COTS Products
Portable RF/IF Signal Record/Playback System Meets Rugged Needs High-performance solid state disk drive data recording is one thing, but doing it in the harsh environment of a shipboard or airborne platform is a challenge. Attacking just that problem, Pentek released a rugged, portable, multiband recording and playback system for high-bandwidth IF and RF signals. The RTR 2726, the latest in Pentek’s turnkey Talon recorder family, is a complete workstation, data acquisition and solid-state RAID recording system in a box for the capture and playback of signals up to 700 MHz in shock- and vibration-prone environments such as vehicles, ships and aircraft. The system includes built-in digital up- and down-converters, with record channels offering 16-bit, 200 MHz ADCs and playback channels offering 16-bit, 800 MHz DACs. It can stream data to and from storage at sustained data rates of 1600 Mbytes/s, allowing the RTR 2726 to support four channels of record and/or playback in a variety of configurations. Storage consists of eight hot-swappable solid-state disk drives in a RAID configuration with up to 4 Tbyte in total capacity. The RTR 2726 is housed in a steel enclosure with carry handle, measuring 16.9 x 9.5 x 13.4 inches and weighing just 30 pounds. A fold-down front panel holds a full keyboard and touchpad and exposes the unit’s built-in 17” LCD monitor. The cooling system in the RTR 2726 includes built-in temperature monitoring. A temperature monitor display is included underneath the system’s LCD, and built-in temperature alarms provide users with early alerts when operating in very hot environments. The Talon RTR 2726 is priced starting at $45,000, depending on configuration and storage options.
Pentek, Upper Saddle River, NJ. (201) 818-5900. [www.pentek.com].
Sunlight Readable Handheld Displays Withstand Harsh Conditions
Non-Volatile Storage-Class Memory Suits Harsh Environments
IEE offers a line of rugged, military-qualified handheld control display units (CDUs) that are sunlight readable and combat proven. The wide range of display sizes and resolutions from 4-line 2.8-inch character displays up to full graphic displays and from 3.5-inch QVGA to 7.0-inch-wide SVGA, provides exceptional design flexibility for the system engineer. The units feature integrated multi-mode backlighting that provides sunlight readability and NVIS compatibility for enhanced viewing no matter how dim or bright the lighting may be. Operating at a maximum altitude of 36,000 ft, the CDUs feature a temperature range of -20° to +70°C, with some units operating down to -40°C. The units withstand transit shock and ground mobile vibration of 0.04 g2/Hz from 20-2,000 Hz at 1 Hour/Axis as well as submersion in up to 1m of water for 2 hours. IEE's handheld devices meet a variety of military standards.
The ArxCis-NV from Viking Technology is a high-availability solution, engineered for disaster recovery by protecting data in memory from power failure. ArxCis-NV’s high-speed nonvolatile memory was developed through extensive experience in both DRAM and SSD technology to create a hybrid solution that leverages the speed and endurance of DDR3 memory, seamlessly integrated with the nonvolatile storage retention of flash memory. ArxCis-NV provides protection for enterprise RAID applications and main memory persistence for a host of virtualized applications that require data security in the event of power failure. The ArxCis-NV is currently available in 2 Gbyte, 4 Gbyte and 8 Gbyte capacities. Other options include a variety of super-capacitor pack energy capacity, depending upon application demands.
IEE, Van Nuys, CA. (818) 787-0311. [www.ieeinc.com].
Viking Technology, Foothill Ranch, CA. (949) 643-7255. [www.vikingtechnology.com].
Power Estimator App Targets Xilinx’s 28nm 7 Series FPGAs Military system designers who rely on their iPhones as much as their PCs now have a quick and easy way to determine the power consumption of Xilinx’s 28nm 7 series FPGAs. The new Pocket Power Estimator (PPE) application for Apple’s iPhone enables designers to see how Xilinx’s 28nm programmable platforms stack up to alternatives in delivering the lowest power consumption for their systems. Designers can download the PPE from the Apple App Store today and quickly and easily explore what-if scenarios and get immediate feedback on the estimated power consumption compared to alternatives. For more complex and detailed power analyses, designers can use the ISE Design Suite’s XPower Estimator (XPE) and the XPower Analyzer (XPA) tools. The PPE app, which can also be used with the iPad, offers an easy-to-use GUI for the quick entering of resource requirements—such as SerDes utilization, DSP, memory, logic capacity and more. Compared to the previous generation 40nm FPGAs, Xilinx 7 series FPGAs deliver about 50 percent lower total power, on average, thanks in part to the HPL (highperformance/low-power) process technology offered by foundry partner TSMC. The Xilinx PPE mobile application is free of charge and is available now on the Apple App Store. A version of PPE for Android and other Smartphone platforms will be introduced later this year.
Xilinx, San Jose, CA. (408) 559-7778. [www.xilinx.com]. [ 60 ] COTS Journal December 2011