COTS Journal, June 2020

June 2020, Volume 22 – Number 6 • cotsjournalonline.com

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

JOURNAL

Power in numbers: Industry Partnerships are Key to National Security Sensors/wireless connectivity are improving the performance of unmanned vehicles and airborne vehicles

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 16

By Jim Shaw, Executive Vice President of Engineering, Crystal Group

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT 20

DEPARTMENTS

Power in numbers: Industry Partnerships are Key to National Security

Sensors/wireless connectivity are improving the performance of unmanned vehicles and airborne vehicles

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Publisher’s Note Lightweight SatRacks enable Galcom International to produce remote radio broadcasts

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The Inside Track

By Charles Frick, Aerospace and Defense Product Applications Engineer, Analog Devices

COT’S PICKS 24

Editor’s Choice for June

Cover Image A PAC-3 missile flight test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

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The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE

John Reardon, Publisher

Lightweight SatRacks enable Galcom International to produce remote radio broadcasts According to Our World in Data, approximately 86% of the world population over 15 is considered literate.

However, this number is often considered to be skewed by the inequality of developed vs developing countries.

For example, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa still have literacy rates below 30%.

As a result, communicating ideas and concepts is difficult in these locations through the standard written word.

To combat these challenges, Galcom International has focused on using the spoken word via broadcasting radio to communicate the Teachings of Christianity.

To broadcast their message, the Galcom team utilizes a few different radio devices made in house, including the Compass and the Streamer. However, in recent years, they have been asked to install small FM radio stations in conflict areas where there is a real possibility of the station being vandalized or equipment stolen. They’ve also been asked to assist with relief efforts during power outages in remote areas. In response, they developed the OmniStation, which utilizes a CP Cases SatRack to house a fully functioning microphone-toantenna solution that can be deployed in less than an 6

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The SatRack extremely lightweight 19” rack-mount.

hour. According to Galcom’s Executive Director, Tim Whitehead, “our partners reported that in one case their workers had to flee a village under attack and were able to quickly disconnect the power source and the coax to the antenna and flee with the equipment (a $12,000 investment). They continued broadcasting in a refugee camp until they were able to return to the village earlier this year.”

The SatRack is an extremely lightweight 19” rack-mount transit case designed specifically for applications like Galcom’s. The honeycomb polypropylene shell ensures the entire system is light enough to be carried by one individual. The internal chassis is shock-mounted, so the broadcast components are isolated from substantial

shock and vibration forces during transport on foot or in a vehicle and during operation. They are also IATA compliant, so the full system can easily be transported as airplane baggage to locations all over the world.

Utilizing the SatRack as the carrying module for the OmniStation has ensured these broadcasters can and will be able to operate indefinitely even in the most challenging conditions.

“our partners reported that in one case their workers had to flee a village under attack and were able to quickly disconnect the power source and the coax to the antenna and flee with the equipment...”

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Artificial Intelligence Powers Novel ISR Capability For Operations In Denied Communications Environments In partnership with the Air Force Test Pilot School, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® successfully demonstrated an autonomous Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) system to enhance operational effectiveness for the warfighter in denied communications environments.

“As a remotely piloted aircraft pilot, having the opportunity to test an emerging technology and see it perform functions required for operations in denied communications environments sparks the imagination of what is possible in future ISR systems,” said Capt.

Josh Rountree, Test Management Project Lead at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School.

Leveraging the power of artificial intelligence, the autonomous ISR system, integrated into an F-16 through a Lockheed

Martin-developed pod solution, was able to detect and identify the location of the target, automatically route to the target, and capture an image to confirm the target in a simulated, denied communications environment. Using an autonomous ISR system to penetrate contested environments and gather critical intelligence for effective decision making when standard communication between systems is not an option keeps the warfighter out of harm’s way while still achieving mission objectives.

“As the battlespace becomes increasingly contested, human-machine teams will enable operators to collect critical intelligence in denied communications environments, ensuring our warfighters get the information they need when they need it,” said George Hellstern, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works®

program manager for artificial intelligence solutions. “We are proud to partner to advance a novel capability, allowing the warfighter to adapt in a rapidly changing operational environment and still get critical data to perform the mission.”

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works has decades of experience developing trusted autonomous and artificial intelligence technologies to help humans maximize safety, performance, and situational awareness across land, sea, air, space, and cyber domains. As new threats emerge, autonomous and artificial intelligence technologies will enable collaborative operations between the human-machine team to project power in the face of an increasingly contested environment.

An F-35 and F-16 from Edwards Air Force Base are joined by an F-15E and F-22 from the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron out of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, along with a Navy F-18 from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 out of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, Dec. 31. (U.S. Air Force photo by Ethan Wagner) 8

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DDC-I’s Deos DO-178 RTOS Selected by Pratt & Whitney Engine Controls

DDC-I announced that Pratt & Whitney has selected DDC-I’s Deos safety-critical real-time operating system for use in its new PT6 E-Series™ engine. The PT6E-67XP engine features a new turbine design with the first dual-channel integrated electronic propellerand engine-control system in general aviation.

It provides full digital envelope protection, precise and intuitive engine control, reduced pilot workload, and optimized power.

“We are excited to have been selected by Pratt & Whitney to provide the safety-critical RTOS platform for this world-class engine,” said Greg Rose, vice president of marketing and product management at DDC-I. “Advanced features like time/space partitioning, low jitter deterministic operation and binary modularity for reusable certification evidence make Does the pre-eminent safety-critical environment for developing, certifying and deploying software for DO-178 avionics applications like engine control, flight management, and cockpit display.”

“The PT6 E-Series™ engine sets a new standard for general aviation’s leading engine,” said Jim Jarvo, Control Systems Senior Fellow, Pratt & Whitney Canada. “It has been a pleasure working with DDC-I on this project. Their customer support has been topnotch, and we look forward to working with them in the future to make general aviation’s

number one engine even better.”

The PT6E-67XP constantly monitors more than 100 parameters, allowing predictive analysis of the engine and system operation, as well as proactive maintenance planning. As the electronic engine control (EEC) receives key engine and aircraft data, it makes adjustments that optimize the delivery of engine power throughout all phases of flight. Once the aircraft lands, engine flight data is wirelessly downloaded, providing operators and maintainers valuable insight into the performance and health of the engine.

Deos is a key component in the overall system design.

Deos is a field-proven, safety-critical, avionics RTOS that has been utilized to host a multitude of flight-critical functions, such as air data computers, air data inertial reference units, cockpit displays, flight control, flight management, engine control, and many more. Built from the ground up for safety-critical applications, Deos features a unique modular design with time and space partitioning, providing the easiest, lowest cost path to DO-178C DAL A certification, the highest level of safety criticality. DDCI’s SafeMC™ technology extends DDC-I’s advanced time and space partitioning capabilities to multiple cores, enabling developers of safety-critical systems to achieve best in class multicore performance without compromising safety-critical task response and guaranteed execution times.

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Radiation Test Solutions acquires Cobham RAD, Inc. to expand it’s testing and analysis support to the growing commercial space industry

customers of Cobham RAD. RTS has retained the staff of Cobham RAD and will continue to operate out of the former 35,000 sq./ft.

Cobham RAD facility, located at 5030 Centennial Blvd. Colorado Springs.

Radiation Test Solutions, Inc. (RTS) reached an agreement with Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions (CAES) to purchase Cobham RAD Inc. (Cobham RAD).

Cobham RAD is a premier provider of military standard (MIL-STD) radiation effects test services, heavy-ion single event effects (SEE) testing, device preparation service before test, device screening and element evaluation, and quick turn prototype integrated circuit (IC) assembly.

“We have had a good working relationship with RTS and have been impressed by their technical capabilities and strong support of our customers. We feel confident that RTS will continue to provide that same level of support as they move forward with the business,” said Shawn Black, CEO of Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions.

Over the last 5 years, RTS has engaged in a strategic engineering partnership with Cobham RAD. RTS’ acquisition of Cobham RAD greatly increases its ability to support the needs of aerospace customers while providing additional services and support to the

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Malcolm Thomson, President of RTS states “We are excited to continue to expand our capability and grow the business to support the increasing demand for our spacebased testing services and satellite analysis.

By bringing both companies together under one roof, RTS can ensure our ability to support the growing needs of the commercial space industry.”

Malcolm Thomson, President at Radiation Test Solutions, Inc.

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RTI Awarded $500K Additional U.S. Government Funding to Standardize DoD Cybersecurity Technology RTI is working with the DoD to Further Enhance the Interoperation of, and Rapid Updates to, their deployed Cybersecurity Infrastructure

plug-and-play cyber tool interoperability between providers including major cybersecurity antivirus tools and SIEMs.

Real-Time Innovations (RTI), announced that it has been awarded $500K in additional government funding to continue support of their Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract. RTI will augment its Connext DDS commercial software product to advance the cybersecurity capabilities of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) by bridging the gap between proprietary cybersecurity solutions and standardization.

Today, cybersecurity tools are tightly coupled, requiring multiple system configuration changes to add or remove components within a cybersecurity system. Such challenges force organizations to accept vendor lockin and a lack of complete control over their systems or to purchase multiple tools to work around proprietary data connections, which increases system complexity. Additional tools and services must then be purchased to allow communication and interoperability between all system components. These challenges make systems brittle, harder to maintain, and increase the total cost of operation (TCO).

The capability we are developing is intended to give control back to system owners, allowing them to select the best cyber tool software for the job and to enable disparate systems and tools to transparently coexist.

The RTI Research Team will continue its initiative by researching solutions that will dramatically reduce the cyber tool upgrade cycle by providing the ability to rapidly install, test and deploy new toolsets, configuration files, and settings within the DoD’s combat systems. RTI will continue to work with the DoD and other industry stakeholders to pursue standardization of these cyber data models and interfaces by international standards bodies. This will encourage widespread adoption and ultimately drive down for the cost of building and maintaining combat system cybersecurity.

Dr. Stan Schneider, CEO of RTI

RTI was granted additional funding to focus on the provisioning of the DoD’s cybersecurity tools which will enable secure, reliable, and rapid delivery of updates to their cyberinfrastructure. With the previous government funding, RTI was able to successfully develop data models for multiple cyber tools and evolve those data models over time. RTI delivered common, open cyber tool data models and application control interfaces to enable

“With the increasing prominence of cyberattacks, the DoD needs to get away from vendor-locked cyber solutions, which create cross-system interoperability challenges and raise costs,” says Paul Pazandak, Director of Advanced Research, RTI. “RTI is proud to be trusted to continue to lead this initiative to evolve and mature our vision of standardizing cybersecurity technology to drive higher levels of interoperability while lowering operational costs.

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OSS Gen 4 PCIe Production Orders in 2020 Top $3.5 Million

Other orders include the OSS PCIe Gen 4 all-flash array StorageBox 2000 to be used by an Asian flash memory manufacturer, with additional orders for two data center applications in partnership with Liqid, a provider of software-defined composable infrastructure. One data center application will use an OSS 4UV Gen 4 storage system and the other an OSS Gen 4 GPU acceleration system. These composable infrastructure solutions are designed to double datacenter hardware speed and utilization versus previous Gen 3-based systems.

One Stop Systems, Inc. has received more than $3.5 million in production orders for its new Gen 4 PCIe products from multiple OEM customers for delivery in 2020. As the first company to introduce Gen 4-based components to the market, the orders demonstrate OSS’ continued leadership in high-performance edge computing.

The Gen 4 PCIe production orders include those placed by a market leader in NVMe flash memory testing and validation tools. The customer plans to incorporate two OSS Gen 4 PCIe cable adapters and an OSS Gen 4 backplane in its testing equipment. The equipment will ultimately be used by Tier 1 NVMe flash memory vendors that provide high-performance SSD storage for the next generation of gaming laptops, mobile workstations, public and private cloud datacenter and AI on the

Eta Compute Partners with Edge Impulse to Accelerate the Development and Deployment of Machine Learning at the Edge The partnership will transform the development process from concept to production for embedded machine learning in micropower devices.

David Raun, CEO/ Director OSS

ground-breaking solutions later in 2020.”

Eta Compute’s ECM3532 ultra-low-power Neural Sensor Processor SoC that enables machine learning at the extreme edge and its ECM3532 EVB evaluation boards are now supported by Edge Impulse’s end-to-end ML

Eta Compute and Edge Impulse announce that they are partnering to accelerate the development and deployment of machine learning using Eta Compute’s revolutionary ECM3532, the world’s lowest power Neural Sensor Processor, and Edge Impulse, the leading online TinyML platform. The partnership will speed the time-to-market for machine learning in billions of IoT consumer and industrial products where battery capacity has been a roadblock.

“Collaborating with Edge Impulse ensures our growing ECM3532 developer community is fully equipped to bring innovative designs in digital health, smart city, consumer, and industrial applications to market quickly and efficiently,” said Ted Tewksbury, CEO of Eta Compute. “We believe that our partnership will help companies debut their 12

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Fly® edge computing infrastructure.

Ted Tewksbury, CEO of Eta Compute

“OSS was the first-to-market with Gen 4 solutions, doubling the performance of the most demanding of HPC deployments on the edge,” noted Jim Ison, OSS chief sales and marketing officer. “Working closely with our customers and partners, OSS is leading the global transition to Gen 4.”

development and MLOps platform. Developers can register for free to gain access to advanced Eta Compute machine learning algorithms and development workflows through the Edge Impulse portal.

“Machine learning at the very edge has the potential to enable the use of the 99% of sensor data that is lost today because of cost, bandwidth, or power constraints,” said Zach Shelby, CEO, and Co-founder of Edge Impulse.

“Our online SaaS platform and Eta Compute’s innovative processor are the ideal combinations for development teams seeking to accurately collect data, create meaningful data sets, spin models, and generate efficient ML at a rapidly accelerated pace.”

“Trillions of devices are expected to come online by 2035 and many will require some level of machine learning at the edge,” said Dennis Laudick, vice president of marketing, Machine Learning Group, Arm. “The combination of Eta Compute’s TinyML hardware based on Arm® Cortex® and CMSIS-NN technology, and the SaaS TinyML solutions from Edge Impulse provides developers a complete solution for bringing power-efficient, edge, or endpoint ML products to market at the fast pace required for this next era of computing.”

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Boosters provide more than 75 percent of initial thrust for the Space Launch System

PROMONTORY, Utah – June 15, 2020 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) announced today that the segments for the two rocket boosters that will be used to help launch NASA’s first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the Artemis I mission have arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The booster segments will be the first elements of the SLS rocket to be stacked on the mobile launcher in preparation for the launch of Artemis I, and the completed boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the initial thrust for launch.

Northrop Grumman Rocket Boosters Arrive at Kennedy Space Center for NASA’s Artemis I Mission_1 The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System for Artemis missions to the departed from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020.

“New technologies and material upgrades

enable the boosters to meet the high-performance demands of SLS, the most powerful rocket NASA has built to date,” said Charlie Precourt, vice president, propulsion systems, Northrop Grumman. “Our technology will help propel the first woman and the next man to the moon.”

Artemis I is the first in a series of missions that will enable human exploration to the moon and Mars. It is the first integrated launch of NASA’s deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center.

NASA and Northrop Grumman conducted a series of ground tests beginning in 2010 to satisfy requirements for the certification of the five-segment booster. Three demonstration motor tests and two qualification tests proved the liftoff and ascent thrust capabilities of the booster are fully qualified for use on NASA’s SLS rocket, with expected first flight in 2021.

Northrop Grumman Rocket Boosters Arrive at Kennedy Space Center for NASA’s Artemis I Mission_2

Northrop Grumman’s powerful twin rocket boosters will help launch NASA’s first Space Launch System rocket on the Artemis I mission. Northrop Grumman has supplied rocket propulsion to NASA since the Apollo program and continued its partnership for the entire 30 years of the Space Shuttle Program. Leveraging the success and flight-proven design of the shuttle boosters, the new five-segment configuration ensures reliability and offers lower manufacturing costs. Each rocket booster provides a maximum thrust of 3.6 million pounds for launching SLS and generates more thrust than 14 four-engine jumbo commercial airliners.

From the first lunar lander to the space shuttle boosters, to supplying the International Space Station with vital cargo, Northrop Grumman has pioneered new products and ideas that have been put into orbit, on the moon, and in deep space for more than 50 years. As a part of NASA’s Artemis program, we are building on our mission heritage with innovations to enable NASA to return humans to the moon, with the ultimate goal of human exploration of Mars.

Lockheed Martin photo by Andy Wolfe COTS Journal | June 2020

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AL3Harris Technologies Equips the US Army’s First Unit with Enhanced Nigh Vission Goggle - Binocular

Equipped first U.S. Army unit with 656 Enhanced Night Vision Goggle – Binoculars L3Harris Technologies has completed the delivery of 656 combat-ready Enhanced Night Vision Goggle – Binocular (ENVG-B) systems to the U.S. Army. This delivery fully equips the Army’s first unit with next-generation night vision technology that enhances the soldier’s ability to locate and engage threats and access common operating environment imagery, thus improving the soldier’s situational awareness, mobility, and protection.

“The success of the ENVG-B program is based on our continued collaboration with the U.S. Army and our ability to rapidly develop, test, and deliver next-generation capabilities that enable our soldiers to combat near-peer threats around the world,” said Lynn Bollengier, President, Integrated Vision Solutions, L3Harris. “Delivering imagery and data from the battlefield directly to the soldier’s eye is a game-changing technology and L3Harris is proud to equip the Army with the first combat-ready goggles of this kind.”

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This delivery is part of the initial order the company received under the $391 million ENVG-B Directed Requirement contract from the Army in 2018. The first 52 systems were delivered last fall. To date, L3Harris has received orders to deliver just over 10,000 ENVG-B systems under the Directed Requirements contract.

The ENVG-B includes a new high-resolution display and an embedded soldier wireless personal area network, rapid target acquisition, and augmented reality algorithms to interface with the Army’s Nett Warrior. The complete system will interface with the Army’s family of weapon sights while enhancing interoperability and data sharing.

L3Harris Technologies’ combat-ready Enhanced Night Vision Goggle – Binocular (ENVG-B) systems

SPECIAL FEATURE

Power in numbers:

Industry Partnerships are Key to National Security

By Jim Shaw, Executive Vice President of Engineering, Crystal Group Securing our country and defending national interests are enduring needs. As history shows, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) does not retreat amid challenging or unknown circumstances. On the contrary, they advance forward on critical strategies to maintain and elevate unmatched readiness, safety and security.

What may be less obvious are the industry partnerships working with government entities to augment the U.S. competitive advantage. These public-private partnerships rely on collaboration to produce and deliver

Figure 1 - Crystal Group, Inc., Offices in Hiawatha, IA 16

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essential capabilities, goods and services.

This is especially true in technology, where complex systems are jointly built by organizations with complementary core competencies. When combined, these often disparate specialties transform into timely and robust innovations. This is evident at the tactical edge, where warfighters now benefit from powerful, mobile computing once limited to massive data centers located hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Building mission-critical solutions — which may include artificial intelligence-en-

abled data analytics, major weapons systems, communications networks, or real-time, multisourced intelligence delivery — requires highly specialized computer hardware and software. Layer that with the military’s strict quality and performance standards and the unique objectives and requirements for each program, and the need for partnership becomes clear. The levels of expertise, problem solving and integration necessary to deliver on the mission are nearly impossible for any one company to provide.

With an emphasis on designing and man-

ufacturing high-performance commercial servers, displays and data storage devices, Crystal Group built its reputation on equipping customers with rugged computer hardware that excels in extreme and unpredictable conditions. However, as the scope of the DoD’s needs and challenges — as well as those of other critical organizations — have evolved, so has our approach to designing and delivering more comprehensive solutions.

Through continued collaborations, we have established a dynamic ecosystem of technology partners. This network augments our endto-end design and manufacturing capabilities, along with our strong DoD relationships.

By working together with a holistic mindset, we’re drawing on our specialized capabilities to bring greater functionality, speed, agility and customization to the defense, commercial and industrial markets. Not only does this improve solution effectiveness and SWaP-C, it also ensures seamless integration of system hardware and software, standards, and performance requirements so the end product operates to its exact specifications.

Figure 2 - Crystal Group RIA™ AI & Autonomy Solution

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Taking action to amplify the U.S. competitive advantage While not yet mandated, accreditation of cybersecurity systems is a growing expectation as the DoD ramps up its data security efforts. Through collaboration with Seagate Government Solutions, Crystal Group now readily offers ruggedized SAS solid-state drives (SSD). These encrypted drives incorporate U.S. government computer security standards, including FIPS 140-2, for secure data storage at the tactical edge. Having this level of accredited security built into deployed compute platforms will make it easier for the DoD to incorporate cryptographic key management encryption for CSfC requirements while ensuring classified data is only accessible by authorized users.

Strategic, long-term partnerships are also critical given that technology challenges, requirements and innovations will always evolve at breakneck speeds. In working with a respected technology expert like Intel®, we

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stay at the forefront of what’s already here, what’s coming and what’s emerging. This assures our defense and industrial customers that our solutions are designed and built using the latest Intel technologies. And as needs and expectations for increased processing speed escalate, so do our methods for managing the residual heat so the units run seamlessly without throttling.

Under a public-private partnership for more than 10 years, Crystal Group continues to deliver secure, high-performance computing to the United States Navy. Our experience and lessons learned in delivering more than 15,000 rugged servers to the Navy has fostered trust, awareness and foresight to not only understand, but anticipate their needs for safeguarding shipboard computing against afloat operational risks. Likewise, the Navy’s familiarity with our solutions’ capabilities, flexibility and reliability enables swift collaboration to address and deliver on the specific needs of new programs and applications.

In April 2020, Crystal Group received NIAP Common Criteria certification of its rugged firewall after collaborating with a longtime defense customer whose application now requires a certified rugged solution. The benefits of this certification will now extend to other customers and partners as the Common Criteria standards ensure consistent, repeatable performance, as well as supply chain of custody requirements are being met. It provides assurance that the product is safe and secure, while also giving defense customers a head start on their certification and accreditation needs.

The DoD’s rigorous and evolving challenges will always require manufacturers and suppliers to cooperate on reliable, battle-tested solutions. United by the common goal of equipping warfighters with the technology needed to defend the nation and execute their missions, industry partnerships will remain integral in solving complex technical challenges while giving the DoD an unmatched advantage.

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Sensors/wireless connectivity are improving the performance of unmanned vehicles and airborne vehicles

By Charles Frick, Aerospace and Defense Product Applications Engineer, Analog Devices Across the ever-increasingly complex and dangerous battlefield, the warfighter is turning to robotic platforms to help safeguard soldiers and provide reconnaissance in hostile threat environments. Whether an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), these systems provide capabilities that traditional soldiers cannot.

Unmanned vehicles quickly proliferated and have become widespread in military missions where failure is not an option. These machines need to be fault tolerant which necessitates the circuitry inside is robust as they are regularly exposed to extreme tem-

perature ranges over extended operation lifetimes. This requires heavily optimized power management systems, thermal management solutions and specially designed parts to address the extended temperature and lifetime requirements.

Among other demands, many operations probe into previously unknown environments which can pose a challenge to navigation algorithms that might rely on local landmarks for positioning. A key trend in these unmanned vehicles is size. While large vehicles are acceptable for certain applications, a smaller craft or vehicle achieves a stealthier

approach. The reduction in size also means a weight reduction which helps extend mission duration and avoid detection.

Analog Devices (ADI) is a semiconductor manufacturer company with over 50 years of experience in designing sensors and components to solve these problems and reduce Size Weight and Power (SWaP). ADI has a diverse semiconductor product portfolio including inertial measurement units (IMUs), Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), phased-array RADAR solutions, battery monitoring, power along with enhanced performance and space grade products. ADI is innovating to solve

Image 1 - The new communications system being designed at NASA Glenn will communicate flight information between ground stations and unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Ikhana. This aircraft is a modified Predator B located at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California.

Image credit: NASA 20

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customer problems and lower SWaP in unmanned vehicles.

Wireless Communication Devices In the case of an unmanned vehicle, several types of communications exist. Two of the most important on-board communications are the mission control link and the navigation link which tie the system to a satellite or remote ground control terminal.

These links must support sufficiently high data throughputs in order to provide timely control and information to the onboard processing subsystem. Beyond data throughput, these links must be robust to handle interference and malicious attacks such as jamming or attempts to usurp control of the vehicle all while being encrypted.

Internally however, the unmanned vehicle requires additional smaller wired or wireless communication networks for data transmission between subsystems. Two examples are Ethernet cables connecting actuator systems or sensors and the central processing system(s). While the data throughput of an Ethernet cable is higher than wireless communication, the cable weight could pose difficult system integration problems and cable management challenges as cable bundles grow.

Small localized wireless networks can reduce

weight, but at the expense of possibly higher power draw and complication of the system with another transmitter/receiver design.

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) offers a broad portfolio of silicon that can serve either system architecture or a hybrid approach. With

Image 2 - Communication Links to a UAV

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regards to satellite communications, ADI offers a family of low-power RF transceivers which integrate ADI’s best-in-class data converters (co-packaged DACs and ADCs), on-board device clocking and mixing, software-reconfigurable filtering, integrated chip level calibrations for maximizing transmit and receive channel performance, high speed JESD data interfaces and a simplified external software Application Programming Interface (API) for rapid interfacing and configuration.

Part of the transceiver portfolio is specifically tailored to cellular communications and 5G. Transceivers such as the ADRV9009 include additional aerospace and defense critical features, including fast frequency hopping and wide instantaneous bandwidths to capture large swaths of spectrum simultaneously. For localized wireless networks, some of the applicable transceivers include AD9371 and AD9361. ADI bundles an API and example code along with most transceiver products.

ADI has a broad portfolio of enhanced products supporting numerous terrestrial and airborne military applications that includes extended temperature ranges, customer lead frames and gold wire bonds. These parts are ideal for many military applications but where space qualified solutions are required, ADI provides additional screening and design to add to its portfolio of Space Qualified parts. Recently, ADI has created lower cost variants that address low earth orbit (LEO) and high-altitude applications while being mindful of cost tradeoffs and unique radiation, and single event effect concerns.

With respect to wired communications through Ethernet, ADI also offers several product families for industrial applications.

One common issue with Ethernet control is the multitude of different communication protocols such as EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP or EtherCAT. To simplify designs ADI offers two embedded Ethernet switches called the fido5100 and fido5200. Both reside between the processor and the physical transmission medium (Ethernet cable) and abstract the communication protocol coming in/going out of the fido switch. This removes system complexity and software overhead in the backend processor and allows architects to select processors with smaller memory footprints and less resources to save power, weight and cost.

With cyber threats present in the field, communication between the unmanned vehicle and command center should be encrypted. With the acquisition of Sypris Electronics, 22

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Image 3 - Block Diagram of Sypher-Ultra FPGA System

ADI now offers cybersecurity algorithms to secure transmissions. The technology, known as Sypher™-Ultra, is a complete software stack that runs on Zynq® UltraScale+™ MPSoC (ZUS+) FPGAs. This software stack allows the FPGA to securely boot, update, store keys

and transfer data, all while still leaving ample room for customer development within the FPGA (as seen above). The software stack also reduces the size of customer developments and speeds up development time and reduces prototyping spending.

Navigation Devices Arguably the most critical subsystem in an unmanned vehicle is the navigation system.

Typically, an unmanned vehicle will require some amount of autonomous operation, even if there is a dedicated human operator, in case communication is broken due to a lost satellite link, for example.

The navigation system typically is composed of a positional measurement device coupled with a GPS transponder. The positional and attitude measurement devices are either MEMS or laser based. MEMS devices can include up to 10 degrees of freedom in the package while fiber optic ones typically include up to 6. For IMUs several important selection criteria are the sensor noise density, mounting positioning, power consumption and bias stability. Bias stability is one key feature that causes the unmanned vehicle to appear to “drift� over time to a new position. This error must be accounted for via redundant sensors or other calibration software-based techniques. Two other important metrics are the response rate and range of the sensor. For MEMS devices, the mechanism can be permanently damaged if the range of the device is exceeded. Previously the performance of fiber optic gyros (FOGs) had far surpassed IMUs and were the clear choice for higher response rates, less drift and greater ranges.

ADI has enabled significant innovation in MEMS IMUs with performance approaching that of fiber optic devices. While ADI offers a broad portfolio of IMUs in many different configurations of degrees of freedom, there are a few IMUs that have been specifically designed to meet strict aerospace and defense operation requirements. Two such products are the ADIS16495 and the ADIS16477.

Another sensor category that can augment a traditional IMU and GPS-based positioning

Image 4 - the DemoRad, the 3D Time of Flight Development Platform and the TinyRad.

system is a localized perception sensing system, such as radar, LIDAR or another time-of-flight (ToF) solution. In the commercial sector, automotive manufacturers are exploring autonomous vehicles and are looking for sensor kits to enable this operation through vision-based processing algorithms. The data fed to these algorithms is generated from LIDAR, high frequency RADAR, and ToF systems which effectively send out pulse and measure the reflected energy and time of return of the transmitted signal. The frequency range for these applications is usually around 77GHz, which limits the effective range of the sensor to several tens of feet, but the sensors can be repurposed for unmanned vehicles by changing the front-end network of the pulse generation/measurement section. Some evaluation boards in this space are the DemoRad, the 3D Time of Flight Development Platform and the TinyRad. System Monitoring With the ever-increasing complexity of unmanned vehicles, there are more interdependencies and possible points of failure. Building in sensor/subsystem redundancy is one way to reduce the severity of the failure in the face of an upset. However, all sensors and subsystems have a finite lifetime. An example is the case of a wing on a UAV where the actuation system includes motors and transmissions which include bearings for smooth operation. These bearings wear out over time and could lead to catastrophic failure and possibly loss of the UAV if the wing flap system fails. Preventative maintenance can prevent this issue, but preventative maintenance has historically been a very manual process.

Image 4 - Analog Devices, iSensor MEMS IMU - ADIS16495

With recent MEMS innovations by ADI, the noise floor of MEMS based accelerometers has been lowered significantly. This has enabled several new applications, the most relevant being condition-based monitoring of the health of motors and bearings. This is achieved by affixing one of the latest

generations of accelerometers to the motor or other rigid structure that conducts vibrations.

The IMU features an on-board processor which is configured to run a continuous fast Fourier transform (FFT). The accelerometer is then effectively measuring the vibration signature of the motor. The part can be programmed to scan the FFT for spurs at frequencies or power levels.

If a spur is detected in the programmed criteria, it generates an alarm signal. The alarm in turn prompts the raw FFT data to be exported to the central processing system and generates an alert to check a bearing. A part designed for this application is the ADCMXL1021-1 which features the onboard FFT engine with memory for 255 captures and has a DC to 10kHz BW. Condition-based monitoring does not have to be limited to motors and bearings. General system health of a machine is important to track too. One critical system to monitor is the propulsion system, specifically the fuel storage.

New advances in sensors have enabled more accurate smoke sensing and can help to offer advanced warning of problems. Additionally, a UGV might use a generalized chemical sensor when working in an area of ground troops to scan for dangerous airborne agents.

Conclusion With increasing system size, weight, power and even cost, manufacturers of unmanned vehicles are forced to make tradeoffs between performance and feasibility. Analog Devices has a history of innovating in silicon and affording system designers the luxury of reducing the number of tradeoffs in an architecture. With ADI evaluation boards customers can speed up their prototype cycle time and reduce the timeto-market in their designs. For parts, support and to learn more about ADI resource offerings in the Aerospace and Defense markets please visit: https://www.analog.com/en/applications/ markets/aerospace-and-defense-pavilion-home.html.

COTS Journal | June 2020

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June 2020

COT’S PICKS PacStar Launches Modular Radio Center to Enhance DoD Communications Interoperability

Modular, tactical radio, voice and IP integrated solution breaks down communications barriers between new and legacy radio technologies PacStar announced the PacStar Modular Radio Center (MRC) - a COTS-based, modular, tactical and expeditionary, rugged radio, voice, and IP integrated solution that addresses communications interoperability challenges faced by the military, law enforcement, and public safety organizations.

DoD organizations rely on a large and diverse set of radio equipment (handheld radios, desktop phones, laptops, and intercom systems), waveforms, frequencies, and channels that can’t communicate with each other. A warfighter or operator in the field might not be able to talk with someone in a command post, on a vehicle, or in a headquarters unless they have the same radio equipment. PacStar MRC delivers unmatched situational awareness by bridging disparate radio waveforms into a single communication network on the PacStar 400-Series platform.

The core technology in PacStar MRC is provided by PacStar 463, an SCI TOCNET-G4-

The PacStar Modular Radio Center (MRC) 24

COTS Journal | June 2020

based Radio-over-IP (RoIP) / Voice module.

PacStar 463 is a software-defined solution that provides RoIP, VoIP, and voice management capabilities in a single solution. PacStar 463 ensures compatibility and support for all major tactical radio types and VoIP protocols.

Key PacStar MRC Benefits: Enhances Radio Interoperability. Organizations have fielded systems providing radio interoperability and RoIP in the past – many of which were large, not rugged, and poorly integrated. PacStar MRC solves these communications challenges in the smallest available form factor, adapting popular radio types, phones, and intercom systems into a common communications format – Internet Protocol (IP).

Flexible and Scalable Deployment. PacStar MRC is a modular system that can be optimized for program requirements, scaling from small, soldier carry solutions to multi-radio network deployments across Forward Operating Bases, command posts, ground vehicles, and aircraft.

Unlocks Innovation. The speed at which technology can reach warfighters is critical to mission success. However, frequent fielding of new communications hardware and software can be expensive. By enabling interoperability between new and legacy radio technologies,

PacStar MRC ensures organizations can fully leverage innovation without requiring all communications users to upgrade at the same time or to the same equipment.

Based on Proven Technology. PacStar MRC uses proven TOCNET RoIP and voice management technology deployed in more than 50 programs and 100,000 end units, along with networking and server modules and radio adapter sleds. PacStar MRC is based on PacStar 400-Series small form factor modular platform with the industry-leading reduction in Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP). IP communications capabilities in PacStar MRC are based on Cisco networking and Intel processors and are compatible with many large tactical networking programs.

“Interoperability has long challenged DoD and other organizations who rely on a diverse range of equipment, waveforms, and frequencies to communicate reliably and securely,” said Charlie Kawasaki, chief technical officer, PacStar.

“PacStar MRC is based on technology that has been battle-tested across DoD programs, delivering a smaller, more modular, more complete, and more mobile solution than previously available.”

PacStar https://pacstar.com

June 2020

COT’S PICKS Pixus Announces New 1U SlimBox OpenVPX Chassis

Pixus Technologies has announced a new horizontal-mount OpenVPX chassis platform for 3U, 6U, or hybrid versions

is supported. A hybrid configuration option is available with a 1x 6U slot and 1x 3U slot. In place of the fixed-mount power supply option, one of the 3U slots can be replaced with a pluggable 3U PSU slot per VITA 62. This configuration allows full RTMs to be utilized.

The first in the 1U SlimBox OpenVPX series is a 3-slot version for 3U boards. A modular fixed power supply provides up to 600W of power and one Rear Transition Module (RTM)

Various backplane speed options are supported by the Pixus 1U SlimBox. The initial design supports up to 40GbE speeds as well as PCIe Gen3. Optional card guides for conduc-

Aitech C878 3U VPX Xeon D-based SBC Features 16 PCIe Lanes to Alleviate Processing Bottlenecks

GPU supports many popular video outputs, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, H.264 MVC/ AVS+, and JPEG/MJPEG.

New 3U VPX board also incorporates cybersecurity for better data protection Aitech has released its latest security-enabled SBC (single board computer) that features up to 16 lanes of PCIe to handle increased data processing requirements while protecting the board from data attacks and cyber threats. The new C878 is a 3U VPX board that provides Intel Xeon D level processing in a rugged, industry-standard form factor.

Equipped with double the Gen3 PCIe Data Plane lanes as Aitech’s C877, the rugged SBC was specifically designed using a modern, high-bandwidth bus architecture and can accommodate an increased amount of backplane traffic. This makes it ideal for compute-intensive mission-critical applications found in harsh environments.

The C878 uses the same cybersecurity architecture as the C877—Aitech’s proprietary AiSecure—to provide secure transmission of sensitive data. Intel security includes Trusted Platform and Secure Boot as well as a BIOS Guard based on TXT TPM 2.0 and BIOS security. The onboard SATA SSD, up to 1 TB, supports write protection, secure and quick erase in addition to disk data encryption using AES 256 keys. A battery-backed tamper detection signal ensures system level protection.

Standard cybersecurity features are enhanced by an optional, onboard Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ FPGA that offers a variety of inherent protection tools as well as options for customiz-

tion-cooled modules are also available.

Pixus offers OpenVPX backplane/chassis systems in commercial, development, and MIL rugged formats. The company also provides other VITA and PICMG open standard architectures as well as specialty components.

Pixus Technologies https://pixustechnologies.com

able security features and data encryption.

A variety of onboard I/O interfaces, including USB 3.0/2.0, SATA III, PCIe Gen2, serial, discrete, DVI out and Ethernet, as well as custom I/O via the FPGA, are available on the OpenVPX-based SBC. The board also offers up to 32 GB of DDR4 SDRAM with ECC at 2133 MT/s to meet storage requirements.

The C878 comes in conduction- and aircooled versions and features several board resources, such as watchdog timers, a real-time clock, temperature sensors, an elapsed time recorder, and VITA 46.11 Tier 1 and Tier 2 IPMI. Supported operating systems are Windows, WindRiver VxWorks, and Linux.

Aitech https://aitechsystems.com

Another variation over the C877 is that, instead of supporting an XMC site, the new SBC includes a GPU to provide a more intuitive interface via a 128-bit 2D graphics engine. These HMI capabilities allow the user to interact and control the application graphically or display pertinent data/video or other info on a monitor/screen. The hardware video decoder in the COTS Journal | June 2020

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June 2020

COT’S PICKS IAR Systems launches support for the RISC-V P extension for Packed-SIMD instructions Enabled by a strong partnership with innovative Andes Technology Corporation IAR Systems announces initial support for the draft RISC-V P extension in its powerful development tools IAR Embedded Workbench® for RISC-V. Thanks to this early support for the extension as implemented by Andes Technology, a Premier Founding member of RISC-V International, developers can take advantage of a leading development toolchain when starting to develop applications based on the new RISC-V core extension.

The RISC-V International is in the process to standardize a series of standard extensions beyond the integer base instructions which can be implemented or omitted as desired depending on the design goals ( for example energy/area/performance/ storage goals). The RISC-V P extension is designed to be a standard extension for Packed-SIMD instructions. The extension targets efficient media processing for audio, voice, and images, and is a generalization of a Packed-SIMD extension donated to the RISC-V International by Andes Technology Corporation.

New ARINC 818 frame grabber up to 10 Gbps Great River Technology has announced its new PCIe frame grabber, the Velocity XI. Its 3-in-1 functions allow it to both receive and transmit ARINC 818 video streams at rates up to 10 Gbps, and convert these streams to HDMI. Developed from its predecessor, it has the same hardware capabilities as the Velocity and allows the user to implement any ICD (Interface Control Document) directly in the field.

As a technological breakthrough for the mil-aero industry, the Velocity XI gives the user the capability to create and save his library of different ICDs. Then, the user can implement a new ARINC 818 ICD into hardware in less than a minute using the Velocity XI Configuration Tool. The configuration tool provides an easy to use and user-friendly entry page for ICD video parameters. Once all the ICD parameters are properly entered by the user, the tool calculates the necessary settings for the hardware and 26

COTS Journal | June 2020

“We have achieved around 9x performance boost of CIFAR-10 inference with RISC-V P extensions. Packed-SIMD provides edge processors more computing power with higher energy efficiency and minimal increase in cost, and such capability empowers edge devices to deal with voice and slow video processing,” comments Dr. Chuanhua Chang, the Chair of RISC-V P extension Task Group and Head of Architecture Division of Andes Technology Corporation. “We are excited

to partner with IAR Systems to further accelerate the performance of applications based on RISC-V in general and P extension in particular. Together, we provide powerful solutions that will enable our customers to meet and exceed their project requirements.”

“Andes is a strong and active player in the RISC-V community, and together we have a lot to offer with regards to performance,” says Anders Holmberg, General Manager Embedded Development Tools, IAR Systems. “By jointly supporting the P extension, we bring extended possibilities for powerful RISC-V development and add new ways to optimize application and hardware performance.”

allows the user to load the new ICD into the card.

The Velocity XI card offers link speeds up to 10 Gbps and PCIe Gen3 x8 transfer rates greater than 4Gbps for real-time viewing of embedded ARINC 818 data.

Great River Technology www.greatrivertech.com

RISC-V is a free and open instruction set architecture (ISA) based on established Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) principles.

Launched in 2019, IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V provides excellent optimization technology, helping developers ensure the application fits the required needs and optimize the utilization of on-board memory. This also enables companies to aggregate value by adding functionality to an existing platform. To ensure code quality, the toolchain includes C-STAT® for integrated static code analysis. C-STAT can help prove compliance with specific standards like MISRA C:2004, MISRA C++:2008, and MISRA C:2012, as well as to detect defects, bugs, and security vulnerabilities as defined by the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) and a subset of CERT C/C++.

The current version of IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V provides support for RV32 and RV32E 32-bit RISC-V cores and extensions. Future releases will include 64-bit support, as well as functional safety certification and security solutions.

IAR Systems www.iar.com

June 2020

COT’S PICKS Xilinx ‘Lifts Off’ with Launch of Industry’s First 20nm SpaceGrade FPGA for Satellite and Space Applications First to enable machine learning inference together with an unlimited on-orbit reconfiguration for real-time on-boardprocessing in space; delivers full radiation tolerance spanning all orbits Xilinx, Inc. announced the industry’s first 20-nanometer (nm) space-grade FPGA, delivering full radiation tolerance and ultra-high throughput and bandwidth performance for satellite and space applications. The new 20nm Radiation Tolerant (RT) Kintex® UltraScale™ XQRKU060 FPGA provides true unlimited on-orbit reconfiguration, over a10x increase in digital signal processing (DSP) performance – ideal for payload applications – and full radiation tolerance across all orbits.

The XQRKU060 also brings high-performance machine learning (ML) to space for the first time. A diverse portfolio of ML development tools supporting industry-standard frameworks, including TensorFlow and PyTorch, enable neural network inference acceleration for real-time onboard processing in space with a complete “process and analyze” solution. The XQRKU060’s dense, power-efficient compute with scalable precision and large on-chip memory provides 5.7 tera operations per second (TOPs) of peak INT8 performance optimized for deep learning, a nearly 25X increase compared to the prior generation.

industry standards and setting a new benchmark for meeting the high compute requirements of high bandwidth payloads, space exploration, and research missions.”

Reconfigurable Processing The XQRKU060 is the industry’s only true unlimited on-orbit reconfigurable solution. The on-orbit reconfiguration capabilities, together with real-time on-board processing and ML acceleration, allows satellites to update in real-time, deliver video-on-demand, and perform compute “onthe-fly” to process complex algorithms. The ML capabilities are suitable to a variety of problems spanning scientific analysis, object detection, and image classification – such as cloud detection – enabling improved processing efficiency and reduced decision latency both in space and on the ground. As protocols and applications progressively change, the adaptive compute architecture of the XQRKU060 allows unlimited on-orbit reconfiguration to enable customers to perform last-minute product updates before launch, as well as after it has been deployed in orbit.

Performance and Resiliency for Space The XQRKU060 offers rich DSP capabilities optimized for dense power-efficient compute. It is equipped with 2,760 UltraScale DSP slices and provides up to 1.6 TeraMACs of signal processing computing, more than a 10X increase compared

to the prior generation, as well as dramatic efficiency gains for floating-point computations. The increased compute capability in space is paired with massive I/O bandwidth from 32 high-speed transceivers (SerDes) that can run up to 12.5Gbps to deliver 400Gbps aggregate bandwidth.

“SEAKR® Engineering, Inc. has collaborated with Xilinx for 15 years to consistently achieve challenging mission objectives for advanced space communications applications,” said Paul Rutt, CTO at SEAKR. “We have baselined Xilinx’s 20nm Kintex UltraScale FPGAs with 12.5 Gbps SerDes links enabling high-throughput, flexible and reconfigurable modulation, demodulation, channelization and routing capability in our newest advanced RF Reconfigurable processor, Wolverine.

The Processor leverages the 10x increase in DSP compute capability for direct RF Sampling compared to prior generation systems.”

The XQRKU060 also features robust 40x40mm ceramic packaging capable of withstanding vibrations and handling during launch as well as radiation effects in harsh orbit environments. The architecture features an innovative design for single event effects (SEE) mitigation thereby meeting the industry requirements for all orbits, including low earth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), geosynchronous orbit (GEO), and deep space missions.

Xilinx, Inc. www.xilinx.com

Building on Xilinx’s space heritage and highly successful 65nm space-grade devices, the launch of the first 20nm part for space applications advance the space industry by three process node generations. It delivers a significant reduction in size, weight, and power, and is engineered with robust radiation-tolerant features. The XQRKU060 provides customers with a space-resilient device equipped to handle both short and long duration missions in harsh space environments.

“With our extensive history in developing leading-edge, radiation-tolerant technology and deploying this in reliable space-grade solutions, Xilinx continues its lead with the launch of the world’s most advanced process node for space,” said Minal Sawant, space systems architect, Aerospace and Defense Vertical Marketing, at Xilinx.

“The 20nm RT Kintex UltraScale FPGA is breaking COTS Journal | June 2020

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June 2020

COT’S PICKS Pentek Launches Revolutionary ArchiTek FPGA Development Suite for Talon Recorders

branches from existing data streams. The structured design protects the recorder’s standard functionality, reducing development time, and risk.

Pentek, Inc., today announced its ArchiTek™ FPGA Development Suite, a revolutionary product for adding custom IP to select Pentek Talon® recording systems. ArchiTek is a comprehensive development environment that enables engineers to add FPGA IP to recording systems, such as threshold detection, spectral filtering, digital down-conversion, signal classification, demodulation, and many other digital signal processing techniques.

“Pentek has structured FPGA designs in a way that allows engineers to easily add digital signal processing IP to our signal acquisition boards,” said Chris Tojeira, Pentek’s recording systems director. “ArchiTek extends this capability to our Talon recorder product line, resulting in a customizable instrument that better targets the user’s application.”

Developing custom IP for an FPGA requires an architecture that protects the user from custom IP development pitfalls such as breaking the existing IP and corresponding recording software. ArchiTek harnesses Pentek’s Navigator™ FPGA Development Kit (FDK) and Board Support Package (BSP) to provide a development environment that steps engineers through the process of integrating custom IP into the recorder. Along with the Navigator FDK, ArchiTek provides the foundation and example projects for adding IP to user blocks and creating additional data-path

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COTS Journal | June 2020

Customers can now add FPGA IP to a recorder for real-time, on-the-fly digital signal processing during the data acquisition process, greatly reducing the time associated with post-processing recorded data. Recording of only critical data also greatly reduces transfer rates, recording capacity requirements, and data offload time.

Using ArchiTek, FPGA developers can add additional recording channels to the system, so users can record both processed and unprocessed data simultaneously. ArchiTek provides extensive documentation and tutorials to assist

developers through the customization process, reducing both risk and development time.

ArchiTek Use-Case Examples Many digital communication protocols use spread-spectrum techniques, in which many signal channels are spread across the same frequency span using pseudo-random sequence encoding. Instead of recording the entire frequency span, ArchiTek allows one signal of interest to be extracted using a custom FPGA block so that only that signal is delivered for recording. This can reduce the recording rate and storage capacity by orders of magnitude.

Another SIGINT monitoring application might require signal classification and time stamping of each received transmission. By suitably configuring the classification algorithm within the FPGA using ArchiTek, only the key parameters of each signal need to be recorded instead of the signals themselves, thus dramatically extending the useful mission time. This strategy of real-time processing at the front end also reduces or eliminates post-processing tasks.

Pentek, Inc. www.pentek.com

June 2020

COT’S PICKS

EIZO Releases 6-channel XMC Graphics/GPGPU Card for Simultaneous Capture of Analog/Digital Video and Audio with Low Latency

EIZO Rugged Solutions Inc released the Condor NVP2102AxX – a new 6-channel rugged XMC graphics card that simultaneously captures analog/digital video and audio with exceptionally low latency. The Condor NVP2102AxX card has a chip-down NVIDIA® Quadro® P2000 (GP107) design supporting four 3G-SDI inputs, two CVBS (NTSC/PAL), and two audio inputs, as well as two 3G-SDI and two DVI or DisplayPort video outputs. This rugged XMC graphics card embodies high performance with its 768 CUDA cores and 4GBytes of GDDR5 memory. At maximum power consumption, the Quadro P2000 GPU delivers 2.3 TFLOPs of single-precision floating-point compute performance (FP32).

is available in conduction-cooled or air-cooled variants with rear XMC I/O on Pn6. The rear XMC pin-out is compatible with VPX systems that follow VITA 46.9 x12d+x8d+24s.

3U VPX and PCIe™ form factors are supported by carrier boards.

EIZO Rugged Solutions offers flexibility and responsiveness to customer requirements through the customizability of its products. The Condor NVP2102AxX customization options include support for other video input and output formats such as additional DVI, DisplayPort, STANAG 3350, or ARINC 818. Special analog Sync-on-Green video formats

such as RS-343 are also available. The XMC IO can be re-routed as PMC IO or to the front panel.

EIZO Rugged Solutions Inc www.eizorugged.com

The new XMC card is designed for customers who want to combine legacy videos with newer digital video formats in high-end surveillance applications. The Condor NVP2102AxX card is an all-in-one solution with the ability to capture, process, encode, decode, display, and stream video data. The card also supports CUDA and OpenCL based GPGPU computing, AI processing (artificial intelligence), deep learning, and H.265/H.264 encoding/decoding.

High-speed data transfer and exceptionally low latency levels are achieved with the Condor NVP2102AxX graphics processor by optimizing NVIDIA’s GPUDirect RDMA (remote direct memory access) feature. This enables video data to be sent over PCIe, bypassing system memory, directly to GPU memory for analysis/processing. In GPU memory, the applications can do processing such as image analysis, image enhancement, 360-degree video stitching, sensor fusion, and target detection using the GPGPU (CUDA/OpenCL™) technology.

Selwyn L. Henriques, president, and CEO of EIZO Rugged Solutions said: “This new product offers a bridge for customers who want to combine legacy video with the newer, digital video formats.

For example, one of our military airborne customers was looking to upgrade a gimbal/sensor pod running analog video to a digital solution. This dual analog/ video graphics card provided that transition in a single card solution while dramatically lowering CPU overhead, reducing latency, and delivering improvements in data transfer times.”

Built to survive in harsh environments, the Condor NVP2102AxX is tested to withstand high temperatures, shock, and vibration (MIL-STD-810G). It COTS Journal | June 2020

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June 2020

COT’S PICKS Keysight and Credo Collaborate to Deliver PAM-4-to-NRZ Signal Conversion Technology for 400GE-to100GE Data Center Test Solutions

This new environment produces unique challenges relating to the integration of PAM-4-based 400GE and 100GE-capable switch ports with existing 100GE NRZ signaling-based switch port technology.

The new solution enables 400GE tester to validate legacy 100GE devices and networks

The combined Keysight and Credo test solution bridges the signaling gap between incompatible PAM4- and NRZ-encoded signaling. It removes potential compromises in testing configurations to improve overall performance validation and quality. The AEC cable technology performs the necessary conversions to allow a PAM4-encoded port to interoperate with an NRZ-encoded port.

The solution provides support for testing four ports of 100GE NRZ from a single port of 400GE QSFP-DD PAM4 in 4x100GE speed mode.

Keysight Technologies, Inc. announced the first, cost-effective test solution that enables data center operators to leverage 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) capable test ports to link with and test legacy 100GE network equipment.

The new test solution is comprised of Keysight’s Ixia AresONE 400GE High-Performance Layer 1 through 3 test system based on Pulse Amplitude Modulation level-4 (PAM4) signaling interconnected to legacy 100GE non-return-to-zero (NRZ) networking equipment ports using Credo’s HiWire™ Active Electrical Cable (AEC) technology. This collaboration provides speed-shifting of the signaling rates and forward error correction (FEC) conversion.

Datacenter operators have widely deployed mature 100GE NRZ-based technologies. However, higher speeds, such as 400GE, create new mixed signaling, mixed FEC, multi-rate environment.

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COTS Journal | June 2020

“Data center operators are faced with a complex environment and need to leverage their existing investments for the future,” said Ram Periakaruppan, vice president, product development, Keysight’s Network Applications & Security group. “The Ixia AresONE 400GE test system supports Credo’s interconnect technology in high-density 100GE testbeds, enabling data center operators to accelerate validation of 100GE NRZ devices and network infrastructure while leveraging 400GE-capable PAM-4 ports to support demand in the future.”

The combined solution features the Credo HiWire AEC which allows flexibility in the configuration of network rack equipment. Datacenter operators can install 400GE-capable ports and connect them when and where needed to legacy 100GE NRZ ports. Testing performed with the Ixia AresONE 400GE combined with the Credo HiWire SERDES speed shift and PAM4-to-NRZ conversion technology is completed at a fraction of the cost of the equivalent configuration using optical transceiver technology. Keysight and Credo are members of the HiWire Consortium, a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the adoption of AECs in applications such as this.

“Keysight’s Ixia AresONE 400GE test solution with 4x100GE per port fan-out has the scale and performance to meet the verification needs of multi-terabit Distributed Disaggregated Chassis networks,” said Jeff Twombly, Vice President of Business Development at Credo. “It is great to see them leverage our HiWire AEC interconnect solution to deliver this industry-leading and innovative data center solution.”

Keysight Technologies, Inc. www.keysight.com

COTS COTS

ADVERTISERS Company Page# Annapolis Micro Systems ...................................... 4/29

Website ........................................ www.annapmicro.com

Behlman Electronics ............................................ IFC/BC

............................................ www.behlman.com

Fairview Microwave ...............................................

............................. www.fairviewmicrowave.com

IBC

Milpower Source ..................................................... 17

............................................. w ww.milpower.com

Neonode ................................................................

19

............................................. www.neonode.com

OSS ........................................................................

5

Pasternack ............................................................

11

Pentek ..................................................................

15 ................................................. www.pentek.com

PICO Electronics, Inc .............................................

9 .................................... www.picoelectronics.com

.................................. www.onestopsystems.com

Pixus Technologies ................................................ 22/IBC

........................................ www.pasternack.com

.............................. www.pixustechnologies.com

Sealevel ................................................................. 10/21 ............................................... www.sealevel.com

Index

University of Cincinnati Online...............................

14 .............................................. www.online.uc.edu.

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