configurable system combines the benefits of programmable digital RF filters, the ability to view changes to filter characteristics while viewing their effects in real-time, browser-based configuration and management, and many other features.

The rugged 614 Series signal boosters are housed in NEMA 4 type enclosures, making them an excellent choice for use in stadiums, airports, office buildings, hospitals, tunnels, and any place lacking adequate signal coverage. The 614 Series also provides up to 28 programmable RF filters each for the uplink and downlink paths and allows the user to configure their center frequency, bandwidths from 6.25 kHz to 1.5 MHz, and other characteristics in real-time. Custom filter shapes can also be created to meet specific application requirements. The 614 Series has an RF output of +32 dBm in high power mode and +22 dBm in low-power mode with a maximum RF input power up to -20 dBm and gain of up to 95 dB.

Bird Technologies Solon, OH (440) 248-1200 www.birdrf.com


Introducing a Gigabit Speed, Low Latency, Shared Memory Network for Deterministic Applications

AIT is a division of

• 2.125 Gbps optical loop network• Single-mode and multi-mode optical interfaces supported• Up to 256 Shared Memory Network Nodes• Sustained data rates up to 200 Mbyte/Sec• Up to 256 MB of Shared Memory• Device drivers for Windows, VxWorks, Linux, and LabVIEW

PCI PCI Express XMC

Shared Memory Network Interfaces

...with flexible hardware options and complete software support

www.aviftech.com/sharedmemory

PXI Express

COTS PRODUCTS

CE-Marked AC Power Sources Deliver Power Range From 3,000 to 9,000 VA

Behlman Electronics has announced that its new CE Marked BLC Series AC Power Sources provide either single- or three-phase output in a range of power from 3,000 VA to 9,000 VA. The devices feature low cost per VA; rugged construction; clean sine wave output with excellent line and load regulation; high efficiency and low harmonic distortion. A multi-pulse input transformer ensures low-input harmonic distortion and high power factor. Unique protection circuitry provides over-temperature and short-circuit protection, plus voltage fold-back that maintains undistorted waveforms during overloads. Voltage and frequency adjustment, line drop compensation, phase angle adjustment, external sync and output on/off with remote power connection, and CE Mark are standard.

Behlman Electronics Hauppauge, NY (631) 435-0410 www.behlman.com

8W DC/DC Converter Features Ultra Wide Input Voltage Range

Gaia Converter has extended its ultra wide input voltage range DC/DC Converters platform to the new High Rel MGDD-08 series, targeting military and airborne applications. Uniquely wide, the MGDD-08 Series 9-60V and 80V transient input voltage range is ideal to comply with MIL-STD-1275, 704 or DO-160 standards without additional front end protection device. The device offers an efficiency over 90 percent and has 2 outputs ( for parallel, serial or symmetrical operation) of 3.3V, 5V, 12V, 15V and 24V. Packaged in a low profile housing, the MGDD-08 Series have a wide temperature range of -55 to +105 degrees C and are fully encapsulated.

Gaia Converter Summit, NJ (908) 219-4033 www.gaia-converter.com

Test Socket Supports Extreme Temperatures with Superior Electrical Performance

Ironwood Electronics has introduced a new Flex socket with zero insertion force addressing high performance requirements for testing Flex devices: the SBT-FLEX-7000. The contactor is a stamped spring pin with 31 gram actuation force per ball and cycle life of 125,000 insertions. The self inductance of the contactor is 0.88 nH, insertion loss less than 1 dB at 15.7 GHz and capacitance 0.097pF. The current capacity of each contactor is 4 amps at 30 degrees C temperature rise. Socket temperature range is -55C to +180 degrees C. The specific configuration of the package to be tested in the SBT-FLEX-7000 is a FLEX, 0.5mm pitch, 18 position linear array. Pricing for the SBT-FLEX-7000 is $428 at quantity 1.

Ironwood Electronics Eagan, MN (952) 229-8200 www.ironwoodelectronics.com


COTS PRODUCTS

3U CompactPCI SBC Serves Up 5th Gen Core i7 and Rich I/OKontron has announced its latest addition to the CompactPCI CPU board family, the CP3004-SA. The

CP3004-SA is a 3U blade based on the 5th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and the 4th Gen Intel Core i5 and i3 processors. The dual core versions provide for low heat dissipation. These cores alone provide increased performance-per-watt, enhanced and accelerated floating point calculation and high-end graphics. Feature highlights of the CP3004-SA include USB3.0, SATA6Gb/s, 3xGbE, PCIe, and security/trusted platform module (TPM option). Additionally, the Kontron CP3004 has a variety of optional extensions including Smart Extension (USB, SATA), SATA NAND Flash Module, CFast, 8/12HP for 1 or 2 HDD, and 8HP extension for XMC.

Kontron Poway, CA (888) 294-4558 www.kontron.com

▪ 4th Gen Intel® Core™ CPU

▪ Shock and vibration-tested (MIL-STD-810G)

▪ MIL-STD-38999 high-density connectors

▪ IP67 sealed against dirt and water

▪ PMC/XMC expansion

▪ SWaP-optimized

▪ Advanced thermal management

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GET CONNECTED WITH INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS SOURCE AND PURCHASABLE SOLUTIONS NOWIntelligent Systems Source is a new resource that gives you the power to compare, review and even purchase embedded computing products intelligently. To help you research SBCs, SOMs, COMs, Systems, or I/O boards, the Intelligent Systems Source website provides products,

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COTSADVERTISERS INDEX

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Company Page# Website Company Page# Website

Intelligent System Source ....................4 ...........intelligentsystemssource.com

Mercury Systems, Inc. ........................7 .......................................... mrcy.com

Middle Canyon .................................21, 23 ........................middlecanyon.com

One Stop Systems, Inc. ...................25, 36 .................... onestopsystems.com

Phoenix International Systems, Inc. ....4 .................................... phenxint.com

Pico Electronics, Inc. ..........................17 .........................picoelectronics.com

RTD Embedded Technologies ...............2 ............................................. rtd.com

Sealevel Military Systems ...................40 ............................. sealevel-mil.com

Sundance ...........................................18 ................................. sundance.com

SynQor, Inc. ........................................15 ...................................... synqor.com

Themis ...............................................33 ...................................... themis.com

WinSystems .........................................5 ............................... winsystems.com

Acromag .............................................41 ...................................acromag.com

AIM .....................................................43 ................................aim-online.com

Avionics Interface technologies ..........39 ..................................... avitech.com

Avalex Technologies ............................43 .......................................avalex.com

Ballard Technology, Inc. ......................37 ...............................ballardtech.com

Cemtrol ..............................................51 .....................................cemtrol.com

CM Computer .....................................52 ............................. cmcomputer.com

COTS Product Gallery .........................41 ........................................................

Creative Electronic Systems ...............12 ..............................................ces.ch

Data Bus Products .............................38 ...................... databusproducts.com

Embedded World ................................19 ......................... embedded-world.de

Gaia ...................................................35 ..........................gaia-converter.com

COTS Journal (ISSN#1526-4653) is published monthly at 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150, San Clemente, CA 92673. Periodicals Class postage paid at San Clemente and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to COTS Journal, 905 Calle Amanecer, Ste. 150, San Clemente, CA 92673.

Target Report: Top Seven Technology Trends for DefenseToday’s military embedded systems have an endless appetite for greater integration, more autonomous operation, faster connectivity and increased computing muscle. To achieve that system developers are leveraging ad-vances along many technology fronts such as FPGAs, optical interconnects, solid state disks, GPGPUs and server-class HPEC architectures. This spe-cial Target Report section identifies the seven top technology trends along those lines, and explains what product innovations embody those trends.

NEW SERIES! Tech Recon Jeff’s Picks: Jeff Child’s Top Rackmount Technologies for Naval SystemsIn 2016 our Tech Recon feature will directly leverage Jeff ’s decades of experience covering the embedded computing and defense market. He will choose the top products in a different category each month and share his insights on why they’re significant in terms of design innovation, market relevance and technology leadership. January’s topic will be rackmount sys-tems for naval platforms with a focus on how rackmount blade-computer architectures offer compute density advantages over other approaches.

System Development: OpenVPX Strategies at the Card and System LevelThe OpenVPX spec provides implementation details for VPX payload and switch modules, backplane topologies and chassis products. And most importantly, it provides specific profiles on all the key aspects of OpenVPX so that users and product vendors now have clear language defining which OpenVPX are compatible with one another. Over the past couple years, the number of new OpenVPX board and box-level solutions continues to ramp. This section updates readers on the progress of those implementations.

Data Sheet: Rugged Ethernet Switch Boards RoundupEthernet is becoming entrenched as favorite interconnect fabric in compute-intensive applications like sonar, radar or any application that networks sensor arrays together. This section updates readers on the prod-uct and technology trends driving board-level Ethernet switch products, and will include a product album of representative Ethernet switch board products in form factors such as VPX, VME, cPCI, MicroTCA and more.

COMING NEXT MONTH


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ANNUAL ARTICLE INDEX


An RTC Group Publication January 2015 Volume 17 Number 1

Data Sheet:

cotsjournalonline.com

NEW! “SIGNAL CHAIN” ARTICLE SERIES: #1 SIGNAL CAPTURE

CHOICES ABOUND FOR BOARD AND BOX INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

Ethernet Switch Board Roundup

COMPUTE-INTENSIVEMILITARY PROGRAMS

10 MOST


J O U R N A L

An RTC Group Publication December 2014 Volume 16 Number 12

Tech Focus: XMC and FMC Board Roundup


Small UAVs Reap Rewards of Payload and Control Electronics Advances

Optical Interface Technologies Step Into the Limelight

Slot Cards and Box Solutions Jockey for Upgrade Wins


J O U R N A L

EditorialAnd a Happy New Year .............................................................................. 6

Special FeatureAdvanced Payloads for Small UAVs Small UAV Electronics and Payloads Grow More Sophisticated ......................................................................... 10Jeff Child

Tech ReconOptical Interface TechnologiesOptical Interface Products and Standards Get Real for Defense ............................................................... 22Jeff Child

System DevelopmentRugged Box vs. Slot Card Systems for Tech UpgradesUpgrade Programs Tackle Slot-Card vs. Box System Choice ............. 28Jeff Child

Technology FocusXMC and FMC Boards XMCs and FMCs Bridge Legacy and New Design Need .................... 32Jeff Child

XMC and FMC Boards Roundup ........................................................... 34

The Top Ten Most Compute-Hungry Military Programs

Small UAV Electronics and Payloads Grow More Sophisticated

January 2015December 2014

EditorialThe Science of Technique .......................................................................... 6

Special FeatureTop Ten Most Compute-Intensive Defense Programs The Top Ten Most Compute-Hungry Military Programs ................... 10Jeff Child

The Right Roadmap Brings Secure Boot…Even to Legacy Systems ...................................................................................... 16Alan Grau, Icon LabsDan Noland, Endosec

Tech ReconSignal Chain: Signal Capture for Radar and SIGINT Ensuring High SIGINT Signal Fidelity Requires a Coherent Approach ............................................................... 20Marc Couture, Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions

System DevelopmentBoard and Box-Level Integration StrategiesMany Approaches Vie for Board and Box Integration Success .......... 24Vincent Chuffart & RJ McLaren, Kontron

Data SheetEthernet Switch Boards Ethernet Switch Boards Meet HPEC Needs and More ........................ 28Jeff Child

Ethernet Switch Boards Roundup ........................................................... 30


December 2015 | COTS Journal 45

An RTC Group Publication March 2015 Volume 17 Number 3 cotsjournalonline.com

Tech Upgrade Programs Leverage VME and CompactPCI


J O U R N A L

16th Annual EOL and Obsolescence Directory

FPGAs and ADCs Fuel Digital Conversion Advances

Data Sheet: FPGA Processing Board Roundup

An RTC Group Publication February 2015 Volume 17 Number 2

Data Sheet:


Military Video Capture Solutions Meet Hi Def Needs

Navy Towed Sonar Array Design Taps MicroTCA

CompactPCI & CompactPCI Serial Boards Roundup

Power Supplies and Converters Take a Systems’ Focus


J O U R N A L

VME and CompactPCI Shine On as Tech Upgrade Heroes

Power Supplies and Focus on System Requirements

February 2015 March 2015

EditorialBiased Toward Technology ........................................................................ 6

Special FeaturePower Converters and Power Supplies Meet System NeedsPower Supplies and Focus on System Requirements ........................... 10Jeff Child

Tech ReconVideo Capture Payload System Strategies Many Technology Choices Available for Military Video Capture ............................................................................ 16Jeff Child

System DevelopmentRackmount Blade Servers in Naval SystemsMicroTCA Chosen for Navy Towed Sonar Array ................................ 22Justin Moll, Vadatech

Data SheetCompactPCI and CompactPCI Serial Boards CompactPCI Technologies Suit Both Legacy and New Designs ....................................................................................... 26Jeff Child

CompactPCI and CompactPCI Serial Board Roundup ...................... 28

EditorialHeadway on Reforms .................................................................................. 6

Special FeatureTech Upgrades with VME, CompactPCI and MoreVME and CompactPCI Shine On as Tech Upgrade Heroes ............... 10Jeff Child

Various Strategies Mitigate VME Interface Obsolescence .................. 14Nigel Forrester, Concurrent Technologies

Tech ReconSignal Chain: Digital Conversion with FPGAs and ADCs FPGA and ADC Technologies Bulk up for Digital Conversion Duties........................................................................ 18Jeff Child

System DevelopmentAnnual EOL and Component Obsolescence DirectoryMany Resources Available for Combating Component Obsolescence ........................................................................ 22Jeff Child

Technology FocusFPGA Processing Boards Roundup FPGA Processing Boards Push New Performance Barriers ................................................................................ 28Jeff Child

FPGA Processing Boards Roundup ........................................................ 30



An RTC Group Publication May 2015 Volume 17 Number 5 cotsjournalonline.com

Vehicle C4ISR Systems Focus on Network Technology


J O U R N A L

PCI Express and Ethernet Meet Growing Bandwidth Appetites

Signal Processing Designs Weigh FPGA vs. GPGPU Choices

Data Sheet: Small Non-standard Boards Roundup

An RTC Group Publication April 2015 Volume 17 Number 4 cotsjournalonline.com

Rugged Box Systems Meet UAV Design Demands


J O U R N A L

DoD Budget Report: Major Programs Update

Shipboard Tracking Solution Uses VPX Technology

Data Sheet: VME SBCs for Tech Refresh Roundup

Networking Dominants Vehicle-Based C4ISR Advances

Integrated Box-Level Systems Slim Down for UAV Duties

May 2015April 2015

EditorialSpring Forward ............................................................................................ 6

Special FeatureBoards and Rugged Boxes in UAV PayloadsIntegrated Box-Level Systems Slim Down for UAV Duties ................ 10Jeff Child

Pre-Tested Box Solutions Accelerate UAV Payload Designs............... 14RJ McLaren

Tech ReconSignal Chain: Shipboard Signal ProcessingVPX Implementation Serves Shipboard Search and Track Needs ..... 18Jeff Child

System DevelopmentDoD Budget Report: Major Weapons Programs Major DoD Programs Budget Makes Technology a Priority ............. 22Jeff Child

Data SheetVME SBCs for Tech Refresh RoundupVME SBCs Keep Pace with Tech Refresh Needs .................................. 28Jeff Child

VME SBCs for Tech Refresh Roundup .................................................. 30

EditorialHead in the Cloud ....................................................................................... 6

Special FeatureC4ISR Technologies for Military Vehicles Networking Dominants Vehicle-Based C4ISR Advances .................... 10Jeff Child

Tech ReconSignal Processing: FPGAs vs GPGPUs vs GPPsFPGAs, GPGPUs and GPPs Find Their Signal Chain Roles .............. 14Ian Shearer, Vadatech

System DevelopmentPCI Express and 10 Gbit Ethernet as System InterconnectsAirborne C4ISR Connectivity a Function of Platform and Mission ............................................................................... 18Gregory Powers, TE Connectivity

Data SheetSmall Non-standard Boards RoundupSmall Non-Standard Boards Bulk Up on Functionality ...................... 24Jeff Child

Small Non-standard Boards Roundup ................................................... 26


December 2015 | COTS Journal 47

An RTC Group Publication July 2015 Volume 17 Number 7 cotsjournalonline.com

HPEC Solutions Bring Data Center Performance to Embedded Systems


J O U R N A L

Layered Approach Wins for Safety-Critical Software

Military Data Recording Pushes SWaP Barriers

Data Sheet: OpenVPX SBCs Roundup

An RTC Group Publication June 2015 Volume 17 Number 6 cotsjournalonline.com

Smart Interface Solutions

Marry 1553 & Ethernet


J O U R N A L

MicroTCA Offers a Low SWaP Choice for Defense Designs

VNX Spec a Success for Cockpit Multi-Function Display System

Data Sheet: PC/104 & PC/104-Family Boards Roundup

HPEC Reworks Data Center Computing for Embedded Duties

Intelligent Interface Solutions Link Ethernet to 1553 and More

June 2015 July 2015

EditorialHistory Repeats............................................................................................ 6

Special Feature1553, Ethernet and More for Military I/O Intelligent Interface Solutions Link Ethernet to 1553 and More ........ 10Jeff Child

Multi-Protocol Avionics Systems Require Modular Solutions ........... 14Greg Tiedemann, Data Device Corp.RJ McLaren, Kontron

Tech ReconVideo Processing Boards and SystemsSWaP and Cost Savings Abound Using VNX Approach ..................... 18Andrew Hull, PhD, Elbit Systems of AmericaWayne McGee, Creative Electronic Systems

System DevelopmentMilitary Applications for MIcroTCA MicroTCA Offers Attractive Choice for Many Mil Applications ....... 22Justin Moll, Vadatech

Data SheetPC/104 and PC/104 Family BoardsPC/104 Board Advances Lower Costs and Boost Functionality ................................................................................... 28Jeff Child

PC/104 and PC/104 Family Boards Roundup ...................................... 30

EditorialDetail Devils ................................................................................................. 6

Special FeatureHPEC Systems Meet New Defense PrioritiesHPEC Reworks Data Center Computing for Embedded Duties ....... 10Jeff Child

Software and APIs are Key to Military HPEC System Development .................................................................... 14Chad Augustine, Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions

Tech ReconMilitary Data Recorder TechnologyMilitary Data Recording Advances to Accommodate Data Deluge ..................................................................... 18Jeff Child

System DevelopmentSafety Critical Choices in Embedded Software Layered Approach Enhances Security For Safety-Critical Software ............................................................................ 20James Deutch, Lynx Software Technologies

Data SheetOpenVPX SBCsOpenVPX Enjoys Busy Phase of Product and Standards Activity ..................................................................................... 38Jeff Child

OpenVPX SBC Roundup ......................................................................... 28


48 COTS Journal | December 2015

An RTC Group Publication September 2015 Volume 17 Number 9 cotsjournalonline.com

Navy Modernization Efforts Chart an Open Course


J O U R N A L

Rugged Tablets and Laptops Serve Mil/Aero Needs

AESA Radar Designs Benefit from Modular Solutions

Data Sheet: Rackmount Systems Roundup

An RTC Group Publication August 2015 Volume 17 Number 8 cotsjournalonline.com

Tech Readiness Demands Fuel Pre-Integrated

Systems Trend


J O U R N A L

Rad-Hard FPGA Technologies Improve Space-Qualified Designs

Solutions From SSD to RAID Systems Bulk Up for Defense Duties

Data Sheet: COM Express Boards Roundup

Naval Modernization Focuses on Variety of Open Architecture Efforts

Pre-Integrated Systems Take Mission-Oriented Focus

September 2015 August 2015

EditorialDroning On and On ................................................................................... 6

Special FeaturePre-integrated Systems Fuel Technology Readiness Pre-Integrated Systems Take Mission-Oriented Focus ........................ 10Jeff Child

Evolving VITA 46.11 to a Full ANSI/VITA Standard .......................... 16Mark Overgaard, Pigeon Point Systems

Tech ReconSignal Chain: Rugged Storage: From RAID to SSDRugged Storage Solutions Advance on All Fronts ................................ 20Jeff Child

System DevelopmentSpace-Qualified Electronics and SubsystemsFPGAs Advances Improve Radiation Mitigation for Remote-Sensing Satellites .................................................................. 22Minh Nguyen, Microsemi

Data SheetCOM Express Boards RoundupCOM Express Faces a Bright Future in Highly Integrated Systems ....................................................................... 28Jeff Child

COM Express Boards Roundup .............................................................. 30

EditorialSilicon Valley Huzzah! ................................................................................ 6

Special FeatureNavy Modernization Programs Leverage Open StandardsNaval Modernization Focuses on Variety of Open Architecture Efforts ..................................................... 10Jeff Child

Tech ReconSignal Chain: Modular Design Strategies for Radar SystemsModular Approach Cuts Costs of AESA Radar Designs ..................... 16Mark Howard, API Technologies

System DevelopmentRugged Laptops and Tablets as Military User Interfaces Laptops and Tablets Bulk up with Mil/Aero Capabilities .................... 20Jeff Child

Data SheetRackmount Systems RoundupRackmount Systems Push Compute Density Barriers ......................... 24Jeff Child

Rackmount Systems Roundup ................................................................ 26

49


December 2015 | COTS Journal

An RTC Group Publication November 2015 Volume 17 Number 11 cotsjournalonline.com

Small Form Factor Boxes Disrupt Slot-Card Status Quo


J O U R N A L

Optical Solutions Boast Advantages Over Copper

Processing/RF Integration Enables Jamming and ECM Systems

Data Sheet: Rugged Box Systems Roundup

An RTC Group Publication October 2015 Volume 17 Number 10 cotsjournalonline.com

Comms and Networking Solutions Flourish on Land, Sea and Sky


J O U R N A L

Water Cooling Approach Gets Most Out of HPEC

Integrated RF Systems Pose New Design Challenges

Data Sheet: High Reliability Power Supply Roundup

Small Form Factor Systems Challenge Slot-Card Approach

Military Comms and Networking Thrives for Land, Sea and Sky

October 2015 November 20155

EditorialFits and Starts .............................................................................................. 6

Special FeatureComms and Networking in Land, Sea and AirMilitary Comms and Networking Thrives for Land, Sea and Sky ..... 10Jeff Child

HPEC and Virtualization Technologies Strength Military Networking ................................................................. 16Vincent Chuffart, Kontron

Tech ReconSignal Chain: Design Challenges for RF-based SystemsDesign Hurdles Abound for Enclosures of Integrated RF Systems .............................................................................. 20Justin Moll, Pixus Technologies

System DevelopmentCooling Options for Rugged Box SystemsWater-Cooled HPEC Approach Enables Battlefield Supercomputing ..................................................................... 24Dan Grey, Dynatem

Data SheetHigh Reliability Power Supplies RoundupHigh Reliability Power Supplies Boast Rich Features and Options ................................................................................ 28Jeff Child

High Reliability Power Supplies Roundup............................................. 30

EditorialWhat’s the Third Offset? ............................................................................ 6

Special FeatureSmall Form Factor Systems vs. Slot-card SolutionsSmall Form Factor Systems Challenge Slot-Card Approach ............... 10Jeff Child

Tech ReconSignal Chain: Radar Jamming and Electronic CountermeasuresJammer and Countermeasure Systems Ride RF and Compute Advances ............................................................................ 16Jeff Child

System DevelopmentOptical Interconnects Gain Momentum Optical Links Provide Many Advantages for Military Systems ......... 20Rodger Hosking, Pentek

Data SheetRugged Stand-Alone Box RoundupRugged Box Systems Gain More Functionality and Performance ..... 32Jeff Child

Rugged Stand-Alone Box Roundup........................................................ 34

COTS Journal’sMARCHING TO THE NUMBERS


Value of the global military armored vehicle market in 2015 according to the 240-page study Armored Vehicle Market Report 2015-2025 from ASDReports.com. The report provides a range of forecasts for the period 2015-2025, overall and for five submarkets—main battle tanks; medium armored vehicles; MRAP vehicles; light protected vehicles (LPV) and other armored protected vehicles—at the global level and also these 5 segments are individually forecast within each of the 20 leading national markets plus rest of the world. Each of the national mar-kets also includes detailed tables for a total of 101 armored vehicle programs and 200 armored vehicle contracts.

Power capacity of Saft’s Integrated Charger Batteries (ICBs) that were selected by Textron Systems Unmanned Systems to power its next-generation Universal Ground Control Stations (UGCS). The light-weight 28V ICBs are lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries and will provide back-up power to the stations which control unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The batteries will provide emergency back-up power for a flight-critical function of the UGCS, and activated in the event of a power failure, allowing the UGCS to carry out critical UAS control missions. Saft has been providing Textron Systems with ICBs since a contract was first signed in 2010.

Channel spacing for newly adopted European Air Traffic Management requirements in the range of 118 to 137 MHz. The U.S. Air Force has awarded Raytheon Company a $29.6 million contract to install MXF-626K VHF Communications Systems on 178 C-130H Hercules aircraft. The upgrade ensures C-130 radios comply with those newly adopted requirements. The MXF-626K is a VHF tactical communications system that provides high quality, reliable, air-to-air and air-to-ground Line of Sight SINCGARS, Air Traffic Control, and Maritime Band operations in single channel and frequency hopping modes to more than 400 C-130H and C-130J aircraft.

Value of the con-tract modifica-tion the U.S. Navy awarded to Gen-eral Dynamics Electric Boat to provide research

and development and lead-yard services for Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack sub-marines. Under the contract, Electric Boat will undertake development studies and other work related to Virginia-class sub-marine design improvements. Additionally, Electric Boat will perform research and de-velopment work required to evaluate new technology to be inserted in newly built Virginia-class ships. This modification brings the cumulative value of the contract, initially awarded in 2010, to $1.1 billion.

Size of the crowd in attendance early this month at the commissioning ceremony for the Littoral Combat Ship USS Jackson (LCS 6). The commis-sioning was performed by said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, who helped name the ship in 2011. Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran’s daugh-ter, Dr. Kate Cochran, was the ship’s sponsor. It’s the first ship to bear the name of Mississippi’s capital city. The name held a special meaning for many of those at the commissioning. Command Senior Chief Ken Ballard and 52 other crewmem-bers will man missions aboard the Jackson, one of the fastest and most technologically advanced warships in the world.

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MINI-TIGER SYSTEM: The Mini-Tiger System is a ruggedized portable PC. Enclosure design features EMI/RFI shielding that complies with current MIL standards. Most of the components of the Mini-Tiger system are COTS using the latest technology available. The unit comes with built-in AIS and GPS and a 10.4” detachable sunlight readable LCD monitor with integrated multi-touch feature, and custom keypads.

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VME, cPCI & VPX

FULL RANGE OF HIGH PERFORMANCE ENCLOSURES

› ALL 3U & 6U MODULE FORMATS / VITA BUSES SUPPORTED › EXTENSIVE PSU POWER SUPPLY & BACKPLANE COMBINATIONS › CHASSIS THERMAL ANALYSIS & TESTING FIGURES AVAILABLE

M��. �ec��n�e� P��loa� P�� is��pa�i�� @ �5ºC ��n� (c�r�-r�� D�lt�-T 30ºC) f�� L-S�D-810F Hi�� T��. c��i�n��

FIRST FREE-AIR ATR SERIES, HEAD TO HEAD PERFORMANCE VS. FORCED AIR HEAT EXCHANGER MODELSFIRST FREE-AIR ATR SERIES, HEAD TO HEAD PERFORMANCE VS. FORCED AIR HEAT EXCHANGER MODELSFIRST FREE-AIR ATR SERIES, HEAD TO HEAD PERFORMANCE VS. FORCED AIR HEAT EXCHANGER MODELSFIRST FREE-AIR ATR SERIES, HEAD TO HEAD PERFORMANCE VS. FORCED AIR HEAT EXCHANGER MODELS ��L�NT ��ra�i��

n� �x��n�� f�� m��n� p�rt �!

M��n��n�n�� l�� & f�r�e�!!

H/ 256 mmW/ 240 mmD/ 425 mm

DIMENSIONS�M-ATR-35/SEF-20�P

7 slot 6UPSU - 650Wall AC/DC inputs

ATR SPECS

∆ T: 30 CTPP: 225W

º �PTR0.13 C/Wº

T�� ea��n� ATR m��ufac��

Airborne Platforms Embrace Open Architecture Standards

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