Military Embedded Systems July/August 2022 by OpenSystems Media

@military_cots www.MilitaryEmbedded.com July/August 2022 | Volume 18 | Number 5 John McHale Mid-year MES update 9 University Update The future of microelectronics 10 Special Report Data in the military metaverse 16 Industry Spotlight Optimizing the edge 34 P 38 RUGGEDIZATION, SPACE CONSTRAINTS AN ONGOING CHALLENGE FOR MILITARY DATA-AT-REST P 26 Dealing with a real-world thermal triple threat By Kevin Griffin, Atrenne

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COLUMNS Editor’s Perspective 9 Happenings: education,conference,legal-techMOSADanTaylor By John McHale University Update 10 Program puts national focus onthe ofmicroelectronicsfuture By Lisa Daigle Mil Tech Insider 11 Rightsizing DSPapplicationsperformanceprocessorfortoday’s By Denis Smetana THE LATEST Guest Blog 43 Key to ConvergingJADC2:strategic and tactical communications By Mark Hutchins, Raytheon Intelligence & Space Editor’s Choice Products 44 By Mil Embedded Staff Connecting with MilEmbedded 46 By Mil Embedded Staff 4 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com All registered brands and trademarks within Military Embedded Systems magazine are the property of their respective owners. © 2022 OpenSystems Media © 2022 Military Embedded Systems ISSN: Print 1557-3222 ON THE COVER: The battlefield is filled with people, drones, and other systems gathering reamsof critical data. Unlike in a commercial environment, there's no sprawlingdata center with lots of fans to keep the equipment cool while providing multiple layers of security to protect this data from falling into the wrong hands. This situation creates challenges that many companies are hardatwork trying to solve. @military_cotshttps://www.linkedin.com/groups/1864255/ FEATURES SPECIAL REPORT: Leveraging Big Data for military applications 12 The critical data thread tying together the military supply chain, logistics, and equipment support By Matt Medley, IFS 16 Data in themilitary metaverse: enterprise terrain management for training By Pete Morrison, BISim 20 Big data on mobilenetworks: the role of software-defined radio (SDR) By Brendon McHugh and KaueMorcelles, Per Vices MIL TECH TRENDS: Trusted computing/securing data-at-rest 26 Ruggedization, space constraints an ongoing challenge for military data-at-rest By Dan Taylor, Technology Editor INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT: Rugged computing & thermal management 28 VPX: The state ofthe ecosystem 2022 By Jerry Gipper 34 Optimizing the edge through distributed disaggregation By Anton Chuchkov, Mercury 38 Dealing with a real-world thermal triple threat By Kevin Griffin, Atrenne 40 Unified network communications management: the next step to realizing MOSA By Dominic Perez, Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Published by: www.militaryembedded.com July/August 2022 Volume 18 | Number 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS WEB RESOURCES Subscribe to the magazine or E-letter Live industry news | Submit new http://submit.opensystemsmedia.comWHITEhttps://militaryembedded.com/whitepapersWHITEhttp://submit.opensystemsmedia.comproductsPAPERS–Read:PAPERS–Submit: 3840 To unsubscribe, email your name, address, and subscription numberas it appears on the label to: subscriptions@opensysmedia.com

: 631-435-0410 : sales@behlman.com : www.behlman.com: 631-435-0410 : sales@behlman.com : www.behlman.com BEHLMAN LEADS THE PACK AGAIN! VPXtra® 1000CD5-IQI > 6U power module developed in alignment with the SOSA Technical Standard > Delivers 1050W DC power via two outputs > VITA 46.11 IPMC for integration with system management VPXtra® 700D-IQI > 3U power module developed in alignment with the SOSA Technical Standard > Delivers 700W DC power via two outputs > VITA 46.11 IPMC for integration with system management FIRST PROVEN VPX POWER SUPPLIES DEVELOPED IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE SOSA™ TECHNICAL STANDARD Behlman introduces the first test-proven VPX power supplies developed in alignment with the SOSA Technical Standard. Like all Behlman VPXtra® power supplies, these 3U and 6U COTS DC-to-DC high-power dual output units feature Xtra-reliable design and Xtra-rugged construction to stand up to the rigors of all mission-critical airborne, shipboard, ground and mobile applications. SOSA™ and logo design and The Open Group Certification Mark™ are trademarks of The Open Group in the United States and other countries. The Power Solutions Provider

6 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com WEBCASTS Info JADC2 and Data-Centricity: Creating a Joint Posture of Deterrence Sponsored by (thishttps://bit.ly/3RK2zW6RTIisanarchivedwebcast) Applications for Future SOSA Conformant Solutions Sponsored by Aitech and Curtiss-Wright https://bit.ly/3zelFwd (this is an archived webcast) GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR John McHale john.mchale@opensysmedia.com ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Lisa Daigle lisa.daigle@opensysmedia.com TECHNOLOGY EDITOR – WASHINGTON BUREAU Dan Taylor dan.taylor@opensysmedia.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Stephanie Sweet stephanie.sweet@opensysmedia.com WEB DEVELOPER Paul Nelson paul.nelson@opensysmedia.com EMAIL MARKETING SPECIALIST Drew Kaufman drew.kaufman@opensysmedia.com WEBCAST MANAGER Ryan Graff ryan.graff@opensysmedia.com VITA EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Jerry Gipper jerry.gipper@opensysmedia.com SALES/MARKETING DIRECTOR OF SALES Tom Varcie tom.varcie@opensysmedia.com (734) 748-9660 DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Eric Henry eric.henry@opensysmedia.com OPERATIONS & AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT (541) 760-5361 STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGER Rebecca Barker rebecca.barker@opensysmedia.com (281) 724-8021 STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGER Bill Barron bill.barron@opensysmedia.com (516) 376-9838 STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGER Kathleen Wackowski kathleen.wackowski@opensysmedia.com (978) 888-7367 SOUTHERN CAL REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Len Pettek len.pettek@opensysmedia.com (805) 231-9582 DIRECTOR OF SALES ENABLEMENT Barbara Quinlan barbara.quinlan@opensysmedia.com AND PRODUCT MARKETING (480) 236-8818 INSIDE SALES Amy Russell amy.russell@opensysmedia.com STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGER Lesley Harmoning lesley.harmoning@opensysmedia.com EUROPEAN ACCOUNT MANAGER Jill Thibert jill.thibert@opensysmedia.com TAIWAN SALES ACCOUNT MANAGER Patty Wu patty.wu@opensysmedia.com CHINA SALES ACCOUNT MANAGER Judy Wang judywang2000@vip.126.com PRESIDENT Patrick Hopper patrick.hopper@opensysmedia.com EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT John McHale john.mchale@opensysmedia.com EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND ECD BRAND DIRECTOR Rich Nass rich.nass@opensysmedia.com ECD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Brandon Lewis brandon.lewis@opensysmedia.com TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Curt Schwaderer curt.schwaderer@opensysmedia.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tiera Oliver tiera.oliver@opensysmedia.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Taryn Engmark taryn.engmark@opensysmedia.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Chad Cox chad.cox@opensysmedia.com CREATIVE PROJECTS Chris Rassiccia chris.rassiccia@opensysmedia.com MARKETING COORDINATOR Katelyn Albani katelyn.albani@opensysmedia.com FINANCIAL ASSISTANT Emily Verhoeks emily.verhoeks@opensysmedia.com SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER subscriptions@opensysmedia.com CORPORATE OFFICE 1505 N. Hayden Rd. #105 • Scottsdale, AZ 85257 • Tel: (480) 967-5581 REPRINTS WRIGHT’S MEDIA REPRINT COORDINATOR Kathy Richey clientsuccess@wrightsmedia.com (281) 419-5725 WWW.OPENSYSMEDIA.COM EVENTSADVERTISERS PAGE ADVERTISER/AD TITLE 23 AirBorn – Small, modular, & fast with speeds up to 25 Gbps! 2 Analog Devices, Inc. –Power for your world 7 Atrenne – Rugged & ready when you are 5 Behlman Electronics, Inc. –Behlman leads the pack again! 15 Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions (CAES) – Enabling next-gen flight processing 19 Elma Electronic – Leaders in open standards. Enabling the warfighter with OpenVPX 3 GMS – X9 Spider: The world's smallest battlefield mission system 27 GMS – Executive Speakout: Conducting an orchestra of heat 8 Herrick Technology Labs –Extend your transceivers to 44 GHz 22 Interface Concept –Prioritize a unique sourcing 48 Mercury Systems, Inc. –The next big thing in RFSoC is here; and it's only 2.5" x 4" 31 Phoenix International –Phalanx II: The ultimate NAS 31Verotec – Electronic enclosures 37 Z Microsystems, Inc. –ExecutiveSpeakout: Reliability is the foundation of rugged systems AUSA 2022 Annual Meeting & Exhibition October 10-12, 2022 Washington, https://meetings.ausa.org/annual/2022/DC 59th Annual AOC International Symposium & Convention October 25-27, 2022 Washington, https://www.crows.org/mpage/2022HOMEDC Aerospace Tech Week Americas November 8-9, 2022 Atlanta, https://www.aerospacetechweek.com/americas/GA

Atrenne Computing Solutions | sales@atrenne.com | 508-588-6110 atrenne.comrugged & ready when you are benclosuresackplanes system integration custom OpenVPXSOSA™CompactPCIVPXVMEsolutions™™ [OpenVPX [configured and ready to ship ™ ...

Law-Tech Connect Workshop Online

Happenings: MOSA conference, legal-tech education, Dan Taylor

MOSA Conference In my role as a member of the Advisory Committee for Aerospace Tech Week, I am organizing a one-day MOSA con ference trac for the e ent’s ﬁrst . . instantiation: erospace Tech Week Americas, to be held November 8-9 in Atlanta, Georgia. The MOSA Conference Track will educate attendees on how MOSA strategies and open architecture initiatives such as SOSA and FACE are being deployed in military systems and how these approaches enable faster adoption of commercial Thetechnology.one-day track will include a keynote and three sessions: Open Architectures for Military Aviation Platforms; MOSA Strategies for Sensor Application; and Leveraging Commercial Technology for Defense Applications. For more information on the conference, visit

Dan Taylor Lastly, allow me to introduce our new Technology Editor – Washington Bureau, Dan Taylor. He brings 15 years of jour nalism experience co ering the military technology industry at nside The a y, ea ower agazine, and efense aily, and he has written for such other pub licationsas , ilitary erospace lectronics, and e en ilitary mbedded ystems. Taylor’s also covered the Sea-Air-Space show for more than 15 years. ased in entagon ity, Taylor will be a ﬁxture for us at ashington conferences and trade shows, and will be covering all key areas for us with a focus on AI and unmanned systems. Don’t miss his article on trusted computing and data-at-rest on page . Taylor can be reached at: dan.taylor@opensysmedia.com.

Kicking off the second half of this year, we published the 2022 SOSA Special Edition. Those of you receiving this issue in the mail also received a copy of the 76-page magazine, our second volume highlighting editorial content on The Open Group’s Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) Technical Standard from the pages and website of Military Embedded Systems Magazine, as well as the products aligned and conformant to the technical standard. If you don’t have a copy, visit us online at https://militaryembedded.com to peruse the latest 2022 SOSA Special Edition. The pecial dition follows on our ﬁrst edition covering the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Technical Standard, which we published in May and may be viewed here: https://issuu.com/opensystemsmedia/docs/face_

Our contributing editor Dawn Zoldi (Col., U.S. Air Force, Ret.), president of P3 Consulting, writes pieces for Military Embedded Systems on topics such as autonomous systems, drones, AI artificial intelligence , and counter-drone technology, plus she is also a legal expert in the autonomous and military fields. At this past April’s Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) XPONENTIAL 2022, she hosted the LawTech Connect Workshop, which provided technological and legal educational content on multidomain autonomous systems and AI, 5G, and more. The workshop included eight sessions, including one moderated by me: “Autonomous Vehicles: Air, and, and ea anes featuring panelists ean riffith, f Counsel, Jones Day; Tracy Reynolds, Fleet Judge Advocate, Commander SECOND Fleet, U.S. Navy; and Matthew Henshon, Partner, Henshon Klein. The workshop content was so good and relevant that we are working with Zoldi to present four of the prerecorded ses sions online – including my panel discussion – in the Law-Tech Connect Workshop Online, a pay-per-view virtual event hosted by Military Embedded Systems featuring a live Q&A with Zoldi, James Poss (Maj. Gen., U.S. Air Force, Ret.), the CEO of ISR Ideas; and David Michelson, Program Manager, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), to be held on August 31, 2022. For attorneys, the event offers a total of 4 CLE Credit Hours general or technology credits from the Florida Bar that are selfcertifiable and transferable to other urisdiction. To register and beat the early bird deadline, visit series/law-tech-connect-workshop-online/series_details.https://www.bigmarker.com/

By John McHale, Editorial Director John.McHale@opensysmedia.com

www.militaryembedded.com MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS July/August 20 22 9

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE Following what has been a busy springtime returning to inperson military conferences and trade shows like the Sea-AirSpace Expo and SOFIC, launching our own virtual events, and keeping up with all the latest defense electronics news and trends like the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) modular open systems approach (MOSA) strategies, the summer slowdown has been sweet. The short lull is enabling us to gear up for what will be a busy fall: We have some announcements about new live events, innovative virtual events, and a new Technology Editor.

Directorshop/exhibitorOpenSystemswillOnamericas/conferences/.https://www.aerospacetechweek.com/theoppositedayoftheMOSAConferenceTrack,therebeaone-dayMOSAWorkshop/ExhibitorTheaterneartheMediaPavilion.TolearnmoreabouttheworktheaterandtheMOSAPavilioncontactOSM’sofSalesattom.varcie@opensysmedia.com.

TaylorDan

specialedition e-mag ﬁnal

Students participating in the SCALE network gain experience and hands-on expertise with microelectronics tech nology both current and emerging, leading them on a path to ensuring that the U.S. builds and strengthens the domestic semiconductor industrial base that underpins national-defense applica tions and infrastructure. As part of the program, Bermel has developed an advanced secure electronics software and hardware platform serving a broad range of potential users. He also has suc cessfully demonstrated new electronics capable of extended lifetimes under extreme Undergradsconditions.andgraduate

A future workforce capable of providing the secure microelectronics that will be needed by the U.S. government and industry are essential to the nation’s economy and security, and a program headed by Purdue University aims to make sure that Peterhappens.Bermel, the Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue, is heading a national initiative to address the urgent need for engineering graduates to develop defense technologies, espe cially in the area of microelectronics. “There is a rapidly developing work force need in microelectronics and an increasing need for the U.S. to catch up compared with other countries,” Bermel says. “It’s a priority that we ensure stu dents coming out of universities are moti ated to wor in speciﬁc microelectronics areas to drive the U.S. economy and security forward in the future.” (Figure 1.)

Purdue’s role as consortium manager, Bermel states, is to organize the working groups in each technical area. “With that said, we have a technical lead for each area, which is usually another university that takes the lead in developing curric ulum, in partnership with the other uni versities in that area.” Current technology areas of focus include embedded sys tems artiﬁcial intelligence , radiation hardening, heterogeneous integration, system-on-chip, and supply-chain issues.

One of the most recent forays of the SCALE program is Purdue’s Center for Secure Microelectronics Ecosystem (CSME), Program puts national focus on the futureofmicroelectronics

The Scalable Asymmetric Lifecycle En gagement Microelectronics Workforce Development program (SCALE) is a $19.2 million multi-university public/private/ academic partnership that is intended to foster work force development across engineering universities in the U.S. Bermel leads the SCALE program, which brings faculty across the Purdue College of Engineering together with faculty from 16 universities, the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Ad ministration labs, and the defense industry to create a microelectronics work force focused on national-security needs. Bermel notes some of the major chal lenges for current students and the new microelectronics work force in the U.S.: “A decreased number of high-school graduates, a reduced likelihood that they’ll matriculate in two- and four-year degree programs, and increased com petition from other T ﬁelds. n addition, he sees as major challenges for the current microelectronics workforce upskilling existing workers to keep up with technology developments, as well as increasing eligibility for retirement for a signiﬁcant fraction of wor ers.

students enrolled in -afﬁliated programs can access mentoring, internships, and research opportunities at allied compa nies, universities, and federal research organizations that are focused on micro electronics work force development. Some of SCALE’s university partners include Arizona State University, Georgia Tech, SUNY Binghamton, and Vanderbilt.

Alison Smith, education and workforce development co-lead of the trusted and assured microelectronics program at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division – one of the government entities participating in the SCALE pro gram says that the defense industry must compete for students and workers with critical interdisciplinary skill sets. “The issue is multifold,” Smith says. “Those of us working in national defense technol ogies have to compete with these thou sands of companies that need the same skill sets; some of our needed skill sets are not currently taught in traditional cur ricula, and these positions are the hardest to ﬁll because the demand is so much greater than the supply. We also have the additional difﬁculty of only recruiting domestic students. We need both a trained and a clearable workforce.”

Bermel says that after only a few years in operation, the total number of SCALE students across all universities at last count is 233. “Since the program has grown so fast, only a handful have grad uated already, but we expect many more to graduate in the next year or two.”

10 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

By Lisa Daigle, Assistant Managing Editor which aims to help ensure a secure supply of semiconductor chips and related prod ucts and tools, from the foundry to the packaged system, based on a zero-trust model, while giving SCALE students advanced training opportunities.

Figure 1 | Purdue University associate professor Peter Bermel heads the national SCALE initiative, which is ensuring that students across the U.S. are motivated to work in speciﬁc defense- and security-related ﬁelds. Image courtesy Purdue University.

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

MIL TECH INSIDER

When evaluating DSP applications, both the processing portion and the amount of data being ingested or generated must be considered. Memory bandwidth require ments, which can vary greatly from application to application, becomes critical when blocks of data cannot be fully processed in internal cache. Intel server-class prod ucts have had more than two memory banks to support the higher core counts; Intel brought this same capability to the embedded world with the Ice Lake D processor to ensure that memory bandwidth is available to support the multiple cores that run at higher data rates. The extra memory banks can provide 50% to 100% more memory bandwidth, which is key to fully utilizing the processor cores.

Rightsizing processor performance for today’s DSP applications

Curtiss-Wright Defense https://www.curtisswrightds.com/Solutions

Figure 1 | The Curtiss-Wright CHAMP-XD3 digital signal processing (DSP) engine is a rugged 3U OpenVPX module that is aligned to the SOSA Technical Standard.

Ideally, a systems engineer will perform model-based system engineering (MBSE) modeling before selecting a DSP module. This provides them with exact knowledge of what parameters and characteristics their DSP engine will need to run a particular intelligence, sur eillance, reconnaissance electronic warfare application. s MBSE approaches become increasingly common, the sophistication of system engi neers prior to their module selection will only increase. Today’s more densely integrated and capable processors bring a commensurate rise in heat dissipation. The price paid for maximum processing power is often more heat than the system can manage, resulting in a wasted investment since the device can’t run at full capacity in rugged applications. Instead of automatically going for the most GFLOPS and MIPS horsepower, it pays to rightsize the DSP module decision. Designers should evaluate whether a device’s performance is overkill for their applica tion, whether there is sufﬁcient and optimized memory and bandwidth a ailable to support the performance they are paying for, and whether there is a way to cool the module at the desired performance level. Otherwise, the processor may throttle (slow its clock speed) and provide much less performance than is expected on paper.

An example of a DSP module designed to balance the range of variables that a system engineer must consider is Curtiss-Wright’s CHAMP-XD3 which uses the 10-core version of the Intel Ice Lake D processor. (Figure 1.) The 3U OpenVPX module, which is aligned to the SOSA Technical Standard 1.0, is designed to support near-maximum utilization

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An industry perspective from Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions of the processor at its target tempera ture range. It’s optimized to take full advantage of the rich set of processing and I/O capabilities built into the Ice Lake D processor. For example, the pro cessor supports the maximum amount of memory banks, providing over 50% more bandwidth than prior generations. The board supports the SOSA payload pro ﬁle, which has a b data plane plus up to lanes of e for ultrawide data path to FPGA and GPGPU cards. While a higher-end version of this processor exists, which tops out at 115 W, using that device in the typical rugged defense envi ronment would likely result in minimal, if any, additional performance gain due to the intense throttling that would occur. Selecting the right DSP engine for an application is not as simple as designing in the highest-performance processor available on a 3U OpenVPX form factor. Thermal challenges and power require ments for the highest-end processors can ma e it difﬁcult for applications to take full advantage of the extra level of performance that a higher-core – but much hotter – device can deliver. In addition, I/O and memory bandwidth must be there to keep the processor engine well-fed.

Processing requirements for DSP algorithms vary from case to case, but in general, the a size, weight, and power should be maximized for a gi en card within its typical operating constraints. Excess capability just sitting there doesn’t gain the user anything. You don’t put a BOSS 302 engine in a Ford Pinto! Likewise, the performance of the processor must be balanced with the environment it’s in and the I/O bandwidth it can support. The DSP system designer must ascertain how much processor performance is needed for their application: Is multithreaded or single-threaded performance more impor tant? How many GFLOPS or MIPS are needed? How much memory bandwidth will the processor need? Is memory bandwidth or memory capacity more important? How much I/O bandwidth is needed?

By Denis Smetana

For rugged digital signal processing processor cards, it is important to ha e a balance between processor performance, memory bandwidth, I/O bandwidth, and ruggedization. eﬁciencies in any of these attributes will limit the achie able perfor mance. Due to limited real estate available on 3U OpenVPX boards, designers and users must make tradeoffs on which dimensions to maximize and/or minimize.

Denis Smetana is a senior product manager for FPGA and DSP products for Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions.

1. Outcomes will overtake outdated military equipment procurement strategies – software growth by 10% year over year.

This data backbone is essential for three much-needed developments for defense logistics and support as it goes into the second half of the year and beyond.

Leveraging Big Data for military applicationsSPECIAL REPORT 12 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

For equipment procurement and support, in recent years, the military has ascended the so-called transformational staircase out of the scenario of simply buying and maintaining its own assets and equipment. The risk and availability linked with supporting an asset through its military life cycle has increas ingly involved industry assistance from OEMs or military in-service support

An all-important data thread underpins several forward-looking predictions for the future of defense logistics and support: The development of servitized equipment support, the rise of the digital shipyard, and the growing use of unmanned systems in military operations.

The critical data thread tying together the military supply chain, logistics, and equipment support

By Matt Medley

Military organizations and their in-service support partners have made big recent strides towards using software to manage mission-critical weapon systems and IT infrastructures, but data collection, analysis, and execu tion are not advancing at the same pace. This was underlined in a recent study into the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) by the Government ccountability fﬁce. The report stated that: any programs ha e yet to implement certain recommended practices associated with modern soft ware development approaches.”

Digital oversight of maritime and naval assets begins not at sea, but right at the begin ning of a ship’s life cycle, in the design process and at the manufacturing plant. This means shipbuilders themselves will have to prioritize digital advancements in the coming years. IFS customer ASC – Australia’s largest defense prime contractor, subma rine, and warship builder – recently announced a companywide digital transformation program. The comprehensive program will set the ground for the ASC digital shipyard transition, facilitating more streamlined processes, enhanced integration between sys tems, and the expanded use of real-time data to drive optimized decision-making across the organization. The ASC digital transformation program will strengthen its enterprise resource planning system and introduce advanced technologies to enable its workforce and optimize its capabilities to support the sovereign sustainment of the oyal ustralian a y’s ollins lass submarine ﬂeet, now and into the future.

The next prediction involves the digitization of shipyards across the globe in the maritime and naval sectors. Much like the U.S. Navy, shipbuilders, maintenance pro viders and other military operators are beginning to realize the value of digitizing operations. Research and Markets data sees the digital shipbuilding sector poised for explosive growth – from $591.63 million in 2019 to $2.7 billion by 2027, growing at a combined annual growth rate of . . This huge rise will be fueled by rising adoption of digital twins in the shipbuilding industry and increasing use of new manufacturing technologies.

Digital shipyard progress will be rooted in enterprise-wide software

But in order to build a naval or maritime digital transformation program, most orga nizations need a digital overhaul. They need an enterprise-breadth system that can do more than simply manage essential maintenance repair operations

providers. Now, however, performancebased logistics (PBL) is the widely accepted model for the procurement and support of military equipment. PBL strat egies work effectively when applied to a speciﬁc asset or components, but these service-based agreements can even be taken a step further – what is termed as “Total Asset Readiness” – in relation to forcewide asset mobilization and visibility. This move towards a service-based approach for military asset support is under lined by recent research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which exam ined the cross-industry shifts towards delivering outcomes and pinpointed ser vitization as “the focus of creating and capturing value shifts from one-time sales to long-term partnerships.” [Servitization refers to industries using their products to sell outcome as a ser ice rather than a one-off sale. t’s therefore no surprise that the BCG report sees the defense sector prioritizing the adoption of enterprise asset management (EAM) solutions in the next three years.

My prediction is for the ‘next evolution’ of asset support to be focused on installing a constant and transparent framework across the entirety of a military force, con necting the military operator, OEM, and in-service support providers. All separate reporting mechanisms and software systems can be consolidated within a single, allencompassing solution, giving commanders planning operations a real-time image of each asset at their immediate disposal and tracking asset readiness within the context of the mission they need to complete. This can already be seen in progress with the U.S. Navy’s Naval Operational Business Logistics Enterprise (NOBLE) project. The program will eliminate more than 700 data base/application servers and consolidate more than 23 currently isolated application systems – ultimately aiming to improve asset readiness. As part of a support agreement for the NOBLE project, Lockheed Martin and IFS are tasked with delivery of an intelli gent maintenance solution that will help power digital transformation of multiple legacy systems into a single, fully modernized, and responsive logistics information system. The solution will support planning and executing maintenance, repair, and overhaul of more than 3,000 Navy assets including aircraft, ships, and land-based equipment.

Ascending the transformational staircase towards total asset readiness

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2. Fi efold increase in digital shipyard in estment o er the next ﬁ e years na al forces and manufacturers must keep up.

Any successful naval or maritime digital transformation program means putting in place a full integrated data environment (IDE) to ensure these barriers to executing a digital transformation project are removed, requiring close collaboration from military organizations, industry players, and software providers.

Unmanned systems require a maintenance and support rethink

The ﬁnal prediction loo s a bit further forward, into the world of unmanned sys tems and drones, which are being used increasingly in operations across land, air, and sea. There is a high degree of R&D investment planned in the unmanned systems sector going forward, with drones in particular increasingly being used in military operations. In fact, according to the Drone Databook, an in-depth survey of the military drone capabilities around the globe, more than 100 military organizations now have some form of drone capability, with a rising number now with combat experience using unmanned systems. The proliferation of military drones will only grow, with an expected rise in spending of $11.1 billion in 2020 to $14.3 billion by 2029. (Figure 1.)

maintenance and sustainment questions

In addition to removing human soldiers from harm, unmanned systems also bring about certain operational advantages. For instance, being unencumbered by lifesupport systems (breathing apparatus, ejection seats) means that these aircraft can carry larger payloads with sensors for improved intelligence and reconnaissance or carry more fuel, which enables longer trips.

SPECIAL REPORT Leveraging Big Data for military applications 14 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

Figure 1 | Air Force personnel launching a Raven B Digital Data Link drone during an unmanned aerial system (UAS) demonstration. After takeoff, the Raven B uses battery power to patrol the air for up to 90 minutes. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Kleinholz.

or supply-chain processes and optimize scarce resources and assets in isolation. Organizations looking to transform the way their data is handled require a software system that’s agile enough to act on the increasing data volume and complexity to deli er uantiﬁable operational beneﬁts.

3. Military unmanned systems grow in use across land, air, and sea – giving rise to

The key near-term area of focus that comes about with the inevitable growth of unmanned systems space is the sustainment of these military assets. As this factor is something military organizations are still scoping out, consider these thoughts from Australian Defence Force Captain, Stephen Wardrop: “One of the key questions that must be answered is how the Army should structure maintenance support for UAS nmanned erial ystems into the future. maintenance is much more widely scoped than just the air vehicle (AV) – it encompasses the ground control station, launch, and recovery equipment including automatic take-off/landing systems, and all communications equipment involved in controlling the receiving data from the and its payload s during ﬂight. The key to drone sustainment and support is very similar to the all-encompassing ecosystem outlined in the previous two predictions, with critical importance placed on having an end-to-end system to link all data sources and stakeholders. This means unmanned system design, manufacturing, supply chain, and after market services need a digital backbone capable of handling huge amounts of data and supporting sustainment now and into the future. Shrinking the digital gap The outlook for military equipment con tinues to be one of technological innovation and development, but logistics and support must keep pace if these two fac tors are to shrink a growing IT disconnect. Getting a digital data thread in place will signiﬁcantly enhance data collection, analysis, and execution across the entire military ecosystem. From operators to OEMs and in-service support providers, it will be crucial for defense organiza tions looking to progress at the rate they should through the rest of this year and into the future. MES Matt Medley is senior product manager at IFS, ensuring that solutions meet the demanding needs of defense service and support organizations, defense manufacturers, and defense operators and helping to bring these solutions to market. He has served as a consultant, program manager, and project manager in aerospace and defense organizations. Matt – a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a certifie ight instructor ser e for 12 years in the U.S. Air Force, achieving the rank of major and compiling 2,500 ight hours in the C aircraft. e holds an MBA from Kennesaw State University and a master’s degree from e ster ni ersity an is a certifie project management professional. IFS • https://www.ifs.com/

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In order to create terrain for highfi elity simulations use in military training, e elo ers must fin accurate source data, build to multiple terrain formats utilizing the same source data to support multiple runtimes, store the data, synchronize the data between customer sites, and adjust the terrain as required by the training scenario. In the past, this has necessitated complex and bespoke terrain development pipelines, and long lead times – but newer solutions are emerging.

In a recent article in the War on the Rocks newsletter, security-technology providers Jennifer McArdle and Caitlin Dohrman presented a vision for what may become the “military metaverse” for training: That is, a persistent simulated training environ ment. Such a metaverse could have many useful applications, from training through to mission planning and rehearsal for real-world operations. “Under the hood” of such a military metaverse would be a mix of simulation technologies to provide the user a seamless experience for whatever purpose the metaverse may be applied. This is a step-change from today’s approach of integrating different simulation prod ucts through standard interoperability protocols. Instead, organizations can run con tainerized technology “on the cloud,” using a modern and open web architecture. Since the 1980s, different military programs have worked to combine “models, simu lations, people and real equipment into a common representation of the world.” Most recently, the U.S. Army established the Synthetic Training Environment (STE) Cross-Functional Team to create a “common synthetic environment.” Big Data military

By Pete Morrison

Military forces and supporting industries need more accessible, connected, and customizable methods of leveraging terrain data. While organizations now have access to an unprecedented amount of high-fidelity terrain data, realizing the data’s full potential, means conflating, correlating, and sharing the data with all of the many interoperable systems and applications. Currently, most organizations have separate terrain data pipelines for different applications, which results in differentlooking terrain in each system, adversely affecting interoperability and causing “fair fight issues.

for

Data trainingmanagemententerprisemetaverse:themilitaryinterrainfor

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The SPECIAL REPORT Leveraging

Army personnel test out Synthetic Training Environment tools at the Technology Integration Facility in Orlando, Florida. Images courtesy U.S. Army.

efense organizations ha e utilized T commercial off-the-shelf terrain and geo spatial data since the 1990s. Pulling from multiple data sources results in a more realistic representation of the real-world terrain. By importing high-resolution satellite imagery, road and building positions, forestry data, surface deﬁnitions grass, sand, etc.) and seasonal data, simulations can render a more accurate “digital twin” or a simulated environment that better represents the real world. Obviously, all source data needs to be precisely georeferenced, a consideration especially when custom 3D models are placed in/on the terrain.

Finding accurate source data

Building multiple terrains for multiple runtimes Modern military forces use many different simulations, and they often connect these simulations together for combined arms training. The U.S. Army, for example, has an entire program – LVC-IA – dedicated to providing “the framework for integrating the Army’s live, virtual and constructive systems into an integrated training environ ment (ITE).” Simulations ingest terrain data of various formats, and in order for inte grated training to be successful, each simulation needs terrain data that is correlated with all of the other simulations. For example, if a flight simulator is connected to a Figure 1 | U.S. Marine reserves participate in a virtual combat simulator. Modifications to terrain in this engine must be reflected across connected simulators, such as JTAC and flight simulators. Photo by Sgt. First Class Helen Miller.

Today’s militaries have a strong focus on multi-domain operations (MDO) that can span vast distances and incorporate land, sea, air and space forces. For example, the U.S. Space Force stated that their priorities include moving “toward a more resilient on-orbit posture” at the same time as conventional forces have focused training on traditional combined arms operations. To support the full range of MDO training, terrain databases need to provide an accurate representation of the Earth from space down to blades of grass and the ocean floor. c uiring the appropriate source data to build such a high-fidelity digital twin of arth is a difficult challenge, and updating terrain with new source data also is another important consideration.

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team’s goal is to converge live, virtual and constructive training through "common standards, common data, common terrain and an open architecture." A one-world terrain underpins the entirety of STE (Figure 1). Whatever form future military meta verses take, terrain data will be a key factor dri ing their success. igh-fidelity terrain data will deliver a 1:1 digital twin with Earth, suitable for training in multidomain operations (MDO), mission rehearsal, mission planning, and much more. However, today’s stovepiped and slow terrain development operations will not meet this need. Terrain source data (e.g., 3D data from on-demand drone or satellite flyo ers must be imported, enhanced, stored, and streamed to applications that need it, with updates made in hours, not months. The challenges of generating terrain for simulation Traditionally, terrain databases consist of numerous (100+) data formats, with dramatically different le els of fidelity depending on the target applications. flight simulator might need terrain that is low-fidelity e.g., a simple satellite texture o erlay , while a tan gunnery trainer might need e ery tree and bush rendered in high fidelity. pdating terrain data can ta e months, and terrain databases rarely correlate perfectly, which can cause fair-fight issues in a connected/interoperable environment. There are several key challenges involved in generating terrain.

A number of products exist to build correlated terrain from source data. However, while terrain might be cor related, it still may not look exactly the same depending on the rendering engine (e.g., Unreal versus Unity) and the 3D models that are actually rendered in the scene. Generating correlated ter rain that looks exactly the same across multiple rendering engines can be much more expensive and/or time-consuming and may e en re uire custom modifica tions to the simulations themselves to support all the necessary terrain features (for example, underground caves, dense urban areas, or support for deep snow cover). Terrain is typically built to the lowest acceptable fidelity to ensure cor relation and minimize complexity, noting that many military simulations cannot handle real-world fidelity e.g., high tree density or megacities). Building game-like 3D terrain Procedural generation of terrain is a technique used to add real-world com plexity and fidelity to a game world that is based upon relati ely low-fidelity source data. For example, if you know the area of the terrain that is forested, you might procedurally generate the trees, bushes, and grass that populate the forest so it looks “real” in the simu lation. Many modern computer games and computer game engines support procedural generation. Popular entertainment titles like “Kerbal Space Program,” “Star Citizen,” and “Elite Dangerous” use procedural generation to populate entire planets with features like trees and rocks to give players the sense of a realistic becausemilitarytwotechnologyHowever,environment.whileprocedural-generationhasexistedformorethandecades,ithasn’tbeenleveragedbyforcesforsimulations,primarilytheprocedural-generation capability is engine-specific. This means

ynamic terrain modifications need to be stored centrally and affect all aspects from physical simulation li e ehicles dri ing o er rubble to artificial intelligence li e fleeing ci ilian entities unable to use a destroyed bridge to the isual scene for example, destroyed buildings). combat simulator (Figure 2), or a Joint Terminal Air Control (JTAC) simulator, then both simulators must provide their operators with exactly the same “out of the window” view. Otherwise, the training value of the integrated system will be adversely impacted.

Figure 2 | U.S. Army personnel conducts virtual training through the Synthetic Training Environment (STE). Photo by Staff Sgt. Simon McTizic.

that the procedural generation typically happens at runtime, just before the scene is rendered, breaking correlation with simulations that don’t support exactly the same procedural generation. The way the generation is handled greatly exacerbates the issues with building terrains for multiple runtimes. Open standards for terrain – such as the CDB standard – even go so far as to recommend not using procedural generation at all, which then results in terrains that are low-ﬁdelity, suitable for ﬂight and highlevel aggregate constructive simulation, but unsuitable for ground-based training.

Those who use a smartphone are familiar with apps like Google Maps that stream ter rain from a cloud-based server directly to our phones. Distributing terrain across mili tary organizations is rarely this simple. Terrain files are typically many gigabytes in size and either need to be copied across the network or distributed on SSDs [solid-state dri es and, in some cases, s. espite the ob ious cost in terms of time, there is also a massi e issue with ersioning. sers must manually delete old files and copy in new files, perhaps on hundreds or thousands of s. This problem is compounded by the number of different simulations being supported. The task of updating terrain across a typical warehouse-sized battle simulation center can be daunting.

Managing terrain distribution and updates is complex

While the military has successfully integrated different simulations for many years, support for dynamic terrain correlation has never been fully achieved. Obviously, military actions affect the terrain in many ways, from vehicles making tracks, artillery causing craters, or the destruction of homes and infrastructure. Ideally, these changes would be represented in all of the connected simulations. The operator in the JTAC simulator would obser e the same effect on the target as the pilot in the ﬂight simu lator, even though they might be using different rendering engines to visualize the scene. This will be even more important for the military metaverse, when all con nected technologies must access terrain that represents a single “source of truth.”

Runtime dynamic terrain modification: a difficult task

SPECIAL REPORT Leveraging Big Data for military applications 18 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

New platforms like Mantle ETM are solving terrain correction and dynamic terrain problems by moving procedural generation onto the cloud and streaming 3D content directly to supported appli cations, such as VBS4 and games based on the Unreal game engine. Mantle ETM is based on proven COTS components and offers development/design ser vices for creating simulated terrain for training, mission rehearsal, visualization, and terrain analysis. The cloud-enabled platform is already used within U.S. Army STE, working with many different terrain data input formats, including 3D data from One World Terrain. Cloud computing will, of course, enable the military metaverse; at a recent U.S. Army panel on the future of the STE, Brig. Gen. Jeth Rey, Director of the Network CrossFunctional Team in U.S. Army Futures Command, made his team’s priorities clear. He said, “We are looking to move from a network-centric to a data-centric environment to support the STE … We will ha e to ha e cloud capability, artiﬁcial intelligence , and machine learning. elma.comElma Electronic Inc.

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Addressing terrain challenges through cloud-enabled terrain management Thanks largely to innovations in cloud computing, procedural generation, and data collection (e.g., photogrammetry), the aforementioned terrain challenges are rapidly being solved. This is critical for military metaverses – for example, the U.S. Army Synthetic Training Envi ronment (STE) – to succeed, since highﬁdelity terrain must be a ailable ondemand to the connected applications that need it. Good source data is now readily available, from providers like MAXAR and LuxCarta. Less than a decade ago, only satellite (or aerial) imagery was available to texture terrain for simulation. Today, MAXAR can provide 3D data for any location on the planet, LuxCarta can automatically extract data from imagery to feed into procedural generation algorithms, and OpenStreetMap provides the majority of the world’s roads and building footprints from which the smallest villages to the largest megacities can be generated to support simulated training.

Leaders in StandardsOpen Enabling the War ghter with OpenVPX

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The road to the “military metaverse” goes through the interconnectivity of systems and big data. Cloud-capable terrain management will lead the way. MES Pete Morrison is co foun er an chief commercial officer at BISim. He is an evangelist for the use of game technologies and other COTS-type products and software in the simulation and training industry. Pete studied computer science and management at the Australian Defence Force Academy and gra uate ith first class honors. e also gra uate from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, into the Royal Australian SignalsCor . e ser e as a Signals Cor Officer for se eral years. is final osting as as a ro ect Officer in the Australian efence Simulation Office A SO . BISim • https://bisimulations.com/

By Brendon McHugh and KaueMorcelles

Big data

The term big data is used to designate a massive amount of data collected from many different sources and the statistical tools and techniques designed to ana lyze these data sets, typically based on cloud/edge computing, machine learning , and artiﬁcial intelligence . ollecting the massi e amounts of information required to collect and use big data is no easy task.

SPECIAL REPORT Leveraging Big Data for military applications 20 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

The FPGA-based digital backend can also easily implement big data functions and analytics inside the SDR. Furthermore, as the number of UEs connected on LTE/5G increases, these frequency bands become more and more congested and scarce, so smart radio resource allocation and spectrum-sharing policies can signiﬁcantly improve the electromagnetic (EM) performance of a network. Both techniques require wideband spectrum monitoring, which can only be implemented using highperformance SDRs, with MIMO capabilities, ultra-low latency, wide bandwidths, and high tuning ranges.

Typically, the communication modules in baseband units (BBUs) and radio head units s are based on software-defined radios s therefore, the performance of these SDRs is one of the main bottlenecks in wireless big data collection. In this context, ultra-low latency and very high-performance SDRs are increasingly being adopted in 5G base stations, particularly due to the truly parallel signal processing powered by F field-programmable gate array technology and their ery high data throughput capability o er thernet fiber, enabling extraction, processing, and packetization of vast amounts of data.

radiosoftware-deﬁnedthemobilenetworks:onroleof(SDR)

A wide variety of wireless devices – often called user equipment (UE) – operate on large 5G networks, including autonomous vehicles, smartphones, and IoT [Internet of Things de ices. xtraction of big data from the multiple s and the further information processing through statistical analysis and ML/AI algorithms provide the perfect framework for several useful network operations, including optimization of device gateways, spectrum-sharing and dynamic spectrum access in networks, and real-time performance diagnostics and analytics on IoT networks, including the evaluation of key performance indicators (KPI). However, to properly enable big data, the UEs and the network must provide very high data throughput, low-latency backhaul, and optimized data storage.

The main structure of a 5G network is the ra io access net or A , which can be implemented in several architectures. Regardless of the architecture, soft are efine ra ios S s lay a ma or role in e ery ste of the A chain, inclu ing backhaul, midhaul, and fronthaul. S s hether on the attlefiel or the urban jungle – provide important technological features that handle the “big data” glut, including fast G sec fi er communication, wide tuning range, several multiplein ut multi le out ut M MO channels, high phase coherency, and a software-based backend that can e rogramme to fitany applications.

The 5G future Differently from the current 4G/LTE technology, 5G is intended to be much more than a simple data pipe. In fact, 5G networks can be seen as purpose-built networks designed to facilitate the con nection between many devices, sensors, and automation systems. By providing more than ten times the capacity of 4G, 5G can ensure high levels of inter connectivity for the needs of military, government, and commercial devices, transmitting massive amounts of data with a high bit rate and ultra-low latency. This connectivity power is crucial for a variety of purposes, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), autonomous sys tems, tactile internet, and automation. Despite the technological revolution that 5G is ushering in, there are several challenges that must be addressed and solved to unleash its full potential. The main bottleneck of 5G implementation is the network infrastructure. Although part of the backbone of the network can be implemented with the telecommunica tion infrastructure already in use, true 5G requires large numbers of small cells in densely populated areas to support the massi e traffic of data, each wor ing with wireless and fiber lin s with speeds greater than 10 Gb/sec and latencies smaller than 1 ms. Furthermore, the high frequencies necessary to provide enough bandwidth for high data rate users z is significantly problematic in terms of F signal quality. For instance, high frequen cies have shorter range due to the signal loss and can be easily obstructed by obstacles (including buildings, walls, and trees), so they require large numbers of small cells to increase the coverage. Fortunately, the use of multiple-input/ multiple-output (MIMO) SDRs can sim plify the implementation of highly dense small-cell networks, addressing both bandwidth and coverage. Finally, network security is much more concerning in 5G than 4G, due to the tight integration with critical systems including autonomous systems and vehicles: Therefore, dedi cated security schemes are required to ensure the robustness of 5G networks, particularly considering the privacy issues in big data applications.

Furthermore, they are the ideal technology to combine RRU and BBU functionalities in femto cells (small, low-power cellular base stations) by providing an off-the-shelf solu tion with high ﬂexibility, low power consumption, and small form factor. n -based femto cell can be used in a variety of applications, including wireless networks for tactical use or embedded communications system for unmanned aerial systems (UASs).

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Big data-driven AI/ML and SDR ecause of its afﬁnity with software-based technology, s can facilitate se eral technologies related to big data and artiﬁcial intelligence machine learning

Figure 1 | Overall 5G architecture on a service, network, and functional level.

The high bandwidth and low latency of 5G networks, combined with the implementation of multi-access edge computing (MEC) architecture, creates the per fect environment for collecting and processing RF big data. The main idea consists of extracting as much data as possible from the densely packed small cells, applied in mas sive machine type communication (mMTC) and machine-to-machine communications (M2M) in IoT, and convert this big data into real-time insights for intelligent decisionmaking, using distributed computing architectures and high-performance network links, that can be further applied in quality of service (QoS) evaluation and optimization. For instance, big data can be used as a tool for operators to forecast the curve of demand, coordinate on-the-ﬂy resource allocation and networ slicing, and sol e interference and coverage limitations by optimizing network capacity. Furthermore, 5G's improved interconnectivity will enable distributed edge computing on a completely new level, with all the heavy big data computation performed in the cloud. (Figure 1.)

SDRs in 5G networks s the name suggests, software-defined radios are F units that implement most of the signal processing and communication functions in the digital domain, leaving only the essentials to the analog circuit. The general architecture of an SDR consists of an analog front end (AFE) and a digital back end. The AFE contains both the receive and transmit functionalities, and can be composed of several channels in MIMO operations. Each AFE channel can be tuned over a wide range of frequencies, including the 5G tuning range. The analog signals amplified and filtered by the F are digitized using dedi cated ADCs and DACs with high and stable phase coherency. However, the real crux of the SDR is the digital backend, which is typically implemented using high-end FPGAs. The FPGA, with onboard DSP capabilities, is responsible for basic radio functions, such as modulation demodulation, upcon erting downcon erting, and filtering, but it can also perform complex communication tasks, including the latest 5G communication pro tocols and DSP algorithms. Moreover, it can packetize and transport Ethernet packets over 10 to 100 Gb/sec via SFP+/qSFP+ links. The FPGA-based backend enables the SDR to be designed for a wide range of SWaP (size, weight and power) requirements. SDRs are the main building blocks of the general 5G RF network. They can be imple mented as the fronthaul network in RRUs to receive and transmit data from the user equipment, or as the BBUs, particularly the distributed units (DUs) and central units (CUs) in the O-RAN network standard. In fact, SDRs can be applied in any step of the network chain, playing important roles in the midhaul and backhaul as well.

Due to the high amount of different devices and services that a 5G RAN [radio access networ must handle, networ slicing is mandatory. To create these selfcontained slices, F techni ues are re uired, pro iding enough ﬂexibility and

Figure how data-driven AI/ML can help a radio access network (RAN). Elma Electronic Inc., our North American sales and support provider: www.elma.com

reconﬁgurability o er the physical layer of the network. SDRs play a major role in the softwareization of the network, enabling the implementation of SD-RAN algorithms, such as real-time RAN intel ligent controllers (RIN). Furthermore, big data-driven dynamic slicing can take realtime information about the network state and automatically reallocate resources based on trafﬁc predictors and dedi cated cost functions. (Figure 2.)

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Data-driven ML/AI algorithms can also be used in beamforming optimization, by assisting the RRUs to calculate and select the best beams to maximize the reference signal received power (RSRP). In this case, the beamforming process will take the form of a data-driven feed back system, where each UE informs the serving cell about several beam param eters, including beam index (BI) and beam reference signal received power (BRSRP), which then makes a decision about which beams must be selected to serve that unit. With the massive number of UEs in use, this becomes a big data problem. By promoting softwareiza tion of the RRU and providing MIMO capabilities to drive the antenna arrays, SDRs actually enable beamforming opti mization via big data. Furthermore, in massive MIMO applications, each beam forming antenna receives a weight that must be optimized to obtain the best beam. ML/AI algorithms can be used to dynamically optimize the weight of the antennas based on forecast models, his torical data, interference data, and user speciﬁcations. MES Brendon McHugh is a fiel a lication engineer and technical writer at Per Vices, a company that develops, builds, an integrates soft are efine ra ios S s . Bren on is res onsi le for assisting current and prospective clients in configuring the right S solutions for their unique needs. He holds a degree in theoretical and mathematical physics from the University of Toronto. Readers may contact Brendon at solutions@pervices.com. Kaue Morcelles is a technical writer and is a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering. Per Vices • https://www.pervices.com

2 | A diagram shows

algorithms. For instance, SDRs can be used to test key performance indicators (KPI) of the networ . The high speed of reconﬁgurability re uired to rapidly manage net work slicing (NS) can easily degrade the KPIs of the network. In this context, KPI moni toring and evaluation techniques, such as Autonomous Anomaly Detection (AAD) and real-time analysis, are fundamental to maintain the QoS. These techniques can be easily implemented using SDRs, by taking advantage of the digital backend and use the FPGA to run sophisticated KPI analysis algorithms in loco.

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Unlike in the commercial environment, there isn’t a big, sprawling data center with lots of fans to keep the equipment cool while providing multiple layers of security to protect this data from falling into the wrong hands. This situation creates challenges that many companies are hard at work trying to solve.

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The Trying to strike a balance between power and security with data-at-rest in the ﬁeld and doing it all within a highly constrained space in an en iron ment with dirt and moisture that threatens to damage expensive equip ment – is a tall order indeed.

an ongoing challenge for military data-at-rest

By Dan Taylor, Technology Editor

spaceRuggedization,constraints

The goal: speed plus security Steven Petric, senior product manager at Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions (Ashburn, Virginia), says that he and his compatriots have noticed that when it comes to data-at-rest, customers are asking for “faster, smaller, less weight, more powerful, and – probably the biggest thing – the certi ﬁcation le el. peciﬁcally, users want products that are -appro ed in terms of encryption. The attlefiel is fille ith eo le, rones, an other systems gathering reams of critical data.

Developments in the data-at-rest world provide some promise as con tractors work to tackle these challenges. The shift to non-volatile memory express (NVMe) storage provides opportunities to improve power in smaller spaces, while new security standards from the National Security dministration gi e some ﬂexibility to designers when it comes to encryption and security.

Despite these challenges, NVMe is storage technology worth pursuing, even in a chal lenging military environment.

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CDRG merged with Digistor, which produces removable drives that have various levels of certiﬁcation and are designed to be inserted and remo ed thousands of times. Since the merger they are bundling self-encrypting drives with removables. (Figure 1.)

The challenge going forward is to ﬁnd a way to ta e commercial technologies and rug gedize them so they can handle shock, extreme temperatures, and power constraints.

Keeping the data stored is of course a major concern, but making sure it’s protected is totally another. This is where encryption comes in and also necessitates a look at how that effects data when transported.

Limitations to NVMe in the field That said, there are limitations that data-at-rest solution providers will need to over come in the future.

Defense programs today have larger capacity needs when it comes to data, so storage is a major concern. In that realm, designers have two options: SATA [serial advanced technology attachment and e. T has been around a lot longer, but there are limita tions on the amount of data that can be stored; NVMe is smaller and more pow erful, which also means it takes more power and therefore runs hotter. The industry has been transitioning from SATA to NVMe because NVMe can be connected directly into a PCIe interface with no translation layer in between, making it a more versatile option, notes ominic erez, chief technical ofﬁcer at Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions. Also, it runs about six times faster: “That’s a pretty big jump,” he adds. “These NVMe drives are blisteringly fast.” Size, weight, and power (SWaP) considerations create the challenges. In the commer cial sector, storage systems are usually ensconced in a data center, which can easily keep them cool. Users have no such luxury in military applications.

“We’ve got to work hard to keep those disks cool and provide the additional power to support them, but the increased performance is worth it,” Perez says.

In theater, a storage drive would be in a rugged environment with very little room, such as inside an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). That is a much different envi ronment than in a cool, spacious data center where it can sit comfortably away from dirt, water, and other contaminants.

Also, not every military application has the same challenge, he adds: “You’ve got UUVs that may not have extreme temperatures, but they have serious power concerns because they’re feeding off of batteries. Then you move up to a UAV [unmanned aerial ehicle up in the air, the heat goes up when it’s not operating, so depending on the application it’s all centered around size, weight, and power.”

Designing applications that can work within the constraints of the military environ ment is certainly a challenge, says hris ruell, ata ecurity roup Vancouver, Washington) director of marketing. “To address the heat, we have these specialized device containers for the NVMe device,” Kruell says. “And we have gone through all of the testing to make sure the heat sink technology we put there does dissipate the heat. In a lot of applications, we’ll rely on some sort of forced air, a fan, to dissipate the heat, but that design constraint is something that design engineers do need to worry about.”

“That’s a big part of what we do when testing drives,” Petric says. “We go back to manufacturing and ha e them twea some things to ha e them ﬁt the rugged en iron ment. Not every commercial drive is made the same.”

Encryption and security

For example, in a more favorable environment, a typical NVMe drive could hold 4 to 8 terabytes (TB) of data. Keeping that amount of data cool in a more rugged environ ment with space constraints is difﬁcult, so the solution is to dial the storage size down to 1 to 2 TB for military customers.

Key to safe data storage is meeting NSA-approved encryption requirements in order to lower the ris of someone hac ing the storage system and ta ing sensiti e ﬁles. This is a particular concern with unmanned vehicles, which are often sent on dangerous missions and can easily fall into the hands of opposing forces. As a result, companies are seeking to produce data-at-rest solutions that comply with the ’s ommercial olutions for lassiﬁed f program.

Curtiss-Wright uses boxes that store and encrypt the data, which can be pulled out of the vehicle and transported to a location where the data can be pulled safely, with the data kept secure until it reaches that point. The goal is to make it as convenient as possible for the military end user, without sacriﬁcing security. Figure .

Figure 2 | The Curtiss-Wright DTS-1 enables rugged storage for use in unmanned systems or other vehicles.

CSfC does this through open industry standards made possible by certain algorithms. These algorithms used to be known as Suite B algorithms and are now know as the Commercial National Security Algorithm (CNSA) suite. The Suite A algorithms fall under Type 1 and are more restrictive.

Figure 1 | The Digistor C Series FIPS 140-2 L2/Common Criteria is a self-encrypting drive with additional data-security features.

These are all issues that companies today are struggling with as they ﬁgure out how to balance the needs of storage capacity and security. Perez notes there has been “renewed attention” to dataat-rest protection and cybersecurity in general lately.

CSfC isn’t a replacement or alternative to Type 1, but rather another option. With Type 1, a company is restricted to the U.S., whereas CSfC eanbles it to work with about 30 other countries depending on the scope of the program.

“It’s almost like a tape recorder,” Perez says. “You pop out the media and take it over to the ground station, or mail it, then you plug it in and de-encrypt it.

MES

Kruell says CRU and Digistor don’t even pursue Type certiﬁcation due to the nature of their business, but work entirely within CSfC framework. “We purposely decided not to go after Type 1,” he continues. “Those are pro tracted development cycles that are highly specialized, whereas our solution goes into off-the-shelf computers.”

Ben Warner, director of applications engineering at Digistor, asserts that f is ﬂexible enough for what his designers need. “One challenge we see a lot, especially with ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms or embedded systems, is that the customer is trying to build a custom server and they need the two layers of encryption,” he says. “Our drives can help us with that. We have a CSfC drive, and it’s fast.” If a contractor is just doing a one-off program, Type 1 might be the better option, but if a contractor wants to build 100 UAVs, for example, CSfC may offer more advantages in terms of speed and reduced cost, Perez says.

The specifies two le els of encryption, namely Type and f . Type has been around for a while, and it typically includes one layer of encryption. Type encryption is your blac box, erez says. t’s using a classified program to de elop a product to encrypt classified-and-higher data. ou ha e to ha e a go ern ment sponsor to get the product, and you certify the product via the NSA. Usually, only government agencies or very trusted primes can have access. But Type 1 is a problem for communicating with allies and coalition partners.” etric says the f program see s to fix that issue by ta ing a layered approach.

“It’s causing industry and government to actually address them,” he says. “All future combat will have some kind of cyber component.

MIL TECH TRENDS Trusted computing/securing data-at-rest 26 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

“It’s the big vision: breaking down barriers between branches of services and allies and coalition partners, and in an auto mated machine-to-machine or machineto-person way,” he adds.

General Micro Systems, Inc. | www.gms4sbc.com

I chuckle when a newcomer electronics company introduces a “rugged” product that purports to work reliably over -40°C to +85°C. I can say with 100 percent certainty that if they haven’t done sufﬁcient testing on their product and incorporated advanced thermal mitigation techniques, sustained operation much abo e room temperature is a dicey prospect. en low power” 35W mobile Intel processors – when packed tightly with thernet controllers, , power circuits, and will rapidly hit their max T of around 100°C-105°C and then start throttling performance. Keeping boards and systems below each de ice’s T thermal design power while under load and in an environment above room temperature – requires intentional and advanced thermo-mechanical design considerations. oted for our high-density rugged boards and systems, ’ core expertise is thermal packaging. We employ multiple thermal strategies to keep conduction-cooled boards and sys tems reliably “cool” in hot environments.

iterally building on the heat sin concept, de eloped a thermo-mechanical assembly called ugged ool™ that acceler ates thermal transfer from a to its heat sin . ather than merely touching the hot component with a metal heat sink and some thermal goo, uses a tub assembly comprised of multiple conductive metals in a viscous “thermal bath” that promises a mere 5-7 degree heat rise. This compares with the industry norm - degree rise with a typical heat sin . ugged ool™ allows boards to operate in higher ambient environments more reliably because components can be ade uately cooled that is, more of their heat is conducted away to the card edge or chassis walls . ugged ool™ has been tested, ualified and pro en to be effecti e in thousands of boards and systems and in nearly 70 programs. ecently, was awarded a patent for ugged ool ™, an improvement on the original patent which adds a periodic table element wafer to further enhance heat transfer at the compo nent-to-heat spreader interface. With the latest components in smaller but irregular ca ity-down pac ages, chip-size hotspots are designed into manufacturer’s devices. The new ugged ool ™ technology spreads the device’s heat more evenly across our assembly, reducing the hotspots and dramati cally increasing net thermal transfer. cientific datalog tests show as much as a impro ement in operating temperature. That is, a that might’ e started throttling in a ambient en i ronment, can now reliably operate in 70°C simply because of a higher heat flux that conducts more net heat to the heat sin s and card edges or chassis sidewalls. This all adds up to one key message: keeping rugged, highrel electronics cool requires multiple techniques – and knowing what works best, and when.

ADVERTORIAL EXECUTIVE SPEAKOUT

Heat Sinks

There’s nothing special about a heat sink, or is there? For slot cards li e or , the clamshell heat sin design contacts the components in three dimensions abo e the , thermally connecting them to the wedgeloc s or other chassis system “cold plate” structure. What’s unique about this heat sink is how it forms the lowest thermal impedance between hot components and the wedgelock, touching on at least two sides and dramatically conducting more heat off the card. s well, with ultra-high wattage components like server proces sors or s, employs a combination of internal cold plates, heat pipes li e those found in laptop computers , and apor phase cooling structures. ach of these mechanisms or all combined, additively increases thermal conductivity away from hot components or structures. ince heat pipes can ha e ori entation directionality, pays particular attention to o erall system re uirements and in- ehicle platform mounting to a oid reducing heat transfer when vapor phase is used.

For slotcard-type boards such as , , or ompact ® that follow the . conduction cooling standard, card edge “wedgelocks” rigidly and thermally secure the module to the chassis sidewall via two slots. The typical three-piece wedgelock contacts the card’s thermal plane on only one side and the slot on two sides, but not throughout the entire length of the wedgeloc due to the tighten-to-expand mechanism . patented wedgeloc s Figure , for cards contact the card on two surfaces, the slot on two surfaces, and have more surface area in contact with the chassis. s a result, more heat is transferred from the card’s components to the chassis, resulting in more heat margin so the card can operate in a higher ambient environment.

RuggedCool™ and RuggedCool2™ “Thermal Bath”

Figure 1 | GMS patented wedgelock transfers more heat from card to chassis (6U card shown).

Conducting An Orchestra of Heat

Patented Wedgelocks

By Chris A. Ciufo, Chief Technology Officer at General Micro Systems

Rugged computing & thermal management

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT 28 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

VPX: The state ofthe ecosystem 2022

The VPX ecosystem In its simplest form a business ecosystem has a supply side and demand side fueling the market. In reality, it is much more complicated, with the VPX eco system an example of a complex busi ness ecosystem plus supply chain.

By Jerry Gipper usiness ecosystems can be ery complex there are many layers, nodes, lin s and influ ences, both internal and exter-nal, in an ecosystem. simple inflection anywhere in the ecosystem can ripple through the entire ecosystem. A new use case by a large cus tomer, a new interconnect technology from a semiconductor supplier, a new environ mental regulation, a new supplier, a technology breakthrough, any of which can cause a shift in the ecosystem. To stay healthy, the ecosystem must respond to these influences and adapt in ways that benefit and contribute to the sustainability of the ecosystem.

Paramount to the success of an industry is the strength of its encompassing business ecosystem. A thriving, stable ecosystem here e ery element or s together forms a rofita le mar et for e eryone in ol e . As n esto e ia uts it, A usiness ecosystem consists of the network of organizations – including suppliers, distributors, customers, competitors, government agencies, an so on in ol e in the eli ery of a s ecific ro uct or ser ice through oth com etition an coo eration. ach entity in the ecosystem affects and is affected by the others, creating a constantly evolving relationship in which each entity must e e i le an a a ta le in or er to sur i e ust as in a iological ecosystem.

Academic participation

Figure 1 | A diagram lays out the VPX ecosystem supply chain.

The supply side of the VPX ecosystem includes all the components necessary to make the boards and systems designed around the VPX standards but uniquely includes suppliers of connectors, mounting hardware, boards, backplanes, chassis, power supplies, and cabling specific to VPX. The supply chain becomes even more complicated when you add in layers of product integration at multiple points in the supply chain; integration that occurs at several levels all the way to a fully deployable product. The web of suppliers is very complicated and inter twined, often changing to meet evolving needs. ften a supplier fills roles as an original equipment manufacturer and an integrator. Adding to the complexity of the VPX ecosystem is the long develop ment time and the long life of products and programs that use VPX technology, often spanning many decades. Long development time leads to slow return on investment for suppliers. The long life cycles mean that part obsolescence must be managed profitably for extended periods of time. An ecosystem must mature to match the changing supply needs of the market. (Figure 1.) Demand side On the demand side are users from multiple applications markets, primarily aerospace and defense in the case of VPX. The types of programs and appli cations that adopt a technology like VPX also change over time, leading to new users with their own life-cycle chal lenges. There are many companies that sit in the middle between supply and demand, playing both roles in the supply chain. Most often these are the prime contractors and a long list of integra tors. It is also not uncommon for a user to design and develop some of the mod ules used in a system, especially if there is a unique need or proprietary need. Integration is extremely important in the VPX ecosystem as key critical elements with unique capabilities are added to a platform to increase its capabilities and thus the value of the platform. Operating environment influences The environment within which an eco system operates plays a major role in how the ecosystem functions. There are multiple factors influencing the operating environment, way more than can be documented here. Many regulatory agencies around the world, too numerous to mention, influence the ecosystem. These cover everything from safety to business regulations impacting the target industries. n an open standards mar et, standard de elopment organizations s define ey standards used throughout the ecosystem. These standards are important to ensuring the benefits of open standard products. T is the de eloper and eeper of many standards that influence the ecosystem. The push to use modular open system architectures (MOSA) by procurement arms of the various departments of defense hea ily influence the ecosystem leading to ad ustments in business strategies to meet the requirements. The critical embedded computing space has many challenges due to the rugged physical environment and the long product life cycles.

Market segments

Several academic institutions are very active in the VPX ecosystem. Their role is pri marily to wor with the defense agencies to conduct research for speciﬁc applications using VPX technology. They are also very active in the development of standards, ta ing results of research to inﬂuence the relati e standards.

Supply side

There is nothing in the technical standards that limit use to any specific application market segment. However, VPX is optimized for rugged, critical embedded applica tions built on a modular open system approach (MOSA). MOSA is favored by many defense and aerospace applications, particularly for C5ISR [command, control, com puters, communications, cyber, intelligence, sur eillance, and reconnaissance . ignal intelligence (SIGINT), electronic intelligence (ELINT), radar, and similar processorintensive applications also require a great deal of computing horsepower and I/O bandwidth. VPX is a ruggedized approach to embedded computing that aims to satisfy high-speed processing needs in harsh en ironments such as flight, ground defense, and other military applications. VPX is also gaining traction in certain space applica tions with SpaceVPX that includes additional functionality for redundancy and serial links. Other market segments with high-performance computing needs in rugged operating environments, including rail and commercial transportation, imaging, and security, are applicable target market segments for VPX. Unfortunately, these market segments are not as advanced in the adoption of the MOSA concept and reaping the benefits. Ecosystem scope How do you measure the total value of the VPX market? It very much depends on what you include and what you don’t. The recently published VITA 2021 report “The World Market for VITA Standard-based Boards and Systems” estimates merchant (commercially available) sales of VPX boards and systems totaled $265 million in 2020. However, this number includes only a small sliver of the total value of the ecosystem. No single company builds everything to complete a deployable working system, so integration happens all along the supply chain, adding increasing levels of value-add to ma e a final system. rime contractors and integrators add additional modules, cooling capability, cabling, I/O interfaces, and more. On top of that is the value of the

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A key to the success of VPX has been the heavy reliance on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products, fostering a broad international supplier base that feeds on links through the entire supply chain, shortening time to market, and further feeding the ecosystem’s evolution. COTS products enable suppliers to provide products to mul tiple customers (improving ROI for the supplier) and it means that customers can usually ﬁnd multiple suppliers for a comparable product a oiding sole sources for the buyer). (Figure 2.)

VPX ecosystem success

Figure 2 | A diagram shows the VPX business ecosystem.

There are undoubtably many more com panies that ha e a lower-proﬁle role in the VPX ecosystem. Range of products

software and systems engineering effort involved in building systems. The many layers of value-add throughout the entire supply chain make quantifying the contribution of suppliers ery difﬁcult.

At the time of the VPX Marketing Alliance launch, Hybricon’s Neil Peterson, Chairman of the VPX Marketing Alliance, announced, “We currently have over 150 VPX and OpenVPX products listed in the VITA product directory. We expect continued growth in the need for VPX products, and our member companies are committed to meeting that need.”

Rugged computing & thermal managementINDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT 30 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

A look today at that same product direc tory has over 500 products listed; many more have not been added to the direc tory, as Google search technology has reduced the need for dedicated product directories. Non-VITA member suppliers cannot add product to this directory. Additionally, these numbers do not capture the many products that are designed for speciﬁc or customized use Additional analysis of theVPX numberproductsecosystembusinessrevealsthatthesourceofhasexpandedsubstantiallyintheofproductsandthetypeofproducts.

The VPX ecosystem has grown and strengthened since its early beginnings over years ago. T , commonly nown as , was introduced in , leading to the formation of the VPX business ecosystem, most of which spun out of the long standing ecosystem. The early years were spent de eloping the ﬁrst series of standards; in parallel, prototypes and proof-of-concept demonstrations were built to prove the technology. Soon after the VITA 65 OpenVPX System standard was introduced in 2009, VITA members from the supply side launched the VPX Marketing Alliance. The purpose of the ar eting lliance was to continue the wor started by the pen Marketing Working Group in promoting OpenVPX. The VPX Marketing Alliance focused on the advancement of the VPX family of technologies, a family that includes VPX, VPX REDI, OpenVPX, SpaceVPX, and other related activities enhancing VPX capability, such as ﬁber optics, F, and power-supply options. The group uic ly began to establish an ecosystem of interested parties to promote the VPX architecture and to drive widespread adoption of the VPX standards and technology. At the launch of the VPX Marketing Alliance, there were 23 companies that announced their intention to participant in the VPX ecosystem as suppliers. Now, 12 years later and nearly 20 years since the introduction of VPX, the roster of VPX module suppliers has more than tripled, even after numerous mergers in the ranks of suppliers. Further analysis shows that over 150 companies worldwide have some visible role in the VPX ecosystem, with 60% of those companies being active VITA members. These companies have made VPX an ele ment of their business strategy and are now contributing to the VPX ecosystem.

Additional analysis of the VPX business ecosystem reveals that the source of products has expanded substantially in the number of products and the type of products. Originally there were many single-board computers, backplanes, power supplies, switches, and chassis. Now the list includes many specialized products for speciﬁc high-performance capabilities, many in the softwaredeﬁned radio realm and ideo graphics processing.

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The VITA working groups developing VPX-related standards have been working dili gently on further supporting more optical and RF capabilities in innovative and mod ular bac plane aperture conﬁgurations that gi e designers the maximum ﬂexibility with high-performance I/O options.

Recently added to the initiative list: The user community has been pushing for even greater bandwidth performance and I/O capability for the 3U and 6U VPX form factors.

Prime solutions ne of the most difﬁcult aspects of an ecosystem to measure in a market like critical embedded computing, especially one that is dominated by military and defense markets, is the user or demand participation. Tracking the technology in an application platform that is embedded can be difﬁcult or near impossible. nce a program is announced, tracking the quantity of units becomes somewhat

The modular, open architecture nature of VPX entices suppliers at multiple levels of the supply chain.

easier, pro ided you ha e identiﬁed the embedded technology. etails of what speciﬁ cally is designed into the program is usually left to speculation.

What’s next for VPX?

Two longtime initiatives that will allow VPX to evolve into a wider range of applications have been making good progress: 1) Improved I/O connectivity and 2) smaller form factors for the smallest of applications while emulating VPX.

The formation of a study group in this area of work is expected shortly.

The ecosystem exists well within the deﬁnition of a business ecosystem, which are constantly e ol ing relationships in which each entity must be ﬂexible and adaptable in order to survive. Watch for future VPX ecosystem evolution. MES and thus are not listed on a company’s public product Very-high-performancelist.

analog/digital products for complex sensor systems expand the list of products. Driving this has been the integration of VPX into the SOSA Technical Standard 1.0. The SOSA Consortium efforts are primarily in sup port of complex sensor applications that require the capability provided by VPX.

The VPX community has been searching for smaller form factors since the inception of VPX, with 3U VPX the preference in many designs. Several efforts have been made, even reaching standards completion, but the ecosystem for these efforts never seems to reach critical mass. New efforts are underway, with VITA 90 taking the earlier work of VITA 74 VNX to the next performance and I/O level.

The Lockheed Martin OAP is driving critical technologies for both current and next-generation platforms within the U.S. Army: in the air with the Distributed Aperture Sensor (DAS) and on the ground as part of the Modular Active Protection System (MAPS) base kit. (Sidebar Figure 1.)

The following is a very brief look into products offered or in development by some of these companies. All of the men tioned companies are very active participants in the devel opment of VITA standards, often taking leadership roles in standards development working groups and representing the interests of their company or program.

SIDEBAR FIGURE 1 | The passive-cooled MAPS controller provides fast and secure processing power to drive multiple sensors and countermeasures and future vehicle protection system capabilities. Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin. computing

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT Rugged

Collins Aerospace, a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp. Collins Aerospace developed a power module to support open architecture applications such as mission computers, signal processors, aircraft communication, and radar sys tems. As airframes modernize and leverage new, more com plex systems, the primary power source needs to deliver higher performance in extreme environments without adding weight. The Collins 3 Phase 3U, 1-inch-pitch power module delivers up to 800 watts of power without requiring additional filtering hardware for size, weight, and power (SWaP)-constrained platforms operating in harsh environ ments. The hardened 3U VPX power module features embedded VITA62-compliant EMI filtering and is part of a growing product line of 3U VPX building-block components to deliver innovative SWaP-efficient open architecture solu tions to the tactical edge. L3Harris Technologies L3Harris is heavily invested in VPX with several product lines leveraging various VITA standards from VITA 46, VITA 48, VITA 49, and other VPX-related standards.

It should be noted that as you read through the following product information, you will see a common MOSA theme using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) modules to prevent obsolescence, avoid vendor lock, and reduce time to market. You also will see a pattern of collaboration on many of the products, as several depend on COTS modules from other suppliers in the ecosystem.

Lockheed Martin’s Open Architecture Processor (OAP) is a common processor for multiple sensors and self-defense systems operating on ground, air, and maritime platforms. It is based on 3U VPX COTS embedded processing modules and chassis, and widely supported standard interfaces that allow maintainers to add, upgrade, and swap out sensor and display system components as required. Ample pro cessing power supports multiple applications that include degraded visual environments, pilotage, situational aware ness, active protection, reconnaissance, fire control, tar geting, and hostile fire. Open architecture and a modular framework enable interchangeable systems and eliminate the need for multiple proprietary processors that compete for a platform’s limited space, weight, and power (SWaP).

› When threats pop up, the MAPS base kit is ready to engage. In a series of live-fire tests conducted by the U.S. Army, MAPS-enabled systems defeated 15 out of 15 anti-tank guided missiles by jamming their signals, causing them to fly off-target. Additionally, the system is ready to meet all U.S. Army security and safety certification requirements to ensure warfighter open-architecture-processor.htmlhttps://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/safety.

Key nodes in the VPX ecosystem are the defense and aero space prime contractors and integrators. Their role is the most difficult to assess, sometimes participating as both a supplier and user as they add value to a product. They are usually the last link in the supply chain before a specific program acquisition. To help get a better view into the VPX ecosystem, we can look at some of the publicly announced products from leading primes.

› Pilotage Distributed Aperture Sensor (PDAS) is thefirsttactical installation of a multifunctional, embedded DAS for Army aviation. It can generate complete spherical infrared imagery using six simultaneously streaming sensors in a tactical flight environment. ItsOAP is a powerhouse that delivers simultaneous 360-degree imagery to multiple users inreal time. Andit’s ready to drive emerging technologies like multimodel sensor fusion (MMSF) andthreat-detection solutions.

& thermal management 32 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED PRODUCTS FROM LEADING PRIMES

Lockheed Martin Corp., Missiles and Fire Control

PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED PRODUCTS FROM LEADING PRIMES

digital.pdf

› Chrysalis is L3Harris’ next-generation portfolio of flexible, open hardware- and software-processing solutions that can be rapidly and securely integrated forboth dedicated use and multifunction implementation. Chrysalis significantly reduces nonrecurring engineering costs and risk to schedule by leveraging best-of-breed engineers, hardware, and tools. The reconfigurable processing hardware acrossthe Chrysalis product line shares common openandpublished application program interfaces (APIs) in order to conform to popular opensystem standards such as 3U VPX. This structure enables customers to modify hardware at multiple physicalandsoftware levels with or without the involvement of L3Harris. 60684-digital.pdfcluster-farm-and-processing-solutions-catalog-sas-sites/default/files/2021-08/Next-generation-compute-https://www.l3harris.com/

› The L3Harris VPU is a VPX-based next-generation videoprocessing unit that provides real-time enhancement to turret video and greatly increases theeffectiveness of personnel, equipment and assets onair, land, or sea by significantly enhancing video detail and clarity. The VPU delivers optimized video fromelectro-optical infrared turret systems. The latest image-processing algorithms sharpen edges, increase contrast, reduce turbulence, andreduceoperatorworkload and ims-eo-seo-datasheet-VPU.pdfhttps://www.l3harris.com/sites/default/files/2021-06/fatigue.

› L3Harris’ DTP-N [Distributed Targeting ProcessorNetworked] is a high-performance data- and signal-processing computer based on 6U VPX that bridges gaps between onboard and external data networks in real time. DTP-N reduces pilot workload by providing actionable information – not just data – to the warfighter on a large-area display. It has the power to compute algorithms quickly to deal with thecomplex battlespace of the future. L3Harris’ DTP-N provides performance scalability, technology insertion, and functional growthcapability via anopensystemarchitecture design. It has multiple levels of security and complies with open mission systems standards for F/A-18 aircraft. The multilevel security (MLS) capability supports multiple security enclaves on board and provides secureinteroperability with several subsystems. sites/default/files/2021-02/DTP-N-Sellsheet-sas-60615-https://www.l3harris.com/

Northrup Grumman When it comes to development and operational testing, an accurate model of the electromagnetic spectrum is a must. High-fidelity simulations of the congested, contested envi ronment provide the most cost-effective means of testing and validating the effectiveness of sophisticated electronic warfare (EW) equipment. The Northrup Grumman Combat Electromagnetic Environment Simulator (CEESIM) provides the radio frequency (RF) simulation of multiple, simulta neous emitters linked to static/dynamic platforms required to faithfully simulate true combat conditions. Robust simu lations offer the most affordable means of testing and vali dating effectiveness of sophisticated EW equipment.

Northrop Grumman offers multiple configurations of the CEESIM technology to meet the distinct needs of missions. Core system building blocks are implemented in a 6U VPX form factor that builds on existing CEESIMcapabilities. These building blocks are used to create awide range of system configurations based in individual customer test requirements. CEESIM-VPX is scalable to meet a wide range of test requirements.

SIDEBAR FIGURE 2 | The Northrup Grumman CEESIM delivers advanced F-35 electronic warfare simulation capability to the U.S. Navy. Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman.

› The L3Harris COYOTE is a 3U VPX-based multichannel,multiband, ultra-high-speed modem. COYOTE is the most powerful production data link modem available today for demanding line-of-sight (LOS) communications. Integrating L3Harris ASPEN [Advanced Signal Processing Engine] technology, COYOTE delivers the mission-specific innovations and core functionality required to quickly deploy warfighter solutions to support evolving operational needs. This VPX/VITA standards based modular family of modems, processors, up/down converters, and crypto options expand flexibility and extendedexpected life. coyote-modem-assemblyhttps://www.l3harris.com/all-capabilities/

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processing components. Consider that CPU manufacturers, such as Intel, release a new generation of x86 server-class processor every two to three years. To maintain state-of-the-art computing capabilities on a given platform, the default tech refresh approach ta en by systems integrators is to respecify new ser er conﬁgurations with the latest processors, which translates to racks of equipment being swapped out every few Withyears.each processor generation, new innovations roll out, including doubling of the PCIe bandwidth, more PCIe lanes for greater hardware support, faster memory speeds, and updated security features. Each new processing refresh, however, cre ates an increasing thermal challenge. Intel server-class CPUs, for example, have seen thermal design power T ratings double o er the last four generational refreshes from a 50 to 145 W range in the Broadwell processor generation to the current to range in the third eon scalable processor generation. s such, swap ping an older ser er with an updated replacement may pose conﬂicts with limited power budgets.

By Anton Chuchkov As technology continuously innovates to produce exponential improvements in processing and storage performance to keep pace with the demands of the digital world, new computing architec tures must be considered. With edge environments constricting the require ments surrounding power, footprint, and latency, disaggregating compute resources is becoming a new way of architecting edge processing. For edge-computing applications in the defense and aerospace ﬁeld, mission platforms are typically required to stay active far longer than the underlying Rugged computing & thermal management

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The paradigm for scaling rugged mission-critical processing resources at the edge is evolving rapidly. Disaggregating processing is no ena ling lo latency, net or attache e erything at the e ge ith high s ee thernet connecti ity, from G ser ers to Me o er fa ric storage e ices.

Optimizing the edge through distributed disaggregation

Figure 1 | Shown is an NVIDIA Blueﬁeld DPU card and key components. (Photo courtesy of NVIDIA.)

Processing pushed to the edge Despite these challenges, advanced com puting resources continue to move from data centers to deployed edge platforms, adding efﬁciency and new capabilities to applications such as radar signal pro cessing. Such high-performance edge systems must be able to rapidly allocate and re-allocate – parallel processing resources to handle data streams from mul tiple sensor sources through various types of algorithms, such as deep learning/ machine learning (ML) neural networks for artiﬁcial intelligence .

To optimize architectures, certain computing tasks are assigned to traditional CPUs with other hardware, such as graphics processing units (GPUs), given math-intensive duties where parallel processing is well-suited. Notably, GPUs have proven to exceed the capabilities of general-purpose processors in compute- and data-intensive use cases involving inferencing and training. An example use case is with cognitive radar, which applies AI techniques to extract information from a received return signal and then uses that information to improve transmit parameters, such as frequency, waveform shape, and pulse repetition fre quency. To be effective, cognitive radar must execute those AI algorithms in near- realtime. That, in turn, requires powerful GPUs in the processing chain. In AI inference benchmark tests performed by NVIDIA, an A100 GPU outperformed a CPU by 249x. y ofﬂoading tas s such as inferencing and training to s, there is no longer a need to overspecify CPUs, which in turn presents an opportunity to decrease TDP.

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One function very important to edge applications is the ability to feed networked data directly to GPUs using direct memory access (DMA) without any involvement by a system CPU. More than just a smart NIC, DPUs can be used as standalone embedded processors that use a PCIe switch architecture to operate as either root or endpoints for GPUs, NVMe storage, and other PCIe devices. Doing this enables a shift in system architectures: Rather than specifying a certain predetermined mix of GPU-equipped and general-compute servers, the DPU now enables the GPU resources to be shared, wherever it’s most required.

The mission needs to keep up ncremental power impro ements gained from ofﬂoading tas s from to add up, but are not enough to keep pace with the needs of the edge environment. At the 2022 NVIDIA GTC event, Lockheed Martin Associate Fellow Ben Luke described this problem with power, latency, and sensor data at the edge: “One of the big challenges in modern sensors is that the data rates are ever increasing … there is also a strong desire to move that processing … closer to the edge, and that results in size, weight, and power constraints that are pressing to that architecture.”

Distributed processing enablers

On a datacenterHawk podcast about the future of edge computing and AI, Rama Darba, director of solutions architecture at NVIDIA, stated, “You cannot have AI or computational decision being made in the cloud via real time; there’s latency issues, there’s computational challenges.” Information that is not current is no longer relevant to make an informed decision. Particularly at the edge, making real-time decisions through inference-focused hardware, leveraging a trained model, relies heavily on the need for low latency.

Although tech refreshes may initially arise due to CPU life cycle hurdles, it is clear there are inherent advantages gained by updating to the latest hardware. There are critical improvements within every processing generation that enable the system to keep pace with the accelerating growth of sensor data as well as mitigate adversaries’ advancements. Directly related to Ben Luke’s comments is the hardware’s ability to provide decreased latency and time to decision.

The rugged data center at the edge can immediately beneﬁt from disaggregation by embracing hardware such as data processing units (DPUs). DPUs, such as NVIDIA’s lueﬁeld shown in Figure , are sometimes described as smart s networ ing inter face cards , with additional integrated functionality, such as processing cores, highspeed packet processing, memory, and high-speed connectivity (e.g., 100 Gb/sec/ 200 Gb/sec Ethernet). Working together, these elements enable a DPU to perform the multiple functions of a network datapath acceleration engine.

Rugged computing & thermal managementINDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT 36 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

https://www.mrcy.com/Mercury

Figure 2 | A block diagram shows a use case of a data processing unit in a platform.

DPU use cases are not limited to GPUs and parallel processing. For instance, the GPU card could instead be a pool of drives, networked and appearing as local storage to any system. Whether it is parallel processing or storage, having the resource available to the network enables future scalability and refresh to newer, more capable hardware without a complete overhaul of existing systems or compromising on power budget or low Hardwarelatency.that not only enables disaggregation, but also distribution of resources, presents an opportunity to align the needs of rugged mission-critical platforms with the latest technology through an innovative approach to architecting systems. MES Anton Chuchkov is a ro uct manager for the ge O erating unit at Mercury Systems, focusing on rackmount products; he is responsible for introducing the latest industry technologies to the rugged market. He has worked in product management and in applications engineer roles at the chip, board, and system level for more than eight years. Anton holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Stony Brook University. Readers may reach the author at anton.chuchkov@mrcy.com.

Enter the disaggregated distributed processing paradigm A functional way of understanding the paradigm shift from the status quo to the newly enabled system architecture is by observing the data center as a whole processing pool of resources, rather than as a subset of servers, each with a dedicated function. In other words, the status quo had individual servers per form tasks – some for storage, others for parallel processing, and others for general services. While this model is essentially disaggregated by function, the critical missing element is the lack of distribution of those functions across multiple Considersystems.theblock diagram of a dis tributed, disaggregated sensor pro cessing architecture (Figure 2). Parallel processing of mission-critical informa tion such as sensor data is sent and performed on the GPU-enabled system, relayed to the DPU over high-speed net working and shared to any networked server for action. Such an architecture also maintains low latency end-to-end, from sensor to GPU to networked server, irrespective of CPU generation in the server stack. To facilitate this new architecture, products such as Mercury’s rugged distributed processing 1U server disaggregate GPU resources and distribute insights directly onto the network without a standalone x86 host CPU. (Figure 3.) By distributing across the network, a greater portion of the resources can be used. Instead of specifying GPUs into each system and using a percentage of each GPU, fewer GPUs can be used and distributed to a greater number of systems, mitigating the trend toward thermal increase. Related to using fewer s, ’s arba identiﬁed cost reduction as another key improvement from such an architecture: “One of the great advantages is that now, because you’re not in a place where you know you’re locked, having to run this appli cation on this server, you could actually have huge reductions in server cost and server sizing.”

Figure 3 | A block diagram shows the makeup of the Mercury rugged distributed processing server.

Achilles was a hero of the Trojan War. According to Greek mythology, he was invulnerable except for one heel. As an infant, his mother dipped him in the protective waters of river Styx holding him by that heel. Near the end of the Trojan War, he was killed when Paris shot him in the heel with an arrow. The greatest of all the Greek warriors is most remembered not for his many successes but for his fatal ﬂaw.

Reliability is the Foundation of Rugged Systems

ADVERTORIAL EXECUTIVE SPEAKOUT

zmicro ZMicro | www.zmicro.com

Cloud Peak enables customers to mix and match add-in cards to accommodate their needs. An upgraded power supply handles the large power draw required to support high-performance processors and add-ons in the system. There is also room for up to four 8 TB NVMe drives.

A major advantage is that the motherboard architecture allows for two full-size PCIe add-in cards and one half-size. This allows for greater flexibility of the base system to enable customer-specific configurations. For example, one customer may choose a double slot high-performance GPU to maximize the number of CUDA cores, while another customer may combine a GPU, a video ingest card and an ethernet card.

The CMOS battery is responsible for preserving system configuration settings when the computer is cut off from external power. Most desktop PCs don’t have this issue since they are rarely unplugged. Deployed servers in aircraft, however, are constantly being powered down for extended periods. If the CMOS battery fails, it means that the next time the server boots – if it boots, it won’t be conﬁgured properly for the operator. At best, this will cause mission delays and frustration; at worst this can cause a scrapped mission. ZMicro was able to address this customer pain point with a simple and elegant solution. By relocating the CMOS battery to an easily accessible location, users can now replace it in minutes rather than hours or days. By adding circuitry that actively monitors battery health, users can replace batteries before they fail. Our experience with AFSOC inspired us to look at other aspects of server design with a newly critical eye. It’s clear that in addition to reliability, what customers want most is more compute capability in a smaller, lighter form factor. The requirements can vary with the mission, and the ideal mix of computational capabilities will vary for each customer. We set out to design the ideal server for airborne ISR and codenamed it Cloud Peak. We built Cloud Peak around the Intel 3rd generation Xeon scalable processors which provide nearly 50% performance improvement and more than double the memory capacity compared to the previous generation.

The performance per pound of Cloud Peak is unprecedented in a 1U form factor which features an 18" depth and weighs less than half that of alternative solutions. The smaller size leaves room for easier maintenance when you need to disconnect cables from the I/O in the rear. Customers are using the server in new ways. For example, we’ve seen Cloud Peaks installed in transit cases and hand-carried for ﬁeld applications.

Reliability is the foundation of rugged systems; continuous innovation is necessary to sustain a rugged platform.

By Jason Wade, President – ZMicro, Inc.

A similar principle applies to rugged computing systems: a single ﬂaw can undermine the mission. A good example of this was brought to us by our contacts at Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). It turns out that when the CMOS battery – which is used in laptops, desktop computers and aircraft servers – dies not only is it a major inconvenience, but it can also cause a mission to be aborted or fail.

Army Spc. Fernando Marzan conducts preflight inspections on an RQ-7B Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Photo: Army Sgt. Jordan Trent.

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT 38 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

running through the start-up procedure; the soldiers can hear the system’s fans moving the hot air over hotter electronics.

System start-up goes smoothly, the UAV uses its launcher to take off, and the sol diers retreat to a shaded area where they can monitor and control the ﬂight. s the UAV climbs above 5,000 feet the air becomes cool and the fans slow down, even though multiple GPUs are now starting to process imaging data. The climb con tinues to above 10,000 feet, where it is so cold the fans turn off, even though the air is thin and all components in the imaging system are operating at full capacity.

There is nothing inherently wrong with these requirements; they represent maxi mums that could be encountered during real world operations. However, there is a departure from the real world when requirements mandate reliable system

As this scenario demonstrates, embedded systems routinely deal with a thermal triple threat: heat generated by system electronics, ambient air temperature, and altitude or more speciﬁcally, the air density determined by altitude.

irtually e ery deployable embedded system has system re uirements deﬁning a set of triple-threat speciﬁcations that must be met during operation. hile the maximum heat load varies greatly between systems (based mostly on the type and number of processors), maximum ambient temperature is frequently set at 71 °C (160 °F) and maximum altitude often at 30,000 feet.

Dealing with a real-world thermal triple threat

The ﬂies for se eral hours, collecting detailed information across a broad swath of disputed terrain. Having what they need, the soldiers direct the UAV to return. During the descent the system shuts off all but control functions and, as it touches down on the hot macadam, the fans restart. The UAV and its imaging system will be ready for another mission tomorrow if needed.

The thermal triple threat

Rugged

As increasing numbers of embedded systems are deployed on small platforms, thermal overdesign – or designing for a physically impossible worst case of simultaneous maximums – is becoming a significant issue. t can e a resse , without compromising system viability, y using a real orl focus to efine combinations of thermal triple-threat s ecifications. ngineers can then use software simulations for each combination of specs in an iterative fashion, modifying design parameters until acceptable thermal performance is achieved for all combinations.

On an abandoned parking lot in the tropics, three soldiers prepare a small UAV [unmanned aerial ehicle for reconnaissance critical to their unit’s mission. The tempera ture on the blacktop is over 120 °F and the CPU controlling the UAV’s imaging system is computing thermal management

By Kevin Griffin

A highly effective design approach for the thermal triple threat uses sets of software-simulation scenarios with realistic varia tions of heat load, altitude, and ambient temperature. A typical simulation effort will define around eight combinations of the triple-threat parameters. Engineers can then iterate through these scenarios, modifying cooling design parameters and rerunning simulations until the simulated system shows effec tive cooling for all combinations. At that point, the design team can be confident the system will perform reliably in any en iron ment it might actually encounter. Today s thermal simulation software example, Figure is flex ible and comprehensive. For air-cooled systems, computational fluid dynamics models are normally used, while for conduction cooling there are direct thermal-transfer representations. For complex thermal designs, both types of simulations may be used to model appropriate parts of the system.

A word on wedgelock temperatures

Designing for real-world extremes

Ideally, the simulation-based design approach would start out with sets of triple threat specifications defined by a real-world focus. In practice, the simulations are often used by thermal designers to show systems engineers how weight and power demands can be reduced, relative to an over design driven by simultaneous maximums. The result is to ”negotiate“ a set of scenarios representing conditions expected in the real world and to use those as the design targets. Unfortunately, this negotiation occurs during the product design cycle and adds to the develop ment time; things would be more straightforward if the sets of real-world scenarios were in the initial specification document.

operation under a condition of all three maximums simultane ously. The most obvious example of this fallacy is that in the real world the ambient temperature at 30,000 feet will never be anywhere close to 71 °C – at that altitude, it is extremely cold.

Many conduction-cooled systems have an additional param eter wedgeloc temperature added to the triple-threat specs, usually set at 85 °C. The expectation is that processor-die tem peratures on attached boards will remain below their maximums if the wedgelock spec is not exceeded; the board designers must do the simulations or testing to assure that is true. s with the triple-threat specs, the speciﬁed maximum wedge lock temperature should be examined with a real-world view. Under what set of operating conditions would the attached board draw enough power to reach that maximum? What are the altitude and ambient air temperatures associated with those board operating conditions? Combining real world wedgelock temps with sets of triple threat specs will avoid overdesigns that add unnecessary weight in conduction-cooling material. MES Kevin Griffin is a senior mechanical engineer at Atrenne. Kevin has almost four eca es of e erience in the fiel of mechanical engineering. Since he began working at Atrenne Computing Solutions in 1984, he has driven his way up through the ranks, progressing from product engineer to systems architect with a focus on electronic packaging for military, industrial, & commercial applications. Atrenne • https://www.atrenne.com/

Figure 1 | Autodesk CFD 2019 software simulations produce detailed thermal images for complex thermal designs.

www.militaryembedded.com MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS July/August 20 22 39

The clear solution is specifying and designing systems based on a real-world thermal triple threat. The relationship between maximum ambient air temperatures to altitude is well under stood. peciﬁcations should incorporate that relationship, so that the speciﬁcations for altitude and ambient temperature can then be established as a series of steps, X° at sea level, Y° at 5,000 feet, etc.

Using simulation scenarios

Unfortunately, many requirements documents still do exactly that, deﬁning a physically impossible worst case of simultaneous maximums, perhaps justifying it as a conservative engineering approach. This, of course, inevitably leads to the overdesign of cooling components – more fans, bigger fans, more heat sinks, and more thermal-conduction material.

A real-world understanding of how the system will be deployed is also important. If the platform can’t operate above 18,000 feet, why put , feet in the system speciﬁcation Understanding the details of the embedded system’s operation can then be used to determine maximum power draw and heat generation by the electronics in a way that ﬁts with the temper ature-altitude steps. Not all the processors in a system run at full power all the time simultaneously. They certainly don’t all run at full power simultaneously in an airborne system while it is on the runway. What is the real-world worst-case power draw, and for how long, at each altitude step?

In the past, the cooling overdesign issue has not been a huge problem. For an embedded system in a large, manned aircraft, a few extra fans drawing a few extra watts, or a few hundred grams of unneeded material, are not a big burden. A big platform can easily support the extra weight and power draw.

But for small platforms, like today’s tactical UAVs, cooling overdesign will compromise mission capability. Every fraction of a kilogram and every watt make a difference in how long a UAV can stay on station and gather information.

The vision of hardware interoperability at the tactical edge, from air platforms to ground vehicles to base stations, is now being realized. Because MOSA [modular open systems approach] is an approach and not itself a standard, solutions that support this vision can be achieved through many different means as long as interfaces and communications protocols are based on open standards. There remains a key area to address, though, to achieve seamless interoperability between heterogeneous systems. Consi er, for e am le, the Sensor O en Systems Architecture SOSA Technical Stan ar hile most as ects of sensor rocessing system architectures are ell efine ithin SOSA, one area that has not een rigi ly efine is the net or configuration an o erational en ironment of in i i ual car s an mo ules.

VITA standard-based rugged chassis and plug-in-cards (PICs) aligned with standards such as ensor pen ystems rchitecture , odular pen uite of tandards and pen . ost s support user-definable configuration and options ia the software and firmware and many cards in the same profile will li ely support similar functionality. hile the T ehicle ntegration for nteroperability standards body

Rugged computing & thermal management

By Dominic Perez

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT 40 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

Uniﬁed network communications management: the next step to realizing MOSA

The embedded system industry is at a turning point now that it can provide gov ernment customers with true modular open systems approach (MOSA)-based hardware for warﬁghter communications in a variety of hardware form factors, from ultra-compact line replaceable units to (Army photo/Jim Kendall.)

has attempted to consolidate and stan dardize on some status communication it will ine itably not co er e ery configura tion option available from every vendor. As an example, a PIC conforming to the data control plane switch profile may be powered by Cisco, Broadcom, or Microsemi switching ASICs [applicationspecific integrated circuits that use dif ferent command sets or configuration languages. The commands required to assign a port to a VLAN [virtual local area networ are different for these endors, and while that is a simple example, a full networ configuration might reasonably require a highly trained person with pro fessional-le el T certification in those technologies. Engineers with this level of expertise typically ha e more than fi e years of professional experience, yet still require months (or in some cases years) of endor-specific training. The goal of MOSA and the SOSA stan dard is that, in the near future, a SOSA conformant switch that uses a particular profile can be swapped out for any other SOSA conformant switch that uses that same profile. Figure . hile industry is rapidly approaching the realization of this goal for hardware, consider able work remains on the software and configuration side to ma e this ision a reality. hat is needed is a configuration “Rosetta Stone” that can take the system designer or operator’s functional require ments and seamlessly configure the dis parate hardware installed in the system. unified networ communications man agement solution eliminates the need for the customer to know how to con figure networ hardware from multiple Figure 1 | Shown: MOSA-style hardware in an Army SAVE-compliant mounting frame. Standardized A-Kit/Vehicle Envelope [SAVE] is a physical SWaP [size, weight, and power] connector standard for fielding C5ISR capabilities.

What’s more, embedded standards are now increasingly looking to use high-assurance software, a move that promises to dramatically increase costs and reduce options for government customers. If every aspect of system management needs to go through aerospace software-le el certiﬁcation, the costs for military software could rise by hundreds of millions of dollars. A true modular open system approach that extends to network operations software would allow for a design whereby software modules or components are held to appropriate Design Assurance Level (DAL) for their role in system operations. Network functions, such as visualizations and indications, and log viewers, etc., are not critical since they are essentially a translation and view layer that resides o er the top of the software or ﬁrmware running on the s. esigns such as this will enable government and industry to use rapid-development techniques such as Agile and DevSecOps to speed time to market and reduce cost, while true safetycritical systems can use the often slower, more costly development methodologies to achieve higher DALs.

www.militaryembedded.com MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS July/August 20 22 41

What’s needed is an overriding piece of software that can handle the numerous and important discrepancies that exist between networ conﬁguration languages used by different network vendors.

The purpose of MOSA, and we can use SOSA as an example, is to enable far more rapid deployment of new capabilities to the warfighter. n the case of , the goal is to deli er new algorithms and sensor-processing capabilities to the field more uic ly by defining interoperability at the module and system le el. The challenge of configuring and managing a polyglot en ironment of networ configuration lan guages can introduce a significant wea lin one that adds unwanted time delays, costs, and personnel requirements – into the goal of interoperability.

ithout a uniﬁed system management solution in place to translate disparate net work languages, regardless of how effective and open standards based the rest of the battleﬁeld communications hardware might be, the polyglot reality of heterogeneous hardware can introduce detrimental stress points.

vendors, whether from Cisco, Broadcom, or Microsemi, for example. Instead, with the unified networ communications management ta ing care of networ configura tion translations, the end customer only needs to know what the mission is, while the system-management software handles all configuration language tas s. ithout a unified networ communications management solution, it re uires much time, effort, and expertise to configure the different configuration languages so they can share data and inter-communicate on the battlefield. etwor personnel must be trained and educated – and reeducated – to keep up with the fast-changing world of network communications and how a particular device functions. In addition, it takes a nontrivial amount of time to integrate that network device into an existing system.

While there are efforts such as VITA 46.11 to introduce system-management standard ization into CMOSS and SOSA chassis, those standards don’t (or are unlikely to) apply to non-VITA-standard based MOSA equipment. Providing an interface layer that can handle all of the arious networ configuration languages and support multiple sets of equipment will become increasingly important. Imagine a soldier who is assigned to a Stryker vehicle for a particular engagement and is expected to operate the com munications equipment on that platform. In the next engagement, the same soldier may be assigned to another vehicle that has different comms equipment onboard. By pro iding a common unified networ operations framewor , a soldier can be e ually effective at their job regardless of the communications hardware instantiation associ ated with any particular vehicle. n example of a pro en and fielded unified networ communications management software solution is Curtiss-Wright’s PacStar IQ-Core Software package, which has

been successfully deployed across Army PEO C3T. (Figure 2.) This “single-paneof-glass” interface can manage a wide range of communications equipment in a multitude of hardware form factors from multiple vendors, and continually adds support for additional devices. As industry moves toward virtual func tions, we are seeing a need for more general-purpose computing in the field. PacStar IQ-Core Software can manage virtual functions, regardless of the MOSA general-purpose computing hardware being used. PacStar IQ-Core Software can manage this. Its toolset includes open standards such as SSH, SNMPv3, HTTPS, along with published APIs – including APIs for web services such as T and to interface with various elements of communications equipment. ithout a unified networ communica tions management solution, personnel must develop expertise in all of these networ standards and s or configure alternate tools. Moreover, all of these tools are constantly updated, making it essential, too, that users have be continually retrained and educated on upgrades and changes to these tools. A unified networ communications man agement solution eliminates the need for that never-ending education and training cycle. The single-pane-of-glass approach enables users to be agnostic when it comes to learning networ -configura tion languages since they don’t need to become fluent in e ery single one. An independent research company conducted a user study to measure the impact of using a unified networ communications management solu tion to configure and manage complex networking equipment. In the study, twenty-two untrained end users were asked to perform the same two tasks, once using PacStar IQ-Core Software and once using the equivalent manual method (e.g., command line). The results showed that using a unified networ communications management solution to do these tasks greatly improved the participants’ ability to complete them successfully, and drastically reduced the time spent, errors committed, and support needed. This was true regardless of the person’s le el of computer and networ ing expertise. sing unified networ commu nications management software, participants:

› Performed the VPN setup task 10 times faster and the backup task 2.5 times faster

› Were twice as successful in completing both tasks in the allotted time

One of the next things for industry to consider and for customers to be aware of is that the system-management problem is critical for realizing the promise of the model. f extrapolated horizontally across disparate hardware types, a unified network communications management approach enables a path for realizing the goal of network communications interoperability in heterogeneous environments. Using an intuitive user interface makes communications setup and operation quick and easy to learn reduces configuration errors by assisting organizations in maintaining uptime, performance, and compliance with cybersecurity re uirements and simplifies trouble shooting with tools for both entry-level and advanced network administrators. MES

Dominic Perez, CISSP is the CTO at Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions and a Curtiss-Wright Technical Fellow; he was with PacStar since 2008 and joined Curtiss-Wright through its acquisition of PacStar in 2020. Dominic currently leads the teams developing Curtiss-Wright’s PacStar Commercial Solutions for Classifie , Mo ular ata Center, an Tactical usion System product lines. Prior to PacStar, Dominic worked for Biamp where he create automate testing infrastructure for the har are, firm are, an software powering its network distributed audio, teleconferencing, and paging systems. Dominic studied mechanical engineering and computer science at Oregon State ni ersity. e currently hol s multi le rofessional certifications fromVMware in Data Center Administration; Cisco in Design, Security, and outing S itching an C Council an SC in Security.

Curtiss-Wright Defense https://www.curtisswrightds.com/Solutions

Figure 2 | PacStar IQ-Core Software demonstrates its capabilities as a single-pane-of-glass for uniﬁed network communications management. computing thermal

Rugged

managementINDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT 42 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

› Had nine times fewer errors

› Felt twice as conﬁdent about performing other tas s on the e uipment

communications By

www.militaryembedded.comHutchins MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS July/August 20 22 43

Effective command and control is based on decision-making, with commanders making the best decisions at the speed of relevance. This means that there’s a need for faster communications and greater access to timely information, regardless of distance, to inform these decisions with complete assurance. AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities will play a critical role in gaining data assurance across traditionally disparate Fornetworks.example, AI can help sift through vast reams of data, with decision-makers in the loop providing the critical insights and conclusions based off the informa tion. Operating this way speeds up the timeline from data to insight. Additionally, military leaders need por table, miniaturized capabilities to sup port forward-deployed units. Mobile capabilities equipped with protected communications that work on smaller terminals enable a significant ad antage against adversaries, especially when those systems can maintain communi cations through portable technology in any environment. Success is communica tions on the move: It looks like a soldier who can easily communicate with others uic ly, discreetly, and efficiently in a nontraditional location, delivering crit ical data so that commanders can make real-time decisions to ensure the success of the JADC2mission.willoverhaul military communi cations and enable U.S. armed forces to better handle the massive amount of information they collect and distribute every single day. The strategic-to-tactical convergence of protected communica tions is key to bolstering JADC2 and should be deemed an urgent initiative to upgrade disparate legacy networks, gain resilience at the edge, and achieve data assurance. The forward-deployed can take advantage of resilient and jamproof communications from the strategic community, while the strategic commu nity uses the prolific tactical networ s, both currently used and in development. Under such a convergence, decisionmakers are armed with the right informa tion at the right time to make decisions in real time for improved national security. It also can serve as a nuclear deterrent: If adversaries know that the message will get through no matter what and that command-and-control networks cannot be disrupted, it could deter them from taking action against the nation and its allies. The combination of JADC2 and strategic-tactical convergence presents the . . with a significant enhancement to its defense infrastructure and warfighting capabilities. Mark Hutchins is ecuti e irector, Protected Communications Systems, Raytheon Intelligence & Space. Raytheon Intelligence & www.raytheonintelligenceandspace.com/Space tactical Mark

Keyenvironment.todriving this convergence will be two critical technologies: rtiﬁcial intel ligence (AI) and miniaturization.

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Key to ConvergingJADC2:strategic and

In March 2022, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks signed the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) Implementation Plan, noting that JADC2 will be critical as the military works to keep pace with the volume and com plexity of data in modern warfare. One notable element that went rela tively unreported was the implementa tion plan’s call for the services to directly integrate nuclear command and con trol into the broader communications Historically,architecture.this has not been the case. Our nation’s leaders rely on strategic nuclear communications to be online 24/7 in any environment to make criti cal decisions that could ultimately ini tiate – or stop – a nuclear strike. On the battlefield, armed forces use tac tical communications networks to relay orders and military intelligence. Both types of communications must be resilient enough to withstand electronic attack, and versatile enough to relay information where it’s needed, when it’s needed. By converging strategic and tactical protected communications, troops and decision-makers will be able to start sharing and accessing information across the battlespace through a more ubiquitous network, which is necessary to combat modern threats more effec tively. While achieving this type of net work takes time and effort, our armed forces can immediately benefit from using these types of protected commu nications, connecting them to a broader network, and incrementally upgrading this network over time. These systems will enable the battlefield commander to be on both tactical and strategic networks to enable a full range of warfighting capabilities in any threat environment. If tactical systems are thwarted, the strategic capabilities will deliver critical data to users. From undersea to air and space, and back to the ground, information will be able to better flow across this incre mental, streamlined network, which was not part of the original protected com munications architecture decades ago. With adversaries considering smaller tactical munitions in a local battlespace, tactical-to-strategic convergence is required to enable our frontline forces to continue to operate in this battle

The AIRLink artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled unmanned aerial system (UAS) flight controller from Sky-Drones is aimed at use by military and commercial UAS operators. It includes advanced autopilot for multirotor, fixed-wing, and vertical takeoff and landing [VTOL] craft; an AI mission computer; and wireless LTE connectivity. The controller uses FPV [first-person view] and payload camera inputs, for use with the integrated HD FPV camera. Also included are a three-times-redundant vibration-dampened temperature-stabilized IMU [inertial measurement unit, or sensor]; several options for internet connectivity (Ethernet, WiFi, LTE 4G/5G); plus Sky-Drones cloud connectivity and remote control.

The CMP200 combines vector signal analyzer and ARB-based generator functionality. The integrated solution can also be customized with as many as three CMPHEAD30 remote radio heads (RRH) for up/downconverting signals to 5G FR2 frequencies. It can perform parallel testing of multiple devices at once, operates at an ultrafast measurement speed, operates over a range from 6 GHz to 20 GHz, and has a fully automated path correction concept. Rohde & Schwarz | https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/

SightLine Applications https://sightlineapplications.com/

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The 4000-OEM video processor card consists of SightLine’s most powerful processor, built on a Qualcomm 820 Arm system-on-module. The size- and power-optimized card supports three digital video inputs, with single- or dual-channel processing; multiple video outputs (dualstream H.264/H.265 IP video, HDMI, HDSDI); and can handle a range of system interfaces. The card – smallerand lower-power than its predecessor, the 3000-OEM – is compatible with nearly 80cameras,and the company reports continued testing to increase the number of compatible cameras. The USB supports two USB webcams using a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hub, whichis a typical application to switch between wide/narrow fixed field-of-view cameras. For HDMI and HDSDI inputs,1080i, 480i,and 480pare supported.

The updated card sports increased support for USB peripherals to improve system integration benefits: SSD storage, GPS, AHRA, and LRF etc. peripherals to the metadata path. The card’s updated software also enables improved aerial MTI [moving-target indication] and will run faster on 4K video with better detection of small targets. SightLine’s key analytics (detection, tracking, AI classifier, focus metrics) can also be licensed as a static library which can be written into customer software when hosted on 64-bit Arm processors running Linux.

UAS flight controller leverages AI

The AIRLink is UTM [unmanned traffic management]-integrated; UTM refers to the technological and regulatory efforts to create an air-traffic management system (like that used with manned aircraft) for UASs flown in lower airspace. It is also equipped for operation beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS), can withstand extreme ambient temperatures, is capable of performing at high power without overheating, and contains entirely integrated hardware and software for flight and payload data analytics. The goal with AIRLink is for the operator to be able to focus the efforts and resources of the operator on the UAS rather than on the operations or failures of the avionics and connectivity. Sky-Drones | https://sky-drones.com/

Ultra-wideband radio test solution conforms with FiRa consortiumspecs As part of the new ultra-wideband (UWB) physical layer (PHY) Test Suite for the Rohde & Schwarz CMP200 radio communication tester, the company offers a PHY Conformance Test Tool (PCTT) to support conformance testing of the UWB PHY layer as specified by the FiRa Consortium, which covers the use of ultra-wideband technology. UWB-enabled devices can accurately and securely measure the distance and direction of connected mobile devices while maintaining robust resistance to interference. They also consume a low amount of energy and coexist well with other radio communication systems. These capabilities make UWB the right technology for such use cases as military or civilian indoor navigation, hands-free access, asset tracking, and point-and-trigger applications.

EDITOR’S CHOICE PRODUCTS 44 July/August 20 22 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS www.militaryembedded.com

Video processor card handles low-latency video duties

TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS, AND PRODUCTS DRIVING THE DESIGN PROCESS

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Military Embedded Systems focuses on embedded electronics – hardware and software – for military applications through technical coverage of all parts of the design process. The website, Resource Guide, e-mags, newsletters, podcasts, webcasts, and print editions provide insight on embedded tools and strategies including technology insertion, obsolescence management, standards adoption, and many other military-speciﬁc technical subjects. Coverage areas include the latest innovative products, technology, and market trends driving military embedded applications such as radar, electronic warfare, unmanned systems, cybersecurity, AI and machine learning, avionics, and more. Each issue is full of the information readers need to stay connected to the pulse of embedded technology in the military and aerospace industries.

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The Hights founded Forever Young initially as a way to grant wishes for seniors and bring joy to their lives, but they soon realized the eterans they were ser ing so often sought to find peace and closure from their time in the ser ice. t was then the ights’ mission shifted exclusively to veterans. Since its founding, Forever Young Veterans has honored more than 2,500 veterans, taking many of them back on what they call “Trips of Honor” to the places where they fought, in addition to memorials in Washington, D.C. Moreover, it has granted senior veterans more than 300 “Wishes of Honor,” during which the veterans do something they’ve always dreamed of: past wishes include throwing out the first pitch at a a or eague aseball game, ta ing a final flight in a - , or returning to their home for final reunions with family and friends. For additional information, please visit https://foreveryoungvets.org/.

Read this white paper: https://bit.ly/3RJUYXz Read more white

DO-178C: Get on a High with your Software Development By LDRA Working with the airborne software industry to meet the challenges of achieving costeffecti e certification: The - standard pro ides detailed guidance for the de elopment and erification of safety-critical airborne software systems in accordance with the assigned esign ssurance e el . lthough the standards do not require developers to use analysis, test, and traceability tools in their wor , such tools impro e efficiency in all but the most tri ial pro ects to the extent that they ha e a significant part to play in the achievement of the airworthiness objectives for air borne software throughout the development life cycle. In this white paper, learn how designers and developers can use the LDRA tool suite to help achieve DO-178C DAL objectives including bidirectional traceability, test management, source code static analysis, and dynamic analysis of both source and object code.

webcast: https://bit.ly/3zqzbgB Watch more

Co-founder Diane Hight started Forever Young Veterans in 2006 with her husband, Greg, to remember her father, who had served in the Coast Guard and U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean War. He returned from his service with many problems, including alcoholism. iane describes life with her father as difﬁcult for the family. For years, iane belie ed her father had a character problem but she came to realize that he was trying to bury the emotional wounds and combat stress he suffered during the war.

Each issue, the editorial staff of Military Embedded Systems will highlight a different charitable organization that beneﬁts the military, eterans, and their families. e are honored to co er the technology that protects those who protect us every day.

It has been said “With great power comes great responsi bility.” In modern military electronics systems, that saying might more accurately be: “With great processing capa bility comes a great responsibility to get the heat out.” Whether it’s a graphics processor, a general-purpose pro cessor, or an F ﬁeld-programmable gate array , these modern electronics all bring unprecedented capability to radar, avionics, and electronic warfare (EW) applications but at the same time create headaches for design engi neers who must come up with unique ways to manage the excess thermals these devices generate. In this webcast, join a panel of thermal-management experts who detail methods for reducing heat and thermals in modern military electronic systems. (This is an archived Watchwebcast.)this

https://militaryembedded.com/webcasts/archive/webcasts:WEBCAST

This issue, we are highlighting Fore er oung eterans, a nonproﬁt organization that see s to honor military eterans years and older by granting their unfulﬁlled wishes, returning them to the places where they fought, and bringing them the happiness, healing, and hope they need and deserve.

Cooling Systems: Removing Heat from Embedded Electronics Systems

S onsore y C m e e Systems, n ent Schroff, & Pixus Technologies

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TECHNOLOGY MAKING YOUR HEAD SPIN?

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