COTS Journal August 2019

August 2019, Volume 21 – Number 8 • cotsjournalonline.com

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

JOURNAL

New Ways to Build a Business Bedrock for IOT Age The Foundation Common to Most Security Frameworks: Addressing Configuration Controls Resolution, Accuracy, and Precision of Encoders

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing 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.

JOURNAL

—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.

SPECIAL FEATURES 18

New Ways to Build a Business Bedrock for IOT Age

By Barry Dowdy, Systems Manager for Aerospace and Defense Solutions

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The Foundation Common to Most Security Frameworks: Addressing Configuration Controls

By Brian Hajost, Chief Executive Officer, SteelCloud

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT 25

DEPARTMENTS 6

Publisher’s Notes;

The Move to Cloud Services and Artificial Intelligence

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The Inside Track

Resolution, Accuracy, and Precision of Encoders

By Steve Mathis, US Digital

COT’S PICKS 32

Editor’s Choice for August

Cover Image Marines swap pilots for an AH-1Z Viper helicopter aboard the USS John P. Murtha in the Pacific Ocean, May 23, 2019.

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The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

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COTS Journal | August 2019

PUBLISHED BY RTC MEDIA Copyright 2018, RTC Media. 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.

PUBLISHER

John Reardon, johnr@rtc-media.com VICE PRESIDENT Aaron Foellmi, aaronf@rtc-media.com

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

John Reardon, Publisher

The Move to Cloud Services and Artificial Intelligence Often casual conversation will take up the topic of machine learning, artificial intelligence and autonomous cars. As I was reviewing the Department of Defense Selected Acquisition Report (SARs) and scanning the number of programs covered, it occurred to me that implementation of Cloud and AI would be greatly more important to me then autonomous cars.

Benefits In circling the topic there are many areas of benefit. Historically systems were purchased with a focus on performance meeting the most extreme needs of an application.

This often left large portions of the systems unused with a “just in case” mentality. By implementing a Cloud based solution the dynamics of the architecture will enable the application to change dynamically without taxing the systems. This composable solution will also transfer security away from the DoD, to that of a third party. Another benefit that drives adoption is the resiliency of the cloud and the ability to replicate or roll over to other systems. This fault tolerance adds greater confidence on our reliance of these systems.

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Extended to the Edge The debate of how Cloud/AI solutions will impact the Warfighter at the edge continues, but it seems clear that impact will be wide and varied. The rapid financing and roll out of Inference based Processors is now nearing 90 new

start-ups and more then a Billion dollars of investment.

Although it is unclear how these processors address applications at the edge, it is clear that many will. It is difficult to get a clear understanding – as one colleague referred to it as “more artificial, then intelligence” – it does seem clear that AI solutions at the edge will be as common as ARM cores are in portable devices.

Space, Weight and Power (SWaP) along with environmental concerns will continue to drive Edge based systems.

The ability to silo and or merge data for the benefit of Machine Learning will be a must if repeatable results are to be achieved. Transparency in modeling and real-time response will slow a complete shift to the Cloud and will result in a more distributed system tied together for mutual benefit.

The Adoption We have 86 SARs programs on the Presidents 2020 budget.

These programs date back to 2003 and include key weapons systems that were never designed to be connected to a cloud solution. We have application specific datacenters that the DoD has employed to support other programs.

There is an ever-increasing cyber-security concern that private industry has a clear lead on. A challenge of being able to have sufficient oversight and a pro-active cyber security plans becomes more difficult when the “brain trust” is with the private sector and the DoD is scrambling to keep up. The roll out will continue, the rate will accelerate as confidence as experience is gained; in the end a hybrid architectural standards that go beyond a system level will be the result.

The debate of how Cloud/AI solutions will impact the Warfighter at the edge continues, but it seems clear that impact will be wide and varied.

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Marvin Test Solutions Completes A-10/C Test Set Deliveries to Hill AFB Ahead of Schedule The Portable Automated Test Set Model 70A (PATS-70A) adds support for more systems on the A-10/C Thunderbolt II

designed for only flight line avionics test, the PATS-70A incorporates armament test capabilities extending its functionality to the back shop.

Marvin Test Solutions, Inc. (MTS) announced that it has completed deliveries, three months ahead of schedule, in support of the U.S. Air Force PATS-70A Program. MTS supplies core functionality including the rugged flight line enclosure, chassis, power control, temperature regulation, switching and test instrumentation.

“We are pleased to have delivered the underpinnings of the PATS-70A that will support the A-10/C aircraft to Hill AFB three months ahead of schedule and within budget,” said Major General Stephen T. Sargeant, USAF (Ret.), CEO of Marvin Test Solutions. “The U.S. Air Force’s Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill AFB developed the PATS-70A based on Marvin Test Solutions’ MTS-207 ultra-rugged chassis and multiple test instruments, providing A-10/C maintainers a better way to test their systems.”

MTS’ solution leverages the MTS-207 Rugged Field Test Set, an ultra-rugged, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) PXI platform for field and flightline applications, as the basis for the PATS70 and PATS-70A programs. Used for O-Level and I-Level maintenance of A-10/C aircraft, this test set replaces over a dozen pieces of obsolete and irreparable support equipment by automating and consolidating multiple test capabilities into one mission-ready test set. Originally

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Background The U.S. Air Force, Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill AFB, Utah initially partnered with Marvin Test Solutions in 2014 to accelerate the production of the PATS-70 test set based on the flight line-proven MTS-207 Rugged Field

Test Set, replacing the obsolete PATS-30. The PATS-70A program enhances the capabilities of the PATS-70 test set by adding additional armament test support.

The MTS-207 Rugged Field Test Set The MTS-207 is a state-of-the-art portable PXI platform for flight line and field testing as well as data acquisition. Its proven architecture is deployed worldwide on multiple programs including the MTS-206 Maverick Field Test Set, the MTS-235 F-35 Alternate Mission Equipment Test Set, the MTS-209 Common Armament Test Set, and the AN/TSM-205B Hellfire System Test Set to name a few. It combines the capabilities of the versatile and powerful PXI architecture in a compact, ultra-rugged, flight line qualified enclosure. The MTS-207 is ideal for test and data acquisition applications requiring operation under harsh environmental conditions including flight line, back shop, or airborne applications.

The

INSIDE TRACK Accelerate Smart Embedded Vision Designs with Microchip’s Expanding Low-Power FPGA Video and Image Processing Solutions

used in industrial cameras, MIPI-CSI-2 is a sensor interface that links image sensors to FPGAs. The PolarFire family supports receive speeds up to 1.5 Gbps per lane and transmit speeds up to 1 Gbps per lane.

Smart Embedded Vision initiative addresses the growing need for high-speed imaging solutions to enable edge intelligence in low-power, small form factor systems

2.3 Gbps per lane SLVS-EC Rx – SLVS-EC Rx is an image sensor interface IP supporting high-resolution cameras. Customers can implement a two-lane or eight-lane SLVS-EC Rx FPGA core.

As compute-intensive, vision-based systems are increasingly integrated at the network edge, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are quickly becoming a preferred flexible platform for next-generation designs. In addition to requiring high bandwidth processing capabilities, these intelligent systems are deployed in small form factors with tight thermal and power constraints.

To help developers accelerate designs, Microchip Technology Inc., via its Microsemi subsidiary, today announced its Smart Embedded Vision initiative that provides solutions for designing intelligent machine vision systems with Microchip’s low-power PolarFire® FPGAs. With today’s announcement, Microchip extends its high-resolution smart embedded vision FPGA offerings with new enhanced highspeed imaging interfaces, an intellectual property (IP) bundle for image processing and an expanded partner ecosystem.

The Smart Embedded Vision initiative provides a suite of FPGA offerings that includes IP, hardware and tools for low-power, small form factor machine vision designs across the industrial, medical, broadcast, automotive, aerospace and defense markets. With the launch of the initiative, Microchip has added the following to further address design requirements for intelligent vision systems: Serial Digital Interface (SDI) IP - Used to transport uncompressed video data streams over coaxial cabling, this interface comes in multiple speeds: HD-SDI (1.485 Gbps, 720p, 1080i), 3G-SDI (2.970 Gbps, 1080p60), 6G-SDI (5.94 Gbps, 2Kp30) and 12G-SDI (11.88 Gbps, 2Kp60).

1.5 Gbps per lane MIPI-CSI-2 IP – Typically

Multi-rate Gigabit MAC - The PolarFire family can support 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 Gbps speeds

over an Ethernet PHY, enabling the initiative to meet the need for Universal Serial 10 GE Media Independent Interface (USXGMII) MAC IP with auto-negotiation.

6.25 Gbps CoaXPress v1.1 Host and Device IP – CoaXPress is a standard used in high performance machine vision, medical and in industrial inspection. Aligned with the industry’s roadmap for the standard, Microchip will support CoaXPress v2.0, which doubles the bandwidth to 12.5 Gbps.

HDMI 2.0b - The HDMI IP core today supports resolutions up to 4K at 60 fps transmit and 1080p at 60 fps receive.

PolarFire FPGA Imaging IP bundle - Features the MIPI-CSI-2 and includes image processing IPs for edge detection, alpha blending and image enhancement for color, brightness and contrast adjustments.

Expanded Partner Ecosystem – The Smart Embedded Vision initiative introduces Kaya Instruments – which provides PolarFire FPGA IP Cores for CoaXPress v2.0 and 10 GigE vision – to Microchip’s partner ecosystem. The ecosystem also includes Alma Technology, Bitec and artificial intelligence partner ASIC Design Services, which provides a Core Deep Learning (CDL) framework that enables a power-efficient Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based imaging and video platform for embedded and edge computing applications.

“Providing a suite of IP and hardware offerings alongside our partner ecosystem is essential to our clients’ ability to innovate while meeting their production schedules,” said Shakeel Peera, vice president of product marketing for the FPGA business unit at Microchip’s Microsemi subsidiary. “This is especially important because of the rapid evolution of machine and computer vision, driven by the growing adoption of AI, and the need to democratize edge-based vision systems.”

PolarFire FPGAs offer 30 to 50 percent lower total power over competing Static Random-Access Memory (SRAM)-based mid-range FPGAs. With family members ranging from 100K to 500K logic elements (LEs), they provide five to 10 times lower static power, making them ideal for a new range of compute-intensive edge devices, including those deployed in thermallyand power-constrained environments.

Development Tools In addition to new high-speed imaging IP cores and the PolarFire Imaging IP bundle, a new MIPI-CSI2-based machine learning camera reference design is available for smart embedded system implementations. Based on the PolarFire FPGA imaging and video kit that uses inference algorithms from Microchip partner ASIC Design Services, the reference design is free for customers to evaluate. All Smart Embedded Vision solutions are supported by the Libero® SoC Design Suite, Microchip’s comprehensive development tool.

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DATA MODUL is a pioneer of hybrid bonding

The demand for touch displays for the professional/industrial sector is also continuing to grow constantly. In order to meet this growing and very different demand, such as for quantities, diagonals, technology etc., DATA MODUL is extending its offer of bonding technologies with an additional process: hybrid bonding.

ly well suited for high-volume projects. With this process, the Munich-based display expert expands its range of display optimization options for industrial customers and offers the greatest variety of bonding methods in-house.

In the near future, DATA MODUL will also invest in additional OCA and LOCA bonding machines at the production site. DATA MODUL will thereby ensure the greatest flexibility in production for industrial projects.

monitors portions of the U.S. southern border.

Information from the towers is sent to the command and control center at a Border Patrol Station providing agents with long-range, persistent surveillance and situational aware-

ness that allows them to dispatch an appropriate response. This capability provides greater safety for the agents patrolling the border in the Casa Grande AoR.

This technology is new to the market and DATA MODUL is one of the first providers for the industry in Europe. Since May 2019 at the Weikersheim production site, the display expert has successfully implemented and put into operation a fully automatic hybrid bonding machine in the extended clean room.

In the classic bonding process, touch, glass and display are bonded ( fully) automatically with liquid or dry glue, and finally cured.

Hybrid bonding, however, is an advanced combination of proven LOCA (liquid) and OCA (dry lamination) technologies. The benefits of the two classic methods have thereby been combined and increased.

From a budget perspective and due to its set-up time’s hybrid bonding is particular-

Elbit Systems U.S. Subsidiary Awarded Additional $26 Million Contract to Provide Integrated Fixed Towers System in Arizona Elbit Systems Ltd. announced that its subsidiary in the U.S., Elbit Systems of America, LLC (“Elbit Systems of America”), was awarded an approximately $26 million contract from the United States Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to install an Integrated Fixed Towers (“IFT”) system in the U.S. Border Patrol Casa Grande Area of Responsibility (“AoR”) in Arizona. The project will be performed over a oneyear period. To date, Elbit Systems of America has been awarded a number of contracts from CBP to install IFT systems in numerous AoR’s covering a total of approximately 200 miles of the Arizona–Mexico border.

The IFT system comprises a command and control center and a networked multi-tower, multi-sensor system that continuously 10

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Boeing Forecasts $8.7 Trillion Aerospace and Defense Market through 2028 Growing demand expected across commercial air travel, defense, space and services markets 20-year commercial outlook projects $16 trillion market, powered by rising requirement for 44,040 new jets and related services

A strong commercial aviation industry, stable defense spending and the need to service all platforms throughout their lifecycle are driving a growing aerospace and defense market, according to the Boeing Market Outlook.

Released today at the Paris Air Show, the outlook values the aerospace and defense market at $8.7 trillion over the next decade, up from $8.1 trillion a year ago.

The Boeing Market Outlook (BMO) includes a $3.1 trillion projected demand for commercial airplanes through 2028 as operators replace older jets with more capable and fuel-efficient models, and expand their fleets to accommodate the steady rise in air travel across emerging and established markets.

The BMO also projects $2.5 trillion of defense and space opportunities during the next decade as governments modernize military platforms and systems, pursue new technologies and capabilities and accelerate exploration from sea to space. The projected spending – spanning military aircraft, autonomous systems, satellites, spacecraft and other products – continues to be global in nature with 40 percent of expenditures expected to originate outside of the United States.

Supporting the defense, space and commer-

cial platforms with lifecycle solutions will fuel a services market valued at $3.1 trillion through 2028.

“Aerospace and defense continues to be a healthy and growing industry over the long term, boosted by strong fundamentals across the commercial, defense and services sectors and demand that is geographically-diverse and more balanced between replacement and growth than ever before,” said Boeing Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Enterprise Performance & Strategy Greg Smith.

Boeing today also unveiled its 2019 Com-

mercial Market Outlook (CMO), a longer-term forecast that delves deeper into the market for commercial airplanes and services. The newest CMO shows growing passenger volumes and increasing airplane retirements will drive the need for 44,040 new jets, valued at $6.8 trillion over the next two decades and up 3 percent from a year ago. The global commercial airplane fleet will also sustain the need for aviation services valued at $9.1 trillion, leading to a total commercial market opportunity of $16 trillion through 2038.

“Time and again, commercial aviation has shown itself to be extremely resilient. Notwithstanding some recent moderation in passenger and cargo traffic growth, all indications are pointing to our industry sustaining its unprece-

dented streak of profitable expansion. In fact, we see a market that is broader, deeper and more balanced than we have seen in the past,” said Boeing Commercial Marketing Vice President Randy Tinseth. “The healthy market fundamentals will fuel a doubling of the commercial fleet over the next two decades and a massive ecosystem of lifecycle solutions to maintain and support it.”

Of the new airplane deliveries, forecasters say 44 percent will go toward replacing aging aircraft while the rest will accommodate traffic growth. Together, the new jets support an industry where passenger traffic will grow an average 4.6 percent and cargo traffic will grow an average 4.2 percent.

Factoring in the new airplanes and the jets that would remain in service, the global commercial fleet is expected to reach 50,660 airplanes by 2038. This is the first time the projected fleet has crested the 50,000 mark.

The biggest airplane segment remains single-aisles such as the 737 MAX, as operators are projected to demand 32,420 new airplanes. This $3.8 trillion market is driven in large part by the continued strength of low-cost carriers, healthy replacement demand and continuing growth in Asia Pacific.

In the widebody segment, Boeing forecasts demand for 8,340 new passenger airplanes valued at more than $2.6 trillion over the next twenty years. Widebody demand is spearheaded in part by a significant wave of older airplanes that will need to be replaced beginning in a few years. Bolstering the demand for larger aircraft, operators are expected to need 1,040 new large production freighters over the forecast period.

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Thales Alenia Space Delivers Euclid Communications Module

Thales Alenia Space in Spain has delivered the communications module for the Euclid satellite to Thales Alenia Space’s Turin plant, where it will be integrated with the service module.

Euclid is a European Space Agency (ESA) astronomy and astrophysics mission designed to help us better understand the nature of dark energy and dark matter. Thales Alenia Space in Spain is responsible for the communications system, while Thales Alenia Space in Italy is the satellite prime contractor, and also responsible for the service module.

Euclid will map the general structure of the Universe over 10 billion light years to show its expansion and growth during the last three-quarters of its history. The mission is designed to address two of the most important

DARPA selects BAE Systems to develop machine learning capabilities for space situational awareness BAE Systems will develop machine learning capabilities aimed to help the military gain better awareness of space scenarios. Machine learning capabilities aimed to help the military gain better awareness of space scenarios.

BAE Systems has been awarded a Phase 2 contract to develop machine-learning capabilities aimed to help the military gain better awareness of space scenarios for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The goal of DARPA’s Hallmark Tools, Capabilities, and Evaluation Methodology (Hallmark-TCEM) program is to not only develop and evaluate tools and capabilities that increase an operator’s understanding of space events, but also enhance the ability to select effective courses of action for any given situation.

Space assets such as satellites are becoming increasingly important and relied upon by the Department of Defense for communications, surveillance, and security. As part of Hallmark-TCEM, BAE Systems’ FAST Labs™ research and development team will build cognitive-based machine learning algorithms and data models aimed to give space operators the ability to identify abnormal activities 12

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questions in cosmology today: How did the Universe originate and why is it expanding at an accelerating rate, rather than slowing down due to the gravitational attraction of its constituent matter?

Communicating at 1.5 million kilometers Euclid will map the 3D distribution of up to two billion galaxies and associated dark matter during a six-year mission, covering most of the sky outside our Milky Way. The complete survey represents hundreds of thousands of images and several tens of petabytes of data. This huge amount of data will be transmitted by the satellite from its orbit around the L2 Sun-Earth Lagrangian point at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth, using its K-band radiofrequency data transmission system. Euclid also incorporates an X-band system to control and monitor the spacecraft, and measure its distance to Earth. and predict possible threats. The team will build on Phase 1 work of the program, and continue to leverage the decade-long development of the company’s Multi-INT Analytics for Pattern Learning and Exploitation (MAPLE) technology with a solution called MAPLE Automates Joint Indications and Warnings for Cognitive Counter-Space (MAJICS).

“Our technology builds data models based on normal activity and then ingests large amounts of real-time, streaming data to compare against the normal model and determine if any abnormal activity is occurring or will occur,” said Dr. John Hogan, product line director of the Sensor Processing and Exploitation group at BAE Systems. “By using this technology, we hope

to reduce the operator’s workload by providing a solution that will automatically predict space events such as launches or satellite movements based on millions of pieces of data, helping them make rapid decisions to avoid any potential threats.”

BAE Systems’ research on the Hallmark-TCEM program adds to the company’s machine learning and artificial intelligence segment of its autonomy technology portfolio. The capabilities developed under the Hallmark-TCEM effort will be integrated into DARPA’s Hallmark Software Testbed (Hallmark-ST) program. Work for the program will be completed at the company’s facilities in Burlington, Massachusetts and Reston, Virginia.

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Rafael unveils new Artificial Intelligence and Deep-Learning technologies in SPICE-250 to enable Automatic Target Recognition

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. unveils it has successfully tested and demonstrated a new ATR (Automatic Target Recognition) capability for its SPICE-250 air-to-surface munitions.

SPICE (250, 1000, 2000) is a family of standoff, autonomous, air-to-ground weapon systems that attack targets with pinpoint accuracy and at high attack volumes, without depending on GPS navigation in GPS-denied environments.

SPICE-250 has a standoff range of 100 kilometers, and can be equipped with either general purpose or penetration 75kg class warhead.

This new and unique ATR capability is part of SPICE-250’s array of technologies which includes Automatic Target Acquisition (ATA) and Moving-Target-Detection homing modes, all of which are based on autonomous electro-optic Scene-Matching Algorithms.

The newly-unveiled ATR feature is a technological breakthrough, enabling SPICE-250 to effectively learn the specific target characteris-

tics ahead of the strike, using advanced AI and deep-learning technologies.

During flight, the pilot selects the target type to be attacked and allocates a target to each weapon. The weapons are launched towards the vicinity of the targets, using their INS for initial navigation. When approaching the target area, the weapons use the ATR mode for detection and recognition of the targets. Each weapon homes-in on the pre-defined target, either autonomously or with a human-in-theloop, aided by the ATR algorithm.

The combination of the increased load-out of SPICE-250, the unique homing methods for various scenarios, and the effective 75kg warhead, enables a high volume, autonomous and precise strike capability against multiple target types, with an assured very low collateral damage.

SPICE-250 uses a common aircraft interface and sophisticated Smart Quad Rack (SQR) which simplifies the effort needed for aircraft integration. Four SPICE-250 weapons are carried on each SQR. SPICE-250 can be directly mounted on light attack aircraft store stations, thanks to its small size and light-weight.

SPICE is combat-proven with the Israeli Air Force and in operational service with a number of international customers.

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OSS Awarded $36 Million Contract to Provide Flash Storage Arrays for Military Radar Application

One Stop Systems, Inc. the leading provider of specialized high-performance computing solutions, has won a five-year sole source agreement valued at $36 million to provide flash storage arrays to a prime contractor for the U.S. Navy. The

Department of Defense Comprehensive Selected Acquisition Reports for the Annual 2018 Reporting Requirement as Updated by the President’s Fiscal Year 2020 Budget The Department of Defense (DoD) has released details on major defense acquisition program cost, schedule, and performance changes since the December 2018 reporting period. This information is based on the comprehensive annual Selected Acquisition Reports (SARs) for the first quarter of FY 2019, as updated by the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 budget submitted to Congress on March 11, 2019.

SARs summarize the latest estimates of cost, schedule, and performance status.

These reports are prepared annually in conjunction with submission of the President’s Budget. Subsequent quarterly exception reports are required only for those programs experiencing unit cost increases of at least 15 percent or schedule delays of at least six months. Quarterly SARs are also submitted for initial reports, final reports, and for programs that are rebaselined at major milestone decisions.

The total program acquisition cost estimates provided in the SARs include research and devel14

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systems will be used within state-of-the-art Navy surveillance aircraft deployed worldwide.

includes airborne and ground systems, spare canisters and support services.

Under the agreement, OSS will supply full mil-spec flash storage systems that include removable canisters, allowing collected data to be removed from the aircraft and transferred to ground stations. The systems store real-time data collected from advanced airborne sensors (AAS), including radar and other sensors. The contract

“We are excited to receive this agreement which solidifies our long-term production of these flash arrays,” said Steve Cooper, president and CEO of OSS. “These products showcase the benefits of our award-winning flash array technology, including high-performance, small size, light weight and portability.”

opment, procurement, military construction, and acquisition-related operations and maintenance.

These totals reflect actual costs to date as well as future anticipated costs. All estimates are shown in fully inflated then-year dollars.

estimate for December 2018 (87 programs) is $2,018,684 million. Quantity changes account for the majority of the $101,000 million increase (+$51,000 million), in addition to scope changes (+$18,000 million) and revised indices (+$11,500 million). 16 of the 20 programs with quantity changes are either equal to or underrunning their current baseline costs, as well as 60 of the 84* SARs reporting Unit Cost this SAR cycle overall.

The prior current estimate of program acquisition costs for programs covered by SARs for the reporting period for December 2017 (83 programs) was $1,917,840 million. The current

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General Dynamics Awarded Air Force Intelligence System Support Contract

GDIT will continue 20-year legacy as the sole network support provider for the Air Force’s Distributed Common Ground System.

General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) announced it will support the U.S. Air Force’s 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing (480 ISRW) through their Technical Operations Support contract. The single-award contract holds a total estimated value of $217 million. It includes a nine-month base period with seven one-year options as well as a possible six-month extension.

“We are excited to continue our strong legacy providing expert engineering and technology solutions for the Air Force,” said Senior Vice President Leigh Palmer, head of GDIT’s Defense Division. “GDIT’s team developed and implemented the initial design for this global network. We will leverage this expertise to maintain current network technology while seamlessly modernizing the Air Force’s global network into a next-generation posture.”

The Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (AF DCGS), also referred to as the AN/ GSQ-272 SENTINEL, is the Air Force’s primary ISR planning, collection, processing and ex-

ploitation, analysis and dissemination weapon system. It employs a global communications architecture that connects multiple intelligence platforms, Department of Defense networks and sensors. The AF DCGS weapon systems’ communications architecture is a complicated, high-speed network that supports combatant commanders across the globe.

The 480th leads global ISR operations within the AF DCGS’ weapon system. They provide time-sensitive, Multiple-source Intelligence (Multi-INT) data and products derived from selected service/allied/coalition ISR platforms.

AF DCGS participates in operations throughout the world, including those led by the United Nations, NATO, U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command, U.S. Forces Korea, U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. Southern Command.

GDIT’s legacy operations have been the sole network support provider of this weapons system for more than 20 years. Through this task order, GDIT will support the AF DCGS Operations Center with network administration, network engineering, information assurance, computer network defense, systems administration, project management and C4ISR engineering of 480 ISRW’s information technology assets from the network and enterprise level.

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Aerojet Rocketdyne Opens State-ofthe-art Rocket Propulsion Facilty in Huntsville

Huntsville is the company’s Defense Business Unit headquarters Home to some of the most advanced defense and space manufacturing technology in the world

Senior Alabama officials joined Aerojet Rocketdyne’s CEO Eileen Drake and Executive Chairman Warren Lichtenstein today at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the company’s newest state-of-the-art rocket propulsion Advanced Manufacturing Facility (AMF), marking the latest milestone in the company’s ongoing expansion in the Rocket City.

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s new 136,000 square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Facility located at 7800 Pulaski Pike in Huntsville, Alabama, will produce advanced propulsion products such as solid rocket motor cases and other hardware for critical U.S. defense and space programs Aerojet Rocketdyne’s new 136,000 square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Facility located at 7800 Pulaski Pike in Huntsville, Alabama, will produce advanced propulsion products such as solid rocket motor cases and other hardware for critical U.S. defense and space programs Surrounded by company employees and Alabama state and local officials, including Governor Kay Ivey, Drake officially declared the AMF open for operation. The 136,000-square-foot AMF will produce advanced propulsion products such as solid rocket motor cases and other hardware for the Standard Missile-3, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, and other U.S. defense and space programs.

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“The AMF provides Aerojet Rocketdyne the capabilities we need to advance our nation’s security today and to further technologies that will allow us to meet the challenges of tomorrow,” said Drake.

In addition to current programs, which are being transferred from other locations, the AMF is designed for new program opportunities, including hypersonic and the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program.

“This is an exciting day for Aerojet Rocketdyne, the City of Huntsville and for the entire state of Alabama,” Governor Kay Ivey said. “When a high-caliber company like Aerojet Rocketdyne locates a cutting-edge manufacturing facility in your state, it’s a powerful testament to the skill of your workforce and to the advantages you can offer to business. We’re thrilled to see this great company grow in Huntsville and make important contributions to the nation’s defense.”

The Huntsville expansion and AMF are part of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Competitive Improvement Program, which is aimed at reducing costs and increasing operational efficiency. Aerojet Rocketdyne officially established Huntsville as the headquarters of its Defense Business Unit in 2016. The company’s local workforce, which numbered approximately 70 in 2017, is now up to more than 400, with additional growth planned as the AMF reaches full production rates.

Yesterday Drake formally cut the ribbon on the 122,000-square-foot Defense Headquarters

building and hosted state and local officials at an open house reception. Here, the company is supporting important innovations for America’s warfighters and explorers, from industry-leading hypersonics technology, to the advanced controller for the RS-25 engines that will power NASA’s Space Launch System.

“We are grateful to Aerojet Rocketdyne for choosing Huntsville, this site and our highly skilled people, to produce some of the most advanced defense and space manufacturing technology in the world,” said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle. “We look forward to a long and prosperous future together as Aerojet Rocketdyne continues its leadership role in our nation’s journey into space.”

Drake cited key reasons for making Huntsville the center of its defense business, a highly technical workforce of engineers and scientists and the proximity of the company’s key customers and government partners.

“Huntsville is a great place to build a future – and that’s what we are doing with our expansion here,” said Drake.

SPECIAL FEATURE

New Ways to Build a Business Bedrock for IOT Age

By Barry Dowdy, Systems Manager for Aerospace and Defense Solutions

Security is every developer’s business, but not for the reasons you may think

Things working together are bringing us the next tsunami of innovation. For example, if I have a connected car and the dynamics of the road or cityscape change around me because of a burst water main, that will automatically impact the car’s suggested route. The car being smart on its own doesn’t help much. It is understanding the context of how these systems are going to work together which will really drive innovation.

re-searchers found that the company’s Hue light bulbs were alarmingly hack-able. Because all the Hue light bulbs used the same key, once a hacker had broken one key, he had broken them all. Philips acted, and now every Hue light bulb has its own unique identity.

However, there’s a downside to this tsunami of IoT connected devices, which, as Re-searchAndMarkets notes, will hit 25.1 billion in 2025, compared to 2017’s 7.5 billion. There are the threats, which come in many forms, and the ability to accidentally or purposely poison data, to re-route cars, or to impact organizations’ performance. There have been ransomware examples with PCs, and this is expected to continue within the IoT; a recent OT system example is the cyberattack on the Norsk Hydro aluminum plant, estimated to cost them more than 50 million dollars.

Yet for all the awareness of issues like those just cited, and despite the spotlight often being on security, its role is not fully understood, and especially its function as the bedrock upon which in-novation in the IoT era depends.

COTS Journal | August 2019

To understand security in this era is to understand that security is the strongest differentiation en-gine at your enterprise. This engine is hiding in plain sight, mistakenly seen as a “cost.”

And these threats will take place at a time when the rise of edge computing is broadening the attack surface. Edge computing allows engineers to complete analysis and other tasks outside the cloud, but it also expands vulnerability, giving hackers more ways to get into a system.

Every edge computing point is a system in its own right and must be protected.

Consider just some of the reasons to move security to the value column on the spreadsheet ra-ther than the cost category: • Security protects IP. The first value of security is not in stopping something from getting hacked; it’s in protecting the investment put into your software design and engineering. Increasingly, IP software is in the shape of a car, a washing machine, etc., gaining more and more value whereas the value of the actual hardware is decreasing. IP aggregates a lot a company’s knowhow and contains typically several man years of development efforts. The last thing you want to see is this IP stolen, put on GitHub or ending up on the black market.

And then there are the events that remind us that in this connected world, you want to talk to your specific device instead of all your devices. Philips had an identity issue to resolve when

• Security is a bedrock enabler for next generation services. One of the most important best practices covered in the IoTSF recommendations is the capability to update

The cloning and counterfeiting of OECD numbers is already a 500-billion-dollar-a-year industry with a high proportion of that in electronics and electronic equipment—which amounts to the GDP of Ireland and the Netherlands combined.

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The Differentiation Engine Hiding in Plain Sight

the software of an IoT de-vice. This update capability goes beyond adding greatly to the security and life of the device; it also enables the service provider to add new services over the product’s lifespan. As tech-nology moves quickly, services that were unthinkable during initial development can simply be added later. New security services have the potential to generate revenue over the entire life cycle of a product. For example, smart city lighting may initially start out as the simple selling of bulbs. This may be the initial design criteria for the smart bulbs. However, later the provider may change the landscape and add a new service to sell you lighting as a service.

The value point changes quite substantially from simply the cost of bulbs and the inhouse resource to fit and maintain them, to an annual fee where the bulbs and in-house resources are no longer consid-ered.

• Security leverages your application’s capabilities. For example, taking the security step of as-signing connected devices a unique identity upfront makes it possible to tailor applications to leverage the identity properly. That’s becoming easier and less time-consuming to do with the arrival of new tools on the market. For example, it’s now possible to leverage a security devel-opment environment which can capitalize on the secure hardware that the latest microcontrol-lers have. The elements of this security development environment include integrated identity and certificate management; scalable secure boot management; secure deployment with in-tegrated manufacturing mastering;

and release management with versioning and update in-frastructure.

Technology, Operating Technology or IoT, security has become central.

• Security fosters ongoing customer relationships. It’s the rails upon which continued communica-tion with your customers runs. There’s also a more generous amount of time over which cus-tomer relationships can develop than in the past. Traditionally, 10-, 15-, 20-year life cycles have been found only in military or aerospace domains. Now however, sectors leveraging the IoT, smart cities, and smart homes are also demanding these longer life cycles from embedded sys-tems.

Throughout those cycles security will be paramount. And security will be your opportunity to differentiate in how your devices, for example, securely and seamlessly onboard to Azure, to AWS, to Google Cloud, etc.

On the positive side, embedded systems OEMs today are in a better position than ever to begin this journey. For one, the other two parties present at the design inception—the chip vendors and the tools vendors—have continued to strengthen their security solutions. Mainstream widely available chips can be leveraged. For example, Arm’s TrustZone-M makes it possible to create a virtual secondary processor to handle some of the security domain.

Beginning the Security Journey Security is a journey. It won’t be an instant leap from “Security is not core to the application; I will try to fit that in at the end of the project, or perhaps in version 2 or 3 or 4,” to the understanding that leveraging security effectively means bringing security to bear at the start of the design process.

One of the current challenges to this journey is the dauntingly greater number of cybersecurity job postings than individuals available to fill them. Frost & Sullivan expects 1.5 million cybersecurity job postings by 2020. But these statistics also serve to point out that in everything we do, whether it is Information

On the tools front, it’s important to use a set of tools which can scale as migration between ar-chitectures takes place. Also helpful is working with a tools vendor who can support different platforms and support mainstream devices as well as newer, security-orientated chipsets. Con-sider a vendor who can offer tools specifically designed to help in following all 13 of the IoT Se-curity Foundation (IoTSF) best practices for the gateways, actuators, and sensors used for con-sumer IoT devices.

The tools and the availability of security as a service are there to make bringing security to the front of the development cycle a reality and to help even where clean sheet design is not possi-ble. One example, the IAR Embedded Workbench ®, is a toolchain with a complete IDE, includ-ing Embedded Trust from Secure Thingz.

COTS Journal | August 2019

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hacked. Legislation such as this indicates that the industry needs to move in the direction of hav-ing a standard solution as opposed to something which is unique for every device, which means custom updating for every light bulb, every car, every refrigerator.

While this cybersecurity legislation may be first out of the gate, expect more to follow.

Industry groups, such as the IoTSF, and governmental agencies in Europe, the UK, the U.S., and Asia have begun building legislative frameworks based on best practices for cybersecurity in consumer, medical, and other sectors. The frameworks will support legal requirements to ship devices which are secure.

And these laws will also speak to the manufacturers’ obligation to ensure that when things go wrong—and they will, because developers have to be right 100 percent of the time while hackers only need to get lucky once—that devices and networks can be remediated and that people and businesses can be protected over the long term.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Design Hygiene To get started, begin with basic design hygiene, which alone probably inhibits 90 to 95 percent of the attacks that we see today. One hygiene measure is instead of having fixed passwords, move to a standard identification platform which utilizes a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

ii) memory protection; making sure that the user application is isolated from the immu-table bootloader memory and that the bad guys cannot inject any malware that could tamper with the bootloader code. iii) software update; making sure there is a mechanism to securely update the user ap-plication in order to quickly fix any vulnerabilities that are discovered and ensure se-curity over the life of the product.

PKI has been around for a long time in the IT domain, but not been brought to bear in the em-bedded domain. But it is a best practice. We know it works. We know the cryptography works. What is needed is to ensure developers can leverage PKI to create a set of proper identities with a proper certificate authority, so it is known and trustworthy.

The use of PKI would enable the creation of intermediate certificates, which may be OEM-specific certificates, and then device certificates, which means that every single device is uniquely identifiable and uniquely addressable.

Of course, the bad guys will then step up the network attacks moving forward. Nevertheless, if we can take out the random attacks, then it is a pretty easy win for the industry.

It also shows to legislative organizations, to governments, to whomever that the OEMs are taking security serious-ly and at least putting in the minimal hygiene.

Design hygiene measures also include: i) switching off debug; making sure that when the device is booting up it is set into a secure space before the bad guy can start coming in and rooting around inside the code base; ensuring that identity can be fused into those devices in an immutable way.

Even though noted above that security’s role is not yet fully understood, progress is being made within industry and within governments. One of the first legislative efforts will be the state law that goes into effect this January in California. It will require that when something goes wrong with a connected/IoT device there is an absolute requirement to be able to fix, patch, and recover it if

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On the Legislative Front

The complexity of software that we have on PCs, servers, and the cloud means it is difficult to protect it, and that is why we typically see so many compromises and the need for running very deep layers of anti-virus software and anti-malware. But difficult is not impossible, and as an in-dustry we can do better than less than four percent of new devices having embedded security. Broader proliferation and adoption of IoT devices can take place as security is designed in from inception.

As an industry we have to back legislation; we also have to drive it at the global level. In the U.S., in the EU, by setting the market rules for what can be sold, we are going to improve design hygiene and take out the easy targets.

Secure Thingz, together with IAR Systems, is helping to assure that the devices talking to one an-other are inherently trustworthy.

Yes, there still has to be an on-boarding process; they still need to get used to each other, but fundamentally if you use our tools those things will be inherently more secure and more trustworthy. Ultimately it will mean that it is harder and harder for the bad guys to find a way into the system.

As the mathematician George Polya advised in his First Principle, “Understand the problem.” Be-coming aware of the best security practices out there, via the plentiful free advice at iotsecuri-tyfoundation.org and other sites is a step in the right direction.

SPECIAL FEATURE

The Foundation Common to Most Security Frameworks: Addressing Configuration Controls

By Brian Hajost, Chief Executive Officer, SteelCloud We have entered the era of multiple security frameworks. Sometimes mandatory, often voluntary, security frameworks are created to provide federal and commercial organizations with an effective roadmap for securing IT systems. The goal is to reduce risk levels and prevent or mitigate cyber-attacks.

To accomplish this task, security frameworks typically provide a series of documented, agreed and understood policies, procedures, and processes necessary to secure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information systems and data.

In the United States, the overarching framework is the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cyber Security Framework.

As part of the Department of Commerce, NIST is responsible for developing technical standards and guidelines for information security, among other things. Although the NIST standards apply to U.S. federal agencies and critical infrastructure, it is also widely used throughout the private sector.

In addition, specialized frameworks are less comprehensive and address specific aspects of information compliance. HIPAA, for example, provides security requirements to protect patient privacy; PCI in the retail sector address credit card processing, FedRAMP covers Federal cloud standards and the energy sector relies on the NERC Critical Infrastructure Plan.

The list is long, and today even individual States are adopting their own cyber security frameworks (i.e., NYDFS).

If there is a drawback to security frameworks, however, it is that most provide a 22

COTS Journal | August 2019

“30,000-foot view” of information security.

Most identify potential risks as well as how to protect, detect, respond and even recover from cyber-attacks. Specific implementation steps, on the other hand, are rarely addressed.

53 provides the most comprehensive baseline for security controls in its latest published revision, which are prioritized and categorized by level of risk.

However, there is one critical exception. At the core of most, if not all, the frameworks are a set of security-related controls that affect the security posture and/or functionality of the system.

However, it is still up to the individual organization to establish company-specific configuration settings and changes to registry settings, account, file directory permission settings; and settings for functions, ports, protocols, services, and remote connections.

Now, with established, recognized standards to accomplish this network security “hardening,” along with new automation solutions, IT personnel have an effective starting point and foundation for implementing security frameworks.

This task often falls to information security and IT staff, many of whom lack the background and training in the area. This introduces the potential that systems will be under-protected and/or left with exploitable security gaps.

Critical Security Controls and Configuration Settings

As a result, many organizations – even those that apply security frameworks voluntarily – are moving away from proprietary security hardening efforts in favor of recognized and established best practices. This simplifies deployment and configuration, enhances change control and automates auditing – significantly reducing risk.

Critical Security controls provide specific safeguards for any and all systems connected to the network, including mainframe computers, servers, endpoints, attached devices, network appliances, operating systems, middleware, and applications.

The controls impact areas such as access control, audit and accountability, identification and authentication, contingency planning, incident response, configuration and change management, physical and environmental security. By changing configuration settings in hardware, software, or firmware, companies can improve their security posture.

Of all the available frameworks, NIST SP 800-

Fortunately, NIST and other security frameworks point to either of two publicly available configuration standards, the Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) or the CIS Benchmarks.

STIGs and CIS The STIGs, published by the Defense Information Systems Agency, a support agency for the Department of Defense (DoD), outline hundreds of pages of detailed rules

“If the same security policies and configurations could be implemented on all systems, compliance would be a rather easy exercise,” explains Hajost. “All applications respond to security policies differently. Because configuration settings have the potential to ‘break’ applications, the settings for each system, therefore, have to be uniquely adapted or tuned to each application in the operational environment.”

For example, if some of the configuration settings of a Windows or Linux operating system on which an application operates are re-configured, the application will break. If an application requires specific settings to operate and those settings are prohibited or blocked, the application will fail to load or operate. And so on.

Often, server policies must be manually adjusted on an application by application, server by server basis – a painstaking task that can take many weeks and often falls to system administrators, application administrators or information assurance staff.

that must be followed to properly secure or “harden” the DoD computing infrastructure.

Although STIGs are mandatory for DoD agencies, any civilian agency and even commercial companies are welcome to use the STIGs. For most commercial organizations, however, CIS is the security standard of choice. Originally formed in 2000, CIS Center for Internet Security, Inc.) is a nonprofit organization with a mission is to “identify, develop, validate, promote, and sustain best practice solutions for cyber defense.”

CIS employs a closed crowdsourcing model to identify and refine effective security measures, with individuals developing recommendations that are shared with the community for evaluation through a consensus decision-making process.

“Most organizations need a starting point that works today and that they can explain in simple language to their board on what needs

to be done, and that is really where the CIS Benchmarks and CIS Critical Security Controls provide is that starting point,” says Curtis W. Dukes, Executive Vice President & General Manager of the Best Practices and Automation Group at CIS. Although there are minor differences between the STIGs and CIS Benchmarks, the two overlap and are pretty much interchangeable, says Brian Hajost of SteelCloud, an expert in automated security control compliance.

However, implementation of either STIG or CIS Benchmarks can be a challenge if the process isn’t automated in some manner, due to the disparate requirements and configurations of networks.

Changes to security settings can also have unintended consequences. When the configuration settings of an application are re-configured, it can cause the installed application to “break,” meaning it won’t install and/or run properly.

“There are thousands of IT staff that are tasked with addressing compliance manually, but many are not experienced or trained in it,” says Hajost.

“So, they muddle through, but the initial effort can take weeks or even months.”

This is where automation can come into play. Software tools can automate implementation of a security benchmark, even across complex and disparate environments with varying security policies.

ConfigOS from SteelCloud, currently supports more than 6,000 standard CIS and STIG configuration settings. The software produces a domain-independent comprehensive policy “signature” including user-defined documentation and policy waivers. In this step alone, weeks, or months of manual work can be completed in an hour.

The signature and documentation are included in a secure, encrypted signature container that is used to scan endpoints (laptops, desktops, physical/cloud servers) without being installed on any of them. The time it takes to implement hundreds of configuration security settings on each endpoint is typically under 90 seconds and ConfigOS can COTS Journal | August 2019

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handle multiple implementations at a time.

Hajost estimates automating the process reduces initial hardening time by 90 percent, while reducing system security policy maintenance expenses by about 70 percent.

Automated software also simplifies ongoing compliance, which in IT is a constantly evolving process.

“New security updates are introduced periodically to account for newly discovered vulnerabilities as well as changes and updates to by the vendors supplying the major operating environment components,” explains Hajost.

Limiting Risk/Liability Although automating configuration security settings can be of immense value, it is not intended to provide a complete cyber security framework. Still, the automation and associated documentation provided can play a critical role in reducing legal liability and attaining cyber insurance.

Dukes of CIS points to recently enacted legislation in Ohio and 2017 in California that es-

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tablishes legal protections for organizations that have implemented an established security framework, such as the CIS Critical Security Controls, should the organization suffer a data breach.

Interested in getting your copy of

“If a data breach gets litigated or adjudicated in a court of law, you want to be able to demonstrate to a judge or jury that you had reasonably implemented and followed a security best practice framework,” says Dukes.

J O U R N A L

Although many of the security frameworks are still voluntary in the commercial sector, Dukes has seen increased adoption from forward-thinking organizations in the retail, IT consulting and academia sectors.

“In the near future, more security frameworks are going to move from being voluntary to mandated,” explains Dukes. “Organizations should spend time getting educated and starting the process toward more effective cyber defense now, and not wait until it is mandated. There is too much at stake.”

For more information about ConfigOS from SteelCloud call (703) 674-5500; or visit www. steelcloud.com.

Contact us;

RTC Media

3180 Sitio Sendero, Carlsbad, CA. 92009 Phone: (949) 226-2023

www.rtc-media.com

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Resolution, Accuracy, and Precision of Encoders

By Steve Mathis, US Digital

When you’re choosing an encoder for a motion control system, you’ll be faced with numerous technical terms. The amount of data available can be overwhelming. Which critical terms should you focus on first, and which can be deferred?

This article looks at three important concepts that deserve your attention: resolution, accuracy and precision.

At first glance, it may seem that all three mean roughly the same thing. You may wonder if they’re interchangeable; indeed, many people speak of them as if they are. After all, if an encoder has high resolution, doesn’t that mean it’s accurate? And if it’s accurate, then it has to be precise, right? (Please note: the answer to these last two questions is a firm no.)

In fact, the terms are independent of each other. Each refers to a specific encoder characteristic, and they are not interchangeable. To clear up any confusion, we’ll first explain what resolution means for incremental encoders, then note any differences for linear and abso-

lute encoders. We’ll move on to accuracy, and finish with precision.

Along the way, we’ll give tips on how to use knowledge about each term to make the best encoder selection, and how to calibrate a system once the encoder is in place.

RESOLUTION

In math, science and engineering the term resolution specifies the smallest distance that can be measured or observed.

Incremental Encoders and Resolution To make an incremental encoder, a manufacturer creates a disk with a pattern on it. The attern divides the disk into distinct regions. For example, one common pattern consists of lines and windows printed on a transparent disk.

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Encoder resolution is measured in units of Cycles Per Revolution (CPR). The word cycle has both a physical and an electrical meaning.

• Physically, on the disk, a cycle is composed of a line/window pair; therefore, in its most basic form, CPR is the same as the number of lines, the number of windows, or the number of line/window pairs.

• Electrically, a cycle refers to one full cycle of the encoder’s output waveform: one high pulse and one low pulse. One cycle is equal to 360° electrical degrees.

When an LED projects light at the disk, the light strikes either a window or a line. Windows allow light to pass through the disk to a photo sensor on the other side. Lines block the light. As the disk rotates, output from the encoder module—Channel A—is a series of high and low signals; their value depends on whether the photo sensor receives light (high) or not (low).

CPR, then, can refer to the number of lines and windows on the disk, or the number of electrical cycles in one rotation. Native CPR will be the same number in either case, because each line/window pair is exactly what generates each electrical cycle.

CPR also gives us the smallest distance that can be measured. Divide the total distance of 360° mechanical degrees by the number of cycles per revolution, and the answer will be mechanical degrees per cycle.

For example, with an encoder resolution of 3,600 CPR:

The Channel A output waveform looks like this.

While cycles per revolution is a common term to specify resolution for incremental encoders, some manufacturers use terms like “counts per revolution” (also abbreviated CPR), “pulses per revolution” or “positions per revolution” (both abbreviated PPR), and ther phrases. To avoid confusion, in this paper we’ll use cycles per revolution and CPR. Resolution, when applied to optical encoders, specifies the number of times the output signal goes high per revolution. This number can match the number of lines on a disk; or, especially with higher resolutions, it can be a multiple of the number of lines. (We’ll talk bout this more in the section on Scalability, below.)

The number of lines on a disk is always related to the resolution.

Typical values range from low numbers like 32 or 64 to much higher resolutions of 5,000 or 10,000 and ebyond.

The following picture shows several encoder disks: lower resolutions are on the left and higher resolutions are on the right.

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In the next section, we will use PPR to mean pulses per revolution— but in a different context: resolution multiplication.

Resolution Multiplication The resolution of a disk is tied to physical reality—physical lines on a physical disk. The number of lines, in its most basic form, is the resolution. However, a motion controller can interpret the output waveforms resulting from those lines and produce higher resolutions— from the same disk.

Incremental encoders commonly use Quadrature. Manufacturers add another LED and photo sensor, displaced from the first LED by

90° electrical degrees. Note that 90° electrical degrees is 1/4 phase or quadrant—which is the origin of the name quadrature.

• x 1 – if we count the rising edge of each Channel A pulse as the disk rotates, we’ll get 100 pulses per revolution (100 PPR). This is the same number as the resolution of 100 CPR, as expected for multiplication by 1.

• x 2 – if we count each rising edge and each falling edge of Channel A, we’ll get 2 pulses per cycle, which adds up to 200 pulses per revolution (200 PPR).

• x 4 – if we count each rising edge and falling edge of both Channel A and Channel B, we’ll get 4 pulses per cycle, for a total of 400 pulses per revolution (400 PPR).

This yields a second output waveform, Channel B, shifted in phase from Channel A by 90 electrical degrees.

Two important results emerge from adding Channel B:

• Direction can now be determined: “A leads B” can indicate clockwise rotation, for example.

• And more importantly, as related to our discussion – resolution can be multiplied by a factor of 2 or 4

This is called resolution multiplication. System designers can implement it by using an encoder to counter interface chip such as an LS7183N. As an example, let’s look at an encoder with 100 lines and windows on its disk. The encoder’s resolution is 100 CPR.

Notice we’re not changing the resolution of the disk; it remains set, as determined by the number of cycles per revolution. But by decoding the output waveforms in different ways, we are able get up to 4 times as many pulses per revolution as there are lines on the disk.

Linear Encoders and Resolution Everything we have said so far about resolution also applies to incremental linear encoders. This makes sense; linear encoders use a linear strip that is equivalent to a circular disk which has been cut along a radius and straightened out. The term Cycles Per Inch (CPI) is used for resolution with linear encoders, although Lines Per Inch (LPI) is also sometimes used.

Absolute Encoders and Resolution Thus far we’ve discussed incremental optical encoders, whose lines and windows represent relative positions on the disk; each line/window pair looks like every other line/window pair. They are indistinguishable from each other. What matters are the high/low output transitions as each line and window goes past the sensor.

Absolute encoders operate differently. They output a unique code for each position on the disk—each code is absolute, which means that since it is unlike any other code on the disk, it specifies a unique, absolute position on the disk. The next drawing shows a disk for a traditional absolute encoder. It has four tracks, and an LED array with sensors that read the pattern from each track.

Resolution for absolute encoders is defined as the number of positions per revolution as the disk rotates through 360°. Sometimes the equivalent term codes per revolution is used.

You will often see the resolution of an absolute encoder specified in bits. For example, the disk in the drawing above has 4-bit resolution, one bit being produced from each of the four tracks at each position.

Higher resolutions would have more tracks; 10-bit resolution would require 10 tracks, for example.

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With some designs, each absolute encoder is set at one specific resolution. Some manufacturers, however, take a different approach, and make disks with a single band that contains a unique bar code for each position, as in the next drawing.

An absolute encoder with a bar code can offer programmable resolution: for example, a 12-bit encoder (4,096 positions per resolution) can be programmed to output from 2 to 4,096 codes per revolution.

The next table shows how resolution in bits is related to positions per revolution, and degrees of rotation per position.

For a 12-bit absolute encoder, notice that each unique position occupies less than 1/10 of one degree of the disk’s circumference, which is less than 6 arcminutes.

Absolute encoders don’t use quadrature, so there is no equivalent to resolution multiplication that’s available with incremental encoders.

Scalability: Disk Size and Encoder Resolution Miniaturization is a strong trend in product development. Designers often try to pack more features into increasingly smaller packages.

This creates a need for miniature encoders to meet the demand for reduced size. Does reducing encoder size also reduce available resolution? For traditional encoders, the answer was yes.

The drawing shows that, for traditional encoders, high resolution requires more lines on an encoder disk. If there’s not enough space for the lines to fit, then the only solution is to make a bigger disk. To double the resolution, you have to double the disk’s diameter.

With newer technology, however, manufacturers can increase the resolution of a disk— without increasing disk size. This is called scalability, and it’s ideal for miniaturization.

The drawing shows a 1-inch disk with 1,250 lines (1,250 CPR).

Through the technique of electronic interpolation (signal processing that takes place within the encoder itself), the CPR can be increased to 2,500 CPR using x2 interpolation; and to 5,000 CPR using x4 interpolation.

In this example, by using interpolation and scalability, we’ve achieved two increasingly higher resolutions—all from the same small encoder disk.

Furthermore, using resolution multiplication (discussed earlier), the 5,000 CPR encoder could be decoded to produce 10,000 Pulses per Revolution (PPR) or 20,000 PPR. Not all encoder technologies are equally scalable, though: • Transmissive Optical Encoders: Very scalable • Reflective Optical Encoders: Very scalable • Magnetic Encoders: Scalable • Capacitive Encoders: Not easily scalable Optical encoders are the most flexible, and best for miniaturization.

With capacitive encoders, however, scalability is much more difficult to accomplish; in most cases, to get a higher resolution, you have to buy a larger encoder—if one is even available.

Interpolation is a wonderful way to achieve scalability, but there are limits. At higher and higher resolutions, jitter may become a problem and waveform symmetry can suffer.

If you want higher resolution in a small package, work with your encoder manufacturer. They may be able to provide a custom solution which gives you the resolution you desire, and still avoids signal degradation from jitter or electrical noise.

How Much Resolution Do You Need?

Any particular model of encoder may be available in a range of resolutions. For example, a quick survey of manufacturers might show that a single encoder is available in 20 different resolutions, ranging from 64 CPR to 10,000 CPR. Is the best practice to always choose the highest resolution? Surprisingly, no. Often it’s better to evaluate your application, and choose the lowest resolution that will satisfy your needs—even if a higher resolution is available.

Here are some reasons higher resolution may not be the best choice: • COST: higher resolution may cost more.

• PROCESSING TIME: it takes time to read each cycle. Higher CPR = more time.

• HIGH VELOCITY APPLICATIONS: shorter time available to read each cycle.

• JITTER: sensitive systems may over-respond to high resolution information.

• SIZE: In some cases, higher resolutions may have size implications Resolution and Accuracy: A Preview When choosing a resolution, a novice designer might look at a specific option in the range of resolutions available, and say, “No; I need more accuracy than that.” What the designer may really mean is, “I need more resolution.”

Resolution and Accuracy: the two terms are often misunderstood

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and used interchangeably—but they are not the same. What’s the difference? We’ll introduce accuracy in this next section, then revisit the relationship between resolution and accuracy after that.

ACCURACY

Encoders are designed to provide feedback about position, which is used for calculations about angle, distance and velocity. When you command a system to move and then stop at a specific position, you might wonder: is the encoder reporting from the exact target position? Or has it gone beyond, or perhaps stopped short of the target?

Accuracy is the term used to describe the difference between target position and actual position. In an ideal world, they would be the same—but in the real world, there are variations.

The actual position—where the encoder really is—might be off from the target position by a small amount, as indicated by the range in the encoder’s accuracy specification.

The typical accuracy is similar for both encoders, approximately 0.18 degrees or 10 arcminutes.

Who Controls Accuracy? – Encoder Specifications vs.

System Accuracy You may consider accuracy specifications for an encoder you’re evaluating, but accuracy doesn’t end there. Encoders are usually part of a larger motion control system. The non-encoder parts of that system can have a dramatic impact on overall system accuracy.

Encoder manufacturers control some of the factors that affect accuracy, while end users control application-specific factors.

Measuring encoder accuracy involves a meticulous procedure that requires sophisticated, well calibrated equipment. For example, you can measure a medium-accuracy encoder by using a second, highly accurate “calibration” encoder. If you record target vs. actual for each encoder position through one revolution, then evaluate your results, you can determine the accuracy of the encoder under test. (Will the results be the same if you evaluate the encoder through a second revolution? Or a third? See Precision, below.)

For rotary encoders, accuracy is measured in degrees, arcminutes or arcseconds. Which units are used depends upon the encoder being measured. Degrees might be sufficient for a low accuracy encoder; fractions of a degree or arcminutes are suitable for encoders with medium accuracy; while arcseconds might be used for ultra-high accuracy encoders.

For example, here are specifications for an absolute optical shaft encoder:

In this case, the encoder’s typical accuracy is 0.18 degrees, which is equal to 10.8 arcminutes.

Below are accuracy specifications from a different manufacturer for another encoder, an optical incremental shaftless model:

This manufacturer uses the term position error for accuracy, measured in arcminutes. It’s the angular difference between the actual shaft position and the position indicated by the encoder cycle count.

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Manufacturers Placement of pattern on disk: centered or eccentric Mounting of hub to disk Mounting of disk to shaft ( for shafted models of encoder) Alignment of optics End User Mounting of encoder disk to motor shaft ( for encoder kit Mounting of encoder module ( for encoder kits) Coupling encoder to system ( for shafted encoders) Stability/rigidity of mounting structure Gear tolerances and backlash Play in motor bearings Axial, radial, side to side, other motions of mechanical parts Vibration, temperature, metal fatigue, corrosion, etc.…

It’s easy to see from the partial list above that variations in encoder accuracy may be only a small fraction of the total system accuracy.

How Much Accuracy Do You Need?

As the list above shows, the overall system may be far less accurate than the encoder. In applications with low system accuracy, all that’s required for encoder accuracy may be monotonicity—as the encoder turns, the count constantly increases or constantly decreases.

A monotonic count: …127…128… 129… 130… 131… 132…

A non-monotonic count: …127…128… 129… 128… 132… 131…

A low accuracy encoder can cost less, and as long it provides a reliable, monotonic count, it may be all you need.

As total system accuracy increases, an encoder with medium accuracy might be required. For the majority of applications, encoder accuracy in the range of 0.1° or 8 – 10 arcminutes is sufficient. The two sample encoders discussed above are in this range and are quite affordable.

The 12-bit encoder can report 4,096 positions per revolution, which is 4 times as many as the 10-bit encoder’s 1,024 positions. After the 0.0 position, the 12-bit encoder is reporting its fourth reading by the time the 10-bit encoder reports its very first reading.

So which encoder is more accurate? Here is what the manufacturer states in the encoder’s data sheet: “While the accuracy is the same for both encoders, the 12-bit version provides higher resolution.”

The accuracy is the same. This example shows that accuracy and resolution are not related to each other. One term—accuracy—describes target position vs. actual position. The other term—resolution—describes how finely a disk is divided. These are independent properties.

If our novice designer needs an encoder that can report positions every tenth of a degree, then the designer needs more resolution, not more accuracy—and the 12-bit encoder would be a good choice.

PRECISION

As we saw above in the Accuracy section, to determine the accuracy of an encoder we can rotate the encoder through one revolution of 360° and note the accuracy—the angular difference between target position and actual position—at each encoder count location.

What happens if we go around a second time and measure accuracy again? Do we get the same position error at each location? How about after a third, fourth or fifth rotation? Is the position error repeatable, or does it vary?

Precision is the term that describes repeatability of measurements.

It’s the amount that successive measurements differ from each other.

Consider arrows shot by two archers in a competition. Which archer is more accurate?

For applications with extremely close tolerances, high accuracy encoders with specifications in arcseconds are available—but with the increase in accuracy, there will be a corresponding increase in cost.

Resolution and Accuracy: Revisited Recall the novice designer from the end of the section on resolution, who said, when selecting an encoder resolution, “No; I need more accuracy than that.” We’re now in a position to clear up the very common confusion between resolution and accuracy.

Let’s consider a manufacturer who offers two versions of a magnetic absolute encoder, one with 12-bit resolution and the other with 10-bit resolution.

Starting at zero, here are the first 9 positions, in degrees, that each encoder could report as its disk rotates (some digits omitted for clarity):

Surprisingly, the average accuracy is similar for both targets. The average position of all the arrows on the left is in the center of the bullseye, the same as the tight grouping of arrows on the right. The difference between the two lies in the precision of the shots. The group on the left is accurate, but not precise. The group on the right is both accurate and precise.

Now let’s look at arrows shot by two more archers. Which archer is more precise? (see next page).

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Their precision is used to create a lookup table for error compensation, which is applied to each position the encoder reports.

Precision of an Entire System The concept of precision applies to every component of a motion control system, not just the encoder. For example, consider a cut-tolength application. An encoder is attached to a motor that drives a ball screw and actuator, which positions wire for cutting.

The precision is the same for both archers. The arrows on the left are precise—but they are not accurate. The group on the right is, again, both accurate and precise.

Putting Precision to Work Precision, then, is the amount that successive measurements differ from each other. An encoder that has position errors which are repeatable may have good precision, even though it may not be perfectly accurate. In this case, the precision can be used to compensate for the inaccuracy of the encoder.

For example, let’s look at successive measurements made for two encoders. The target haft angle is 45.00°.

Suppose the system is set to cut the wire at exactly 12.00 inches.

After the first 4 wires are cut, they are measured, with the following results: 11.81 inches 11.82 inches 11.80 inches 11.81 inches The wires are consistently about 0.20 inches too short. Where is the error coming from? It could be from anywhere—or everywhere—in the system: the encoder itself, the motor, play in the threads of the ball screw or in the bearings of the linear slide.

Because the difference between readings is small, the system has good precision. This can be used to calibrate the application; 0.20 inches can be added to the final target position of 12.00 inches, to end up at a compensated position of 12.20 inches. When the wires are then cut, they will be very close to the desired length of 12.00 inches.

CONCLUSION

We’ve discussed three of the most important concepts related to encoders.

The position error is about 0.75° for each encoder, but while Encoder #2’s errors follow no repeatable pattern, Encoder #1 is more precise— its error is always -0.75°, on average.

Encoder #1’s precision can be put to good use. The error can be tabulated at each position, and those measurements can be used to compensate the encoder’s reported position. For example, adding 0.75° to each of the measurements in the table above will report positions as follows:

Resolution – the number of cycles per revolution or cycles per inch of an encoder Accuracy – the difference between target position and actual reported position Precision – the difference between repeated measurements While these terms seem interchangeable, they are really independent of each other. Understanding resolution, accuracy and precision will help you make decisions when you choose an encoder.

About US Digital: With over a million off-the-shelf configurations, plus any number of custom product offerings, US Digital® has delivered quality in motion since 1980. US Digital offers stellar service, delivering motion control solutions best suited to each unique need. Automated systems, continuous improvement protocols and stringent testing ensures we bring quality to every product manufactured.

Encoder #1 will now report a compensated position that is within 0.05°of actual position, which is much more accurate than its uncompensated average readings of -0.75°.

In fact, this compensation technique is used when manufacturers produce high accuracy encoders. These encoders are manufactured to standards that ensure that whatever error they have, it’s repeatable.

Located in Vancouver, Washington, the vertically integrated facility and stellar service team provides customers with exceptionally short lead-times, offering sameday fulfillment on most orders.

Visit usdigital.com or contact: info@usdigital.com

COTS Journal | August 2019

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COT’S PICKS

Aitech’s New GPGPU Evaluation System Delivers Next Level AI Performance NVIDIA Jetson Xavier-based EV178 speeds application development with significant cost reductions Technical Highlights: • NVIDIA Jetson Xavier-based GPGPU development system • Quickly port application from development to deployment on the A178 Thunder • Less time to market, development costs and integration issues • Low-power unit provides processing of up to 22 TOPS

Offering the most advanced GPGPU-based supercomputing technologies, Aitech has released an NVIDIA Jetson Xavier-based evaluation system that comes preinstalled with Linux.

The low-power EV178 gives embedded engineers a reliable platform to quickly develop artificial intelligence (AI) applications and port those solutions to the highpowered A178 Thunder, Aitech’s soon-to-be-released, NVIDIA Jetson Xavier-based, rugged, fanless AI GPGPU supercomputer. This new evaluation system processes at up to 11 TFLOPS (Terra floating point operations per second) and 22 TOPS (Terra operations per second).

Dan Mor, HPEC and GPGPU product line manager at Aitech, noted, “By closely focusing on compatibility with the new A178, we can deliver an NVIDIA Jetson Xavier-based evaluation platform today that provides a seamless transition from the development environment to a fully-deployed, military-qualified or industrial GPGPU deep learning system.”

Several critical elements come standard in the new EV178 to help reduce system costs and development time as well as solve early-adopter integration issues. It comes with preinstalled Linux L4T (Linux for Tegra) software as well as video capture and I/O drivers and sample applications in addition to a composite or HDSDI frame grabber and all the necessary cabling to start the development process right out of the box.

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Mor continued, “In the AI industry, where data processing complexity just keep growing, it was important that our customers could implement the new NVIDIA CUDA-based AI technology on an NVIDIA Jetson Xavier-based development platform as quickly and effectively as possible, with little to no downtime.”

By using NVIDIA’s Jetson Xavier system on module (SoM), the EV178 provides the best available performance per Watt in any GPGPUbased development platform. For an 8-bit Integer (INT8), the SoM provides 733 GOPS/W (Giga operations per second per Watt) and up to 366 GLOPS/W (Giga floating point operations per second per Watt) for a 16-bit floating point (FP16).

Also featured within the new EV178 are a 64bit 8-core ARM heterogeneous multi-processing (HMP) CPU as well as the Volta-based GPU with 512 CUDA cores and an H.264/H.265 hardware encoder, greatly enhancing overall system performance.

The EV178 boasts a wide range of onboard

resources and I/O to accommodate multiple development environments. These include Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, discrete I/O, HDMI outputs, UART serial and CANbus. Four channels of SDI (SD/HD) are simultaneously available or the user can access eight simultaneous channels of composite video (RS-170A [NTSC]/PAL).

Standard memory resources include a full 16 GB of LPDDR4 SDRAM as well as 32 GB of eMMC (extended Multimedia Card) Flash memory as a boot source. Onboard temperature sensors and dynamic voltage and frequency scaling are also offered as standard on the EV178.

Aitech www.rugged.com/

August 2019

COT’S PICKS Congatec presents 10 new highend modules for embedded edge computing

Congatec announced 10 new COM Express Type 6 modules featuring the best and latest Intel® embedded processor technology. The four Intel® Xeon®, three Intel® Core™, two Intel® Celeron® and one Intel® Pentium® processors are all based on the same Intel microarchitecture (codenamed Coffee Lake H).

This enables Congatec to provide all 10 new processors on one COM Express module design – the conga-TS370. A total of 14 processor module variants are now available on this single microarchitecture, offering extremely wide scalability. The spearhead in terms of computing power is the 45 watt 6-core module with 2.8 GHz Intel® Xeon® E-2276ME processor. It provides the highest embedded computing performance with integrated high-performance processor graphics currently available worldwide, while the 2.4 GHz Intel® Celeron™ G4930E processor module with 35 watts sets the new price-performance benchmark.

Particularly noteworthy are the two 6-core Congatec modules with a TDP of 25 watts offered on In-

Acromag Releases New Isolated Quad RS232 Serial Communication Modules in Ruggedized Mini PCIe Form Factor New AcroPack® Mini PCIe-based serial I/O modules provide four independently isolated RS232 ports to protect signals from noise and transient voltage spikes in defense and industrial applications.

Acromag continues to expand their offering of AcroPack rugged I/O modules based on the PCI Express mini card (mPCIe) standard with a new isolated RS232 communication module. The AP513 module provides four individually isolated RS232 serial ports on a compact 30 x 70mm board. Each port is isolated to 250V from digital circuitry and 100V from the other 3 ports. The isolation protects equipment and signal integrity in electrically noisy environments with potential for high common model voltages, harmful transient signals, and ground loops. Designed for COTS applications, these mPCIe mezzanine modules deliver a SWaP-optimized solution for military, aerospace, and industrial systems performing data collection, control, test, and simulation functions. A variety of carrier cards are available to host a mix of up to four AcroPack I/O modules on PCI Express, VPX, CompactPCI-Serial, or other small form factor computer platforms.

tel® Xeon® E-2276ML and Intel® Core™ i7-9850HL processors. They enable developers to create completely passively cooled embedded edge computing systems that can run up to 12 standalone virtual machines in parallel thanks to hyper-threading. This allows operation even in fully sealed systems, under the harshest environmental conditions and with the highest IP protection.

The same applies to the two quad-core modules with Intel® Xeon® E-2254ML or Intel® Core™ i39100HL processor as well as the Intel® Celeron® G4932E processor-based module, all featuring a – partly configurable – TDP of 25 watts.

“In the embedded edge computing segment, our OEM customers are now using such multicore platforms to consolidate several formerly separate systems on a single embedded edge computer. Hypervisor technology allows them to operate up to 12 virtual machines in parallel on one system,” explains Andreas Bergbauer, Product Line Manager for COM Express Modules at Congatec. “These include real-time controllers (soft PLCs), Industry 4.0 gateways for tactile Internet via Time Synchronized Networking, IoT gateways for sending big data towards the cloud and central management systems, as A number of advanced features simplify configuration and improve performance. Software-configuration helps you quickly set baud rates, character-sizes, stop bits, and parity. For more efficient data processing, each serial port is equipped with large 256-byte FIFO buffers on the transmit and receive lines to minimize CPU interaction. Programmable triggers, extensive handshake support, interrupt controls, and a 16550-compatible UART provide additional flexibility.

“Development of this isolated quad RS232 module is an example of how we continue to add new I/O capabilities in response to customer requirements,” noted Robert Greenfield, Acromag’s Business Development Manager. “The AcroPacks are ideal for high-density computing systems requiring a mix of I/O signal interfaces, and we are dedicated to help solve those ever-evolving application challenges.”

well as vision systems, artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning applications. In addition, there are software-defined networking functions such as intrusion prevention and detection systems that analyze data traffic parallel to the applications, thereby avoiding latencies that would arise with serial operation of analytics and applications.”

Congatec www.congatec.com

tor that securely routes the I/O through a carrier card without any loose internal cabling. Carrier cards for rack-mount, field-deployable, industrial chassis, desktop, and small mezzanine computing platforms let you combine up to four I/O function modules on a single computer board. More than 25 models are available for data acquisition, signal processing, test & measurement, command/ control, and network communication applications.

Software tools support embedded applications running on Linux®, Windows®, or VxWorks® operating systems.

Acromag www.acromag.com

AcroPack mezzanine modules improve on the mini PCI Express architecture by adding a down-facing 100-pin connecCOTS Journal | August 2019

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COT’S PICKS

Reflex Photonics launches a new blind mate active optical interconnect product line compatible with VITA and SOSA standards

Reflex Photonics launched the new LightCONEX® active optical blind mate interconnects compatible with the upcoming VITA 66.5 standard and supported by the Sensor Open System Architecture (SOSA™) consortium.

Expanding on the successful LightCONEX style A compatible with VITA 66.4 aperture, Reflex Photonics is launching its style B and style C, both compatible with VITA 67.3 type C, D and E standard apertures. These VITA 67.3 apertures can be populated with modules that are either single active, dual active/passive, or a combination of optical and RF coaxial connectors. This flexibility will be particularly attractive to integrators that need to combine multiple I/O interfaces while keeping size, weight, and power (SWaP) at the minimum.

Maximizing performance and system integration Based on the OpenVPX™ standards 65.0, the LightCONEX solution for VPX systems is a revolutionary blind mate optical interconnect that includes a fixed active plug-in module connector and a floating backplane connector.

A low-profile LightCONEX plugin optical module is screwed on the board edge and is part of the mating connector, saving board space and eliminating fiber cable handling. The LightCONEX backplane connector is spring-loaded to secure MT to MT mating connection. The rugged LightCONEX assembly ensures error free data transmission under severe shock, vibration, and temperature.

Michel Têtu, Industry Manager for Standardization comments: “Our clients involved in the development of military C4ISR systems are very excited by this

Onboard Systems Weighing Kit with C-40 Cockpit Indicator for Airbus Helicopters

in one of our load weighing kits for this aircraft.

We look forward to announcing certification for the C-40 on many additional kits and aircraft in the months ahead.”

H125/AS350 B3 Certified by FAA

Onboard Weighing Systems provide pilots with the exact weight of the load on the cargo hook via a display monitor mounted in the cockpit, allowing them to maximize load efficiency while reducing airframe stress. Weight on the cargo hook is measured by an electronic load cell using

Onboard Systems International, LLC, a provider of innovative helicopter cargo hook equipment, announced that its new C-40 Cockpit Indicator has been certified by the FAA for use in one of Onboard load weighing kits for the Airbus AS350 (H125) helicopter. Onboard has also submitted this kit to Transport Canada and EASA for certification. This is the first Onboard Weighing System approved to use the C-40 indicator, which was built from the ground up to incorporate many operator-requested features and uses advanced microcontroller technology to measure and display the cargo weight on a hook.

“After many years of testing and development, we are excited to begin the process of rolling out our new C-40 cockpit indicator across our entire line of Onboard Weighing Systems,” said Karsten Lemmon, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Onboard Systems.

“The H125/AS350 is used by many of our customers for external load missions, so it made sense to launch the C-40 indicator 34

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blind mate optical interconnect innovation as the LightCONEX family of products vastly simplifies the implementation of optical interconnects.

The LightCONEX is available in 12 and 24 fibers configurations and with bandwidth up to 28Gbps; it offers significant advantages to design engineers for their high-performance system integration.”

Reflex Photonics www.reflexphotonics.com

state-of-the-art strain-gauge technology. The load cell is temperature compensated and requires little maintenance. A quick glance at the cockpit-mounted indicator shows the full weight of the cargo on the hook to within 10 lb./5 kg.

The C-40 Cockpit Indicator offers many improvements over the current C-39 indicator (which has been in use for more than twenty years), including simplified hook TBO tracking, improved LCD screen contrast, and a digital weight reading with an analog bar display. A forthcoming data logging software upgrade will allow operators to record time, load weight, and GPS coordinates for pick-up and drop-off locations. Future software upgrades can be downloaded from the Onboard Systems website onto a thumb drive for fast and easy field installation. And because the C-40 is upgradecompatible from the C-39, current operators who would like to take advantage of the advanced features provided by the C-40 can simply replace their existing C-39 with a C-40 as kits are certified for use on additional aircraft.

Onboard Systems International, Inc. www.onboardsystems.com

August 2019

COT’S PICKS Pentek Adds Digital I/O Capability to Talon Extreme Rugged ½ ATR Recorder Family • Environmentally-sealed, conduction-cooled design ideal for harsh mechanical and thermal environments such as UAV’s, aircraft pods and military vehicles • Four Channel Serial FPDP record/playback • Up to 4 GB/s real-time recording rate • Removable SSD QuickPac drive pack holds up to 61 TB of data Pentek, Inc., announced the most recent addition to the Talon RTX small form factor (SFF) series of high-speed, high-performance, rugged recording systems, the Model RTX 2596, capable of recording and playing back four Serial Front Panel Data Port (sFPDP) data streams.

The Talon RTX 2596 is fully-deployable and ideal for capturing digitized sensor data from radar systems and RF downconverters that use the lightweight VITA 17.1 sFPDP protocol. It supports baud rates to 4.25 GBaud and has options for multi-mode or single-mode optical interfaces. The VITA 17.1 specification is fully implemented, providing standard sFPDP features such as Flow Control, Copy/Loop Mode and CRC error checking. The Talon RTX 2596 also provides playback capabilities, allowing users to operate the system as either a receiver or a transmitter.

The Talon RTX 2596 SFF recorder weighs just 18 pounds and is designed for extreme operating environments.

Optimized for SWaP (size, weight and power), the rugged sealed

½ ATR recorder is available with up to 61 TB of removable SSD storage.

“The Talon RTX SFF recorders have undergone extensive independent laboratory testing to assure they can operate in some of the toughest environments,” said Chris Tojeira, recording systems director, Pentek. He added, “We’ve tested to a wide array of military standards in the MIL-STD-810 and -461 specifications to assure that whether in a UAV, an aircraft pod or shipboard, our recorders will perform at the highest level.”

Extremely Rugged, Sealed Design Not only are RTX SFF recorders engineered to operate in the toughest environments with high levels of shock and vibration, the chassis also keeps all electronics sealed from the external environment. The ½ ATR chassis uses military standard circular I/O connectors to control RF emissions while protecting the recorder’s electronics from humidity, water, dust, sand and salt fog.

The Talon RTX SFF chassis seals the internal electronics from the outside environment by extracting heat through conduction to an aircooled inner plenum. A thermostat-controlled, removable fan pulls air into the front of the chassis, through the plenum and then out the back of the chassis. Only the fan is exposed to the outside environment, assuring all system electronics are protected in the sealed chassis. The inner plenum can be replaced to provide other cooling options, such as liquid or conduction cooling.

Designed to operate from -40ºC to +60ºC, these recorders can handle most thermal environments, making them ideal for UAV’s, aircraft pods, tight equipment bays, military vehicles and most outdoor environments.

Pentek Inc. www.pentek.com

COTS Journal | August 2019

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August 2019

COT’S PICKS Viasat Delivers Industry-Leading 18Inch Ka-band In-Flight Connectivity Antenna System for Government and Business Aviation Customer Viasat Inc. announced the availability of its new Ka-band Global Aero Terminal (GAT-5518) to provide in-flight connectivity (IFC) services on government and business aviation aircraft — from governmentfocused Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and fixedwing military platforms to VIP business and corporate jets. The compact terminal delivers the industry’s highest data rates for an 18 inch antenna, providing the highest forward link capacity (to the aircraft) and highest return link capacity ( from the aircraft) to perform high-bandwidth applications such as advanced video streaming services.

The GAT-5518 is the latest satellite communications (SATCOM) innovation to join Viasat’s broad portfolio of Ka-band aero antenna systems. Use cases include:

providing advanced situational awareness; enroute mission planning; MedEvac and telemedicine services; search and rescue; and border and maritime surveillance to name a few. Additionally, the terminal was designed to leverage Viasat’s Hybrid Adaptive Network (HAN) architecture, which allows users to seamlessly operate across commercial and government SATCOM networks. The HAN architecture conceives an end-to-end network that provides mitigation against congestion situations, intentional and unintentional interference sources and cyber threats through implementation of layered resiliency in highly-contested environments.

Business and corporate jet applications: The GAT-5518 terminal delivers an enhanced solution for business and corporate aircraft, providing VIP passengers with superior performance for live video teleconferencing, voice calls, corporate VPN access, web browsing and audio, video and live TV streaming among other applications.

Government and military mission sets: The GAT-5518 can meet a variety of requirements for UAV and fixed-wing aircraft, from performing real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); enabling operational-support airlift missions; moving personnel and equipment across the battlefield;

“We’re focused on delivering advanced antenna systems that meet in-flight connectivity requirements across multiple airframe and end-user types,” said Kent Leka, general manager, Antenna Systems at Viasat. “In designing and developing new aero terminals we take into consideration the broad user base and application sets to ensure the terminal’s viability across various markets. We’re confident the

Astronics Introduces the Vertical Power Primary Power System for SolidState Aircraft Power Handling

satisfaction and lower costs through reduced installation time, weight savings, and increased reliability. The PPS is suitable for both new and retrofit installations.

The PPS is a new, high-current power system for experimental and light sport aircraft.

“There’s never been anything like this before and it’s truly the best solution for experimental and light-sport aircraft primary power,” said Chad Jensen, Vertical Power Business Development Manager for Astronics. “We’ve worked diligently to design a solid-state, primary power solution that is both safe and reliable for our customers. Equally challenging was creating a high-current device that is universally compatible with the wide variety of aircraft and engine configurations found in this aircraft market. Our beta testers have been incredible and we thank them for providing the valuable feedback needed to make this innovative product a reality.”

Astronics Corporation announced the release of the new Vertical Power Primary Power System (PPS) for use on aircraft flying with an airworthiness certificate in the experimental and light-sport categories.

The PPS offers an entirely new approach to the master, starter, and charging circuit for experimental and light-sport aircraft. It combines the functions of multiple high-current, electro-mechanical components into a single solid-state device that installs in minutes with plug-and-play simplicity. The PPS improves system reliability, saves space, and eliminates the need for the builder to research and design a homemade solution. For light-sport aircraft manufacturers, the PPS will improve customer 36

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compact GAT-5518 will provide broader operational flexibility to enhanced reliability and resiliency to meet the diverse needs of business and military users.”

The GAT-5518 terminal completed the rigorous Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) D0-160G certification process. This certification confirms the terminal’s ability to provide reliable IFC services across the full International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Ka-band spectrum, which includes commercial and Mil-Ka frequency bands; across varying polarity layouts; across multiple orbital regimes, including both medium earth orbit (MEO) and geosynchronous (GEO) satellite systems; and across multiple network and ground infrastructures. The terminal is also expected to be forward-compatible, enabling it to leverage current and future Viasat satellite systems, as well as operate over third party satellite networks.

The terminal is made up of a two-axis steerable, two-way Ka-band antenna with an integrated antenna control unit (ACU), an antenna power supply unit and a modem. The GAT-5518’s antenna can be tail, fuselage or hatch-mounted.

Viasat Inc. www.viasat.com

By combining the new PPS with the existing Vertical Power VP-X Electronic Circuit Breaker System, builders and manufacturers can now outfit an experimental or light-sport aircraft with an end-to-end, solid-state power distribution and circuit protection system for the highest level of reliability, information, and safety.

Astronics Corporation www.astronics.com

August 2019

COT’S PICKS EIZO Releases Industry’s First 4-Channel 3G-SDI XMC Graphics/ Capture Card based on NVIDIA Quadro P2000 (GP107) EIZO Rugged Solutions Inc. announced the Condor NVP2102xX, the industry’s first 4-channel 3G-SDI XMC graphics/GPGPU and video capture board, which is part of EIZO’s family of chip-down NVIDIA® Quadro® P2000 (GP107) based cards. The new card is designed for harsh environments such as manned and unmanned airborne, naval, and ground-based applications, where high resolution data must be processed with extremely low latency and high accuracy.

The Condor NVP2102xX board features four 3G-SDI video inputs reflecting increasing sensor counts in military and national intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) applications and the widespread adoption of high-resolution sensor pods/gimbals. The XMC card also has two 3G-SDI, one VGA and t w o

D V I / Display Port video outputs. The board can be factory configured to a power rating

of choice between 25 and 50 Watts.

The MIL-STD-810G compatible Condor NVP2102xX packs the functionality of two or three cards into a single slot, low power SWaPefficient XMC board. It has a built-in frame grabber, H.265/H.264 hardware encode/decode capability, comes in conduction-cooled and air-cooled variants, and delivers up to 2.3 TFLOPS of CUDA processing power.

Selwyn L. Henriques, president and CEO of EIZO Rugged Solutions, commented, “With this latest card, we have given our SWaP-conscious customers the superior computing power of the NVIDIA GPUs with four 3G-SDI video input channels to process data from various sensors such as optical,

infrared , and thermal imaging cameras, all with a single slot XMC solution. The two 3G-SDI outputs enable video to run up to 100m.”

EIZO Rugged Solutions Inc. www.eizorugged.com

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Abaco Single Board Computer Chosen For New Electronic Warfare Systems

Abaco Systems announced that its rugged 3U VPX SBC347D single board computer had been chosen by a major international defense electronics company to be at the heart of a new electronic warfare system that will be deployed in manned and unmanned aerial vehicles and in fixed and mobile ground platforms. Between two and four SBC347Ds will be configured in the system, depending on customer requirements.

The value to Abaco of the orders over the coming four years is expected to total $3.5 million.

The SBC347D was chosen not only for its high performance, enabled by its x16 PCI Express™ bandwidth, but also for its ability to maintain that performance even at the high temperatures that are expected in the deployed systems. An innovative cooling architecture means that the computer, based on the 12-core Intel® Xeon® D-1500 processor, can operate at its full speed at temperatures up to 75°C. Not only does this deliver better performance in a wider range of SWaP-constrained environments, it also makes that performance more predictable – essential in mission critical applications that require real time determinism.

Traditional solutions that are widely implemented on other SBCs see the CPU being throttled by up to 50% of its core frequency, causing a substantial deterioration in performance. This throttling is in order to maintain the processor within its rated temperature range to avoid failure.

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COTS Journal | August 2019

The SBC347D will manage system-wide communication, including activity detectors and exciters, wideband antennae, T/R switches and wideband receivers. It can optionally initiate signal initiated jamming; sequential jamming; multi-carrier jamming; and wideband/barrage jamming.

“The SBC347D is unique in its ability to maintain its maximum performance even at high temperatures – which makes it a compelling solution for customers who demand the predictable performance that is essential in mission critical applications that require real time determinism,” said John Muller, Chief Growth Officer, Abaco Systems.

“Abaco has an important competitive advantage when it comes to delivering solutions that are rugged enough to withstand deployment in the most challenging environments, especially in the area of cooling – and the SBC347D, and this order, are evidence of that advantage.”

The Intel Xeon processor has a maximum power of 45W and is a lidded component, which adds additional thermal resistance.

In Abaco’s SBC

heat frame designs, removing this heat from the high performance processor is a challenge to achieve good thermal margin and full processor performance at high card edge temperatures. Abaco has combined its traditional solution for removing/spreading heat with a reliable space grade technology to move heat through the heat frame with a low temperature drop while maintaining 500V electrical isolation.

The SBC347D features versions of the Xeon D-1500 processor that offers support for up to 16 cores. It is specifically designed for demanding high performance embedded computing (HPEC) military/aerospace applications such as command and control, ISR, signal processing, radar/sonar and electronic warfare.

Abaco Systems Inc. www.abaco.com

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