COTS Journal

February 2018, Volume 20 – Number 2 • cotsjournalonline.com

JOURNAL

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

The Future is Now...

Technology and Future Soldier Systems

Reconfigurable Accelerators Supercharge MCU & SOC Performance Maintaining Classic Legacy Systems

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing JOURNAL

F-22s at Edwards Air Force Base

COTS (kots), n. 1. Commercial off-the-shelf.

Terminology popularized in 1994 within U.S. DoD by SECDEF Wm. Perry’s “Perry Memo” that changed military industry purchasing and design guidelines, making Mil-Specs acceptable only by waiver. COTS is generally defined for technology, goods and services as: a) using commercial business practices and specifications, b) not developed under government funding, c) offered for sale to the general market, d) still must meet the program ORD. 2. Commercial business practices include the accepted practice of customer-paid minor modification to standard COTS products to meet the customer’s unique requirements.

—Ant. When applied to the procurement of electronics for he U.S. Military, COTS is a procurement philosophy and does not imply commercial, office environment or any other durability grade. E.g., rad-hard components designed and offered for sale to the general market are COTS if they were developed by the company and not under government funding.

SPECIAL FEATURE

DEPARTMENTS

14

Reconfigurable Accelerators Supercharge MCU & SoC Performance

06 Publisher’s Note

By Tony Kozaczuk, Director, Solutions Architecture, Flex Logix®, Inc.

How VME is Meeting the demands of today’s Military?

20

The Future is Now… Technology and Future Soldier Systems

08

The Inside Track

Matt McAlonis, Global Engineering Leader Aerospace Defense and Marine TE Connectivity

SYSTEM DEVLOPMENT 22

Maintaining classic legacy systems Adrienne R. Benton, President & CEO, Onyx Spectrum Technology, Inc.

COT’S PICKS 27

Editor’s Choice for February

COTS Journal | February 2018

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The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

JOURNAL Editorial

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Koon, johnk@rtc-media.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR John Reardon, johnr@rtc-media.com MANAGING EDITOR Aaron Foellmi, aaronf@rtc-media.com

Art/Production

CREATIVE DIRECTOR & LAYOUT Designs by Dave, drdesignservices@ymail.com

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DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER Rachel Osman, rachelo@rtc-media.com (949) 226-2032 ADVERTISING CONTACT John Reardon, johnr@rtc-media.com Aaron Foellmi, aaronf@rtc-media.com

Finance

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE Cindy Muir, cindym@rtc-media.com (949) 226-2032

Publisher

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

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COTS Journal | February 2018

COTS Journal CORPORATE OFFICE RTC Media 940 Calle Negocio, Suite 230 San Clemente, CA 92673 Phone: (949) 226-2023 Fax: (949) 226-2050 www.rtc-media.com

PUBLISHED BY RTC MEDIA Copyright 2017, RTC Media. Printed in the United States. All rights reserved. All related graphics are trademarks of The RTC Group. All other brand and product names are the property of their holders.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

John Reardon, Publisher

How VME is Meeting the demands of today’s Military?

Whether you were around when Mulitbus II and Versabus gave way to the versatility of VME, the thought that it would still be going strong in 2018, over 30- years later, was not something that we contemplated. VITA (the VME International Trade Organization) has done a fantastic job at building on VME’s reputation and advancing the technology to make it relevant to today’s applications. Users know they can rely on the hundreds of builders and the thousands of products available to address applications of any type. From the inherently rugged form factor to the increased speed of its bus, VME still remains a robust architecture that meets many of today’s demands.

In looking through research it was not clear how VME was trending as it has such a large design base as to distort the numbers and confuse what is meant by “new design wins”. In reaching out to the leaders in the space opinions varied, but there seem to be a common thread in that VME has done a very good job at being upwards compatible and consequently legacy systems seem to stay the course. Having enjoyed wide-

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spread adoption throughout the military has given VME a foundation that will sustain it well into the next decade – and possibly beyond. And although it is not projected that the market will increase in any dynamic fashion, the predictions of its death are greatly exaggerated.

Why VME Would “comfort” be too simple? For years now the stability and reliability have made it easy for tech-refreshes and legacy concerns to keep coming back to VME as a safe, low risk choice that can be counted on. It begins with plethora of packaging options with an infinite number of configurations that meet both past and future applications. Originally thought to be exclusive the Motorola 68000 class processors, today VME has transitioned to many favored processor families most notable being Intel. Whether driven by the array of processors and configurations or familiar software, VME has defaulted to the architecture of choice for existing applications.

IDT Tsi 148 In 2015 VME got hit in the chops when a critical component to many designs was withdrawn from the market – EOL. The options looked ugly and the thought in the market was it would be the death knell of VME. The more powerful VPX was waiting in the wings to capture greater market share vacated by VME. The chip was driven to prices that exceeded $650 dollars and hoarding caused panic. But the testament to the entrenched value of VME is when FPGA solutions were offered up. Extreme Engineering was one of the first to offer a solution that exceeded the feature set of the Tsi 148 . This is notable as the DNR (Do not resuscitate) was not implemented and many offered herculean efforts to working around the problem.

The benefit of FPGA technology in solving this issue of PCIto-VME bridging is that obsolescence is no longer an issue.

Today VME has many more options for I/O offering system architects an opportunity to clean up cabling through rear transition modules and not through the face panel. Board designers have taken creativity even further with PMC/XMC carrier boards allowing PCI bottlenecks to be overcome with implementation of a VPX style 200 MB/s, low latency I/O interface. This bridge enables high-speed connection to the higher performance VME processors board via the backplane.

VPX

carved out a sustainable market. It allows for a confidence in knowing that it will be supported and available for many years to come. And although, VPX has 21st century performance, many applications still find VME to continue to address their needs.

Embedded Market Forecasters In the forth quarter of 2017, RTC Media conducted a reader survey that was implemented by Embedded Market Forecasters. The result of the survey indicated clearly that VITA held 14.0 percent of the market with VPX and VME having equal portions at 6.3 percent of the market. This clearly indicates that VPX has crossed a threshold with the most new designs and will continue to gain market share.

PICMG held a respectable hold on 10.5 percent of the Mil/ Aero market with Compact PCI making up 4.7 percent of the form factor selection. The highly distributed results seem to indicate that a dominant architecture was still up for grabs with 29.3 percent still favoring a proprietary solution. Whether this means that VITA and PICMG have yet to answer the dreams of a defense engineer, or that the applications are so unique as to require something special is not truly understood.

Here we are 30 years later with applications pushing the boundaries of physics, Moore’s Law has stalled and VITA has to address the opportunities requiring “fuel injection”. VPX comes forward as the higher performing, similar in cost alternative. Seen by many as the replacement for VME, it has taken substantial foothold in new designs as a viable alternative to VME. Offering higher performance through a fabric-based-interconnect allows board-to-board communication to be exponentially faster. Other benefits include the physical size, staying with 160mm by 233mm packaging is readily available from known vendors such as Elma Electronics and others.

Kindred to the internal combustion engine, VME has endured the test of time. It ease of configuration, the lower price point and sufficient performance to meet many applications has

COTS Journal | February 2018

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The

INSIDE TRACK World’s Most Advanced Weather Satellite Imager from Harris Corporation Set to Launch March 1; Will Cover Western US

Highlights: • Complements GOES-East imager with western coverage • Expands improved weather monitoring from coast to coast • Broadens enterprise ground system’s scope Harris Corporation’s (NYSE:HRS) second Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), built for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) weather-monitoring mission, is scheduled to launch March 1 on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES).

The ABI will be controlled by the Harris-built enterprise ground system and deliver three times the amount of spectral coverage in four times the resolution and five times faster than older GOES satellites. It will provide

Northrop is preparing the F-35, the U.S. Navy’s most advanced fighter

The Harris Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI)

better weather monitoring information more quickly throughout the western half of the United States and support forecasting and public safety efforts.

NOAA’s GOES-R, now called GOES-East,

of the most sophisticated test environment the company has ever created.

The CEESIM, SMS and SCS systems delivered to the U.S. Navy for the F-35 provide RF simulation, measurement and synchronization of multiple, simultaneous emitters to faithfully simulate true-to-war conditions.

The environment consists of Northrop Grumman’s Combat Electromagnetic Environment Simulator (CEESIM), Signal Measurement System (SMS) and other stimulators, all under control of the Synchronizer Controller System (SCS).

Northrop is preparing the F-35, the U.S. Navy’s most advanced fighter, for missions in today’s complex electromagnetic spectrum environment requires an equally advanced test environment. Northrop Grumman’s (NYSE: NOC) multispectral testing solution recreates the most accurate mission-like conditions in the laboratory and on the range.

Recently, NAWCWD Point Mugu took delivery

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COTS Journal | February 2018

“Keeping the F-35’s systems ready requires a fully integrated test environment like we have developed with CEESIM, SMS and SCS,” said Joe Downie, director, land and avionics C4ISR division, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems. “These systems work together to provide the environment complexity and density, measurement and analysis capability, and test control capability necessary to evalu-

launched in November 2016 and includes the first ABI that monitors the Western Hemisphere. It became operational late last year and covers the eastern half of the hemisphere, while GOES-S will cover the western half.

GOES-East has tracked devastating hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and along the East Coast, providing the National Weather Service with more detail on each storm’s structure and path than available from previous weather satellites.

GOES-S will improve fire detection and severe weather forecasting, helping to protect residents in the western U.S. The ABI instrument has day-and-night thermal detection and 30-second revisit time capabilities providing firefighters more insight into fire intensity, behavior and how it will spread.

ate the F-35 in a realistic mission scenario.”

At the center of the environment is the CEESIM, which simulates multiple, simultaneous RF emitters as well as static and dynamic platform attributes to faithfully model trueto-war conditions. CEESIM’s Advanced Pulse Generation high speed direct digital synthesizer technology is used to generate realistic electronic warfare mission scenarios.

The SMS provides wide bandwidth signal measurement, recording and analysis capability which is used to validate the test environment and evaluate the system under test performance.

The SCS provides the tools to program an integrated multispectral test scenario, including threat radars, communications signals, radar and EO/IR signatures. The SCS also manages the execution of the scenario by all of the stimulators to ensure a coherent multispectral test environment.

The

INSIDE TRACK

Production has started on sensor technology for next-generation, precision-guided stealth missiles BAE Systems has begun production of its sensor technology for the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) following a $40 million order from prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The sensor enables the missile to seek and attack specific high-threat maritime targets within groups of ships, including those protected by sophisticated anti-aircraft systems. The missile’s range, survivability, and lethality capabilities are designed to help warfighters more effectively conduct missions in denied environments from beyond the reach of return fire – meeting a pressing need for both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force.

LRASM is a next-generation, precision-guided stealth missile capable of semi-autonomously detecting and identifying targeted enemy ships. The precision routing and guidance technology of the sensor – which doesn’t rely exclusively on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems, networking links, or GPS navigation – enables the missile to operate effectively in contested domains and all weather conditions, day or night.

Raytheon to begin work on $600m contract to sustain and modernize U.S. Army

The Harris Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI)

Northrop is preparing the F-35, the U.S. Navy’s most advanced fighter, for missions in today’s complex electromagnetic spectrum environment requires an equally advanced test environment. Northrop Grumman’s (NYSE: NOC) multispectral testing solution recreates the most accurate mission-like conditions in the laboratory and on the range.

Recently, NAWCWD Point Mugu took delivery of the most sophisticated test environment the company has ever created.

The CEESIM, SMS and SCS systems delivered to the U.S. Navy for the F-35 provide RF simulation, measurement and synchronization of multiple, simultaneous emitters to faithfully simulate true-to-war conditions.

Systel selected to support MQ-8C Fire Scout Program

reconnaissance, situational awareness, and precision targeting support for ground, air, and sea forces.

Systel selected to support MQ-8C Fire Scout Program with rugged high density computing servers.

The UAV is integrated with the Minotaur Track Management and Mission Management System software, integrating sensors and data into a comprehensive common operating picture shared by multiple aircraft and vessels.

With its inclusion in the Fire Scout program, Systel continues its long-term support of Minotaur-integrated platforms throughout the DoD including the Navy, Coast Guard, and Department of Homeland Security. Systel’s 2U and 4U rugged servers support ISR and ASW

Systel, Inc has been selected to support the US Navy Naval Air Systems Command MQ-8C Fire Scout program with rugged, SWaP optimized high density computing servers.

The MQ-8C Fire Scout is an unmanned autonomous helicopter designed to provide

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COTS Journal | February 2018

The environment consists of Northrop Grumman’s Combat Electromagnetic Environment Simulator (CEESIM), Signal Measurement System (SMS) and other stimulators, all under control of the Synchronizer Controller System (SCS).

“Keeping the F-35’s systems ready requires a fully integrated test environment like we have developed with CEESIM, SMS and SCS,” said Joe Downie, director, land and avionics C4ISR division, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems. “These systems work together to provide the environment complexity and density, measurement and analysis capability, and test control capability necessary to evalu

missions on aircraft and ground control stations such as Fire Scout, P-8A Poseidon, C-130J Super Hercules, MEA King Air, and P-3 Orion.

The MQ-8C Fire Scout

The

INSIDE TRACK

Professional display solutions, also for airport applications - Made in Germany DATA MODUL supplies high-quality industrial monitors and panel PCs, developed and assembled in Germany. All the devices are for industrial use, available starting from small-scale production as entry-level products or for more demanding applications. The panels are designed for harsh ambient conditions indoors and outdoors and for 24/7 operation.

A challenge for all stakeholders
If several hundred monitors are planned for large projects, there is a series of procedures, certifications, qualifications and on-site appointments which must be carried out beforehand. In Germany, there is also the peculiarity of a long phase of evaluation, iterative authorization procedures and pitch presentations. Months or even years could pass before a decision on suppliers and delivery is made. A long time that could even bring crucial changes and innovations in the highly sensitive and fastpaced technology market.

The area of Systems & Signage Solutions in particular was recently restructured to be able to address the requirements from this market even more ideally. The Munich-based visual solution specialist DATA MODUL supplies device classes from open frame to outdoor products for indoor, outdoor and continuous use, and is Europe’s largest distributor of industrial displays and components.

It is necessary to plan in the most sustainable manner here, and to take into account all the potential uncertainties from the start. For this reason, DATA MODUL supplies display solutions available for the long term which are upwardly compatible in terms of software and hardware, and sets great store by direct communication between the project leaders of both sides during the entire project duration.

COTS Journal | Fedruary 2018

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The

INSIDE TRACK

(VSD) system has been selected as part of a military mobile protection program

Cambridge Pixel’s Video Security Display (VSD) system has been selected as part of a military mobile protection program in the Middle East, integrating multiple sensors (radar and cameras) to provide comprehensive and effective monitoring for a border and maritime security application.

The project involves the supply of forty systems through Cambridge Pixel’s Middle Eastern partner - Defense Integrated Solutions Security Systems (DISS). Each system is equipped with multiple sensor interface hardware and the VSD application software for deployment on a mobile platform.

The VSD system provides the operator with an intuitive full-screen graphical user interface (GUI) that presents multiple sensor windows to permit target tracking and aligning multiple sensors to the target to enhance

awareness and quickly discern friendly targets from others.

Kevin Ferguson, general manager, Defense Integrated Security Solutions Systems (DISS) LLC, said: “We needed a flexible and intuitive front end to the multi-sensor surveillance system we are supplying to a Middle Eastern customer. Cambridge Pixel’s VSD integrates and displays data from multiple radars and up to 16 daylight or thermal cameras

“Cambridge Pixel’s application met all our requirements.

VSD integrates data from multiple radars and cameras and comes with automatic radar slew-to-cue, target tracking and transponder technology built-in and so enables an operator to filter out authorized targets and thereby speed threat detection.”

The sensor-independent VSD software runs on a standard Windows PC and integrates and displays data from multiple radars and up to 16 daylight or thermal cameras. It also incorporates automatic radar slew-to-cue, radar tracking technology, track fusion as well as support for ship (AIS) and aircraft (ADS-B) transponders.

New ARM-based embedded computers!

VersaLogic Corporation announced a new line of production-ready, ARM-based embedded computers starting with the Tetra. The Tetra is a power-efficient, quad-core Single Board Computer (SBC).

Featuring a quad-core i.MX6 Cortex®-A9 32-bit processor, a Tetra typically consumes about 4W of power when operating (not idle).

It is ready for off-the-shelf deployment into demanding industrial applications requiring rugged, long-life, power-efficient, industrial temperature rated (-40° to +85°C) solutions.

Microchip Technology announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Microsemi Corporation Microchip Technology announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Microsemi Corporation. The transaction is subject to the approval of shareholders of Microsemi, regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. We expect the transaction to close

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COTS Journal | February 2018

Unlike many ARM-based “modules,” VersaLogic’s new line of ARM-based EPC (Embedded Processing Card)products are complete board-level computers. They do not require carrier cards, companion boards, connector break-out boards, or other add-ons to function.

For ease of mounting, and future upgrades, VersaLogic’s ARM products are designed around the size and mounting points of COM Express products. Unlike proprietary-format ARM products, VersaLogic ARM boards provide a standardized mounting pattern now, and simplified upgrading in the future.

The Tetra is COM Express Basic size (125 x 95 mm) and offers a variety of I/O options for rugged, industrial applications. The three quadcore Tetra models feature a wide (8 to 17-volt) power input, making it ideal for 12-volt automotive applications. Many applications that require lower power or lower heat dissipation still need very high levels of reliability. VersaLogic’s 10+ year formal life-extension program ensures long production cycles free from expensive changes and upgrades that come from short, disposable lifecycles.

in the second calendar quarter of 2018.

and Microsemi will offer you a broader range of innovative solutions to serve your needs.

Microchip is a leading provider of embedded control solutions through its microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog, wired and wireless networking, security, timing, flash IP and memory product lines. This acquisition adds Microsemi’s strong portfolio of specialized Ethernet, storage and optical networking microcontrollers, FPGA, wireless, timing, analog and mixed-signal products to Microchip. The combined product lines of Microchip

For now, and until the transaction closes, it will be business as usual for customers and channel partners. We will communicate any changes to you in a timely fashion after the transaction has closed. But for the foreseeable future, we request that you continue to do business using your current Microsemi contacts and processes.

HPC for Government and Defense

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- AI training - Threat simulation - Deep packet inspection

- SAAR - Threat detection - Signal Intelligence

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Reconfigurable Accelerators Supercharge MCU & SoC Performance

By Tony Kozaczuk, Director, Solutions Architecture, Flex Logix®, Inc.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Embedded FPGA, or eFPGA, is rapidly being adopted for a wide range of applications such as data center, networking, base stations, MCU, SoC, artificial intelligence, vision, aerospace, and more. Now that the technology is available and proven in silicon for multiple popular process nodes, customers are finding more and more ways to take advantage of its flexibility. Some customers are integrating embedded FPGA in the data path or in the control path of the chip. However, a very common usage is to connect embedded FPGA to a processor bus as a reconfigurable accelerator. The benefit of this latter approach is that it offers flexibility in the accelerator function by not binding it to a fixed acceleration function.

with an FPGA core with digital CMOS I/Os. A big benefit of an eFPGA is that the internal data rates possible using very wide buses (even a small eFPGA can have >1000 I/O) on chip can outstrip the bandwidth of very large FPGA chips, and at very low power.

This article explains how chip designers can used embedded FPGA to implement reconfigurable accelerators on Arm buses (AXI, AHB, even APB) and, later this year, on the TL bus for SiFive’s RISC-V SoCs. Specialized accelerators can achieve performance much higher (10x to 100x faster) than a processor such as Arm, RISC-V, ARC or MIPS, and a reconfigurable accelerator can be reprogrammed to accelerate multiple tasks instead of just one. In addition, new accelerators can be added at any time, just like a firmware update.

In all eFPGA, the LUT stage is followed by an optional flip-flop or two. Often this is called a logic element. Usually the LUTs or LEs are grouped in fours with carry chain and shift register logic useful for implementing arithmetic functions.

Introduction to eFPGA An FPGA chip has a core or fabric surrounded by PLLs, SERDES, GPIO, DDR PHYs, USB, etc. If you trip away the I/O, which is about 20-30% of the FPGA chip, you are left

This is like an embedded FPGA core which can be integrated into any IC in the data path, connecting to I/O, on the I/O bus and/or on the processor bus.

The basic logic or computing element of an eFPGA is the look-up-table, or LUT. They are typically 4 input or 6 input but any size is possible. Like its name says, the LUT can be programmed to implement any desired Boolean function using the available inputs.

These programmable logic blocks receive their inputs from an interconnect network and send their outputs to the same interconnect network. This interconnect network is also programmable using switches that direct signals from one block of logic to another across the eFPGA. The programmable logic are islands in a sea of interconnect.

Surprisingly, an FPGA core consists of more programmable interconnect than programmable logic. As much as 80% of the FPGA

Figure 1: An embedded FPGA is analogous to an embedded processor.

core is interconnect and the programmable logic is as little as 20%.

Just like FPGA chips, it is possible to have some MACs, multiplier-accumulators, and/ or RAMs distributed throughout the eFPGA, typically in ratios selected as desired by the customer to optimize for their application.

A networking parser needs no MACs, but an aerospace DSP processor will want the maximum amount.

There are now half a dozen suppliers of eFPGA offering eFPGA from less than a thousand LUTs to hundreds of thousands of LUTs. Another surprise is that the core of an actual FPGA chip is not necessarily the best solution for eFPGA, depending on the requirements.

FPGA chips are full-custom designs that take years and large teams to implement.

They are implemented in one specific foundry node variant and use the maximum number of metal layers available. If you choose a different foundry or a different node in the same foundry or a different variation of the process node or a different metal stack, you won’t be able to us an eFPGA core from a FPGA chip (unless they do substantial re-engineering).

An alternate solution is eFPGA using standard cells. This can be designed quickly in months for any foundry/process node, but has the disadvantage of lower density than full-custom FPGA. A third solution, used by Flex Logix, is to use standard cells for quick design time and portability to any node/foundry but to use a revolutionary new, patented interconnect which is double the density of what traditional FPGA chips. The result is an eFPGA that can be developed in ~6 months for any foundry node that has similar density and performance to full-custom FPGA. A significant added benefit of the revolutionary interconnect is it uses many fewer metal layers, just 5 for 40nm to 7 for 16nm, so Flex Logix’ eFPGA is compatible with almost all metal stacks. Another clever in-

COTS Journal | February 2018

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novation is that Flex Logix eFPGA is designed as tiles. An EFLXÂŽ4K eFPGA has 4K LUT4 with >600 inputs and >600 outputs; which means it is a complete eFPGA. Furthermore, if a customer needs a larger eFPGA, it is quickly and easily implemented by physically abutting the EFLX eFPGA cores into a 1x2 or 2x2 or any MxN size up to 7x7 or 200K LUTs. This is done using a top-level interconnect that automatically connects to adjacent cores to form larger arrays without any GDS change. There are two versions of the EFLX eFPGA core, all-logic and DSP, which replace about 25% of the LUTs with 40 MACs (22x22 multipliers with pre-adder and accumulator) which are directly pipelined in rows of 10.

eFPGA as a Reconfigurable Accelerator

Figure 3

Figure 3 shows how embedded FPGA can be used as a reconfigurable accelerator. In these examples, we refer to EFLX embedded FPGA array from Flex Logix, which is in use by DARPA, Harvard, HiPer, SiFive, Sandia National Labs and others. There are also embedded FPGA offerings available from a wide range of suppliers now.

eFPGA itself runs at a speed that depends on the RTL: If an RTL is designed to have single-stage logic (one LUT stage between flip-flop stages), it can run at ~1GHz at worst case process/temperature (125C Tjunction) in 16nm.

Some eFPGA suppliers also provide bus interface logic and examples on their website,

on the AXI/AHB bus. These examples were selected because open-source RTL is available on each, which allows the performance to be independently verified. They are also a good choice because performance of the same function on an Arm core is available to provide an Arm-to-embedded FPGA acceleration comparison. We selected Arm because it is by far the most popular processor core. However, we expect the conclusion would be the same for any processor core.

The accelerator RTL we used are from public sources. Implementations are available from RTL IP suppliers as well which offer additional features and which offer implementations with more or less parallelism in order to fit smaller or larger arrays, at performance levels which correlate with the amount of parallelism.

Many other types of accelerators can be programmed in embedded FPGA.

Figure 2

eFPGA can also be used in an MCU or SoC as a reconfigurable I/O, but that topic won’t be covered in this article. eFPGA can run at high speeds on chips with very wide buses easily connecting to even a wide AXI bus. The CMOS I/O at 16nm run >1Ghz. The

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such as Flex Logix does for AXI, AHB and AXI master and slave bus interface logic.

Accelerator Examples on the AXI/AHB Bus The following shows four examples of how embedded FPGA can be used as an accelerator

The EFLX compiler is being constantly enhanced. The data below was generated in 2017 using our 16nm implementation. Customers using the newest version in 2018 will see somewhat different performance reflecting various improvements. However, the conclusion will remain the same, which is that eFPGA as a reconfigurable accelerator can run popular workloads 30-100 times faster than embedded processors. In other processes, such as 28nm and 40nm, the relative performance will remain similar.

SPECIAL FEATURE

AES-128 Figure 4 is a block diagram of an embedded FPGA configured as an AES-128 accelerator. In this example, even the AXI4-Stream bus for data movement and APB bus for control logic is implemented in the embedded FPGA. Since this interface functionality won’t change, it can also be hardwired externally. This example shows off the performance of the embedded FPGA. The RTL for this AES-128 accelerator requires 1142 LUTs and fits in a single EFLX-2.5K IP core, which is available in multiple process

Figure 6

core, which is available in multiple process nodes. In TSMC16FFC, the SHA-256 accelerator runs at a worst-case frequency of 171MHz (-40/125C, 0.72Vjunction, SlowSlow corner).

Figure 7 performance is approximately 40 times faster than SHA-256 software code running on an ARM Cortex M4 in the same process.

JPEG Encoder Figure 8 on the next page is a block diagram of an embedded FPGA configured as

Figure 4

nodes. In TSMC16FFC, the AES-128 accelerator runs at a worst-case frequency of 374MHz (-40/125C, 0.72Vjunction, Slow-Slow corner).

This performance is 136-300 times faster than AES-128 software code running on an ARM Cortex M4 in the same process, depending on the assumption of the clock speed of the ARM M4.

Figure 7

SHA-256

the embedded FPGA and is used both for accelerator data movement and configuration of the accelerator registers. The AXI4 slave logic is external for lowest bus latency for data movement.

Figure 6 is a block diagram of an embedded FPGA configured as a SHA-256 accelerator. In this example, the AXI4 slave RTL is external to

The RTL for this SHA-256 accelerator, operating on 64-byte data blocks, requires 1,634 LUTs and fits in a single EFLX-2.5K IP

Figure 5

a JPEG encoder. In this example, the AXI4Stream and APB interface logic are shown implemented in the embedded FPGA itself, but this RTL can easily be put outside and hardwired as it won’t need to be reconfigured.

This RTL requires 11,364 LUTs and a significant amount of memory (2 x 256Kbyte dual port RAMs) which need to be attached to the embedded FPGA. The number of signals required to attach to memory is very small compared to the I/Os available.

In TSMC16FFC (worst case conditions), performance is 149MHz. This is approx-

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Figure 8

Figure 12

Figure 9

imately 31 times the throughput of JPEG encoder software code running on an ARM Cortex M4 in the same process.

Figure 11

JPEG Encoder Figure 11 is the block diagram of an embedded FPGA configured as a 256-Point FFT accelerator as a Slave/Master on an AXI4Stream Bus, with the AXI RTL implemented in the EFLX array.

Figure 13

The RTL for this requires 8,360 LUTs and 16 External RAMS (256 words each, dual port). In this example, the RAM is attached inside the array for greater performance.

16FFC is 303MHz. A benchmark versus an ARM processor is not available, but with the high amount of parallelism in the MACs and memory references, we expect the performance of this reconfigurable accelerator to be much more than a typical processor core.

The worst-case performance for TSMC

Figure 10

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Conclusion Embedded FPGA is available now from a number of suppliers including Flex Logix, Achronix and Menta in processes from 180nm to 14nm. Using this technology offers more flexibility over fixed-function accelerators and can deliver 30 to 100 times higher performance as shown in the examples above. This provides chip designers with significant competitive advantages and is applicable to a wide range of industries. As more companies take advantage of this approach, we expect embedded FPGAs to become as mainstream as ARM processors have become today.

SPECIAL FEATURE

The Future is Now… Technology and Future Soldier Systems

Matt McAlonis Global Engineering Leader Aerospace Defense and Marine TE Connectivity

There is no doubt that the world we live in has incredible technology. The dreams of science fiction from just a few years ago have now in many ways become reality. The tools available only to the imaginary characters like James Bond and Dick Tracy have revolutionized human capabilities.

Smart phones, smart cars, drones, smart televisions, smart watches, and other wearables such as smart eyewear have integrated themselves to seemingly essential and affordable elements of our everyday lives.

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COTS Journal | February 2018

Virtual reality and augmented reality are no longer just for gamers and have real business value with practical use applications.

Many of the dreams of technical possibilities are available today thanks to the evolution of sensor technologies and wireless devices.

Now imagine the combination of these technical capabilities with data collected in the Internet of Things (IoT). Virtually everything on planet earth is observed and monitored to some degree, including landscape changes (ice caps, coastlines, erosion), weather patterns and temperatures, energy deposits, airplane and vehicle traffic, military activity, people and population density, and even facial recognition. Positioning devices now make it possible to find almost anything or anyone. And the popularity and capabilities of drones provide persistent surveillance to enable real-time video access to previously inaccessible areas.

In this context, we consider the modern-day soldier. The range of roles that must be performed by the military and even first responders is much wider than it ever was.

Jobs can vary from deployments in harsh conditions and environments combating hostile threats in both rugged and urban situations, to military and humanitarian support to provide aid and clean up after natural disasters.

The equipment and the gear they need to do their job evolves as the threats and job requirements change. Technically advanced products that have adopted the latest technology are greatly capable of protecting of people and helping them do their jobs better.

These products can provide enhanced communication, detection, protection, real time situational awareness, and data analysis. The soldier can now be more capable and confident and becomes a greater value as an asset in his environment.

Imagine being on the battlefield and being able to flip down a transparent screen from your helmet, scanning the landscape to identify friend or foe. And not just identification and location, but with a visual scan you can determine their health and readiness status. Biometric sensors embedded in the uniform and other wearables gear can detect much more than just vital signs. You can obtain information about how much rest, hydration, focus, alertness, blood sugar, metabolic status and energy reserve, altitude adaption, how much ammo, battery levels, and potential exposure to toxic chemicals and materials, just with a visual scan of your situation. Algorithms can take data from the environment coupled with data from biometric sensors and extrapolate the need for supplies and other reinforcement criteria. Availability of real-time answers to questions such as: Where is the enemy? In what location are my troops? Are my troops prepared to engage? Do they need hydration, food, or ammo? Should they take a break, change shifts, need other supplies? Have they been exposed to chemical or biological hazards?

Imagine the strategic advantage with this capability. A soldier’s role now expands from a tactical combat operator and fighting role to a complex human “sensor” with greater cognitive capabilities.

At recent trade show events such as the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting in Washington DC, this type of soldier system technology has already been on display, primarily in aspects of the Nett Warrior system. Augmented reality equipment has been demonstrated and many tactical peripherals are available for field evaluation. These displays of technology provoke questions such as: • What other capabilities could be available? With sensors and the IoT, what are the possibilities?

• How does it all work and on what networks?

• Is it reliable and secure? - can it be detected, intercepted, compromised?

• What if the technology falls into the wrong hands?

• What ruggedized components are required for this technology?

• What powers this technology? Can we harvest energy with innovative materials or kinetic motion?

These are just some the questions that must be answered for successful use and deployment and risk mitigation in soldier systems applications. As a supplier of antennas,

documented through close engagement with customers and end users. This involves the consideration of the environments in the wide range of use for these soldiers. Ease of use and ergonomics with full battle gear, mechanical and environmental robustness, and electrical performance and signal integrity are evaluated throughout the design process. Product testing and qualification expectations must all have definition and detailed design requirements and test procedures. Connectors must transmit the signals and data with high fidelity, charge or supply power to the connected devices effectively, they must withstand the weather and environmental conditions in rugged, tactical situations, and break-away when snagged

Figure 1: TE Connectivity’s O.C.H. Micro Circular Connectors.

sensors, interconnect, wire and cable, and harnessing accessories, TE Connectivity (TE) has supported these advanced applications and is poised to enhance the next generation of battlefield technologies. These products include connectivity and harnessing components and accessories on the soldiers themselves, through to the data centers, and exist at every part of the data transmission link. Whether its worn on a human, fastened on a vehicle, part of an antenna or satellite, or in a climate controlled building, TE is part of the connectivity ecosystem. Most recently, the Army has approved and authorized TE’s O.C.H. Micro Circular connector in the Nett Warrior system following rigorous product qualification testing and field trials.

Embedded electronic products may be required to work in High Altitude Low Oxygen (HALO) skydiving missions, desert sandstorms, jungle and mountain excursions, urban situations, and SCUBA dives to name a few. As new product concepts are identified for these situations, product requirements are defined and

or required to quickly release. In addition, compatibility must be proven with other suppliers to these standards.

In the product concept phase, three-dimensional models and rapid prototyping tools are used to solicit early feedback to optimize the designs. With today’s manufacturing development technology, design iterations which previously took weeks to months to produce can now occur within hours. Engineers today have the capability to quickly and accurately print functional parts to scale vs just cartoons and paper design drawings. Ultimately, after extensive design reviews, risk mitigation analysis, and product design verification testing, field trials will provide a statement of technical readiness. Furthermore, multiple component suppliers must be evaluated for performance to the design requirements and evaluated for the ability to intermate and functionally operate properly.

Companies in the video gaming industry have been pioneers in the capability to pro-

duce chips and processors that enable realistic, high-definition graphics. The cloud computing companies have developed the hardware and software with capability to process and store “big data” and produce real-time access to this information. Chipsets from the commercial or industrial world, with their cutting-edge performance, are often leveraged and introduced into military and rugged applications. But the available Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) products are typically not initially intended to operate in rugged conditions and harsh environments. Experienced connectivity companies that serve the Aerospace and Defense industries have the expertise to design ruggedized and hardened components through the careful and proper selection of materials and the incorporation of proven design features for these environments. The materials must survive enhanced shock, vibration, and thermal conditions and be compatible with fuels, hydraulic fluids, and chemicals that can be encountered in battlefield environments.

In the age of cyber security and electronic warfare, risk mitigation in technology with systems this complex and powerful cannot be understated. Additional thoughts and considerations are relevant for this next generation of technology. The battlefield involves camouflage and deception so soldier systems must ensure secure networks and ideally use products undetectable and invulnerable to cyber-attacks and jamming. Shielded electronics and high-speed data link cables are required in these systems. Ruggedization of connectivity will enable product performance and each element in these electronic systems must be proven reliable.

In conclusion, as we admire today’s capabilities with state of the art in embedded electronics for soldier systems, it is exciting to see what is possible and available and it is reasonable to believe what seems impossible today may be part of tomorrow’s reality. The connectors, cables, and accessories for these soldier systems are available and in production, although it will be interesting to see how to provide these total system capabilities to soldiers in a reliable, affordable, lightweight and cost-effective manner. Soldier systems must be scalable to multiple diverse users, operate effectively in close proximity, and must also scale in range of operation. Hardware, system, and infrastructure costs must bring the proper value for the investment in these technologies.

The connector industry is prepared to engineer solutions that meet these market needs and is currently working with the defense industry to develop solutions that will meet both current and future challenges.

COTS Journal | February 2018

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SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Maintaining classic legacy systems Adrienne R. Benton, President & CEO, Onyx Spectrum Technology, Inc.

Buying a classic car can be an exciting undertaking but having purchased one, an owner may have to go to great lengths to maintain it. When a mechanical or electrical part on the vehicle fails, the owner will be faced with sourcing a part which may no longer be available from the original equipment supplier. Even if a new, or refurbished part can be found, an individual with appropriate legacy knowledge and expertise may also needed to fit the part to the vehicle.

While preserving a classic vehicle may be a challenging enough task for a single individual, repairing, refurbishing and maintaining legacy Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS)based computer systems for customers in the commercial, government and military marketplaces is considerably more complex.

Indeed, such an enterprise requires the expertise of a company trained in the art.

Landmarks for life The end-of-life process itself consists of a series of landmarks that, once completed, make a product obsolete. Once obsolete, the product is no longer manufactured, sold, improved, repaired, maintained, or supported by the original OEM developer. As a rule, when an OEM does decide to end the life of a product line, it does so in stages. The customers of the OEM are usually provided with details of each of these so that they can put programs in place such that their organizations are affected as little as possible.

The end-of-sale date is usually the last day that any product can be ordered from the OEM. However, for a number of years after the end-of-sale deadline, the OEM may pro-

vide technical assistance to support issues with both hardware and software. Spares or replacement parts, however, are usually only available for a fixed period from the end-ofsale date. Although customers would be wise to take advantage of the limited time they have left to make such purchases, in reality many do not. After the last-date-of-support, an OEM may not provide any more support unless the customer signs a maintenance renewal contract with the company.

However, once a particular OEM product has reached the End-Of-Life, customers of the OEM who do not necessarily wish to purchase new system hardware and/or software from the vendor do have an option. They can elect to partner with an independent company that can supply them with the components,

While COTS systems have provided many financial benefits over proprietary computer hardware architectures, the short life cycles of commercially available hardware has frustrated many companies who developed systems required to be in service for decades.

Hence, once they become more “classic” than “state of the art”, the support of an organization well versed in the legacy computer business is required to ensure that the systems remain operational for as long as is necessary.

COTS products produced by OEMs reach the end of their Product Life Cycle for technical and/or commercial reasons. One OEM, for example, may have found that the shipment volume no longer justifies their production, while another that advancements in hardware have enabled it to upgrade products using more sophisticated components. Alternatively, an OEM may have decided to discontinue the product line, either due to a strategic change in direction, a company takeover or a buyout.

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COTS Journal | February 2018

Figure 1: Using the original intellectual property provided by OEM partners, a shadow OEM can continue to manufacture and repair COTS embedded systems to extend their lifetime.

board-level products, software and support they require to extend the lifetime of their equipment.

By forming a relationship with such a company, system integrators that had built their systems from offthe-shelf COTS hardware and software can be assured they will continue to deliver legacy systems to their customers. Partnering with such an end-of-life value added distributor and delegating the burden of sourcing parts, maintaining and repairing systems, the systems integrator can be assured that the critical infrastructure required to continue delivering systems to its own customers will be maintained.

assistance support for their customers. Through these arrangements, Shearwater EM has become the exclusive end-of-life distributor for re-

croprocessors, custom FPGAs and simple TTL logic can be difficult to source, but so too can passive parts designed to meet the high tolerances demanded in military COTS systems. The lack of availability of these could potentially become a roadblock to repairs, but with the professional insight from an end-of-life distributor, many such issues can be overcome.

In some instances, when acquiring a single component may be difficult, sourcing many may still be viable. Depending upon the level of demand from the customer and the critical nature of the component, the customer may entertain covering the cost of buying extra quantities of products simply because one single product is so critical to the Figure 2: The Datacube MaxVideo product line, built around both the VME and PCI bus architectures, design. Price sensitivity will once represented the state of the art in image processing hardware. Today, end-of-life support for both vary, according to the prodthe VME and PCI product lines is still provided by Shearwater. uct that needs to be maintained or repaired and only placement parts and support services for older An end of life distributor can perform one though a detailed discussion with the end-ofSonus and Datacube OEM equipment. or more functions, depending on the requirelife distributor can this be ascertained. ments of its customer. Acting as a shadow However, many other OEMs may not OEM, such a company can source individual Some legacy systems are based around have made such formal agreements with an components and manufacture and supply legainterchangeable standard bus structures such end of life distributor. In such cases, an end cy custom or industry standard bus compatible as the VME bus or the PCI bus while others of life distributor may provide end-of-life supboard level products and systems, in addition are based on proprietary architectures. To port depending upon the expertise and expeto testing those products prior to shipment. maintain a legacy system, the end-of-life disrience that it has gleaned in dealing with such tributor may need to build such a board. To do systems in the past.

Left to their own devices, the customer so, an assembly house first needs to be idenmay not have the necessary resources or be tified that can build the board to the same Forming alliances able to justify the effort and expense needed specification as the existing system. This is to perform such duties alone. However, by a relatively straightforward procedure, since The formation of such alliances undoubtworking with an end of life distributor, a cusone-off prototypes and small batches can be edly relieves the customer of OEM products tomer can create a strategic game plan that sourced in a range of material thicknesses, from the financial and commercial headaches will ensure that his needs are met. copper weights and surface finishes. of maintaining such systems in house. To do so would be an expensive proposition, requirFor their part, such end-of-life distributors Once purchased, the end of life distributor ing a team of individuals versed in the art of will have a network of resources at their disposal would bring the PCBs in house, and together sourcing components, assembling and testthey can call upon to perform specialty operawith both active and passive components preing systems - areas of expertise best left to the tions that are required. In consulting with such viously sourced, create a package that is then end-of-life distributor. an end-of-life distributor, OEM customers can delivered to an assembly house. Once assemassess the cost implications of maintaining the bled, the boards are shipped back where they Sourcing individual component parts product and discuss the variety of options that are tested and inspected prior to shipment. for legacy systems can be time consuming may be available to enable them. and difficult. The availability of active and the In certain instances, the availability of passive components of products may still be Recognizing that they no longer wish to certain parts may mean that the board will available from distributors. If they are not, support their products once they have ended need to be redesigned. If an original board was then the end-of-life value added distributor the life of their product line, some legacy OEMs built using plated-through hole (PTH) techmay need to turn to the secondary or broker have formed partnerships with end of life disnology, for example, the lack of availability of market to source the part. tributors. Shearwater EM, a division of Onyx through hole parts may call for the board to be Spectrum Technology, for example, has partredesigned using more contemporary surface Some parts are more difficult to source nered with both Sonus Networks and Datacube mount equivalents. If the commercial and fithan others. Active parts such as legacy mito provide continued hardware and technical nancial considerations justified this, then the

COTS Journal | February 2018

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um-based personal computers, PCI versions of MaxVideo were developed. Initially, Shearwater acquired the rights to maintain endof-life support for the VME product line, but since then has also acquired the PCI bus line.

Lockheed Martin was one early adopter of the MaxVideo product line, employing the COTS Datacube PCI MaxVideo imaging cards in a subsystem that formed part of a larger Electro-Optical Test Set (EOTS) to align the navigation and targeting pods on military aircraft. Since acquiring the Datacube product line, Shearwater has supported the company, by servicing the original MaxVideo product line, and through certifying to the Department of Defense (DoD) that the product can be maintained.

Figure 3: Originally developed by NET, the Promina series of rack mounted fault tolerant communications systems were sold to Sonus Networks. Following a decision to discontinue the product line, Shearwater EM was called upon to provide end-of-life support.

end of life distributor could also outsource the redesign and manufacture of the board.

Aside from delivering new products to its customer, the end-of-life distributor can play an important role in repairing them. In the low quantities of products often demanded by customers, repairing products can prove a cost-effective alternative. Repairing older products can be equally as challenging however, since the end-of-life distributor must call upon its network of sources to procure the parts required and engage with those with the necessary expertise in repair work.

Imaging and communications Previous customers of both Datacube and Network Equipment Technology have already seen the benefits of the end of life support offered to them by end-of-life distributor Shearwater EM. Datacube, a company formed in the mid 1970s, produced a range of image processing boards eventually rendered somewhat obsolete by high-speed multiprocessor systems. For its part, Network Equipment Technology produced a range of fault tolerant computer systems targeted at the communications marketplace.

In the early stages of its life, Datacube produced a number of VME boards dubbed MaxVideo that worked in consort to process and display images. Until 1996, the MaxVideo line had been entirely VMEbus based, but with the popularity of PCI-bus based Penti-

For its part, Network Equipment Technology (NET) was the original developer of a series of fault tolerant computer-based communication systems. Dubbed the Promina, the rack mounted systems were supplied in a variety of different sizes according to performance and capabilities. When NET was purchased by Sonus Networks, a strategic change in direction for the company resulted in a decision to end the support for the product.

To ensure that its customers would still be supported, Sonus formed an agreement with Shearwater EM to be the exclusive endof-life distributor for Sonus Promina replacement parts and support services. As part of the deal, Shearwater agreed to provide Sonus authorized Promina repair services and Level 1, 2 and 3 Technical Assistance Center support. Such levels of support enable the company to determine any issues that a previous Sonus customer may encounter by determining any underlying problems, as well as providing more in-depth support to handle more advanced technical issues.

When OEMs do decide to end the life of their products, their customers – the system builders who are delivering products into the military and government -- are faced with the dilemma of how to support their existing end-user customer base. In some instances, the end users themselves may also find it more financially advantageous to seek out the expertise of a company engaged in end-of-life support, rather than from the system builders who may charge a premium for the service.

Undoubtedly, the rapid changes in technology will further the need for companies such as Shearwater EM to provide services that shadow those once provided by OEMs. Companies making such provisions will ensure that the transition from legacy system to newer state-of-theart systems is made considerably easier.

COTS Journal | February 2018

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February 2018

COT’S PICKS

Pentek Announces Kintex UltraScale Co-processor Jade XMC for Signal Processing Applications Pentek, Inc., introduced the newest member of the Jade™ family of high-performance data converter XMC modules based on the Xilinx Kintex Ultrascale FPGA. The Model 71800 is a co-processor module with an XMC PCI Express Gen 3 interface and general purpose I/O using parallel LVDS and gigabit serial ports.

The Jade Architecture embodies a streamlined approach to FPGA based boards, simplifying the design to reduce power and cost, while still providing some of the highest performance FPGA resources available today. Designed to work with Pentek’s Navigator™ Design Suite of tools, the combination of Jade and Navigator offers users an efficient path to developing and deploying FPGA IP for data and signal processing.

The Model 71800 is pre-loaded with IP modules for DMA engines, a DDR4 memory controller, test signal and metadata generators, data packing and flow control to speed up the development process. The 71800 is available with the Kintex UltraScale KU035, KU060 and KU115, supporting a range of processing power. The majority of the Kintex UltraScale FPGA resources are available for customer installed IP for processing and management of I/O. Pentek www.pentek.com

Concurrent Technologies announces a 3U VPX™ computational solution in conjunction with Eizo Rugged Solutions, Inc. BA 9TR/301-RCx is an innovative product for space limited, computationally intensive tasks as it combines a high performance Eizo Rugged Solutions’ GPGPU with one of Concurrent Technologies’ Intel® processor based modules. Unlike most other single slot solutions available on the market, BA 9TR/301-RCx is designed to maximize GPU resources delivering 2.29 TFLOPs of floating-point performance for CUDA® 6.1 or OpenCL™ 1.2 applications. The GPGPU element is mated with a quad-core Intel® Xeon® processor E3 1505L v5 and these are both packaged within a single 3U VPX slot in a conduction-cooled frame that is designed to meet an operating temperature range of -40°C to +85°C. This single slot combination is one of the most highly optimized GPGPU solutions on the market for Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C).

The GPGPU element of BA 9TR/301-RCx is an NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti device based on the NVIDIA® Pascal™ GP107 graphics processor with 768 CUDA® cores and 4GB GDDR5. This is tightly coupled via a x8 PCI Express® link to the CPU element which is a quad-core Intel® Xeon® processor E3 1505L v5 with 16GB DDR4 memory and a 64GB Flash disk. Three independent display interfaces are available via the rear VPX connectors along with two Gigabit Ethernet, two USB, two RS-232 serial and two SATA ports for I/O connectivity. In addition, up to x8 PCI Express lanes are available for connection to other VPX cards. Support is provided for both Linux® and Windows® operating systems.

VadaTech Announces a New FMC with Quad ADC / Quad DAC VadaTech announces FMC231. The FMC231 is an FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) per VITA 57.1 specification that offers dynamic performance via quad ADC (the ADC chips are dual channel) and quad DAC (the DAC chip is quad channel).

The ADC uses TI ADS54J60 providing 16-bit conversion rates of up to 1.0 GSPS (with option for ADS54J69 at 500 MSPS) with TI DAC39J84 providing 16-bit conversion rates of up to 2.8 GSPS. The module is available without DAC installed for applications requiring input only.

The analog input/output, clock and trigger interface of the FMC231 are routed via SSMC connectors. The internal clock frequency is programmable and the clock is capable of locking to an external reference. Use of the clock input for direct RF sampling is supported. The high sample rate and provision of four channel input and output in a compact form factor makes the module ideal for applications such as radar, sigint/EW, broadband wireless, communication test equipment and Software Defined Radio (SDR).

VadaTech www.vadatech.com

Concurrent Technologies www.gocct.com

COTS Journal | February 2018

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February 2018

COT’S PICKS Microsemi’s Leadership in Space Continues with Class V and Q Qualifications and QML Certification for its Radiation-Tolerant EightChannel Source Driver Microsemi announced its radiation-tolerant AAHS298B eight-channel source driver for space applications, which has been successfully qualified and certified by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) as Qualified Manufacturers List (QML) Class V and Q, with four Standard Microcircuits Drawings (SMDs) listed, is now in production. Offered in two package types with various screening options, the device has met the key requirements to operate in space environments, as the qualifications are mandatory for design-ins for space programs and for manufacturers to be listed on the QML by the DLA. Microsemi’s high-performance AAHS298B source driver provides an interface between spacecraft bus electronics and other subsystems, with the highest output source current for space applications requiring radiation tolerance. Command signal outputs from the spacecraft’s digital control electronics are typically TTL (5-volt) (V), CMOS (3V) and high-level (12V) logic and are not directly compatible with users’ command input requirements.

These user requirements occur in payload, power, thermal and housekeeping subsystems and range between 14V and 45V. The AAHS298B is an interface between these systems, providing a continuous 700 milliamps (mA) current to switched high side-drivers on the output.

The integration of eight non-inverting high side channels gives satellite designers reduced weight, resulting in smaller board space, and higher reliability as compared to discrete implementations. As many satellite manufacturers and projects require the DLA QML certifications and listings as assurance the product meets Military Performance Specification (MIL-PRF) requirements, the AAHS298B meets these standards as part of the company’s growing portfolio of mixed signal integrated circuits (ICs) for demanding space applications.

Microsemi www.microsemi.com

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COTS Journal | February 2018

Concurrent Technologies launches VR E7x/msd, a new 6U VPX™ computing board Concurrent Technologies launches VR E7x/ msd, a new 6U VPX™ computing board based upon the newly announced launch of the Intel® Xeon® processor E-2176M ( formerly known as Coffee Lake-H). Supporting 50% more processor cores within the same power envelope, the Intel Xeon processor E-2176M has six-cores compared to previous generation quad-core processors from the same product family. In addition to the launch of VR E7x/msd 6U VPX board, Concurrent Technologies is introducing the same processor across a number of other form factors including VMEbus. Further announcements will follow as boards are officially released.

In addition to improved processing capability, VR E7x/msd includes the option of front panel mounted USB 3.1 ports, 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, enhanced storage options and improved digital graphics outputs. Direct attached storage options include a SATA flash disk and two M.2 modules. These utilize PCI Express® connectivity and NVMe support for a high capacity solution that is suitable for use in challenging environments. VR E7x/msd is designed to fulfil a system management role for high performance 6U VPX processing solutions and so includes the option for dual XMC modules to support I/O expansion.

Initial shipments of the product will be aircooled, with production quantities expected in Q3. A conduction-cooled version designed to meet an operating temperature range of -40°C to +85°C will be available after further qualification testing. Initial operating system support will be for Linux® and Windows® with optional support for others such as VxWorks® will follow based on customer demand.

Concurrent Technology www.gocct.com

Integrated 3U VPX VideoPaC Enhances Graphics Processing in Dense Computing Applications Aitech’s latest innovation, the CB912 VideoPaC, combines two powerful processing boards and advanced software bundles into an integrated platform(link is external) that provides exceptional graphics computing in a single-slot, SWaP-optimized, rugged package.

Technical Specifications • Integrated SBC, XMC and software offers high performance video processing • C912 SBC with NXP T4 series SoC; M596 XMC with AMD’s Radeon E8860 GPU • Versatile I/O for standard or custom configurations • Extensive on-board memory resources

The new PowerPC-based VideoPaC pairs a 3U VPX single-slot SBC (single board computer) with a video/graphics XMC mezzanine that features the AMD E8860 Radeon GPU. This combination adds new dimensions to embedded data and graphics processing, such as offering an optional video imaging FPGA, which provides video input interfaces and additional output interfaces not natively supported by the GPU. To fully capitalize on the powerful processing of the hardware, integrated software bundles provide users with real-world solutions for their mission- and flight safety-critical, DO178 Level A imaging, high-end graphics and data processing applications.

Aitech www.rugged.com

Abaco Announces Cooling Breakthrough to Deliver Maximum Performance at High Temperatures Abaco Systems announced a significant breakthrough in delivering optimum performance from a 3U VPX single board computer (SBC). By implementing an innovative cooling strategy, the 12-core Intel® Xeon® D-1500 processor featured on the SBC347D can now operate at 100% of its capability at temperatures up to 75°C in a cold wall (conduction cooled) environment.

XPedite2570 3U VPX Xilinx Kintex® UltraScale™ FPGA-Based Fiber-Optic I/O Module The XPedite2570 is a high-performance, reconfigurable, conduction- or air-cooled, 3U VPX, FPGA processing module based on the Xilinx Kintex® UltraScale™ family of FPGAs. With multiple high-speed fabric interfaces, x8 PCI Express Gen3, 12 high-speed fiber-optic transceivers, and 8 GB of DDR4-2400 SDRAM in two channels, the XPedite2570 is ideal for customizable, high-bandwidth, signal-processing applications.

Extreme Engineering www.xes-inc.com

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

DDC-I Announces First Partitioned DO-178C Safety-Critical Multicore RTOS for NXP S32V234 Vision and Sensor Fusion Processor Deos RTOS brings high-speed S32V234 multicore processing, I/O, imaging, control and graphics to DO-178 safety-critical avionics applications DDC-I announced the first partitioned DO178C multicore real-time operating system for the NXP S32V234 processor with verification evidence to Design Assurance Level A. S32V234 processors running Deos™ make an excellent platform for developing, deploying and certifying compute-intensive DO-178C avionics software with the most demanding I/O, control, imaging and display requirements.

“The advantage this unique cooling architecture gives users of the SBC347D is not only the higher performance that is required by many advanced applications, but also the repeatability and consistency of that performance almost regardless of operating temperature,” said Richard Kirk, Product Manager, Abaco Systems. “The SBC347D will operate at its maximum frequency at all times - not just when it’s cool enough to do so.

That can be highly advantageous in, for example, applications that require real time determinism.”

“High-volume automotive applications drive the semiconductor market for the aerospace industry,” said Allan Mcauslin, Automotive ADAS segment manager at NXP. “Many of the same attributes that make the S32V234 an optimal compute, sensor, and vision platform for safety-critical automotive applications make it equally attractive for a multitude of DO-178C avionics applications. We are pleased to be working with DDC-I to offer our joint avionics customers a world-class multicore safety-critical RTOS platform for our processors.”

Abaco www.abaco.com

DDC-1 www.ddci.com

The widest selection of VPX power supplies, without the high cost of full-customization Most manufacturers offer just a few VPX power supplies off the shelf. The Behlman VPXtra® series offers 20 diverse COTS DC to DC, AC to DC and hold-up units that can be configured for a wide range of high-end industrial and military airborne, shipboard, ground and mobile applications – without the cost of full-custom development.

• Xtra-reliable design, Xtra-rugged construction • State-of-the-art engineering standard • Both 3U and 6U, VITA 62, OpenVPX compliant Insist on the leader. Not just VPX, VPXtra®

ORBIT POWER GROUP Behlman Electronics www.behlman.com • 631-435-0410 • sales@behlman.com COTS Journal | February 2018

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V1152

12-Port XMC FPGA Card

The New Wave DV V1152 is a high density XMC FPGA network interface featuring Xilinx UltraScale+ FPGAs, twelve 25G-capable ports on the front panel, and sixteen highspeed links to the backplane. It is designed to provide a real-time, high-bandwidth network interface and processing module for next generation radar and signal intelligence systems.

The V1152 is available with a variety of FPGA IP interface cores from New Wave DV including: Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and sFPDP. Also included is a development environment for you to add your custom processing or interface logic.

V1152 Technical Features:

• 12 front ports and 16 rear panel ports • Supports Ethernet, Fibre Channel, sFPDP, or custom protocols • Xilinx Virtex UltraScale+ FPGA • Supports PCIe Gen3 x 16 • PPS time synchronization with µSec resolution • Robust FPGA development framework • Advanced APIs that support multi-core and multi-processor architectures • Available in air and conduction-cooled XMC form factors

Interested in getting your copy of JOURNAL

Phone: (952) 224-9201 info@newwavedv.com www.newwavedv.com 30

COTS Journal | February 2018

Contact us;

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www.rtc-media.com

February 2018

COT’S PICKS

Annapolis Micro Systems Introduces Industry’s First COTS Mezzanine with New Xilinx® RF System-on-Chip Annapolis Micro Systems, a leading FPGA board and systems supplier, announced today the availability of the industry’s first COTS FMC+ Mezzanine to feature the new Xilinx® Zynq® UltraScale+™ RF System-on-Chip (RFSoC) technology. The WILD FMC+ GM60 ADC & DAC integrates Xilinx’s ZU25DR, ZU27DR, or ZU28DR. This breakthrough Xilinx RFSoC combines FPGA processing and A/D and D/A Converters in a single chip, giving the GM60 card remarkable density and performance: • 2-Channel 4.0GSps 12b ADC • 8-Channel 6.4GSps 14b DAC The RFSoC also includes a multi-processor embedded ARM® Cortex-A53 Application Processing Unit (APU) and an ARM Real Time Processing Unit (RPU).

“We are excited to be the first company to use Xilinx’s RFSoC in a COTS mezzanine,” said Noah Donaldson, Annapolis Micro Systems Chief Technology Officer. “This daughter card approach allows for maximum flexibility of use, and for significantly higher performance than integrating the RFSoC directly into a baseboard.”

The GM60 is available for use with Annapolis’ WILDSTAR 3U OpenVPX Baseboards (one WFMC+ mezzanine site) or 6U OpenVPX Baseboards (two WFMC+ mezzanine sites) or PCIe Baseboards (one WFMC+ mezzanine site). Annapolis WILDSTAR Baseboards utilize up to three high-performance FPGAs, in addition to the GM60 Mezzanine’s RFSoC.

EIZO Releases 3U VPX Capture Board with Four 3G-SDI Inputs and Outputs • The MIL-STD-810G Condor GR4 3U VPX card is a single slot, SWaP-conscious card for ultra-high performance rugged ISR applications • EIZO Rugged Solutions will showcase Condor GR4 in booth 1251 at SOFIC (Special Operations Forces Industry Conference), May 21-24, 2018 in Tampa, Florida, USA. EIZO Rugged Solutions Inc. has released the Condor GR4 3U VPX 3G-SDI capture board, an ultra-high performance rugged graphics/capture board with four 3G-SDI inputs and outputs.

The new graphics module is based on the NVIDIA® Quadro® P5000 and P3000 graphics processing units (GPUs) with 2,048 or 1,280 CUDA cores respectively and up to 6.4 TFLOPs shader performance. The Condor GR4 is a single slot, SWaP-conscious card designed for today’s rugged Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) applications such as avionics, manned and unmanned video streaming and security/surveillance.

EIZO www.eizorugged.com

Annapoliis MicroSystems www.annapmicro.com

COTS Journal | February 2018

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February 2018

COT’S PICKS

VadaTech Announces Versatile VPX Chassis VadaTech announces the VTX870, a VPX chassis with six 3U VPX slots (switch plus 5 payload slots) that can accept 0.8-inch, 0.85-inch and 1.0-inch pitch modules. RTMs are supported on all slots. The side panels on both the front and rear slots are removable to ease debugging, making the chassis ideal for development as well as commercial deployment.

VTX870 has single power supply, either 800W AC with universal input or 650W DC (-48V input). The chassis supplies 95W per slot with push/pull cooling over front and RTM modules.

Cooling of the VPX slots is designed to meet ANSI/VITA 65 by providing 18 CFM per slot. An optional JTAG Switch Module (JSM) provides JTAG access from the front panel, making physical access easier when developing and debugging FPGA code.

VadaTech www.vadatech.com

Concurrent Technologies completes qualification on 3U VPX rugged server boards Concurrent Technologies, a leading supplier of processor solutions for demanding environments, has completed thermal, shock and vibration qualification testing and is shipping conduction-cooled ruggedized server boards with virtualization capabilities. The 12-core variants of these 3U VPX™ boards will operate at a card edge temperature of +85°C with 100% processor loading, maximizing performance within a single slot. 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and direct attached storage are also included to minimize Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) which is vital for many compute intensive applications within the defense market.

Both TR C4x/3sd-RCx and TR G4x/3sd-RCx are based on the Intel® Xeon® D 1500 processor family. Concurrent Technologies builds variants with up to 16-cores and 64GB of soldered down DDR4 ECC DRAM for resilience against shock and vibration effects. For mass storage, all boards support an optional 128GB SATA Flash disk drive.

Some variants can also be fitted with up to 1TB of direct attached storage, achieved by adding one or two M.2 modules maintaining the single slot solution. Concurrent Technologies has qualified suitable M.2 modules and is supplying these factory-fitted.

Concurrent Technology www.gocct.com

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COTS Journal | February 2018

COTS COTS

ADVERTISERS

Company Page# Website AIM ......................................................... 4 ............................. www.aim-online.com Behlman Electronics .............................. IFC & 29 .............................. www.behlman.com Chassis Plans .........................................

5 ......................... www.chassisplans.com

Elma Electronics .................................... 31 ..................................... www.elma.com GAIA Coverter Inc .....................................

9 ....................... www.gala.converter.com

Micro Digital ............................................ 34 ................................. www.smxrots.com New Wave DV ........................................... 30 .......................... www.newwavedv.com North Alantic Industries ........................... IBC ...................................... www.nail.com OSS .......................................................... 13 .................... www.onestopsystems.com Pentek ..................................................... BC .................................. www.pentek.com Phoenix International ................................ 11 ............................. www.phoenixint.com

Index

PICO Electronics, Inc ................................ 25 ..................... www.picoelectronics.com Pixus Technologies ................................... 30 ................. www.pixustechnologies.com Red Rock Technologies, Inc ...................... 34 ........................... www.redrocktech.com Supermicro ............................................... 33 .......................... www.supermicrot.com SynQor ...................................................... 26 .................................. www.SynQor.com Trident infosol .......................................... 24 ............................. www.trident-sff.com Vicor Cororation........................................ 19 ....... www.vicorpower.com/defense-aero VPT .......................................................... 24 ............................... www.vptpower.com COTS Journal (ISSN#1526-4653) is published monthly at 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150, San Clemente, CA 92673.

Periodicals Class postage paid at San Clemente and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to COTS Journal, 905 Calle Amanecer, Ste. 150, San Clemente, CA 92673.

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COTS Journal | February 2018

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