Tech Focus:
JOURNAL
High Reliability Power Supply Roundup
The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing
SFF Box Systems
Meet Demands for Reducing SWaP
FPGAs and GPGPUs Stake Out Territory in Signal Processing Pre-Validated Systems Offer Cost Advantages
An RTC Group Publication
November 2014 Volume 16 Number 11
cotsjournalonline.com
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COM 1 & 3
JOURNAL
The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing
CONTENTS
COTS (kots), n. 1. Commercial off-the-shelf. Terminology popularized in 1994 within U.S. DoD by SECDEF Wm. Perry’s “Perry Memo” that changed military industry purchasing and design guidelines, making Mil-Specs acceptable only by waiver. COTS is generally defined for technology, goods and services as: a) using commercial business practices and specifications, b) not developed under government funding, c) offered for sale to the general market, d) still must meet the program ORD. 2. Commercial business practices include the accepted practice of customer-paid minor modification to standard COTS products to meet the customer’s unique requirements. —Ant. When applied to the procurement of electronics for he U.S. Military, COTS is a procurement philosophy and does not imply commercial, office environment or any other durability grade. E.g., rad-hard components designed and offered for sale to the general market are COTS if they were developed by the company and not under government funding.
November 2014 Volume 16 Number 11
FEATURED p.10 Function Trumping Form for Rugged Box-Level Systems SPECIAL FEATURE Evolving SFF Box Systems and Standards
DEPARTMENTS
10 Function Trumping Form for Rugged Box-Level Systems
6 Editorial
16 Ensuring an EMI-Quiet Testing Zone Requires the Right Gear
8
The Inside Track
40
COTS Products
50
Marching to the Numbers
An Internet of Wings
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief Alan Lowne, Saelig
TECH RECON FPGAs vs.GPGPUs for Signal Processing Systems 22 FPGA Board Advances Tighten Up System Capabilities Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Costs and Capabilities of Pre-Validated Systems 28 Validated Compact Systems Reduce Costs and Development Cycles RJ McLaren, Kontron
Coming in December See Page 48 On The Cover: Small form factor (SFF) box-level systems are perfectly suited for platforms where size, weight and power (SWaP) constraints are high. Shown here an MQ-9 Reaper, armed with GBU-12 Paveway II laser guided munitions and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles flies a combat mission over southern Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force Photo / Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt)
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS High Rel Power Supplies Roundup 32 Power Supplies and Converters Help Reduce System SWaP Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
34
High Rel Power Supplies Roundup
Digital subscriptions available: cotsjournalonline.com
COTS Journal | November 2014
3
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JOURNAL
The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing
Editorial EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeff Child, jeffc@rtcgroup.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Johnny Keggler, johnnyk@rtcgroup.com
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SENIOR EDITOR Clarence Peckham, clarencep@rtcgroup.com MANAGING EDITOR James Pirie, jamesp@rtcgroup.com
Art/Production ART DIRECTOR Jim Bell, jimb@rtcgroup.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Michael Farina, michaelf@rtcgroup.com
Advertising WESTERN REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Mike Duran, michaeld@rtcgroup.com (949) 226-2024 MIDWEST REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SALES MANAGER Mark Dunaway, markd@rtcgroup.com (949) 226-2023
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COTS Journal | November 2014
Publisher PRESIDENT John Reardon, johnr@rtcgroup.com VICE PRESIDENT Aaron Foellmi, aaronf@rtcgroup.com
COTS Journal HOME OFFICE The RTC Group 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 250 San Clemente, CA 92673 Phone: (949) 226-2000 Fax: (949) 226-2050 www.rtcgroup.com EDITORIAL OFFICE Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief 20A Northwest Blvd., PMB#137, Nashua, NH 03063 Phone: (603) 429-8301 PUBLISHED BY THE RTC GROUP Copyright 2014, The RTC Group. Printed in the United States. All rights reserved. All related graphics are trademarks of The RTC Group. All other brand and product names are the property of their holders.
U.S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation Required by 39 USC 3685. 1)Title of Publication: COTS Journal. 2) Publication Number 1092-1524. 3) Filing Date 10/01/2011 4)Frequency of issue is monthly. 5)Number of issues published annually: 12. 6)Annual subscription price: n/a. 7)Complete Mailing Address of Known Offices of Publication: The RTC Group, 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 250, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County. 8)Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters of General Office of Publisher: The RTC Group 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 250, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County, California. 9) Publisher: John Reardon, The RTC Group, 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 250, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County, CA 92673. Editor: Jeff Child,905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 250, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County, California. Managing Editor: James Pirie. The RTC Group, 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 250, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County, CA. 10) John Reardon, Zoltan Hunor. The RTC Group; 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 250, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County, California. 11)Known Bondholders Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None. 12) Tax Status: The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes has not changed during the preceding 12 months. 13)Publication Title: COTS Journal. 14)Issue date for Circulation data: 9/1/14 COTS Journal. 15a)Extent and Nature of Circulation: average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months (Net press run): 19,333. Number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 18,000 b)1. Paid/requested outside-county mail subscriptions stated on form 3541. (Include advertiserยนs proof and exchange copies)/Average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months:18,713, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 17,423. b) 2. Paid in-county subscriptions (include advertiserยนs proof and exchange copies)/average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months/number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: n/a. b)3. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales and other non-USPS paid distribution/average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: n/a, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: n/a. b)4. Other classes mailed through the USPS/average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: n/a, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: n/a. c)Total paid and/or requested circulation [sum of 15b. (1), (2), (3) and (4) average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 18,713 number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 17,423. d1) Free distribution outside of the mail (carriers or other means)/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: n/a, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date:n/a. e) Total free distribution (sum of 15d. and 15e.)/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 628, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 557. f) Total distribution (sum of 15c and 15e)/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months:19,340 number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 17,980. g) Copies not distributed/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 20, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 20. h) Total (sum of 15f and g)/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 19,360 number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 18,000. i) Percent paid and/ or requested circulation (15c divided by 15f times 100)/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 96.8%, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 96.9% 16. Publication of statement of ownership. Publication will be printed in the November issue of this publication. 17)Signature and title of the editor, publisher, business manager or owner: James Pirie (Managing Editor)10/01/2014. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subjected to criminal sanctions(including fines and imprisonment)and/or civil sanctions (including multiple damages and civil penalties).
James Pirie Managing Editor
COTS Journal | November 2014
5
EDITORIAL Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
An Internet of Wings
U
nless you’ve been living on the moon for the past year, you’ve definitely heard the term Internet of Things. I’ve been involved in the electronics industry now long enough to default to a skeptical view toward the latest over-hyped term. Such terms come and go, and not all of them survive. But it’s clear now that IoT is one of the real ones. Analysts are already calling it a trillion dollar market. The question is does IoT have any relevance for the defense industry? At first blush, just the term “Internet of Things” itself has ring to it that smacks of anything but military. And indeed it’s segments like industrial control, transportation, energy and smart home that will be the fast IoT growth areas. While you don’t hear IoT associated with the defense market, when you break down the components of IoT, the military is very much interested in the technologies and capabilities of IoT. A sophisticated IoT network is a connection of sensors, embedded devices and systems. Sensors gather machine and environmental data and then pass that data on to embedded intelligent systems at the edge device or node. A secure wired or wireless network connects those devices and nodes using middleware to bridge the network to the IT system. At the IT level—often using a cloud model—enterprise applications are used to apply business intelligence and analytics to the data and present the data in an organized and useful fashion. Interestingly, that same sort of architecture is essentially what the DoD has been calling “net-centric” operations for some time now. In some ways, the defense industry embraced the idea a long time ago. While at one time there were a number networking technology choices, the U.S. military several years ago chose to embrace an “Everything over IP” (EoIP) strategy. An ongoing goal of U.S. military operational strategy looking forward is to grow an interconnected network of sensors, shooters, command, control and intelligence. This network-centric idea includes programs developed by the Command, Control, Communications, Computer and Intelligence (C4I) community to build joint architectures and roadmaps for integrating joint airborne networking capabilities with the evolving ground, maritime and space networks.
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COTS Journal | November 2014
Even in this era where defense budget cuts are more extreme than in decades, it appears that networking and comms-related programs are more likely to live on. These span a wide range of application areas including avionics, command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) tactical communications networks, training and simulation, unmanned vehicles and robotics and vehicle electronics. Providing the much of the processing for those platforms are next generation embedded computing solutions—in the form of multicore processor-based single board computers, box-level systems and special-function subsystems. Such processing technologies combine low power capabilities to enable the reduced Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) requirements the military demands these days. That’s achieved simultaneously with high performance processing features that enable floating point and vector computation as well as those that ease parallelism by enabling multiple threads to run on each processor core. Meanwhile advanced encryption technologies along with trusted execution schemes give system developers the tool to keep their military systems secure and safe from hypervisor attacks and other threats. Just as with IoT in the non-military world, the use of Internet Protocol in net-centric operations has a lot of untapped potential. While the IPv4 protocol has a limited number of IP addresses, the migration now to IPv6 means that there are essentially an infinite number of nodes available. To get an idea of the numbers, using IPv6 there’s on the order of billions of IP addresses for each person on the planet. The power that opens up for machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity in IoT applications staggering, although many argue that even with IPv4 there’s no real hindrance with fairly commonplace bridging and gateways. But there’s no doubt that the future of the Internet of Things depends on the support of IPv6; and as a result world-wide adoption of IPv6 in the coming years will be critical. Remote maintenance is just one area that could exploit the infinite number of IP addresses. Imagine if every component and subsystem in the wing of an F-35 aircraft had its own IP address and could be diagnosed and monitored over a secure network? Maybe it won’t be long before we’re talking seriously about an Internet of Wings.
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The
INSIDE TRACK Navy awards Raytheon $49.5 Million Enhanced Laser Maverick Contract The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon Company a $49.5 million contract for production of new laser-guided Maverick missiles (AGM-65E2/L). The Navy also intends to exercise a contract option to purchase additional units bringing the total contract value to $54.9 million. The Maverick weapon system, a U.S. Air Force-led joint service program, is a forward firing, precision-guided, close air support missile (Figure 1). Maverick is effective against a wide variety of fixed, stationary, moving and maneuvering land and sea targets. The new Laser Maverick (AGM-65E2/L) includes a number of enhancements including a digital laser seeker and new software
that reduces the risk of collateral damage and is upgradable based on customer needs. The missiles have the ability to precisely engage land and sea-based high speed moving targets. They use advanced flight algorithms to boost performance in a variety of operational situations. Other features include compatibility with existing F/A-18, AV-8B, F-16 & A-10C operational flight program integration as well as self, buddy and ground-based lasing capability for all platforms. Raytheon Waltham, MA (781) 522-3000 www.raytheon.com
Lockheed Martin Awarded $124.6 Million THAAD Contract The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) recently awarded Lockheed Martin a $124.6 million fixed-price contract for the manufacture and delivery of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ground components. The contract provides for the delivery of U.S. government THAAD launchers, support equipment, fire control and communication spares, and launcher spares. Work on the contract is scheduled to begin in 2016 and will FIND the products featured in this section and more at
www.intelligentsystemssource.com
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COTS Journal | November 2014
Figure 2 The flexible THAAD is the only missile defense system that can intercept in both the endo- and exoatmospheres. take place in Dallas and Lufkin, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Ocala, Florida; Sunnyvale, California; and Camden, Arkansas. The work will be completed in 2017. Since 2005, the THAAD development program has
Figure 1 The Maverick weapon system is a forward firing, precision-guided, close air support missile effective against a wide variety of fixed, stationary, moving and maneuvering land and sea targets.
completed 13 flight tests, with 11 successful intercepts in 11 attempts. THAAD is the only missile defense system with the operational flexibility to intercept in both the endoand exo-atmospheres to provide versatile capability to the warfighter (Figure 2). Lockheed Martin Bethesda, MD. (301) 897-6000 www.lockheedmartin.com
BAE Systems Tapes GE’s 3U VPX Systems for BFV Simulation GE’s Intelligent Platforms has
received a $2.6 million order from BAE Systems Platforms and Services for a quantity of its latest generation 3U VPX COTS Rugged Systems that deliver an advanced HPEC (High Performance Embedded Computing) capability. The COTS Rugged Systems will be deployed as part of the US Army’s CETU (Common Embedded Training Unit) which sees in-vehicle training and simulation incorporated into the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Housed in a rugged, 5-slot enclosure, the system includes a GE 3U VPX single board computer featuring an Intel Core i7 processor and a rugged graphics board that takes advantage of the performance of an NVIDIA 384-core
The
INSIDE TRACK MILITARY MARKET WATCH Demand from Europe and Asia-Pacific Sustains Military UAV Market Figure 3
Total Military UAV Market: Key Market Drivers and Restraints, Global, 2014-2022
‘Kepler’ GPU. The GE Intelligent Platforms CRS-D5I-3VC1 Rugged COTS System on which the CETU product is based is a packaged, prevalidated 5-slot video processing, display and control computer system fully integrated and ready to be deployed. It allows the elimination of non-recurring engineering expense to lower program cost. It is designed for deployment in civilian and military unmanned vehicles, manned commercial and military aircraft, ground combat vehicles and helicopters. GE Intelligent Platforms Charlottesville, VA. (800) 368-2738 defense.ge-ip.com
OceanServer Awarded AUV Contract with Naval Undersea Warfare Center OceanServer Technology has been awarded a contract for one Iver3 AUV by the US Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, RI. This system will include several Iver3 options just released including the Rowe Technologies Inc. (RTI) SeaPILOT 600 kHz Doppler Velocity Log with ADCP. The RTI’s SeaPILOT family of Doppler Velocity Logs (DVLs)
represents some of the industry’s newest and state of the art acoustic Doppler technology. The compact form factor and powerful electronics provide a versatile platform capable of producing precise bottom referenced velocity and/or current profile measurements for ROVs, AUVs, and other manned/ unmanned submersibles. For vehicle navigation applications that require a custom fit like the Iver3, RTI provided four individual piston transducers along with compact electronics to facilitate repackaging into the AUV. OceanServer designs and manufactures a feature - rich family of low cost Iver AUVs utilized for coastal applications such as general survey work, sub - surface security, environmental monitoring, behavioral research and sensor development by both academia and military organizations . These modern AUVs are single manportable and feature simple point - and - click mission planning. The latest generation of Iver3 AUVs will offer two different RTI DVL units in 600 kHz and 1200 kHz configurations (Figure 3). OceanServer Technology Fall River, MA (508) 678-0550 www.ocean-server.com
1-2 years
3-5 years
6-10 years
Market Drivers
Perceived benefits New markets outside the United States and Europe Minimal barriers of entry for new entrants
Defense spending reductions Market Restraints
The new Iver2 AUVs include RTI’s SeaPILOT 600 kHz Doppler Velocity Log which represents some of the most state of the art acoustic Doppler technology.
Technological restraints and regulations
Impact:
High
Medium
Low
Figure 1 Defense department budget cuts often lead to program delays or even cancellations, hampering UAV procurements. According to new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, the global market for military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is expected to witness a slight decline in the medium term due to the reduction in spending by the United States. Europe and Asia-Pacific will partially compensate for this reduction in revenues as the perceived benefits of UAVs—in terms of both cost and capability—drive adoption. The launch of next-generation UAVs, with longer endurance and advanced propulsion systems such as fuel cells and solar power, will cement the future of the global UAV market. Frost & Sullivan’s “Global Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Market Assessment” finds that the market earned revenues of $3.87 billion in 2013 and estimates this to reach $5.26 billion in 2022. The study covers vehicle platforms greater than 25kg MTOW and support in service, however does not include RDT&E spending. Medium-altitude, long-endurance UAVs continue to be the most lucrative segment. Although high-altitude, longendurance (HALE) UAVs are on the wish list of many countries, they remain unaffordable for most. This lack of commercially feasible technologies curbs large-scale UAV purchases. Budget cuts that often lead to program delays or even cancellations also hamper UAV procurements (Figure 1). The recent termination of the German HALE program, EuroHawk, is a prime example. To sustain profits, suppliers must diversify their portfolios to include sub-systems and services. Global Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Market Assessment is part of the Defense Growth Partnership Service program. For more information on Frost & Sullivan’s new research please email Edyta Grabowska, Corporate Communications, at edyta.grabowska@frost.com. Frost & Sullivan, San Antonio, TX (210) 348-1000 www.frost.com
COTS Journal | November 2014
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SPECIAL FEATURE Evolving SFF Box Systems and Standards
10
COTS Journal | November 2014
SPECIAL FEATURE
Function Trumping Form for Rugged Box-Level Systems With little product or spec progress on standard small form factor box systems, the industry has turned its focus toward very sophisticated rugged boxes with advanced computing functionality. Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
R
ugged box pre-integrated systems have become a staple in today’s military embedded computing market. But there’s been little or no standardization on the format or I/O configurations between vendors these products. Efforts have been made to standardization on the mechanical format or I/O configuration. In recent years three VITA draft specification efforts have been in the works in the past year or more: VITA 73, VITA 74 and VITA 75. But those efforts have only achieved limited buy-in, and particular no new products or progress with the specifications out of VITA draft phase have been produced in the last twelve months. And while a couple of individual vendors have crafted systems based on these formats, the goal of them becoming widely adopted standards seems far off. In the meantime, non-standard rugged- box level systems is perhaps one of the most active design activities in the embedded computing industry. These solutions are edging out traditional backplane-centric slot card system architectures in many military platforms. This box-level system trend is dominating wherever size, weight and power (SWaP) is a priority concerns—especially in UAVs and military vehicle electronic systems. Rugged box-level systems span a wide range of formats, sizes and configurations with a wealth of non-standard formats that have emerged.
COTS Journal | November 2014
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SPECIAL FEATURE
Figure 1 The CRS 48.5 can be upgraded to used up to four DSP281s cards for a total peak performance in excess of 2.4 Teraflops.
Cooling at Teraflop Levels One of the challenges in small form factor systems is that massive amounts of processing means a much trickier heat dissipation problem. Military system developers can leverage complete box-level solutions that come with those problems already addressed. An ex-
ample along those lines is GE Intelligent Platforms’ CRS 48.5 High Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC) Rugged Subsystem. This system uses advanced VITA 48.5-compliant air-flow through-cooling to allow the integration of up to eight quad core Intel Core i7 processing nodes. The CRS 48.5 ATR subsystem features the GE DSP280 multiprocessor with two quad core Intel Core i7 processors (Figure 1). The DSP280 is capable of more than 260 gigaflops peak performance and delivers main memory bandwidth of up to 21 Gbytes/second per CPU node. The CRS 48.5 can be upgraded to take advantage of the even more powerful DSP281 multiprocessor which is based on 4th generation Intel Core i7 (‘Haswell’) technology. Up to four DSP281s can be configured, for a total peak performance in excess of 2.4 Teraflops. Both the DSP280 and DSP281 support a broad range of I/O options including Ethernet interfaces, serial I/O ports, USB ports, DVI ports and audio ports. Part of the push for small form factor systems is integrated sophisticated HPEC-level
computing, in ever small footprints. This suits applications that need to serve up multiple “virtual” systems in one box, in as small a rugged system as possible. Along just those lines, General Micro Systems (GMS) recently rolled out a conduction-cooled, fully ruggedized Secure Virtual Machine (SVM) server with six hardware-independent I/O modules. Designed to replace multiple workstations using virtual machine technology, Tarantula (SO302 4-in-1) incorporates an enterprise-level Layer 2 or Layer 3 intelligent switch for high-speed connectivity. The box measures 11.75 x7.75 x4.5 inches, weighs 18 lbs and is powered at as low as 180W. Tarantula is well suited for applications requiring ultra-efficient information sharing between several computers serving varied purposes. Intel’s Xeon processor, the IvyBridge-EP, is the host CPU driver and features 10 physical cores each operating up to 2.4 GHz, with the ability to TurboBoost to 3.0 GHz. Support for hyperthreading expands its capability to 20 logical cores. Tarantula dynamically allocates these cores in real time as needed by
Add processing capability to your Sensors Small Form Factor: Remote Interface Unit CES RIU Rugged PCOTS offers the capability to acquire/process a typical set of Aircraft Digital/Analog signals which are then exchanged with a host remote Airborne Mission Computer over Classical Avionic Interfaces. Operating in standalone mode, RIU is the ideal solution for Health Ope Monitoring, Sensor Acquisition or Data Concentrator in I/O distributed avionic systems. Modular, Qualified and Safety Certifiable (DAL), RIU can be easily adapted to your specific needs. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, CES - Creative Electronic Systems SA has been designing and manufacturing complex high-performance avionic, defense and communication boards, subsystems and complete systems for thirty years (such as ground and flight test computers, ground station subsystems, radar subsystems, mission computers, DAL A certified computers, video platforms, as well as test and support equipment). CES is involved in the most advanced aerospace and defense programs throughout Europe and the US, with a world wide sales presence.
For more information: www.ces.ch 12
COTS Journal | November 2014
ADLINK HPERC-IBR series in COTS 1-3 advertisement.pdf 1
SPECIAL FEATURE
each of up to six virtual machines and their individual application requirements. The host CPU supports one 4-lane PCIe XMC site, one 10 Gigabit Ethernet port, four USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports with power, two serial ports with RS-232/422/485 buffers, full HD-Audio and eight general purpose I/O lines. Tarantula’s intelligent Gigabit Ethernet switch functions are powered by a 416 MHz MIPS CPU (with 128 Mbytes of DRAM) that controls the (up to) 18 Gbit Ethernet ports, and a second 10 Gigabit Ethernet port, which comes with the option of copper or fiber. According to GMS, the Army selected Tarantula for the MRAP Night Vision program because the six virtual machines can control real-time video, defensive counter measures and other critical operations—all in one small chassis.
Figure 2 The NIU1A with added SoC dual ARM Cortex-A9 processor provides shared memory and lower latency in a small package. The nano-sized subsystem connects to existing platform Ethernet networks, making data available to any system on the network.
Intelligence Added to I/O Subsystem
Flight Qualified Box System
One interesting approach toward small form factor design is to take an I/O subsystem and add embedded computing functionality to it. North Atlantic Industries did exactly that has expanding the functionality of its Nano Interface Unit (NIU1) to include embedded computing capability. The advanced NIU1A with added SoC dual ARM Cortex-A9 processor, delivers smaller size, lower power, higher bandwidth, shared memory and lower latency in a small package (Figure 2). The compact, nano-sized subsystem with unprecedented I/O capability connects to existing platform Ethernet networks, making data available to any system on the network. The Nano Interface Unit (NIU1A) easily adds sensor data acquisition, distribution and communication interfaces to mission computers without expensive chassis and backplane redesign, for use in military and aerospace embedded applications. Built on NAI’s Custom-On-Standard Architecture (COSA), the NIU1A offers a choice of more than 40 intelligent I/O and communications functions. These pre-existing, fullytested functions can be selected quickly and easily to meet system requirements. Available functions include A/D, D/A, TTL, RTD, discrete I/O, differential transceiver, synchro/ resolver, LVDT/RVDT measurement, simulation and excitation, strain gage, quad channel redundant BC/RT/MT MIL-STD-1553, high-speed sync/async RS232/422/423/485, ARINC 429/575 and CANBus.
Another key direction for small form factor systems is the emergence of pre-qualified systems. These allow customers to save costs and time by started with systems that the vendor has already done specific testing work on. With that in mind Extreme Engineering Solutions offers its latest flight-qualified Intel Core i7-based multiprocessor system. X-ES routinely partners with prime contractors to support their applications on X-ES’s rugged COTS modules and systems. In this case, the advantages of the XPand4208’s Intel Core i7based SBCs, networking modules, and power supply module, along with the convenience and security of two hardware-encrypted removable SSD modules, were leveraged by the prime contractor to win their program. The XPand4208 includes two Intel Core i7-based 3U VPX modules, an XPm2120 VITA 62 3U VPX power supply, and two XPort6193 removable SSDs that allow for quick, toolless insertion and extraction (Figure 3). The system utilizes an XChange3013 3U VPX Gigabit Ethernet switch mated with the XPedite5205 Cisco IOS-based router XMC to provide its backplane fabric and secure networking capabilities. This system also simplifies future upgrades and additional configurations with two 3U VPX expansion slots for additional I/O or processing capabilities and an open architecture based on the use of 3U OpenVPX (VITA 65)-compatible modules. The SWaP-optimized XPand4200 Series systems feature a compact, light-weight, and extremely rugged forced-air heat exchanger C
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ADLINK Technology, Inc. Tel: +1-408-360-0200 Tool Free: +1-800-966-5200 Fax: +1-408-360-0222 info@adlinktech.com www.adlinktech.com
COTS Journal | November 2014
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SPECIAL FEATURE
comply with MIL-STD-810F and DO-160F environmental specifications for temperature, altitude, vibration, shock, humidity, sand and dust, waterproofness, magnetic effects, explosive atmosphere, fluid susceptibility, fungus resistance, and salt fog. It was also qualified for EMI compliance according to MIL-STD-461F for conducted, as well as radiated, emissions and susceptibility.
Figure 3 The flight-qualified XPand4208 includes two Intel Core i7-based 3U VPX modules, an XPm2120 VITA 62 3U VPX power supply, and two XPort6193 removable SSDs that allow for quick, toolless insertion and extraction.
design to maximize high-temperature performance in the most demanding environmental conditions, while minimizing size and weight. They also integrate a dynamic fan controller, allowing them to run nearly silent in controlled environments. For this deployment, the XPand4208 LRU was qualified to
System for VICTORY Standard Some recent developments in rugged small form factor systems have revolved around more application-specific kinds of solutions. For example last month CurtissWright introduced a new fully integrated Ground Control System (GCS) processing and network switch subsystem. Designed for use with the U.S. Army’s VICTORY (Vehicular Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability) network architecture, the GCS combines rugged processing and Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) networking to modernize legacy and future ground vehicles. The compact, lightweight subsystem is based on a SWaP-C optimized
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3U OpenVPX small form factor and is part of Curtiss-Wright’s family of Multi-Platform Mission Computers. The system features 3U OpenVPX Fire Control Processor, Ethernet Switch, and Power Supply modules packaged in a single, easily upgradeable rugged enclosure. This complete hardware and software solution is designed to deliver high performance processing and network switching for use in critical applications such as fire control, turret control, weapons control and vehicle control. The GCS’s low cost and small size make it especially attractive for deployment on tactical wheeled vehicles and combat vehicles.
Late Breaking: As this issue went to press, VITA announced the formation of the VNX Marketing Alliance—a group established to grow adoption of the VITA 74 NanoX Small Form Factor specification and technology. VITA 74 defines both mechanical and electrical specifications to implement a small form factor system. The specification addresses a need for a standardized approach to small-scale systems to be used in rugged environment applications. The VITA 74 NanoX Small Form Factor specification was released as a VITA Draft Standard for Trial Use at the end of 2013. The working group is now focused on achieving full ANSI/VITA ratification for VITA 74. For more information go to www.vita.com/VNX. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA (703) 779-7800 www.cwcdefense.com Extreme Engineering Solutions Middleton, WI. (608) 833-1155 www.xes-inc.com GE Intelligent Platforms Charlottesville, VA. (800) 368-2738. defense.ge-ip.com General Micro Systems Rancho Cucamonga, CA. (909) 980-4863 www.gms4sbc.com
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SPECIAL FEATURE Evolving SFF Box Systems and Standards
Ensuring an EMI-Quiet Testing Zone Requires the Right Gear EMI-quiet environments are critical for all types of compliance, susceptibility and communications testing. Advances in RF-shielded tents and enclosures help smooth the way. Alan Lowne, CEO, Saelig
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ith electronic systems of all kinds now central fixtures in the warfighter’s life, the problem of managing electromagnetic interference keep getting more complex. Fortunately there are now custom-made shielded tents and enclosures available that can create EMI-quiet environments for situations ranging from pre-compliance testing, electromagnetic susceptibility, and secure communications (Figure 1). Portable RF-shielded enclosures are ideal for applications including wireless device development and testing, secure communications, satellite communications testing and isolation, EMC pre-compliance, medical and aerospace equipment shielding, cellular and computer forensics, as well as RFID shielding for commercial and industrial settings. Designers of radio devices often need to perform special tests for RF immunity of parts to be used in a system, tests which must be done in a controlled RF environment or shielded enclosure to prohibit distortion. On a smaller scale, small RF isolation boxes and pouches are now available that make bench-testing procedures convenient and cost-effective. On the other end of the scale, shielded environments can be made big enough hold a tractor or even an aircraft (Figure 2). 16
COTS Journal | November 2014
Figure 1 Shielded tents can create EMIquiet environments for situations ranging from pre-compliance testing, electromagnetic susceptibility, and secure communications. Shown is a 15- x 20-ft. EMI/RFI airframe enclosure with external foyer.
Command and Control Ops RF signal reduction structures are widely used for command and control operations as well as other applications where strength, weight, collapsibility and portability are vital to a successful field operation. High attenuation, RF signal-secure portable tent enclosures are purpose-designed for safe communications applications where maximum signal attenuation is required with the flexibility that a free-standing, portable system provides. Portable RF shielded enclosures provide superior RF shielding in a fast
set-up, fabric-based structure which reduces the strength of RF signal emanations from computers and communications equipment to an extremely low level, eliminating any possibility of electronic eavesdropping. This is especially useful in domestic and international intelligence activities. Even in the commercial world, we are living in an economic war. Information is money and information theft is easy, safe, and lucrative. With eavesdropping laws difficult to enforce, the advancements in electronics and optoelectronics have made communications interception easy and cheap, and business ethics are not what they used to be. Electronic protection has not improved as the speed of computer technology has increased. With clock times now below nanoseconds, computers are radiating signals whose base frequencies are in the range of microwave radiation which penetrates many kinds of materials. With faster changes between two voltage levels in digital hardware, more highfrequencies are emitted. A spy may only need to find one frequency to detect the digital signal transitions.
EMI is Everywhere Almost all electrical and electronic equipment can create interference or emit an electronic signature that is detectable by those of unfriendly intent. Solving both
SPECIAL FEATURE
RF portable fabric shielding solutions also need to consider shielding effectiveness during physical entry and exit of an enclosure. Vestibule designs are often employed for walk-in enclosures, since opening the door can degrade immediate shielding effectiveness, resulting in possible data capture compromise or data corruption (Figure 3). With the addition of a vestibule that is integral to the enclosure, the shielding envi-
ronment is kept uncompromised for consistent shielding performance. The vestibule is usually designed with its own separate conductive floor, door and inner walls apart from the tent itself which allows maximum isolation for continuous testing or examination. Including a white ESD liner and ventilation in the design is beneficial since several people may occupy a RF EMI shielded tent at the same time.
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issues is addressed by the availability of quick set-up portable Faraday Cages. Radio interference can be caused by sources such as electric motors, drills, poorly suppressed vehicle engines, high power flashing lights, or nearby broadcast transmitters. Switching power supply circuits, used with many electronic products including lighting systems, are famous for contaminating the mains supply voltage by adding harmonics at multiples of the 50Hz or 60Hz supply. While merely irritating for consumers, these emissions they can catastrophically interfere with emergency radio communication and aircraft navigation systems, for instance. This interference may not just be a radiated phenomenon, but it can also be distributed via the building’s power wiring. Another application for EMI enclosures is to ensure that products are able to function correctly in their designed environments, and are not susceptible to, and immune from, ambient electromagnetic noise and interference. And not only for radiated and conducted RF requirements, also to be considered are ESD, magnetic fields, mains power glitches, dropouts and brownouts, all of which must be tested in a controlled environment. One military application for these EMI-clean environments is to examine what level of electromagnetic interference causes munition ordnance fuse/detonators to activate.
OPEN VPX [ configured and ready to ship
EMI vs. EMC: the Basics Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is electromagnetic energy that escapes one product and interferes with another. Signals can be radiated via an unwanted antenna extending from (or appearing in) the product—connecting leads or gaps in cases for instance. Energy conducted via the product’s power lines can seep into the power terminals of another product. Conducted EMI is usually measured from 150 kHz to 30 MHz and radiated EMI is measured from 30 MHz to 1 GHz or to 5x the highest clock frequency, whichever is higher. Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) refers to design philosophies that ensure a product is not interfered with by other products as a result of electromagnetic radiation or conduction; external electromagnetic radiation coming from another source does not cause a product to malfunction or affect it adversely.
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COTS Journal | November 2014
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SPECIAL FEATURE
NEW Ruggedized Optical Backplane Interconnect System Supports VITA 66.1 Standard • Designed for highbandwidth demands • Fully complies with VITA 66.1/ANSI • 100 mating cycle life • Offered in receptacle and mating plug connectors
Figure 2 Designers of radio devices often need to perform special tests for RF immunity of parts to be used in a system, which must be done in a controlled RF environment to prohibit distortion. These shielded environments can be made big enough hold a tractor.
• Ideal for embedded computing, ruggedized military applications, commercial aerospace and geophysical industry
Air conditioning or a fan and vent system can be EMI-shielded to preserve the EMIquietness of the structure, but make the environment usable for extended periods in many locations. A white ESD liner not only protects against static, it can also help technicians read and record data against a neutral, bright background.
It’s All in the Details A double-seal door system with conductive magnetic or hook-and-loop tape closures, a shielded floor, and a built-in through-connector panel with filtered power and network connections to suit individual needs are also common requirements. LED lighting that does not compromise EMI measurements can also be specified. Tent enclosures are usually constructed from multiple layers of conductive fabric, such as electroless plated silver etched directly on to ripstop nylon fabric fiber. Copper and nickel layers are then electrolytically plated over the silver along with an outer protective coating for durability. Figure 4 shows the shielding effectiveness
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TE_COTS_VITA66p1_2p25x9p875.indd 1 18 COTS Journal | November
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of typical double-walled NiCuAg material tested to MIL-STD-285 “Attenuation measurements for Enclosures, Electromagnetic Shielding, For Electronic Test Purposes.” Even inside buildings there is a need to provide electromagnetic wave shielding, either to protect sensitive electronic equipment operating inside the building from high level RF or radar signals outside the building, or to protect confidential or proprietary information being processed on electronic equipment inside the building from interception by unauthorized persons outside the building through the detection and analysis of the electromagnetic waves emanating from the equipment. A portable enclosure is often much less expensive than treating the building structure with EMIreduction techniques. Examples of the former condition include computer facilities located near military installations, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) facilities located near a commercial radio broadcast station, and of the latter situation: government embassies and traveling diplomatic staff, or industrial com-
SPECIAL FEATURE
compromising emanations from electronic equipment, automated information systems, and telecommunications systems. Usable in shipboard environments as well as on land or inside buildings, these quickinflate enclosures provide the vital security needed for sensitive electronic equipment. Air-inflated support beams give not only the fastest set-up and strike time of any shelter—they minimize the manpower
Figure 3 Vestibule designs are often employed for walk-in enclosures, since opening the door can degrade immediate shielding effectiveness, resulting in possible data capture compromise. This 10- x 10-ft. EMI/RFI enclosure has an exterior support frame. puter facilities involved in classified government contracts. In both cases some level of electromagnetic shielding is required over a specified frequency spectrum. The owner, or user, of the building determines this shielding requirement based on an analysis of the potential problem. This analysis should include a site or computer equipment survey. When associated with a government installation, certain regulations and guidelines must also be followed to determine the shielding requirements.
Easy to Set Up Shelters Durable shelters should be chosen not only for their quick setup and strike-down, but also for their attenuation performance, together with preferred options such as energy-efficient LED lighting, and lightweight aluminum support structure which maximizes mission payload. Many of the portable shelters are rapidly deployable by land, sea or air without any additional pallets and tie downs. Instant and uncomplicated stateof-the-art environments are now available with inflatable airframe support structures. Tested to meet the highest standards of quality and durability, these instant EMI/ RFI protection environments quickly prevent intercept and analysis of electromagnetic radiation to unauthorized persons seeking valuable information derived from
needed for set-up, and are lightweight for easy transport. No extra parts or tools are required and the enclosures are simple to operate with minimal personnel.
Rugged Shelter Designs Designed with a variety on environments in mind, shelters can be designed to withstand typical specifications such as: 2 inch/hour of free falling and blowing rain
BUILDING THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL VME-VPX RESOURCE.
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BEHLMAN ELECTRONICS Orbit Power Group broke through the VPX power ceiling with the Behlman 1000-watt DC-to-DC, VPXtra™ Power Supply. Today, Behlman also offers a 700watt, multiple-output, DC-to-DC VPXtra™ Power Supply, and a 1500-watt AC-to-DC VPXtra™ Power Supply. Behlman also provides a wide range of VME power supplies used in airborne, ground mobile, naval and industrial applications, as well as broad line of modified standard, custom and COTS power supplies (frequency converters, inverters, AC, DC-DC, AC-DC, DC-AC, and UPS). See them at www.behlman.com.
Orbit HMC-A System Health Monitor
INTEGRATED COMBAT SYSTEMS (ICS) Orbit Electronics Group’s Integrated Combat Systems (ICS), a global leader in designing and building advanced electromechanical assemblies, is now a supplier of choice for VME-VPX. Their website, www.vmevpx.com is your portal for more than 135 standard and custom-designed VME-VPX products, including backplanes, system health monitors, power supplies, sensors, card cages, components, and air transport racks.
Together, Orbit Power Group and Orbit Electronics Group provide an unmatched range of superior options and cost-effective solutions.
Behlman Electronics and Integrated Combat Systems are subsidiaries of Orbit International.
BEHLMAN ELECTRONICS, INC. TEL: +1 631 435-0410 • info@behlman.com
Open VPX is a trademark of VITA. VPXtra is a trademark of Behlman.
INTEGRATED COMBAT SYSTEMS (ICS) TEL: +1 866 319-8085 • info@vmevpx.com
COTS Journal | November 2014
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SPECIAL FEATURE
Shielding (-dB) Conductive NiCuAg 0.5ohms 100 80 60 40 20 z GH
z
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Figure 4 Graphed here is shielding effectiveness of typical double-walled NiCuAg material tested to MIL-STD-285 “Attenuation measurements for Enclosures, Electromagnetic Shielding, For Electronic Test Purposes.”
for 30 minutes without intrusion of water into the shelter, 10 lbs. per square feet of snow load for 12 hours without damage, steady winds of 55 mph with gusts up to 65 mph for 30 minutes, temperatures of -40 to 135 degrees F, more than fifty erect/strike cycles without structural damage, blackouts—interior shelter lights not visible during ingress/egress within 100 meters with the naked eye, or within 300 meters with night vision goggles. Custom-required connectors with precision machined I/O panels and options to suit actual test procedures should be specified to maintain the shielding integrity of the enclosure at the locations of cable penetrations, electronic filters or shielded cables. Just as the enclosure shielding design is the last line of defense for radiated EMI control, I/O filtering is the last line of defense for controlling conducted EMI. Higher filter insertion loss levels are often required for military equipment operating in severe electromagnetic environments or mission critical scenarios. Whenever there is a need to calibrate equipment on-site, portable EMI 20
COTS Journal | November 2014
enclosures enable engineers to make adjustments on-site, on-time. Staff can perform measurements on very sensitive equipment without any external interference. With EMI such a critical issue, it takes diligence and the right gear to ensure an EMI quiet life. Saelig Company Fairport, NY. (585) 385-1750 www.saelig.com
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Pentek, Inc., One Park Way, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 • Phone: 201.818.5900 • Fax: 201.818.5904 • e-mail:info@pentek.com • www.pentek.com Worldwide Distribution & Support, Copyright © 2013 Pentek, Inc. Pentek, Talon and SystemFlow are trademarks of Pentek, Inc. Other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
TECH RECON GPGPUs vs. FPGAs for Signal Processing Systems
FPGA Board Advances Tighten Up System Capabilities Integrated alongside faster converter technologies, FPGA solutions are feeding today’s huge signal processing appetites. Meanwhile, GPUs are becoming accepted as a solid choice for parallel processing military systems. Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
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one are the days when even the term “Digital Signal Processer” occupies mainstream mindshare in military system design. That’s because the signal processing functionality on board today’s FPGA chips are much more interesting the kind of system-oriented DSP functions used in defense. And signal processing capabilities of FPGAs continue to climb, feeding the insatiable appetite such systems have for more digital signal processing muscle. The requirements for such systems continue to call for ever more data collection capacity. The ability, for example, to process that data—in the form of radar captured video or images—presents major system design challenges for developers of military platforms. Board-level FPGA computing solutions have grown to become key enablers for waveform-intensive applications like sonar, radar, SIGINT and SDR.
FPGAs a System Level Technology Faster FPGA-based DSP capabilities combined with an expanding array of IP cores and development tools for FPGAs are enabling new system architectures. Today FPGAs are complete systems on a chip. The high-end lines of the major FPGA vendors even have general-purpose CPU cores on them. And the military is hungry to use 22
COTS Journal | November 2014
Figure 1 The CHAMP-WB-DRFM board set includes a Vitex 7 FPGA processing board and an FMC with 12 GS/s 8-bit ADCs and 12 GS/s 10-bit DACs.
lel computing architecture called CUDA. System developers can also us AMD GPUs using OpenCL instead of CUDA. Languages like CUDA and OpenCL let programmers use conventional computing languages to access the massively parallel processing capabilities of the GPU. Aside from serving applications in radar, signals intelligence and video surveillance and interpretation, GPUs have potential in other application areas, including target tracking, image stabilization and SAR (synthetic aperture radar) simulation.
FPGAs Tie Close with ADCs/DACs FPGAs to fill processing roles. Devices like the Xilinx Virtex-6 and -7 and the Altera Stratix IV and V are examples that have redefined an FPGA as a complete processing engine in its own right. While FPGAs remain a mainstay of military signal processing, an alternative of the “GPUs as general-purpose processing engine” has been gaining momentum since 2007. GPGPU offers a simpler way to do complex multiprocessing by putting highperformance graphics processors to work on general-purpose processing tasks. This fits well into the theme of doing more while keeping the complexity at bay. Graphics chip vendor NVIDIA developed a paral-
Back to the FPGA side, one big advantage of FPGAs lies in their ample, programmable, high-speed I/O, which is why they are often found close to the analog-to-digital converters (ADC) behind radar phased arrays. Board level vendors continue to roll out integrated solutions using the latest greats ADCs and DACs tied with FPGA processing. In an example along those lines, Curtiss-Wright last month announced a collaboration with Tektronix Component Solutions to developed technology that double the analog-to-digital (ADC) and digital-toanalog (DAC) data bandwidth performance supported by its CHAMP-WB OpenVPX board family.
A47_SAR_CotsJrnl_2-25x9_875_A45.qxd 9/29/14 11:
TECH RECON
HIGH VOLTAGE ADJUSTABLE OUTPUT MODULES DC-DC Converter 100-1500 VDC Output
NEW SAR SERIES!
Figure 2 The 4-channel Onyx Model 71761, 200 MHz 16-bit A/D XMC module is based on the high density Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA.
The new receiver and transmitter products will deliver 25 Gsamples/s and the combined board-set will enable direct RF sampling of bandwidths up to 12GHz using open architecture COTS modules. The board-set’s ultra-high sampling rate will enable these applications to scan huge swaths of bandwidth for signals of interest. The CHAMP-WB is the first entry in CurtissWright Defense Solutions’ family of userprogrammable Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA-based computing products and is targeted specifically at wide-band, low latency applications that require large FPGA processing, wide input/output requirements, with minimal latency. When combined with the TADF4300 module, featuring 12 GS/s 8-bit ADC technology and 12 GS/s 10-bit DAC technology from Tektronix, an extremely high performance wide-band DRFM system can be created. The combined card-set is called the CHAMP-WB-DRFM (Figure 1). The CHAMPWB complements this processing capability with a data plane directly connected to the FPGA with support for Gen2 Serial RapidIO (SRIO). 10.3 Gbps Aurora links can also be supported between FPGA cards. Alternate fabrics can also be supported with different FPGA cores.
Integrated FPGA Solution Pushing the performance envelope in a similar way, Pentek in September rolled out new members of Onyx family of highspeed data converter XMC FPGA modules: the 3-channel Onyx Model 71721 and the
4-channel Onyx Model 71761, 200 MHz 16bit A/D XMC modules based on the high density Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA. Each has a programmable digital down converter and a suite of built-in programmable cores. Each module has a front end A/D converter stage that accepts three (Model 71721) or four (Model 71761) analog HF or IF inputs on front panel SSMC connectors, with each transformer-coupled to Texas Instruments ADS5485 200 MHz, 16-bit A/D converters (Figure 2). The 200 MHz sampling rate handles the needed bandwidth for a wide range of signal processing applications. The Model 71721 also includes a two-channel 16-bit 800 MHz D/A converter. The Model 71721 and Model 71761 come preconfigured with a suite of builtin functions for digital down conversion, data capture, synchronization, time tagging, and formatting, making them ideal turn-key interfaces for radar, communications, or general data acquisition applications. An A/D acquisition IP module is included for easy data capture and delivery to system memory. Building on the design in the Cobalt Virtex-6 family, architectural enhancements in the Onyx family include a doubling of the DDR3 memory in both size and speed to 4 Gbytes and 1600 MHz, respectively. The PCIe interface has been upgraded to Gen 3, delivering peak transfer rates up to 8 Gbytes/s. The Virtex-7 is more power efficient than previous generations making it easier to utilize larger FPGAs. Optional LVDS and gigabit serial connec-
High Voltage Isolated 100 to 1500 VDC Output Adjustable, Down To 0 VDC Output Output Power 3 Watts Minature Design: 1.1” x 0.8” x 0.4” ht. 12 grams Typical Weight Surface Mount & Thru Hole Models Available Output Center Tap for Dual Output Use Input/Output and Over/Under Voltage Protection Over Temperature Protection Fully Encapsulated for Use In Rugged Environment Military Screening Options per Selected MIL-STD-883 Methods with Expanded Operating Temperatures Available, -40˚ to +85˚C For full characteristics of these and the entire PICO product line, see PICO’s Full line catalog at
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COTS Journal | November 2014
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TECH RECON
DUC
Phase Shift Beam Weight
Altera 10 FPGAs and SoCs
DDC
Phase Shift Beam Weight
Pulse Generator
Beam Weights
Pulse Compression
Target Data
ARM
STAP
Flex Control
Doppler
ARM
Fusion Calibrate
Flex Control
Altera 10 FPGAs and SoCs
Figure 3 Naval Research Lab and other sources are seeking out new ways to develop flexible, multi-mission RADAR, or ‘FlexDAR’ capabilities based on FPGAs.
tions to the Virtex-7 are available for connecting to custom high performance I/O.
Altera Weighs In Although Xilinx FPGAs tend to dominate in terms of number of board products on the market, Altera-FPGA technology offers interesting alternatives. According to Altera, initiatives from Naval Research Lab and other sources are seeking out new ways to develop flexible, multi-mission RADAR, or ‘FlexDAR’ capabilities. Figure 3 shows a block diagram of the implementation using Altera Arria 10 FPGAs. Board level Arria 10 FPGAs are emerging too. Exemplifying that trend, Bittware’s latest family of board is the A10 family based on Altera’s Arria 10 FPGAs and SoCs. The A10 board family features flexible memory configurations, sophisticated clocking and timing options, QSFP28 cages that support 100Gbps (including 100GigE) optical transceivers, FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC), and support for the networkenabled Altera SDK for OpenCL. Built on 20nm process technology, Arria 10 FPGAs and SoCs are the industry’s first FPGA to integrate hardened floating-point (IEEE 754-compliant) DSP blocks that deliver breakthrough floating-point performance 24
COTS Journal | November 2014
of up to 1.5 TFLOPS. Arria 10 SoCs are also the industry’s only 20nm FPGA to integrate a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore hard processor system (HPS). The A10 family includes Bittware’s A10 family consists of 11 board variants including PCIe, AMC, VPX form factors. At a highly level of the signal processing food chain, there’s long been a lack of any kind of standards-based approach to military signal processing that encompasses RF architectures. Along such lines, Mercury Systems last month announced an initiative called OpenRFM to streamline the integration of RF and digital subsystems in advanced sensor processing applications with the goal of creating more affordable, flexible and open standards-based solutions. According to Mercury, this initiative will directly address DoD procurement mandates including open systems architecture, interoperability, technology re-use and affordability. The goal for OpenRFM is provide state-of-the-art design, test, and control practices for interfacing RF and digital subsystems in an embedded architecture, such as OpenVPX. This will in theory enabled seamless integration of RF and microwave elements within electronic warfare (EW) and signals.
TECH RECON
Figure 4 The 3U High-Density Compute Accelerator (CA16000) provides up to 73.3 Teraflops of computational power using NVIDIA Tesla K10 GPU accelerators.
NVIDIA Tesla K10 GPU accelerators (Figure 4). The CA16000 is a complete appliance, solving integration issues and making installation easy. The user simply connects the cable or cables to the host server(s) and has hundreds or thousands of additional compute cores readily available. Even though there have been surprisingly few new rugged board level GPGPU products released this calendar year, it con-
tinues to become a more accepted technology in defense applications. And system level solutions are becoming available as well. Along those lines, last month at AUSA GE’s Intelligent Platforms announced that it had received a $2.6 million order from BAE Systems Platforms and Services for a quantity of its latest generation 3U VPX COTS Rugged Systems. The systems will be deployed as part of the US Army’s CETU
HPC Levels of GPU Performance Back to GPGPUs, the parallel processing capabilities of GPGPUs have made them a building block in a number of High Performance Computing solutions introduced in the past 12 months. A number of solutions are available under the HPC categories where the goal is more pure performance than ruggedness. Performance levels of these systems are in the Teraflop range and usually make use of GPGPU or FPGA technologies. Along such lines, One Stop Systems offers a PCIe Gen3 expansion appliance that supports up to 16 high-end accelerator boards from a single or multiple servers. The 3U High-Density Compute Accelerator (CA16000) provides up to 73.3 Teraflops of computational power using
FOR THE MISSION
PERFO RM ANCE • I NNO VATI O N • VA L U E
Mobile Pathways delivers custom, mobile power management and communications solutions through flexible design and production methods unlike any other at a value unseen before now. As an end product, performance and reliability despite the environment, location or available power source are at the forefront of our minds. Let's get started engineering to your design
Figure 5 US Army’s CETU (Common Embedded Training Unit) implements in-vehicle training and simulation in the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. An M6 Linebacker air defense variant of the Bradley is shown here.
specs – not the other way around. Call us for a no-cost consultation at 717 · 593 · 4610.
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COTS Journal | November 2014
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TECH RECON
(Common Embedded Training Unit) which sees in-vehicle training and simulation incorporated into the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (Figure 5). Housed in a rugged, 5-slot enclosure, the system includes a GE 3U VPX single board computer featuring an Intel Core i7 processor and a rugged graphics board that takes advantage of the performance of an NVIDIA 384-core ‘Kepler’ GPU. The graphics board is a result of GE’s close working relationship with NVIDIA which has allowed GE to incorporate truly rugged technology rather than commercial/ benign environment technology. GE’s expertise in developing sophisticated GPUbased solutions also allows the system to support non-standard and legacy display formats. 4DSP Austin, TX. (800) 816-1751 www.4dsp.com
Altera San Jose, CA. (408) 544-7000 www.altera.com
Mercury Systems Chelmsford, MA. (978) 967-1401 www.mrcy.com
Annapolis Micro Systems Annapolis, MD (410) 841-2514 www.annapmicro.com
Nallatech Camarillo, CA. (805) 383-8997 www.nallatech.com
BittWare Concord, NH. (603) 226-0404 www.bittware.com
One Stop Systems Escondido, CA. (877) 438-2724 www.onestopsystems.com
Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA (703) 779-7800 www.cwcdefense.com
Pentek Upper Saddle River, NJ. (201) 818-5900 www.pentek.com
GE Intelligent Platforms Charlottesville, VA (800) 368-2738 defense.ge-ip.com
TEK Microsystems Chelmsford, MA. (978) 244-9200 www.tekmicro.com
Innovative Integration Simi Valley, CA. (805) 578-4260 www.innovative-dsp.com
Xilinx San Jose, CA (408) 559-7778 www.xilinx.com
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NAI’s board and box-level power solutions are used worldwide in a broad range of rugged military shipboard, ground-based and airborne systems. NAI builds upon a comprehensive family of standard power products resulting in power solutions that meet customer specific requirements – FAST. COTS and modified COTS power supplies provide intelligent monitoring, control and communications. Features include; I2C communications, geographical addressing, current sharing and nuclear event shutdown. When it comes to power solutions for the most demanding applications, NAI delivers. 3U cPCI/VPX & 6U VME/cPCI/VPX High power density up to 1500W Integrated EMI filtering
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SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Costs and Capabilities of Pre-Validated Systems
Validated Compact Systems Reduce Costs and Development Cycles Demands to curb size, weight and power are stronger than ever. By using pre-tested COMs-based platforms as system building blocks, designers can reduce cost and development time. RJ McLaren, Portfolio Manager, Avionics & Military Products, Kontron
S
mall form factor design is more essential than ever in the modern military – particularly as unmanned and portable systems play a larger role in the data gathering missions that drive safety, intelligence and leadership. Validated small form factor systems represent the next generation in these designs, ensuring cost-effective, flexible design and creating a trusted COTS platform for the most rugged mil-aero computing environments. These pre-tested platforms reduce development cycles, enable fast Proof-of-Concept (PoC) designs and act as flexible, standards-based building blocks for small, high performance systems. Systems based on Computer-on-Modules (COMs) now couple mezzanine modules with the carrier board—packaged in a rugged housing and enabling use and reuse of low power, reliable designs. Enabling a virtually perfect-fit design by virtue of carrier board and mezzanine card options, these small form factor systems add significant value when paired with processor upgradability. As a result, developers have a fully tested, costeffective design path that reduces time to market and remains optimized for the range of mil-aero design requirements.
“By Design” Validated Systems Validated enclosed systems offer access to COMs’ extended thermal characteristics 28
COTS Journal | November 2014
“by design,” a process incorporating COMs that have been specifically engineered and optimized for reliable performance in extended temperatures ranging from -40 to +71 degrees C. These types of sealed IP67 systems are specifically developed to support high-rugged applications like vehicle- or helicopter-based computing needs. Adding integrated video processing and display features create a notable advantage for graphics-heavy imaging and sensor data processing applications.
COMs-Based Building Blocks In a by design COM, suppliers test the complete system, validating individual components to ensure mission-critical performance and reliability under specific environmental conditions. In cases where the processor may not be fully temperature rated by design, it would then be 100 percent temperature screened for each production module. Most importantly, designers can scale computing performance as needed for specific application requirements. For example, the system can be configured with a very low power Intel Atom processor-based implementation or with a more powerful Intel Core i7 processor system. An example system based on COMs is Kontron’s COBALT (Computer Brick ALTernative), a next generation high-performance
embedded computer, is an example of an available pre-validated COMs-based system (Figure 1). Weighing in at less than six pounds and offering efficient thermal management in a small 8.5 (W) x 5.5 (D) x 3.9 (H)-inch form factor, its COM processor board forms the heart of the platform; the complete solution includes a rugged carrier board, power module, housing and appropriate I/O connectors in a fully-enclosed, fanless system. Flexible I/O combinations can be incorporated into the design via the applicationspecific customization on the carrier board, and standard features include LAN, SATA, video, audio, GPIO, configurable serial ports, and multiple USB. Shock and vibration profiles have been pre-validated to the diverse range of UAV, tracked vehicle, shipboard and avionics environments and may include advanced features to ensure rugged reliability. Other unique features include a special Rapid Shutdown circuit design on the RXT modules. This onboard mechanism allows the system to quickly shutdown and survive a high energy pulse such as a nuclear event or high energy electromagnetic pulse (EMP). Integrating mezzanine options with COMs-based systems such as COBALT allows developers to create new systems without significantly modifying the original base design. This method capitalizes on COM Express Type 6 pin-outs in the primary system. The
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
systems based on COM Express modules rely on a specific carrier board to host the module and I/O, rather than using a backplane. As a result, system engineers must determine in advance their ideal configuration for optimized application performance, often starting by evaluating established system profiles.
COTS Power Supplies
A Variety of Profiles Figure 1 The COBALT is a scalable embedded computer system, sealed and validated IP67, available with a wide selection of processor, storage, power and interface options. It is validated to perform in temperatures ranging from -40 to +71 degrees C.
Type 6 pin-out enables future design options by reallocating legacy PCI pins for digital display interfaces and additional PCI Express lanes. Extra PCI Express lanes can be routed to serial-based mezzanine card slots such as mPCIe (mini PCIe) and XMC; this in turn creates expansion options, allows a performance jump compared to devices incorporating earlier pin-out options, and enables an enhanced fourth generation graphics architecture (For more on mPCIe see sidebar “Pre-integration Enhanced by mPCIe Technology”).
Fast Development Using Profiles Facilitating system development are available XMC and mPCIe modules that leverage industry standard boards and provide additional I/O functionality. OEMs are able to capitalize on the system’s basic design and easily build a specific system profile for their designated application. A series of standard profiles further simplifies design – featuring performance attributes that are applicable to a variety of mil/aero deployments, ultimately reducing costs and accelerating development timelines. Performance options may include increased storage capabilities with either fixed or removable solid state drives, wireless connectivity such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX or a 3G/4G modem, or an L2/L3 GbE switch for additional network port connections. There is space for a limited number of mezzanine expansion slots, because small form factor
Removable Storage Profile: Storage devices commonly need to be removed and replaced in the field. Security concerns vary depending on the application, and may warrant removal of the storage device itself rather than having its data transmitted over a network interface. Using a validated small form factor system as a foundation for the application design, developers have easy access to a variety of storage types and capacities. Current needs can be addressed, and also allow system developers to easily update or reconfigure systems as requirements evolve. Replacement or extensive system changes are not necessary as higher capacity or better storage options become available; systems remain adaptable to meet new program requirements defined by military leadership. Situational Awareness Profile: Video capture, compression, storage and analytics are common applications for rugged small form factor systems in mil-aero settings. COMs-based systems have a growing foothold here, as the COM Express standard itself addresses long-life video support as a native feature within the chipset. Standard I/O access is currently enabled for VGA, LVDS, SDVO and now Displayport, DVI and HDMI; video cards are not always required or can be added via the XMC module. High performance is assured, as video processing does not borrow access from CPUs that may already be space-constrained for processor, chipset and memory. By adding a video encoder profile to support video capture and compression, enclosed COMs-based systems can support up to 4x composite video feeds. The system becomes a dedicated video or data acquisition system, including onboard 2x HDMI display outputs that readily accommodate real-time display and playback. Flexible data storage allows video to be recorded on fixed or removable solid state drives, or off-loaded via wired GbE network connectivity or wirelessly via the Wi-Fi or modem option.
High Power High Density VITA 62 Compliant NAI’s newest 3U and 6U VPX power supply products are VITA 62 compliant. These high-power, high-density, low-profile VPX power supplies accept +28 VDC, +270 VDC or AC input, and are available in configurations up to 700W. These power supplies also support VITA 46.0 and VITA 65 systems with an off-the-shelf solution that mechanically fits within the single slot envelope and is compatible with VPX electrical specifications. Up to 700 watts BIT and user programmable EMI filtering (MIL-STD-461) Input protection (MIL-STD-704)
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SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
Server Application Profile: High-speed signaling or image detection is frequently deployed in extreme rugged settings. For example, sensor arrays such as biometric, thermal, motion or radar are found onboard vehicles or helicopters, and perform by returning data back to the networked server also onboard the vehicle or aircraft. A switch-stacked profile is optimized for reliable performance here. A rugged switch option is added to the pre-tested COMs-based system, connecting sensors and devices such as IP cameras to a central server solution. Such a system may also add an application on top of the network server capability, used to evaluate data, communicate information or deliver essential command alerts.
Simplifying Using Flexible, Rugged Systems
Figure 2 Aircraft avionics systems are an example of where SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) concerns remain a priority. There is continuous demand for more functionality and performance in smaller packages to fit into the same system footprint.
Balancing Design with Application Needs Designers must balance latencies and overall signal processing speed in order to determine which profile offers ideal performance. For example, it may not be permissible to allow greater compression time to transmit analog data from a camera to an onboard network. Milliseconds matter in certain applications such as situational awareness, driving a design choice between a dedicated hardware solution or network-based system. Low latency requirements may demand a dedicated video or data acquisition profile; such systems are optimized for efficiently handling of specific tasks through special algorithms versus a server profile designed for more generic processing performance. Even though the server profile offers high performance data collection and storage, its performance is directly related to the limitations of
its connected devices. Servers can play an effective role in data offloading and management, by virtue of using two channels to route data. One channel can be reserved to execute specific functions related to certain types of data, such as delivering critical information to a command and control application; a second channel may route less critical information back to the server for offloading or future data analysis. Several pre-validated systems can also work together to address a larger set of performance requirements, for example connecting systems based on the situational awareness profile and the server profile. The same systems can also be configured to act as sensors, handled easily by adding an XMC signaling card and then networking the system back to the server profile.
Military embedded design is characterized by continually increasing demand for functionality and performance in smaller packages—yet many military computing environments have no option to expand system footprint in order to make room for increased power or performance. SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) concerns remain a priority, as mobile deployments are expanding and include challenging requirements for applications such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), vetronics and avionics systems (Figure 2). At the same time, designers must address the need for reliability and maintain a strategic design path to accommodate inevitable future upgrades in the same small space. Pre-integrated and application ready systems address these needs, and present developers with a highly effective starting point for complex designs. Using tested and proven small form factor systems based on proven COMs, developers can quickly meet today’s proof-of-concept and prototype design needs by adding their own application-specific software, and testing functionality that won’t lead to extensive costs or extended development timelines. Capitalizing on a trusted COTS design environment helps designers simplify and accelerate small form factor application deployments through the use of standards-based building blocks. Kontron Poway, CA. (888) 294-4558 www.kontron.com
Pre-integration Enhanced by mPCIe Technology Pre-integrated systems based on COMs enable a design strategy with a critical advantage for advanced video applications such as surveillance for situational awareness. The mPCIe mezzanine card for example offers a very small form factor in an offthe-shelf, standards-based card; using mPCIe, designers can access specialized I/O such as video encoding, ARINC 429 or MILSTD-1553 or more common wireless specifications like Wi-Fi, GSM or LTE. Systems can remain deployed longer and have a more flexible product lifecycle when this type of functionality is embedded in the mezzanine rather than in a custom-designed board. In this design scenario, ruggedized, thermal performance is validated at the board level from -40° to +85°C; all I/O from the baseboard relies on a proven rugged connector, while all external I/O employs a 38999 type MIL circular connector. System performance can evolve by swapping out modules to access processor advancements; by reusing proven designs in smaller systems, OEMs can easily extend functionality while avoiding additional customization costs and development resources. Developers avoid requalification of the design, while the system’s baseboard stack provides all necessary interconnects for the COM Express board and XMC and mPCIe interfaces.
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COTS Journal | November 2014
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS High Rel Power Supplies Roundup
Power Supplies and Converters Help Reduce System SWaP Choosing the right power supply technology is critical as military system developers strive to reduce system size, weight and power. Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
T
here’s no doubt that power supplies and converters are a part of meeting today’s rugged requirement in military system designs. To support such needs, vendors continue to roll out more efficient products, new partitioning strategies and increased ruggedization. These new solutions continue to emerge not just at the component or brick level, but also at the module and board level. Meanwhile, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) are now more critical than ever as computer and network gear pervade the battlefield. The kinds of UPS product needed by the military are quite distinct from the units designed for use in indoor, air-conditioned spaces and operate from clean power provided by the same local electric-utility provider that powers our homes and businesses. Those products are inexpensive and perform well in commercial and residential applications, but they were not designed nor manufactured for the harsh environments and strict operational requirements of military applications. To meet the requirements of these more demanding applications, it is essential that a high-quality, rugged product designed to pass strict military standards and made specifically for these harsh operating environments is deployed. In the realm of high-power-density DC/ DC converters, the modular form factor, 32
COTS Journal | November 2014
Figure 1 Reducing the weight of the onboard electronics, especially the powersupply subsystem, means a UAV can carry more fuel and support more advanced payloads.
commonly referred to as a brick, continues to be the preferred building block component for any application, commercial and military. But box-level modules also offer a level of integration that offer a more complete solution. There are a numbter of challenges military system designers when it comes to choosing power supplies and power conversion electronics. First there are the challenges of multivoltage electronics and the complexity of distributed system architecture. Meanwhile there’s the new focus reducing size, weight and power (SWaP) of system electronics. As more and more programs push for as much computer processing muscle as can possibly
fit into a board-level solution, are demands to fit more functionality in the same space or the same capability into a smaller footprint. In the air, this means smaller and longer endurance for systems like UAVs. On the ground, this means more weight can be allocated to the all-important armor of ground vehicles. The case of UAVs is particularly interesting because they are perhaps more directly affected by power by aggressive SWAP reductions. Reducing the weight of UAVs allows them to carry more fuel, support more advanced payloads—radar, imaging, sensors, navigation and guidance, uplinks and downlinks— and achieve longer flight times. Reducing the weight of the onboard electronics, especially the power-supply subsystem, is a major area for potential improvement (Figure 1). Even though reducing the power consumption of the payload is important, that’s in conflict with the desire for more processing capability. To reducing the weight of the power-supply subsystems system designers need to pay careful attention to the power-supply efficiency. Correction: In last month’s Roundup on Rugged Box Systems some of product photos were place with the wrong text. We apologize for the error. This problem has been corrected in the web version at www. cotsjournalonline.com/articles/view/104328.
Military DC-DC Power SuPPlieS VITA 62 Compliant High Efficiency Field Proven
VITA 62 Compliant High efficiency: 90% at full load 3U: 500W total output power 6U: 1000W and 800W total output power Active current share through backplane MIL-STD-461F, MIL-STD-704, and MIL-STD-810G Compliant Qualified to the most stringent VITA-47 levels Made in the United States of America. 1-978-849-0600 www.SynQor.com/C2
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
High Rel Power Supplies Roundup
Rugged Blade UPS Features High Power Density
Compact High-Efficiency DC/DC Converter Delivers 2100 Watts
Acumentrics has announced its powerful and portable Rugged Blade UPS. This double on-line conversion UPS brings a new level of power density to a wide range of military applications and environments. It provides 1250VA/1000W of AC or DC output power, and is scalable up to 8 kilowatts. The unit is approximately 60 percent lighter than the company’s current 1250VA product at only 28 lbs with the optional Li-ion battery pack and 33 lbs with the lead acid battery pack. It is a slim 1U profile at 1.75” high, 17” wide and 21 ¾” deep. The Rugged Blade UPS features a heatsink tunnel design and gasket-sealed enclosure that offers maximum protection for components from the damaging effects of moisture, airborne particles and other contaminates in the operating environment. This product accepts a wide range of voltage and frequencies, while providing clean, reliable AC and DC power as well as seamless input transition from AC shore power to DC power to the battery. The Rugged Blade UPS provides compatibility with global voltages and frequencies. It accepts AC input power from 80 VAC to 265 VAC and 47 to 440 Hz as well as DC input of 22 VDC to 32 VDC volts.
Calex has introduced the MBH Series of DC/ DC Converters. The MBH offers up to 2100 watts in a low-profile 9.0- x 6.5- x 1.25-inch ruggedized chassis mount package. The module weighs only 3.3 lbs., making the MBH ideal for harsh shock and vibration environments. The MBH Series’ high efficiency, up to 97%, is accomplished through the use of high-efficiency synchronous rectification, advanced electronic circuitry and thermal design. The operating temperature range for the MBH is -40° to 95°C with storage of -55° to 100°C. The MBH Series consists of five models. Three of the models offer a 10 to 16 VDC input range making them ideal for 12V mobile applications. The outputs are 28VDC at 40, 60 and 75 amps. The remaining two models have a 23 to 32VDC input range with output voltages of 12 and 13.5VDC, both at 100 amps. All models are highly regulated and no minimum load is required for any of the MBH models. The MBH topology utilizes a fixed switching frequency of 400 kHz. All models feature ON/OFF, non latching output over-voltage protection, thermal shutdown with auto restart, input reverse polarity protection, operating surge protection and short circuit protection.
Acumentrics Westwood, MA (781) 461-8251 www.acumentrics.com
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COTS Journal | November 2014
Calex Concord, CA (925) 687-4411 www.calex.com
Mil/COTS Power Supply Delivers 1,000 Watts at -40 °C A new ruggedized Mil/COTS modular power supply is designed to deliver 1000W at -40 °C. Designed for use in harsh operating environments that do not require -55C operation, the XFN powerPac from Excelsys Technologies is conformal-coated to withstand extremes in shock and vibration to MIL-STD-810G levels. It also carries full safety agency approvals including UL 606950 and is EMC characterized to MIL-STD-461F. Standard features in the series include 47-440Hz input frequency, 1.5 V to 58 V standard output voltages, and individual output control. Prices for configured units range from $549.00 to $778.00 in OEM quantities. Excelsys Technologies Rockwall, TX (972) 771-4544 www.excelsys.com
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS | High Rel Power Supplies Roundup
300W 3U VPX Power Supply is VITA 62 Compliant
High Temperature UPS Product Family Is UL 508 Listed
3-Phase Rugged UPS Has Hot Swappable Batteries
The new XPm2220 from Extreme Engineering Solutions is a VITA 62-compliant 3U VPX power supply. The XPm2220 takes in a MIL-STD-704 or MIL-STD-1275 28 VDC input voltage and provides up to 300W on 3.3 V, 5 V, and ±12 V at up to 90% efficiency. The XPm2220 also provides on-card MIL-STD-461E EMI filtering and MIL-STD-1275 transient suppression. The XPm2220 fits in a VITA 62-compliant 3U VPX 0.8 in. or 1.0 in. slot. Up to 25 A on 12 V, 2 A on -12 V, 40 A on 5 V, 20 A on 3.3 V, and 4 A on 3.3 V auxiliary can be supported on each rail, separately. The XPm2220 can provide a combined total output power of up to 300W at maximum operating temperature. The XPm2220 also can optionally be paired with another XPm2220 for load sharing. The XPm2220 also features an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) controller which monitors board input and output voltages and temperatures. In addition, the IPMI controller can turn off output power and monitor nuclear event detection circuitry.
Falcon Electric’s SSG Series Industrial UPS and SSG-RP Series High Temperature UPS product families achieved UL 508 listing. Achieving UL 508 listing assures electrical consultants, electrical panel board manufacturers and end-users that Falcon’s UPSs comply with the NFPA 70 National Electrical code and the new UL requirements including compliance to UL 508. These products feature a ruggedized wide temperature (-30° to 63°C) extended runtime battery bank option. The widetemperature-rated batteries provide long back-up runtimes for protecting connected computers and instrumentation operating in harsh environments during a prolonged power outage. The new battery pack gives users over 10 times the battery runtime, compared to Falcon’s standard 2U extended battery pack option. The battery bank carries a UL listing when powering Falcon’s unique ULlisted SSG2.5KRP-1. UL is pending for the remaining models in the SSG and SSGRP Series wide-temperature-rated UPS product line. The SSGB-1S40-5U 40AH battery bank is a rugged battery option that consists of eight deep cycle, valve regulated lead-acid, maintenance-free 40 amp hour (AH) batteries and two internal one amp chargers. The SSGB-1S40-5U 40AH is priced at $2,995.
Intellipower offers a power converter for airborne communication applications to provide clean stable power to sensitive electronic equipment from aircraft engines or Auxiliary Power Units (APUs). The system input is 3-Phase 115 VAC, 400 Hz and the output is 28 VDC at 2500 watts. The system provides input to output isolation and 3-Phase power factor correction. An LCD front control panel provides user interface for monitoring status and alarms. The system is 3U, 24-inches deep, and is designed and manufactured to meet MILSTDs 461F and 810F. The unit also features continuous 3 percent output voltage regulation and brownout protection without using battery,-25 to+15 percent from nominal. Over 50 user options are selectable from the front panel. Extensive communication and remote control options available along with power management software for popular platforms. Non-volatile UPS memory lets users record power events and history. Protection is provided from accidental output shutdown and loss of load. Cold start on battery is optional and input and output power connectors are configurable.
Extreme Engineering Solutions Middleton, WI. (608) 833-1155 www.xes-inc.com
Intellipower Orange, CA (714) 921-1580 www.intellipower.com
Falcon Electric Irwindale, CA (626) 962-7770 www.falconups.com
FIND the products featured in this section and more at
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COTS Journal | November 2014
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TECHNOLOGY FOCUS | High Rel Power Supplies Roundup
DC-DC Converter Target High/Low Side IGBT Drive Applications The MGJ2 series of 2 Watt high isolation dual output DC/DC converters from Murata Power Solutions are suitable for powering “high side” and “low side” gate drives in bridge circuits using insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and MOSFETs. Offering basic and supplementary insulation, with an isolation test voltage of 5.2 kVDC and conforming to the internationally recognized safety standard UL60950 (pending), the MGJ2 series can provide a key element of the end-product’s safety insulation system. Packaged in an industry-standard SIP format, they occupy a 1.96 cm squared footprint and achieve a power density of 0.81 Watts per cm cubed. The series comprises 12 models offering nominal input voltages of 5, 12, 15 or 24 VDC. For each input voltage there are three output voltage combinations available: +15/-5 VDC, +15/-8.7 VDC or +20/-5 VDC. The converters have a characterized dv/dt immunity, suiting reliable operation in fast switching applications. Partial discharge performance is also optimized to give a long service life. The MGJ2 series has an extended operating temperature range of up to +100 degrees C that suits industrial grade temperature ratings. Typical applications include high power AC/DC conversion, motor drives and solar power inverters. Murata Power Solutions Mansfield, MA (508) 339-3000 www.murata-ps.com FIND the products featured in this section and more at
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COTS Journal | November 2014
VITA 62, 6U AC/DC VPX Power Supply Delivers 700 Watt
3U Open VPX VITA 62 Compliant Power Supply Delivers 550 Watts
Many of today’s military systems rely heavily on high efficiency power supplies that can support OpenVPX requirements and withstand MIL-STD-704 low and high voltage transients. North Atlantic Industries (NAI) has announced the availability of its latest 6U rugged VPX power product — the VPX56-6. Ideally suited for rugged military and commercial aerospace applications, the VPX56-6 provides up to 700 watts of power (CC4 temperature range, full load) with five outputs and is compliant with MIL-STD-704F. Other features include current share, remote error sensing and a built-in EMI filter compliant with MILSTD-461, CE-102 — all within a single slot 1.0 inch pitch, 6U package. The VPX56-6 is designed to meet standard 6U VPX mechanical requirements and has VITA 62 compatible outputs and signaling. The conduction-cooled, 700 Watt unit supports 3 phase AC and +270Vdc inputs. Remote error sensing and current share are included. Basic pricing configuration starts at $4,250 (100s).
Behlman Electronics introduced its fourth COTS VPXtra Power Supply designed to support the rigors of mission critical airborne, shipboard, vehicle and mobile VPX applications. The latest in the family of Behlman VPXtra Power Supplies is the VPXtra 500M 3U COTS DC to DC power unit. This is a rugged, highly reliable, conduction cooled, switch mode unit. It is VITA 62, Open VPX compliant, and delivers up to 550 Watts of DC power via six outputs. The 12V, 3.3V, and 5V main outputs can be paralleled for higher power. VPXtra 500M can accept 18 to 36 VDC input, compliant with MIL-STD-704, and can supply a high-power DC output. VPXtra 500M power supplies have no minimum load requirement and have overvoltage and short circuit protection, as well as over current and thermal protection. Designed and manufactured with Xtra-Cooling, Xtra-Reliable Design and Xtra-Rugged Construction, the Behlman VPXtra 500M is your best choice for Open VPX system designs when 3U and VITA compliance are essential. In addition, the full line of Behlman VPX and VME Power Supplies can also be seen at vmevpx.com, a single online resource that enables fast, comprehensive searches of a wide variety of VME-VPX solutions.
North Atlantic Industries Bohemia, NY (631) 567-1100 www.naii.com.
Orbit Power Group Hauppauge, NY (631) 435-0410 www.vmevpx.com
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS | High Rel Power Supplies Roundup
Product Trio Meets a Variety of Military Power Needs
DC-DC Converter Support Ultra-Wide Temperature Range Operation
Line of Military COTS Quarter Bricks Delivers up to 300W
Pico Electronics has announced three new products designed to answer the everchanging needs of military system design engineers. The AC3 is an AC-DC module with a 3-phase input and output from 5 VDC to 300 VDC in a single brick design with up to 300 W ratings. The HiQP module offers a higher and wider input range of 125 VDC to 475 VDC in our compact ¼ brick design, with isolated DC output voltages from 5 VDC to 200 VDC and power ratings up to 50 W. The DC-1 is a higher power series that can offer an input voltage of 120 VDC to 370 VDC with isolated output voltages to 300 VDC.
Schaefer offers the TEC-100 and TEC-200 Series of isolated dc-dc converters that provide 100W and 200W of continuous power that feature high efficiency (up to 93 percent) and –60°С to +125 °С operating temperature range. These units are especially designed for heavy industrial applications and harshest environment conditions. The TEC Series provides both 2:1 and 4:1 wide dc input ranges of 9-18VDC, 9-36VDC, 18-36VDC, 18-75VDC, and 36-75VDC. Five single output models offer output voltages ranging from 5 to 28VDC. All modules also offer comprehensive protection circuitry including over-current, overtemperature and short-circuit protection. They can be enabled/disabled remotely and be easily connected in a parallel or series configurations. EMC filtering meets EN55022 Class A and EN 55022, Class В with an additional Schaefer filter. Worldwide safety approvals are to IEC/EN 60950 standards. The TEC Series converters are sealed in an efficient, heat-conducting potting material and they undergo special thermal and limit tests, including temperature cycling and burn-in. With the absence of opto-couplers and electrolytic capacitors in the converter’s circuit, a greater MTBF is ensured in high-temp applications. The low-profile 0.5 inch converters are available in metal cases with mounting flanges.
SynQor has released its Military COTS EXA Series of isolated and fully regulated DC-DC Converters. This new EXA Series offers up to 300W of power in a quarter brick package. These highly efficient (95 percent at full load), high power density DC-DC converters have a 28V nominal input voltage (16-40 Vin range with a 50V transient for 1 second). They are offered in five different output voltages: 5V, 12V, 15V, 28V and 50V. Each output voltage has a wide trim range of +10 to -50 percent. The converters also feature a fixed switching frequency that provides for predictable EMI performance. SynQor’s new quarter bricks are designed to meet MIL-HDBK-704, MILSTD-1275 and MIL-STD-461 when paired with SynQor’s MCOTS EMI filters. The Mil-COTS product line has also been qualified to MIL-STD-810. This ruggedized encased package with an industry standard pin out is ideal for meeting the Military’s “Size, Weight and Power” (SWaP) requirements. The EXA Series converter is a leading embodiment of SWaP in DCDC brick power technology. The device measures 1.54- x 2.39- x 0.50 inches and weighs 3.3oz.
Pico Electronics Pelham, NY (914) 738-1400 www.picoelectronics.com
SynQor Boxborough, MA (978) 849-0600 www.synqor.com
Schaefer Hopkinton, MA (508) 436-6400 www.schaeferpower.com FIND the products featured in this section and more at
www.intelligentsystemssource.com
COTS Journal | November 2014
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TECHNOLOGY FOCUS | High Rel Power Supplies Roundup
300W DC-DC Converter Series Enables Reduced Component Count TDK has introduced the 300W TDKLambda iEH series of isolated DC-DC converters. Featuring digital non-linear adaptive control, these converters provide better dynamic performance, improved system stability and reduced component count. Operating from a 48VDC nominal input, the iEH series can provide output voltages of 9.6 to 12V with currents up to 33A. The converters are in the industry standard eight brick package and include a baseplate with mounting holes for use with an external heatsink. Optimization of components using digital control enables up to 192W of output power with only 200LFM airflow in an 85oC ambient. Input to output isolation is 2,250VDC and input to baseplate is 1,500VDC. All models feature remote on/ off, over current, input under/over voltage protection, output over voltage protection and over temperature protection. TDK-Lambda Americas San Diego, CA (619) 628 2885 www.us.tdk-lambda.com/lp
FIND the products featured in this section and more at
www.intelligentsystemssource.com
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COTS Journal | November 2014
MIL-COTS PRM Regulator Offers High Power Density
DC-DC Converter Line Boasts Epoxy Encapsulated Package
Vicor’s PRM regulator (MPRM48NF480M500A00) is based on Vicor’s VI Chip platform. It provides power density of 106W/cm3 and efficiency of 97.7 percent. The new regulator delivers 500W output power in the same package size as Vicor’s earlier generation 120W MIL-COTS PRMs. When using Vicor’s VI Chip power components, power density gains of 4X can be achieved compared to conventional power modules—this can be a game changing advantage for UAV designs. The new PRM regulator is optimized for operation with Vicor’s MILCOTS Bus Converter Module (BCM) in 270 VDC applications, making it suitable for a wide range of applications including HVDC aircraft systems. The VI Chip product platform, now in its second generation, has been used successfully in advanced military applications for over a decade, and the new PRM is conformant with MIL-STD-704E/F. The free online Vicor PowerBench tool suite enables designers to easily configure, simulate and architect PRM-based power systems. The MIL-COTS PRM regulator is packaged in through-hole and surface mount options, and is available for order today from Vicor and its authorized distributors.
VPT has announced the availability of a fully encapsulated epoxy package option for its VPT Series of high-reliability DCDC converters, EMI filters and accessory products. The epoxy packaging allows for aqueous cleaning processes often required in higher volume circuit board production applications. Additionally, the epoxy encapsulated devices have integral metalized EMI shielding and withstand harsh environments including shock, vibration and thermal cycling. The VPT Series is designed specifically for military vehicles, weapons, shipboard, avionics and many other high-reliability applications. The full line of DC-DC converters, EMI filters and accessory products are derived from proven military heritage designs for rugged duty in demanding environments. The series is tested to MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-883, and JESD22. Additionally, the devices are designed with wide input voltage ranges per MIL-STD-704 and MIL-STD-1275. The VPT Series epoxy encapsulated package option is intended for water-wash assembly options such as high pressure sprays, wave solder and cleaning solvents. With the epoxy package, the devices can be utilized in a variety of chemical, solvent and salt environments without being damaged.
Vicor Andover, MA (978) 749-8359 www.vicorpower.com
VPT Blacksburg VA (425) 353-3010 www.vpt-inc.com
GE Intelligent Platforms
GPGPU: Now with added GPUDirect GPU technology is transforming ISR applications. More sensors. More data. More throughput. More performance. More information.
GE solutions to help turn the growing volume of sensor data into meaningful, actionable information.
But not all GPU technology is created equal. By eliminating the need for the CPU to be involved in every memory transfer, NVIDIA® GPUDirect™ RDMA delivers significantly lower latency and substantially improved response times.
So not only does it reduce slot count, weight and power consumption – it also reduces the time taken to deliver mission critical information. Sometimes, less is more.
Combining a 384-core NVIDIA Kepler GPU with an Intel® Core™ i7 CPU on a single 6U VPX board with support for GPUDirect RDMA enables For white papers and application details, visit:
defense.ge-ip.com/gpgpu
© 2014 General Electric Company. All rights reserved. All other brands, names or trademarks are property of their respective owners.
COTS
PRODUCTS
FIND the products featured in this section and more at
www.intelligentsystemssource.com
Rugged Subrack Chassis and Modules Comply to MicroTCA.1 Vadatech offers chassis and modules that are compliant to the MicroTCA.1 specification for air-cooled rugged applications. The MicroTCA.1 specification uses an enhanced retention screw to hold the modules in place for rugged environments. It defines a maximum operating shock of 25g and 8g of random vibration. The first in the line of Vadatech’s MicroTCA.1 subrack products is the VT930 subrack. The 3U high subrack features up to 12 AMC slots, including up to 6 full-size (6HP) and 6 mid-size (4HP) modules. The passive backplane in the VT930 is 40 GbE capable with dual MicroTCA Carrier Hub (MCH) slots and dual Power Module (PM) slots. Vadatech also offers modules in the MicroTCA.1 format, which require a latching screw for retention and stability. Vadatech, Henderson, NV. (702) 896-3337. www.vadatech.com
4th Gen Core i7 Haswell VME SBC Boasts Extensive Memory, BIOS Redundancy Aitech Defense Systems now offers the C163, a rugged 6U VME SBC based on the latest Intel, 4th generation Core i5 or multicore processors. With up to 16 Gbytes of fast DDR3L SDRAM and 128 Gbytes of SATA II Flash disk, the ruggedized board reliably operates over wide temperature ranges. Environments requiring reliable operation benefits from the board’s dual redundant BIOS Flash that ensures the boot process will redirect to the alternate device should the board fail to boot from the primary device. By integrating the low power, dual core (Core i5) or quad core (Core i7) Intel CPU with large memory arrays, the new SBC easily handles intense data requirements typical in modern video and graphics processing applications. Intel’s embedded HD graphics 4600 GPU, implemented on the processor, provides 20 execution units and is capable of 2D/3D graphics processing eliminating the need for separate GPU-based mezzanine boards. An included PCH-QM87 Lynx point platform controller hub integrates the platform I/O interfaces and supports both high-speed and legacy resources. This added design flexibility provides more efficient processing across the board. Two industry-standard PMC/XMC slots further enhance the board’s capabilities. Facilitating its high-speed operation and exceptional throughput, the board implements a Tundra-to-VMEbus bridge located on the PCI bus that incorporates two large FIFOs for optimal operation of the PCI and VME buses. The VME interface supports full master/slave capabilities and legacy VME protocols as well as A64/A32/A24/A16 addressing modes. Two included DMA engines support the high data rate transfers. Aitech Defense Systems, Chatsworth, CA. (888) 248-3248. www.rugged.com
16/8 Channel PMC Does Isolated Simultaneous Sampling ADC/DAC TEWS has announced the TPMC530, a PMC module with front panel I/O that provides 16 channels of isolated 16 bit simultaneous sampling analog input and 8 channels of isolated 16 bit simultaneous update analog output. The ADC offers true differential inputs with software selectable ±5 V and ±10 V bipolar input voltage ranges (one setting for all channels). The sampling rate is up to 200 ksamples/s and the ADC offers an oversampling capability with digital filter. The DAC offers software selectable 0-5 V, 0-10 V, ±5 V and ±10 V output voltage ranges (one setting for all channels). The conversion time is typ. 10 µs and the DAC outputs are capable to drive a load of 2 kΩ, with a capacitance up to 4000 pF. FIND the products featured in this section and more at
www.intelligentsystemssource.com
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TEWS Technologies, Reno, NV. (775) 850-5380. www.tews.com
COTS Journal | November 2014
COTS PRODUCTS
Fourth Generation Intel Core-Based AdvancedMC with RapidIO An Advanced Mezzanine Card (AdvancedMC) module features either a dual or quad-core Fourth Generation Intel Core processor combined with IDT’s Tsi721 PCIe to RapidIO bridge to deliver a low latency and scalable compute element. The new AM C1x/msd from Concurrent Technologies offers improved CPU processing performance as well as incorporating two 10Gbit Ethernet interfaces on the front panel for additional high speed network links. Fabric Interconnect Networking Software (FIN-S) is supported allowing developers to create applications that transparently span clusters of AM C1x/msd AdvancedMC modules utilizing the internal RapidIO interconnect for low latency complemented with Ethernet links for ubiquitous connectivity. Simultaneous with the module release, Concurrent Technologies is demonstrating a multicore HPEC cluster system based on the open standards Data Centre Compute and Networking (DCCN) solution as a member of the RapidIO Trade Association. This system has a CPU processing capability of 268.8 GFlops within a 1U enclosure suitable for fitment in an Open Compute Platform (OCP) 21” shelf. Four Concurrent Technologies AdvancedMC modules are fitted, mated with SATA3 based Solid State Drives (SSDs) for high performance and low power consumption. Concurrent Technologies, Woburn, MA (781) 933 5900. www.gocct.com
LCR Embedded System’s complete line of integrated rugged industrial and military systems, from off-the-shelf to fully customized, are ideal for all aspects of mission-critical computing. To learn more about what we can do for you and your application, contact us today. Our integrated systems feature VME, VPX, ATCA and CompactPCI architectures For chassis, backplanes and integrated systems, LCR Electronics is now LCR Embedded Systems.
(800) 747-5972 e-mail sales@lcrembedded.com www.lcrembeddedsystems.com
COTS Journal | November 2014
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Embedded and IoT Engineering is Hard – Are you Asking the Right Questions?
Building great embedded devices, including for the Internet of Things, is hard. What about security? Will your device meet performance, reliability, and cost requirements? Do you need an operating system, networking, a file system, a UI, or remote management?
transparent and frequent communication, and deliver on time and within budget.
Your technical and business requirements are the start. We provide turnkey solutions or work with your engineers. We execute using agile development methods, with
High Assurance Systems
Call for a no-cost consultation to accelerate getting your brilliant idea to market!
w w w. h i g h a s s u r e . c o m | ( 6 5 0 ) 7 9 9 - 6 6 1 9
Copyright Š 2014 High Assurance Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
COTS PRODUCTS
Flash of 1 GB is standard, with the option to expand up to 8 GB. The large on-board memory also includes up to 512 MB of fast DDR1 SDRAM with ECC protection for high data integrity as well as 512 KB of redundant
Boot Flash to meet both processor and application needs. Aitech Defense Systems, Chatsworth, CA. (888) 248-3248. www.rugged.com
Space-qualified 3U CompactPCI SBC Ready for Orbit A new 3U CompactPCI SBC has passed final 100 kRad (Si) testing for use in low (LEO) and medium (MEO) orbits and has demonstrated high confidence for geostationary orbits (GEO). The SP0 from Aitech Defense Systems was tested at the world-renowned Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF) that provides proton radiation testing for space exploration programs for NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The data collected during testing helped determine SEE sensitivity. Based on this information, Aitech calculated that the SP0 will be subject to only one single event functional upset per 1,186 days (3 years and 91 days) during orbit. This takes into account the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) with the SP0’s L1 and L2 caches enabled. Any performance degradation due to SEE mitigation was below the measurement error floor. The testing has validated the SP0’s reliable operation across a wide range of orbits. LEO covers 160 km (100 miles) to 2,000 km (1,250 mi); MEO is from 2,000 km (1,250 mi) to approximately 35,000 km (22,000 mi); and GEO is 36,000 km (22,236 mi) and above. The compact 3U SBC provides exceptional on-board functionality combined with a low power consumption of only 10 W. Using a MPC8548E PowerQUICCIII processor enables a processing speed of 1.17 GHz as well as 333.3 MHz of core complex bus (CCB) and fast DDR1 memory speeds. The SP0’s processor includes an e500 System-on-Chip (SoC) integrating both an L1 cache with 32 KB instruction and 32 KB data and a 512 KB L2 cache. A large user COTS Journal | November 2014
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COTS PRODUCTS
OpenVPX Processing Module Delivers 1.38 TFLOPS Performance Mercury Systems has announced the Ensemble HDS6603 High Density Server. The board is a single-slot, 6U OpenVPX (VITA 46/65) compliant module, the HDS6603 is powered by two 1.8 GHz Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 processors ( formerly codenamed “Haswell-EP”), each with 12 cores to deliver a total of 1.38 TFLOPS of general-purpose processing power. Each processor includes fused-multiply-add (FMA) functionality enabling common radar functions like fast Fourier transformations (FFTs) to be performed twice as quickly. On-board Gen 3 PCIe pipes feed the module’s switch fabric interconnects, which are managed by dual Mellanox ConnectX-3 devices to deliver 40 Gbit/s Ethernet or InfiniBand inter-module data rates. With the support of up to 128 Gbytes of DDR4 system memory, this high technology readiness level (TRL) processing resource consumes no more power than previous generations. Native Intel QuickPath Interconnect (Intel QPI) inter-processor interconnects support virtual cache coherent processor cores to create a true deterministic processing environment. SMP underscores the open and highly configurable nature of this module to support the widest array of existing software tools and libraries. Intel Advanced Vector Extension 2 (Intel AVX2) implementation enhances floating-point and intensely complex algorithm processing ability. Module options include air-cooled and rugged Air Flow-By deployable configurations with either InfiniBand or Ethernet data plane fabrics. Mercury Systems, Chelmsford, MA. (978) 967-1401. www.mrcy.com
CUBE
The
™
expansion enclosures
Choose from a variety of options: ExpressCard, PCIe, or Thunderbolt connectivity package
1, 2, 3, 5, or 8 slots
Full-length (13.25”), mid-length (9.5” ), or short card (7.5” )
Half-height or full-height cards
36W, 180W, 400W, 550W or 1100W power supply
Flexible and Versatile: Supports any combination of Flash drives, video, lm editing, GPU’s, and other PCIe I/O cards. The CUBE, The mCUBE, and The nanoCUBE are trademarks of One Stop Systems, Inc. Maxexpansion.com and the Maxexpansion.com logo are trademarks of One Stop Systems, Inc. Thunderbolt and the Thunderbolt logo are trademarks of the Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
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COTS Journal | November 2014
ORDER TODAY!
COTS PRODUCTS
Health Monitors and Rear Transition Modules Ride VME and VPX
Orbit Electronics Group has announced a family of six new 6U products includes two VME System Health Monitors, two 6U VPX System Health Monitors, and a Rear Transition Module (RTM) for each. The System Health Monitors feature a unique, proprietary GUI; Ethernet, USB and/or RS 232 interfaces; set-up; data logging; field upgradable firmware; and data password protection. VME HMC-A 6U System Health Monitors have 20 analog sensors (4 onboard and 16 external), plus 8 digital sensors. VME HMC-B 6U System Health Monitors have 9 analog sensors (1 onboard and 8 external) plus 8 digital sensors. VPX HMC-A 6U System Health Monitors have 20 analog sensors (4 onboard and 16 external), plus 8 digital sensors. VPX HMC-B 6U System Health Monitors have 9 analog sensors (1 onboard and 8 external) plus 8 digital sensors. Voltage monitoring accepts 4 inputs (+3.3 VDC, +5 VDC, +12 VDC, -12 VDC). VME 6U Rear Transition Module is designed as a companion board for the VME versions of Orbit HMC-A Health Monitors. It can also be used with any VME card to provide rear I/O in any VME system. Direct mapping from the P0 and P2 connectors to the RTM connectors allows signals to be brought off the backplane to interface to external equipment. VPX 6U Rear Transition Module is designed as a companion module for the VPX versions of Orbit HMC-A Health Monitors. VME-VPX, Orbit Electronics Group, Hauppauge, NY. (866) 309-8085. www.vmevpx.com
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COTS PRODUCTS
Mini-ITX Board Serves Up 4th Gen Core Processor American Portwell Technology has announced its WADE-8022 Mini-ITX embedded system board based on the 4th generation Intel Core processor BGA1364 (codenamed Haswell) and mobile Intel QM87 chipset. The board differentiates itself from existing Mini-ITX boards in the marketplace, which utilize a riser card to increase functional interfaces or additional PCIe/PCI slots, by horizontally leveraging an extension board to furnish a flexible platform that facilitates multiple functional expansion choices. Bridging PCIe signals through the gold finger to the extension board, WADE-8022 can easily support the functions on a two-slot-added FlexATX or three-slot-added microATX motherboard. This expansion mechanism also supports other interfaces transmitted via specific circuit design and component selection. Portwell can, therefore, quickly make ready a customized solution with additional, project-required features, such as LAN, Mini PCIe, and many more. Other features of the Portwell WADE-8022 Mini-ITX board include two DDR3L SO-DIMM slots supporting up to 16GB system memory; four USB 3.0 ports and six USB 2.0 ports; multiple display function via DVI-I/HDMI/DisplayPort/LVDS; two Gbit Ethernet; four SATA III supporting RAID 0, 1, 5,10; flexible expansion of one PCIe x16 and two Mini PCIe; and 12V DC input. American Portwell, Fremont, CA. (877) 278-8899. www.portwell.com
Expandable Mission Computer Serves up Core i7
RTOS Evaluation Kit Available for Altera SoC
RTD Embedded Technologies has announced a robust Core i7 CPU-based mission computer that offers high-performance for rugged applications in extended temperature environments. Choose from single-core, dual-core, and quad-core configurations. These systems feature a synchronized power supply, an integrated 2.5-inch SATA carrier, and standard I/O including Gigabit Ethernet, USB, Serial, SVGA, DisplayPort, and programmable digital I/O. The CPU is designed with soldered SDRAM and solid-state flash storage for high shock and vibration situations. The stackable PCIe/104 architecture allows system expandability for additional DAQ, I/O, storage, and network functionality. The Core i7 system is compatible with RTD’s complete line of IDAN data acquisition and peripheral modules. Tailored solutions include conformal coating, watertight enclosures with cylindrical MIL-SPEC connectors, and a variety of custom mounting, LED, and paint options.
eSOL has announced that the eT-Kernel Evaluation Kit is now available for the Altera Cyclon V SoC, which integrates the dualcore ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor with the FPGA fabric systems. The Evaluation Kit features all the required base software for application development, including eSOL's eT-Kernel Multi-Core Edition real-time operating system (RTOS), tightly integrated with the eBinder Integrated Development Environment (IDE), middleware components, and device drivers. With the free 30-day evaluation license, developers can easily and quickly evaluate the performance and quality of Cyclone V SoC and eT-Kernel. eT-Kernel facilitates the reuse of the software assets developed for uITRON, the most popular RTOS in Japan and Asian countries, because of its inheritance functions and architecture. Runtime software in the eT-Kernel/Cyclone V SoC Evaluation Kit includes dedicated device drivers for on-chip controllers on the Cyclone V SoC Development Board including the SD Memory Card, USB host, and Ethernet controllers, plus middleware components including file systems, network protocol stacks, and a USB host stack.
RTD Embedded Technologies, State College, PA. (814) 234-8087 www.rtd.com
eSOL, Tokyo, Japan. +81-3-5365-1560. www.esol.com
Short-depth 4U Chassis Features Dual-node Architecture Advantech has launched the 4U, dual-node, short-depth (350mm), industrial chassis ACP-4D00, which is designed for applications that require two computers in one piece of equipment for workload sharing or parallel computing. The dual node architecture allows the user to install two half-size slot SBCs in two sub-systems and integrate them in a compact 4U cage. Each node supports a CPU card with desktop Core i processor, 6-slot backplane and up to 350W power supply, so the computer node can be used for either traditional control applications or for high end CPU/GPU computing. ACP-4D00 depth is only 350mm, making it easy to integrate into equipment enclosures and leaving more space for air flow, device placement, and cable routing. FIND the products featured in this section and more at
www.intelligentsystemssource.com
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Advantech, Irvine, CA. (949) 789-7178. www.advantech.com
COTS Journal | November 2014
COTS PRODUCTS
Conduction Cooled OpenVPX Chassis Serves Development/Deployment Needs
Curtiss-Wright has announced that its Defense Solutions division has introduced a new high-power conduction-cooled rack mount OpenVPX chassis designed for use in commercial and military system development applications. The new 6-slot Hybricon DT-CC enclosure provides a low slot-count solution for aerospace and defense system developers that require a rack-mounted OpenVPX subsystem for use in lab development, ground fixed, and transit case applications. Designed to support modules rated at up to 150W per slot, the DT-CC features high performance fans and ensures <55C chassis and 25 C conduction rail temperatures. It is optionally available configured with a Curtiss-Wright Fabric40 Gen 3 OpenVPX backplane rated for 10.3 Gbaud data transfers. This new OpenVPX chassis complements CurtissWright’s extensive family of development enclosures, including the 16-slot RME13CC conduction-cooled rack mount chassis, COOL-CC6 6-slot conduction-cooled desktop chassis, and DT-XC 6-slot aircooled Rack Mount chassis. Designed to stringent Curtiss-Wright Gen3 Signal Integrity (SI) design rules, Hybricon Fabric40 backplanes exceed VITA 68 VPX compliance channel draft standard guidelines. Curtiss-Wright’s proprietary SI methods minimize signal impairments, such as high return loss, crosstalk and mode conversion (patent pending), to deliver reliable SI performance at speeds up to 10.3 Gbaud. The Hybricon DT-CC chassis is available now.
AIA
CONVERTER
Avionics Power Supply Solutions EMI - TRANSIENTS - HOLD UP - CONVERSION
Gaia Converter’s proven power modules protect and regulate power for avionic applications. Example Block Diagram for a Flight Sensor: +5V +15V
28VIN
-15V
EMI Filters
Transient Suppression
Hold-Up Modules
DC-DC Converters
• DO160 C-F
• MilL-STD-704 A-F
• 50ms, 200ms & up
• 1 ~ 3 Output Modules
• Passive, common & differential modes
• DO160 C-F
• Charge, monitoring • DO160 & Mil-Std & switching functions 704 Input Ranges
2 / 10 / 20 Amps
50 / 100 / 300 Watts
50 / 300 Watts
4 ~ 200 Watts
Curtiss-Wright Controls Solutions, Ashburn, VA. (703) 779-7800 www.cwcdefense.com.
w w w . g a i a - c o n v e r t e r . c o m COTS Journal | November 2014
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COTS
ADVERTISERS INDEX GET CONNECTED WITH INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS SOURCE AND PURCHASABLE SOLUTIONS NOW Intelligent Systems Source is a new resource that gives you the power to compare, review and even purchase embedded computing products intelligently. To help you research SBCs, SOMs, COMs, Systems, or I/O boards, the Intelligent Systems Source website provides products, articles, and whitepapers from industry leading manufacturers---and it's even connected to the top 5 distributors. Go to Intelligent Systems Source now so you can start to locate, compare, and purchase the correct product for your needs.
Index
www.intelligentsystemssource.com
Company Page# Website
Company Page# Website
Acromag..............................................45........................... www.acromag.com Adlink..................................................13.........................www.adlinktech.com Ballard Technology, Inc.........................7........................ www.ballardtech.com Creative Electronic Systems................12...................................... www.ces.ch Cots Product Gallery............................49......................................................... Data Device Corporation......................5............................ www.ddc-web.com Extreme Engineering Solutions............52..............................www.xes-inc.com Gaia....................................................47.................. www.gaia-converter.com GE Intelligent Platforms......................39............................ defense.ge-ip.com Great River Technology........................20...................www.greatrivertech.com Harting................................................14...................... www.harting-usa.com High Assurance Systems.....................42........................www.highassure.com Innovative Integration.........................43..................www.innovative-dsp.com Intelligent Systems Source..................26.. www.intelligentsystemssource.com Interface Concept................................24.............. www.interfaceconcept.com LCR Embedded Systems, Inc...............41........ www.lcrembeddedsystems.com Lind Electronics, Inc............................26.................. www.lindelectronics.com
Mercury Systems, Inc. ........................15................................. www.mrcy.com Mobile Pathways.................................25................www.mobilepathways.com North Atlantic Industries..................27, 28................................. www.naii.com One Stop Systems, Inc. ....................31, 44.............www.onestopsystems.com Orbit Electronics Group and Orbit Power Group......................19......................................vmevpx.com Pentek, Inc..........................................21.............................. www.pentek.com Phoenix International Systems, Inc. .....4............................ www.phenxint.com Pico Electronics, Inc............................23................. www.picoelectronics.com Red Rock Technologies, Inc..................4....................... www.redrocktech.com RTD Embedded Technologies, Inc. .......2..................................... www.rtd.com SIE Computing Solutions.....................17............................... www.sie-cs.com SynQor, Inc..........................................33...............................www.synqor.com TE Connectivity...................................18...................................... te.com/adm Trenton Systems, Inc. .........................51.................www.trentonsystems.com
COTS Journal (ISSN#1526-4653) is published monthly at 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 250, San Clemente, CA 92673. Periodicals Class postage paid at San Clemente and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to COTS Journal, 905 Calle Amanecer, Ste. 250, San Clemente, CA 92673.
COMING NEXT MONTH Special Feature: Advanced Payloads Broaden Small UAV Capabilities
The flight control, mission control and communications gear aboard Small UAVs—like the Raven, Dragon Eye, Shadow and Killer Bee—face some of the most rigorous size, weight and power restrictions. Selecting the right embedded electronics and embedded computers in those systems becomes a make or break decision. This section focuses on the electronics aboard UAVs under 1,320 pounds and range from Line-of-sight control UAVs up to those that fall under the “light sport aircraft” standards.
Tech Recon: Optical Backplane Technologies Get Real
Optical backplane technologies have been discussed in theory in the embedded industry for decades. But demand for high-bandwidth interconnects and the likely widespread adoption of optical backplanes in the commercial market, are both factors moving the idea toward reality. This year products and standards for this technology have finally emerged driven be demands for even faster interconnect speeds.
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COTS Journal | November 2014
System Development: Rugged Box vs. Slot Card Systems for Technology Upgrade Programs
Traditional embedded board vendors now routinely offer stand-alone rugged box-level systems as part of their military market offerings. These complete system boxes provide a complete, tested and enclosed computing solution that eliminates complex integration chores for customers. This section looks at this critical product class and the trade-offs versus slot-card solutions, and how system consolidation is impacting the choices made in technology upgrade programs across land, air and sea military applications.
Tech Focus: XMC and FMC Boards
XMCs are becoming entrenched as the natural successor to PMC as the leading mezzanine form factor in military applications. Meanwhile the VITA FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) specification defines an I/O mezzanine module designed to work intimately with an FPGA. FMC modules enable I/O devices that reside on an industry standard (VITA 57) mezzanine card to be attached to and directly controlled by FPGAs that reside on a host board. This Tech Focus section updates readers on these trends and provides a product album of representative XMC and FMC products.
COTS PRODUCT GALLERY NEW! ADLMES-8200 High-Ingress Protection (IP) Rugged SFF Modular Enclosure Systems
ARINC 818 Flyable Video Converter Module (VCM)
• Modular Design Supports Variable PC/104 Stack Heights (2 - 6 Cards) or Expanded 3.5” SBC Intelligent Systems • Three Basic Size Profiles Available To Reduce Time To Market • Quick Turn Front I/O Plate Can be Easily Customized • IP60 and IP65 Configurations • Wide Range of PC/104 SBCs Ranging From Low Power Atom to 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 • Options For MIL-STD 810, 461/704/1275
This flight-hardened unit converts between DVI, RS-170, or HDSDI and ARINC 818, easily adapting legacy equipment for use in modern ARINC 818 architectures. • RTCA DO-160F hardware qualification • HIRF-protected, EMI-shielded design • Robust 38999 Series circular connector • Enclosure less than 5 x 4 x 2.5 inches (including connector) • 20 to 34 VDC power input; 6W • DO-254 certification available
ADL Embedded Solutions Inc. Phone: (858) 490-0597 Email: sales@adl-usa.com Web: www.adl-usa.com
Great River Technology Phone: (505) 881-6262 Email: sales@greatrivertech.com Web: http://www.greatrivertech.com/arinc-818-vcm.html
ARINC 818 LAD, HUD, and Cockpit Display Development
COMe-bHL6 - COM Express® basic Type 6 with 4th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor
Great River Technology’s Matrix cards receive and display ARINC 818 streams, convert to or from DVI, or generate ARINC 818 streams. • PCIe or XMC form factor • SDK available for applications development • ATP for production displays • Cockpit and mission computer simulation • Channel-bonded paths for large area displays • Data-only return paths for touch-screen control
The highly scalable COBALT (COmputer Brick ALTernative) product family is based on the COMe module Basic & Compact form factor module (Type 6) with specialized carrier board assembly. Available with a wide selection of power, interface options, thermal solutions, and mounting kits. Compact footprint and power-to-performance optimization make it the ideal solution for applications requiring high performance, reduced size-weight-power in an environmentally ruggedized platform.
Great River Technology Phone: (505) 881-6262 Email: sales@greatrivertech.com Web: h ttp://www.greatrivertech.com/arinc-818-framegrabber.html
Rugged Long-term Embedded Intel Solution • Up to Quad Core i7 processor DDR3 ECC RAM up to 16GB Ext. temp. -40°C up to +85°C No fan & full power • 8 - 36/48 VDC • Open Frame up to IP67 housing • OEM and customized solutions • 10+ years availability • 20+ years repairable • 100% designed & produced in Switzerland
MPL AG Switzerland Phone: +41 56 483 34 34 Email: info@mpl.ch Web: www.mpl.ch
Kontron Phone: (888) 294-4558 Email: sales@kontron.com Web: www.kontron.com
SIU31 Sensor Interface Unit – Customer Configurable I/O, Communications and Processing • 3U cPCI multi-function I/O boards, SBCs and sensor interface units with unique mix-and-match architecture • Configure up to 3 I/O and communications function modules • 40+ different functions available • SBC-less, standalone operation supported via • Ethernet connection to your mission computer • 1 x 3U cPCI slot • Processor options: Freescale PowerPC QorIQ® P2041, Intel® Core™i7, Intel® Atom™ or ARM Cortex-A9 • MIL-STD-461F, MIL-STD-1275 & 704A
North Atlantic Industries Phone: (631) 567-1100 Email: info@naii.com Web: www.naii.com
Scalable Gigabit Ethernet Switches
RTD Embedded Technologies, Inc.
• Rugged, enclosed Ethernet switch systems • Up to 56 total Ethernet ports (8 ports per slice) • Includes 88-Watt synchronous power supply • RJ-45 Jacks or 37-pin D-sub receptacles • Auto MDI crossover • Any port can be upstream or downstream • Jumbo Frame Support (up to 9018 bytes) • -40°C to +85°C operating temperatures
Phone: 814-234-8087 Email: sales@rtd.com Web: www.rtd.com/switch AS9100 & ISO 9001 Certified
COTS Journal | November 2014
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COTS Journal’s
MARCHING TO THE NUMBERS Forty Three The number of F-35 Lightning II aircraft to be build based on an agreement in principle reached by the U.S. DoD and Lockheed Martin. Cost details will be released once the contract is finalized; however, in general, the average unit price for all three variants of the airframe in LRIP 8 is approximately 3.6 percent lower than the previous contract. This is part of an initiative to reduce the price of an F-35 5th generation fighter to the equivalent of today’s 4th generation fighters by the end of the decade.
$153.6
Million
340 miles
Distance to which the U.S. Army’s JLENS platform can detect and track moving objects like cruise missiles, drones and airplanes. Raytheon recently completed a series of laboratory tests that demonstrated the JLENS radar can be integrated into NORAD. JLENS is a system of two aerostats, or tethered blimps, that float 10,000 feet in the air. The helium filled aerostats, each nearly as long as a football field, carry powerful radars that can protect a territory roughly the size of Texas from airborne threats.
The value contract awarded to BAE Systems from the U.S. Army to convert 53 M88A1 recovery vehicles to the M88A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift Evacuation System (HERCULES) configuration. Work on the contract will extend the M88 production line within the Combat Vehicle Industrial Base through 2016. With its 70,000 pound boom, the HERCULES is able to hoist and tow twice the weight of its predecessor, the M88A1 and is the only vehicle able to recover the M1 Abrams tank and the heaviest MRAP variants in a combat environment.
$15.06 Billion 87 Inches Diameter of the two larger tubes in the new Block III Virginia-class submarines. The tubes are able to house six Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMS) each. Last month the USS North Dakota (SSN 784) was commissioned and officially became the Navy’s newest addition to the submarine force and is the first of eight Block III Virginia-class submarines to be built. The class is designed to carry antisubmarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, delivery of special operations forces, strike warfare, irregular warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and mine warfare. 50
COTS Journal | November 2014
The worth of the multi-function display market by 2020 according to a new market research report, now available from ASDReports. The report estimates the multi-function display (MFD) market to be $8.92 billion in 2014 and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 9.12% to reach the $15.06 billion. This report provides an overview of drivers, challenges, and restraints that impact the industry. It tracks, analyzes, and lays out the market size of the major spenders in each region and analyses technologies such as LED, AMLCD, TFT, OLED, and Synthetic Vision.
Module and System-Level Solutions from Intel® and Freescale™ Single Board Computers
XPedite7570
4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-based 3U VPX SBC with XMC/PMC
XCalibur1840
Freescale QorIQ T4240-based 6U VPX SBC with dual XMC/PMC
Secure Ethernet Switches and IP Routers
XPedite5205
Secure Gigabit Ethernet router XMC utilizing Cisco™ IOS®
XChange3018
3U VPX 10 Gigabit Ethernet managed switch and router
High-Performance FPGA and I/O Modules
XPedite2400
Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA-based XMC with high-throughput DAC
High-Capacity Power Supplies
XPm2220
3U VPX 300W power supply with EMI filtering for MIL-STD-704 & 1275
Rugged, SWaP-Optimized, COTS-Based Systems
XPand4200
Sub-½ ATR, 6x 3U VPX slot system with removable SSDs
XPand6200
SFF 2x 3U VPX system with removable SSD and integrated power supply
XPand6000
SFF Intel® Core™ i7 or Freescale QorIQ-based system with XMC/PMC
Extreme Engineering Solutions 608.833.1155 www.xes-inc.com
Designed, manufactured, and supported in the USA