July 2019, Volume 21 – Number 7 • cotsjournalonline.com
The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing
JOURNAL
Security Systems Manager for Aerospace and Defense Solutions Navy Validates Lost 52 Project Discovery of Identification of WWII Submarine S-28 Gravesite Off Oahu
The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing COTS (kots), n. 1. Commercial off-the-shelf. Terminology popularized in 1994 within U.S. DoD by SECDEF Wm. Perry’s “Perry Memo” that changed military industry purchasing and design guidelines, making Mil-Specs acceptable only by waiver. COTS is generally defined for technology, goods and services as: a) using commercial business practices and specifications, b) not developed under government funding, c) offered for sale to the general market, d) still must meet the program ORD. 2. Commercial business practices include the accepted practice of customer-paid minor modification to standard COTS products to meet the customer’s unique requirements.
JOURNAL
—Ant. When applied to the procurement of electronics for he U.S. Military, COTS is a procurement philosophy and does not imply commercial, office environment or any other durability grade. E.g., rad-hard components designed and offered for sale to the general market are COTS if they were developed by the company and not under government funding.
SPECIAL FEATURES 14
Security Systems Manager for Aerospace and Defense Solutions
By Barry Dowdy,, Systems Manager for Aerospace and Defense Solutions
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Paris Air Show
By John Reardon, Contributing Publisher
DEPARTMENTS 06
The Inside Track
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT 18
Navy Validates Lost 52 Project Discovery of Identification of WWII Submarine S-28 Gravesite Off Oahu By Lost 52 Project
COT’S PICKS 24
Editor’s Choice for July
Cover Image The ballistic missile submarine USS Alaska arrives at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, Scotland, July 2, 2019, for a scheduled port visit.
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The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing
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Abaco Wins Significant Orders for High Performance 6U VPX Single Board Computers, Ethernet Switches, FPGA Platforms • Will help equip highly flexible advanced mobile radar/sensor system Abaco has received orders from a major US prime contractor that will see the company’s SBC627 rugged 6U VPX single board computers, GBX460 rugged Ethernet switches and VP840/ FMC168 rugged FPGA boards/mezzanines deployed as part of a highly flexible advanced mobile radar/sensor system. Lifetime value of the program to Abaco is expected to be in excess of $80 million. “Increasingly, customers are looking to vendors who can supply as large a proportion of their requirements as possible because of the advantages that brings in guaranteed interoperability, substantially reducing the cost and effort of integration and speeding time to market,” said John Muller, Chief Growth Officer at Abaco. “The breadth and depth of our product line is proving highly attractive to such customers by simplifying acquisition, development and ongoing support.” SBC627 Single Board Computer The SBC627 is designed to meet the requirements of a wide range of fully rugged applications in defense and aerospace programs as well as commercial and industrial applications. It offers extended temperature capability and a range of air- and conduction cooled build levels. A choice of high performance, highly integrated Intel® Core™ i7 processor platforms is available for the SBC627, offering integrated graphics and ECC memory controllers plus quad-core processing up to 2.7 GHz with two threads per core. Coupled with the Mobile Intel QM87 Express Chipset, this provides an unmatched level of I/O bandwidth for both onboard and off-board functions. It also incorporates a range of security features designed to assist with user defined Anti-Tamper and Information Assurance strategies. These include an inherently secure FPGA solution (SmartFusion2 from Microsemi), Trusted Platform Monitor and support for Intel’s Trusted Execution Technology. 6
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GBX460 Ethernet Switch The fully managed NETernity™ GBX460 rugged 6U OpenVPX data plane switch module features Abaco’s unique OpenWare™ switch management capability, supporting high throughput interprocessor communication between 10GigE-enabled processing nodes for deployed network-centric defense and aerospace applications. Its non-blocking 10GigE ports provide high performance throughput across the VPX backplane; the non-blocking feature means that the GBX460 can pass traffic across all 10GigE ports at wire speed without bottlenecks. Designed for deployment in security-sensitive mission critical applications, GBX460 features include denial of service attack prevention, user password mechanisms with multiple levels of security and military level authorization schemes including 802.1X and sanitization to allow the overwrite of non-volatile storage if a system is compromised. VP840 FPGA Card The VP840 is a single FPGA variant of the VP868 high performance 6U OpenVPX (VITA-65) compliant plug-in module with advanced digital signal processing capabilities. At the heart of the VP840 is a Xilinx® Zynq® dual ARM®-9 device for processing offload and board management. Its processing power comes from a Xilinx UltraScale™ FPGA and features over 300Gb/s duplex communication bandwidth to the backplane. An optional storage and I/O expansion module is available, supporting SATA/PCIe™ solid state drive technologies. The VP840 includes flexible I/O with one VITA 57.4 compliant FMC+ site. The board includes support for both Kintex™ and Virtex UltraScale devices with a migration path to UltraScale+™ devices. FMC168 FPGA Mezzanine Card The FMC168 is a digitizer FMC featuring eight ADC channels with 16-bit resolution and 250Msps sampling rate per channel. With a flexible clock generation and distribution scheme, the FMC168
allows control of sampling frequency and analog input gain through serial communication with a carrier card. Its design is based on the TI ADS42LB69 dual channel 16-bit 250Msps A/D, and it is equipped with power supply and temperature monitoring, offering several power-down modes to switch off unused functions.
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Raytheon launches secure mobile emergency communications app for iOS and Android smart phones NexGenTrac connects with employees in emergencies
Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) today launched NexGenTrac, its first ever secure mobile application to connect with employees using iOS and Android smartphones. “NexGenTrac can help any organization or agency connect with and protect their people in emergency situations,” said John DeSimone, vice president of cybersecurity and special missions at Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services. “Now available for global governments, agencies or companies supporting a variety of missions, this application provides an immediate secure link to employees. Unlike many social media platforms used to provide status updates, NexGenTrac gives you the ability to own and manage your data in a secure environment.” Using decades of experience developing
secure global communications systems, Raytheon optimized NexGenTrac for commercial use. This provides a powerful, easy-to-use app to reach out to and communicate with employees in dispersed and remote environments. The application is hosted in a controlled and secure infrastructure, ensuring data integrity and accurate situational awareness. NexGenTrac combines the best employee safety features available with the security of defense-grade cyber protection.
serve power and battery life by updating location information based on movement of the device. • Map Interface: Includes street-level mapping that allows users to visualize their location. • Pulse: Provides a “pull” request for status initiated from the User Portal
Features of the app include: • Data Security: Gives organizations deploying NexGenTrac complete ownership of user data and access to secured servers within the U.S. • Emergency Alerts: Allows the user to initiate an emergency alert status. • Chat: Provides a built-in secure messaging application • MyLocation: Allows users to instantly identify their geographic location • Smart Beaconing: Allows users to con-
Harris Corporation and L3 Technologies Set Closing Date for Merger
• Shares will trade on NYSE under ticker symbol “LHX”
Highlights: • Regulatory approvals obtained; merger closing set for June 29, 2019 • Combined company will be named L3Harris Technologies
Harris Corporation and L3 Technologies announced that they have received the necessary regulatory approvals for their all-stock merger and have set a closing date of June 29, 2019.
Upon closing, Harris will be renamed L3Harris Technologies, Inc., and shares of L3Harris common stock will trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol “LHX”. L3 shares will cease trading upon market close on June 28 and convert into 1.3 L3Harris shares for each L3 share. “Receiving these approvals marks the successful completion of a thorough regulatory review process – clearing the way for one of the largest mergers in defense industry history,” said William M. Brown, Chairman, CEO and President of Harris. “Today’s announcement positions us to close the merger and establish L3Harris as an agile aerospace and defense technology innovator that delivers value for all of our stakeholders,” said Christopher E. Kubasik, Chairman, CEO and President of L3. The regulatory process requires the divestiture of Harris’ Night Vision business, which is expected to be completed following the merger, pursuant to Harris’ previously announced sale agreement with Elbit Systems Ltd. COTS Journal | July 2019
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Patriot™ air and missile defense system upgrading to gamer-style interface Simplifies engagement, operational training
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) engineers are integrating a Warfighter-Machine Interface, or WMI, into PDB 8.1., a soon-to-be-fielded Patriot upgrade. This new command and control technology allows coalition operators of Raytheon’s combat-proven Patriot™ air and missile defense system to view complex data in a new, easy-to-understand way. WMI replaces pixelated shapes and a complex directory system with the type of 3-D visuals, easy-to-read status pages and search functions that any gamer would find familiar. Raytheon testing shows that WMI improves Soldier reaction time and decreases the potential for errors during engagements. It also reduces the time required to train operators to employ Patriot.
Mercury Systems Extends Expertise in Microelectronics Miniaturization Services Industry-leading 3D packaging and high volume GPS manufacturing equip the warfighter with next-generation M-code capabilities
Mercury Systems, Inc. announced the availability of miniaturization packaging services that complement the U.S. Government’s global positioning system (GPS) modernization efforts, advancing the development of smaller, more agile missiles and guided munitions to support mission success. Mercury’s innovative three-dimensional (3D) packaging, manufacturing and test services optimize the size, weight and power (SWaP) of new secure military code (M-Code) GPS receivers. Leveraging Mercury’s expertise in trusted 3D packaging and selective availability anti-spoofing modules (SAASM) assembly and testing, defense prime contractors can reduce their current electronics design footprint and deliver the greater payload and standoff capability the warfighter requires. “Mercury’s commitment to innovation, combined with our unrivaled expertise in SWaP-optimized custom microelectronics, and industry-leading GPS testing capabil-
“Raytheon is constantly enhancing, upgrading and modernizing Patriot to ensure it can outpace evolving threats,” said Tom Laliberty, Raytheon Integrated Defense System’s Vice President of Integrated Air and Missile Defense. “Incorporating WMI into PDB 8.1 leverages the latest technological advances to provide the 16 members of the Patriot partnership a user interface with a total view of their respective battlespace.” In 2018, the U.S. Army decided to field WMI across Patriot – all 60 fire units and 15 battalion headquarters – at both the battalion- and battery-level command and control. PDB 8.1 with WMI is scheduled to reach initial operational capability with the U.S. Army in 2022. When Patriot partners subsequently upgrade to PDB 8.1, WMI will be included. 8
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ities allow our teams to deliver advanced technology that serves the warfighter’s mission.” said Iain Mackie, Vice President and General Manager of Mercury’s Microelectronics Secure Solutions group. “The GPS III-encrypted M-Code signals will provide significantly higher accuracy and anti-jamming capabilities, making these new receivers critical for mission success while simultaneously minimizing collateral damage against unintended targets.” Mercury develops all custom microelectronics including M-Code receivers in a Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA)-accredited facility for design, assembly, test and broker services, providing customers with a trusted and assured chain of custody for authentic, made-in-the-USA microelectronics. For more than a decade, Mercury has been a trusted supplier of GPS SAASM, manufacturing more than 300,000 devices within a secure DMEA-accredited facility. The Company’s dedication to excellence in all aspects of industrial security has been recognized by the Defense Security Service (DSS) with Superior ratings of several of its sites, including the DMEA-accredited facility. Three of these sites have received the prestigious James S. Cogswell award for sustained excellence and innovation in security program management, implementation and oversight.
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DDC-I Announces Safety-Critical Deos RTOS for Mercury’s ROCK-2 OpenVPX Mission Computing & Avionics Architecture Save time and money developing and certifying high-performance multi-core mission-critical computers to DO-178
DDC-I announced the Deos DO-178 safety-critical real-time operating system (RTOS) compatibility with Mercury Systems’ ROCK-2 mission computing architecture. Compute solutions based on the ROCK-2 architecture running Deos RTOS greatly simplifies the flight-safety certification process of mission-critical computers to reduce program risk, while saving cost and time. The ROCK-2 architecture features BuiltSAFE™ technology, bringing the highest level of flight-safety assurance to aerospace and defense applications. BuiltSAFE is an open systems-compliant, 3U OpenVPX™ form factor that is fully compatible with the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA). Together, ROCK2 and BuiltSAFE™ offer customers an extensive portfolio of interoperable NXP® and multi-core Intel® based processing hardware, software, networking, datalink, graphics and I/O building blocks with supporting flight-safety certification artifacts, so their solutions can be deployed quickly with less program and schedule risk, and at a lower total cost of ownership than traditional systems. From design to full product support, the included reusable DAL artifacts simplify the flight-safety certification process for both hardware (DO-254) and software (DO-
178B/C) for greater program velocity with reduced risk.
“Deos’ time and space partitioning, SafeMC multicore technology, and IOI deterministic data distribution service are a perfect fit for ROCK-2’s modular, multi-slot, multi-partitioned hardware architecture,” said Greg Rose, vice president of marketing and product management at DDC-I. “Deos makes it easy for avionics designers to take full advantage of ROCK-2 multiprocessing, whether it be multiple cores on a single module, or multiple processors spanning several modules.” “ROCK-2 based solutions running Deos provide a flexible, reusable platform that delivers best-in-class processing with extensive I/O, networking, and multi-media capabilities,” said Ike Song, Mercury’s Vice President and General Manager for Mercury’s Mission Systems group. “Our customers now have an affordable, high-performance COTS platform with which to develop their highly converged mission and avionics processing solutions with, a platform which delivers an accelerated and low risk path to flight safety certification.” Deos is a field proven, safety-critical, avionics RTOS that is used to host a multitude of flight critical functions, such as air data computers, air data inertial reference units, cockpit video, displays and flight instrumentation, flight management systems, engine management, and many more. Built from the ground up for safety-critical applications, Deos is the only certifiable timeand space-partitioned COTS RTOS created using RTCA DO-178, Level A processes from the very first day of its product development. Deos’ unique modular design and verification evidence provides the easiest, lowest cost path to DO178C DAL A certification, the highest level of safety criticality. DDCI’s SafeMC™ technology extends DDC-I’ s advanced time and space partitioning capabilities to multiple cores, enabling developers of safety-critical systems to achieve best in class multicore performance without compromising safety-critical task response and guaranteed execution times. COTS Journal | July 2019
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NVIDIA Brings CUDA to Arm, Enabling New Path to Exascale Supercomputing
NVIDIA announced its support for Arm CPUs, providing the high performance computing industry a new path to build extremely energy-efficient, AI-enabled exascale supercomputers. NVIDIA is making available to the Arm® ecosystem its full stack of AI and HPC software — which accelerates more than 600 HPC applications and all AI frameworks — by year’s end. The stack includes all NVIDIA CUDA X AI™ ™ and HPC libraries, GPU-accelerated AI frameworks and software development tools such as PGI compilers with OpenACC support and profilers. Once stack optimization is complete, NVIDIA will accelerate all major CPU architectures, including x86, POWER and Arm. “Supercomputers are the essential instruments of scientific discovery, and achieving exascale supercomputing will dramatically expand the frontier of human knowledge,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “As traditional compute scaling ends, power will limit all supercomputers. The combination of NVIDIA’s CUDA-accelerated computing and Arm’s energy-efficient CPU architecture will give the HPC community a boost to exascale.” “Arm is working with our ecosystem to deliver unprecedented compute performance gains and exascale-class capabilities to Arm-based SoCs,” said Simon Segars, CEO of Arm. “Collaborating with NVIDIA to bring CUDA acceleration to the Arm architecture is a key milestone for the HPC community, which is already deploying Arm technology to address some of the world’s most complex research challenges.” According to the Green500 list released today, NVIDIA powers 22 of the world’s 25 most energy-efficient supercomputers.
tion. NVIDIA uses Arm for several of its system on-a-chip products available for portable gaming, autonomous vehicles, robotics and embedded AI computing. Strong Ecosystem Support World leaders of the HPC industry and Arm ecosystem, including supercomputing centers and systems providers and system-on-a-chip manufacturers, have voiced their support. “Our customers are looking for high-performance, Arm-based processors to run their most demanding workloads. We are thrilled that NVIDIA is moving CUDA and the rich ecosystem built around NVIDIA to Arm. This will accelerate our work in building out the software ecosystem for Arm-based servers and enable breakthrough Ampere platforms with NVIDIA GPUs for efficiency and performance.” — Renee James, chairman and CEO, Ampere Computing “Atos is a pioneer in the ARM ecosystem through the Montblanc project and an Arm computing blade design available for the exascale supercomputers, BullSequana X. We are really pleased to support NVIDIA’s major announcement to turbo-boost Arm, which will accelerate the convergence of the AI and simulation worlds while optimizing energy efficiency.” — Pierre Barnabé, senior executive vice president, head of Big Data & CyberSecurity Division, Atos “At Cray our vision for the exascale era is systems that integrate AI and analytics with modeling and simulation, systems that enable and often require a diversity of processor architectures and systems that are built for data-intensive workloads required in science, engineering and digital transformation. We are excited to partner with NVIDIA to help realize this vision in our supercomputers by leveraging their CUDA and CUDA-X HPC and AI software stack to the Arm platform and integrating it closely with our Cray system management and programming environment (compilers, libraries and tools) already enabled to support Arm processors across our XC and future Shasta supercomputers.” — Peter Ungaro, president and CEO, Cray
Key factors making this possible are: the ability of NVIDIA GPU-powered supercomputers to offload heavy processing jobs to more energy-efficient parallel processing CUDA® GPUs; NVIDIA’s collaboration with Mellanox to optimize processing across entire supercomputing clusters; and NVIDIA’s invention of SXM 3D-packaging and NVLink, which allows for extremely dense scale-up nodes.
“EuroHPC enables European collaboration on high performance computing to advance research, innovation and industrial growth. We are very interested in testing NVIDIA’s GPU-accelerated computing platform for HPC and AI on Arm as a potential building block for future pre-exascale solutions.” — Kimmo Koski, managing director, CSC
NVIDIA’s support for Arm-based HPC systems builds on more than 10 years of collabora-
“The European Processor Initiative aims to endow the European Union with its own high-end, low-power,
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general purpose and accelerator solutions. EPI and SiPearl, its industrial hand, consider very positively the new possibilities offered by NVIDIA. The combination between the EPI Arm-based microprocessor and NVIDIA accelerator could make a perfect match for equipping building blocks in the future European exascale modular supercomputers.” — Philippe Notton, general manager, EPI “Both NVIDIA and Arm leverage technologies that offer high performance computing customers greater levels of energy efficiency. NVIDIA’s support for Arm complements our latest developments on the HPE Apollo 70, an Arm-based, purpose-built HPC system, and now, NVIDIA GPU-enabled. With the HPE Apollo 70 supporting a 2U GPU tray and multiple energy-efficient cooling options, we can further help the HPC industry address increasingly unsustainable levels of power consumption.” — Bill Mannel, vice president and general manager of HPC and AI, HPE “The Jülich Supercomputing Centre is driving developments at the forefront of supercomputing and establishing modular technologies to make the best resources available most effectively to researchers in Europe to help them solve the world’s greatest challenges. Particularly in view of the exascale systems planned for the coming years and the rise of large-scale AI calculations, NVIDIA’s support of the Arm processor is a very exciting development, which is essential for the establishment of true modularity for supercomputers and composable data centers of the future. It will help to advance supercomputing in Europe.” — Thomas Lippert, director, Jülich Supercomputing Centre “We are excited to work with NVIDIA and server OEMs to couple the CUDA-X platform and NVIDIA GPUs with the Marvell ThunderX2 family of server processors. The combination of ThunderX2’s best-in-class 64-bit Armv8 performance and NVIDIA GPUs offers breakthrough levels of energy efficiency and application performance, enabling world-class HPC and AI solutions for exascale computing.” — Matt Murphy, president and CEO, Marvell “We have been a pioneer in using NVIDIA GPUs on large-scale supercomputers for the last decade, including Japan’s most powerful ABCI supercomputer. At Riken R-CCS, we are currently developing the next-generation, Arm-based, exascale Fugaku supercomputer and are thrilled to hear that NVIDIA’s GPU acceleration platform will soon be available for Arm-based systems.” — Satoshi Matsuoka, director, Riken Center for Computational Sciences, and professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology
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15,000 Rugged Servers by Crystal Group Now Support the U.S. Navy Customers Benefit from Engineering Ingenuity and In-house Manufacturing Capabilities
Crystal Group, Inc. announced a significant milestone of having delivered 15,000 rugged servers to the U.S. Navy since 2008. Designed to eliminate restrictions and failure-risk of technology, Crystal Group solutions have demonstrated unmatched fielded reliability. Crystal Group designs and manufactures custom compute systems fortified to withstand shock, vibration and temperature extremes, as well as sea spray and salt fog characteristic to wet and humid deployment environments of the Navy. By leveraging commercial-off-theshelf innovation and through unmatched internal production capabilities, the company delivers quality solutions fast–enabling defense customers to stay ahead of adversaries. “We have been successful at meeting the demands of the Navy by fully anticipating the factors that can impact mission-critical technology,” said Jim Shaw, executive vice president of engineering at Crystal Group. “This is a significant milestone, as it demonstrates our capability to engineer resilient and consistently reliable solutions that our warfighters need and deserve.”
Crystal Group RS375T rugged servers in use on a U.S. Navy submarine. Photo credit: U.S. Navy. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. Crystal Group’s systems meet the quality, security and durability requirements of the military. As compute and cyber requirements grow, the company focuses on balancing needs with cost and effectiveness. Crystal Group engineers build low-SWaP solutions that enclose extreme processing power in flexible and modular architectures to help customers tackle complex challenges of today and tomorrow. Crystal Group delivered its first rugged server to the U.S. Navy in 2008 and has since become a trusted partner to the Department of Defense as well as leading government contractors such as Lockheed Martin, DRS, General Dynamics, and Progeny Systems among others. The company supplied over 150 variants of high-performance servers under a wide range of Navy contracts and programs such as the Aviation Data Management and Control System (ADMACS), Automated Digital Network System (ADNS), Integrated Shipboard Network System (ISNS), Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES), Acoustic Rapid Commercial off-the-shelf Insertion (A-RCI), and many more.
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MILTON Debuting FlightWave’s Edge™
MILTON Recognizes Drone’s Potential for French Military
The FlightWave Edge™ UAS is the light tactical drone of choice for the MILTON, a firm formed by former French Army Special Forces members that focuses on technological innovations to strengthen warfighters’ capabilities at home and in the field. MILTON staff, who bring more than a decade of
experience in overseas deployment throughout the world. “The FlightWave Edge™ is an amazing tool for making military missions more effective and efficient,” said Samuel Tacita, President and CEO of MILTON, “Whether you’re in Special Forces or running regular operations, you always want the best possible outcome for the least cost. Edge™ not only delivers outstanding performance, it enables oper-
ators to lower their mission-risk profile.” MILTON is actively offering the FlightWave Edge™ UAS to its military and first-responder clients. These agencies depend on MILTON’s expertise to optimize and enhance their security and surveillance missions. Unmanned aerial systems are tailored to the short, medium and long-range use cases, that are common to army, police, gendarmerie, and firefighters in addition to some private organizations specializing in safety, security, and surveillance. “We are working to support a global network of partners with the Edge, a proven platform for remote aerial sensing with a minimal logistic footprint, ideally suited for tactical overwatch applications,” said Trent Lukaczyk, FlightWave co-founder and CTO. “FlightWave is proud to be part of MILTON’s ecosystem, and to see them take the Edge beyond new limits.”
Phoenix International Receives General Atomics Aeronautical 2018 Outstanding Supplier Award Award presented by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc Phoenix International Systems, Inc. has been presented General Atomics Aeronautical System’s 2018 Outstanding Supplier Award for exceptional Quality and Delivery performance. “On behalf of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI) we are very pleased to present Phoenix International our 2018 Outstanding Supplier Award, for exceptional Quality and Delivery performance.” Remarked Derek Andrews, GA-ASI Vice President, Procurement. “We are delighted to recognize the excellence in supplier performance demonstrated by both your employees and suppliers; who have contributed to your overall performance”.
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“To qualify for this award, Phoenix International had to achieve a Quality and On-Time Delivery rating that placed them within the top 5% of GA-ASI’s supply base for the year of 2018” added Tuan Nguyen, GA-ASI’s VP, Quality Assurance and Operational Excellence. “We at GA-ASI rely on your products to support our customer’s requirements for high quality and on time delivery”. “This Outstanding Supplier Award reflects our team’s commitment to exceeding our customer’s expectations” commented Amos Deacon III, President of Phoenix International. “Our Phoenix team is very proud to be honored with this recognition of our Quality and Delivery performance and its contribution to General Atomics Aeronautical’s program success”. Phoenix International is an AS 9100D/ISO 9001-2015 certified, Small Business who designs and manufactures Rugged, Reliable and Secure COTS data storage products. Phoenix developed state of the art enabling technology provides users with mass data storage products that ensure the highest performance storage and data network systems. These systems range in size and application from multi-terabyte Fibre Channel RAID, NAS and Storage Area Network (SAN) configurations to conduction cooled plug-in VPX and VME solid state disk storage modules.
SRC Wins Contract to Manufacture and Deliver 40 Common Electronic Attack Receiver (CEAR) Systems SRC, Inc. has been awarded a $5.2 million contract from BAE Systems to build and deliver 40 Common Electronic Attack Receiver (CEAR) systems. The 40 CEAR systems will be manufactured in Syracuse, NY by SRCTec, LLC, an SRC subsidiary. SRC’s CEAR system performs real-time analysis of countermeasures for true-to-life training against RF threats. The system is a key component in both the Unmanned Threat Emitter (UMTE) and Joint Threat Emitter (JTE) systems, helping military aircraft in testing their ability to detect and defeat real-world threats. “We are proud to continue supporting the military’s vital training against real-world threats,” said Paul G. Tremont, CEO of SRC. “The CEAR system is crucial to closing the test and evaluation feedback loop, ensuring the effectiveness of our RF countermeasures to help our warfighters complete their mission and return home safely.” The CEAR system can detect and evaluate the effectiveness of countermeasures including range and velocity deception, amplitude modulation, chaff and noise. It also supports reactive threat simulation, creating a more realistic training environment to better prepare our warfighters for an actual surface-to-air missile (SAM) attack.
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Mercury Systems Receives $3.9M Contract to Prepare Next Generation Airborne Radar Processing Subsystems for Production Mercury Systems, Inc received a $3.9 million development contract from a leading defense Prime contractor to prepare next generation airborne radar processing subsystems for production at the Company’s secure and trusted Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA)-accredited manufacturing facility. The Company expects that the contract will be fulfilled by the end of the calendar year. “The compute power and density needed by our customer’s next-generation radar requires our unique ability to package stateof-the-art processing power into compact
1he USAF Academy In Colorado USA Selects Merlin Flight Simulation Group For Significant Simulator Order The USAF Academy, Colorado, have ordered four new simulators for their teaching facility from Merlin Flight Simulation Group in the UK. As the lead undergraduate aeronautical engineering program in the USA, the Air Force Academy will be the launch customer for Merlin’s new two seat motion engineering flight simulator, ordering two MP525 simulators, and two desktop MP500-1 simulators for their flight simulation laboratory. Personnel from USAFA had previously helped judge one of Merlin’s IT FLIES USA annual student aircraft design and handling competitions at The University of Dayton – which itself has an extensive flight simulation laboratory. It is through flying and understanding the capabilities of Merlin’s flight software and the overall performance of the simulators which has led to this very high specification USAFA order. Lt Col Judson Babcock, who is leading the project for the Air Force Academy said:-
modules that can withstand harsh shock and vibration environments,” said Joe Plunkett, Senior Director and General Manager for Mercury’s Sensor Processing Solutions group. “Our customer is leveraging Mercury’s proven packaging and liquid cooling technologies to achieve the processing speed, reliability and ruggedness required for this highly scalable radar system.” Each small form factor processing subsystem is powered by the latest data center-level Intel® Xeon® processors, which are packaged for Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA)-compatibility. To reduce program risk, Mercury is leveraging its advanced, proven OpenVPX packaging and cooling technologies, which have a technical readiness level of nine (TRL-9), to deliver the reliable high-performance processing required. nautical engineering curriculum at the Air Force Academy. For the first time ever, students will be able to design, fly, and test their own aircraft, engines, and control systems in a motivating full-motion multi-ship simulation. This handson capstone experience will help us to educate, train, and inspire the next generation of technical leaders for the United States and our allies.”
“Merlin’s full-motion engineering flight simulators will greatly enhance the aero-
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SPECIAL FEATURE
Security Systems Manager for Aerospace and Defense Solutions By Barry Dowdy,, Systems Manager for Aerospace and Defense Solutions Securing Critical Communications Critical communications systems are prevalent in the aerospace and defense industry. Many are mission critical tactical voice and
command and control links that save lives by providing situational awareness to warfighters in the field and by accurately commanding and controlling the destination of various airborne and ground-based platforms. Ease of use and
integration; reduced size, weight, and power (SWaP); and reduced time-to-market (TTM) are essential design considerations to systems integrators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that require embedded security solutions for critical communications systems. Ease of use and integration is essential for nonsecurity experts to efficiently implement security features. Reduced SWaP is essential in operational environments to reduce the load carried by foot-mobile warfighters and to optimize the efficiency of military communications systems. Reduced TTM is essential for systems integrators and OEMs striving to meet urgent operational needs, generate revenue, and capture their share of the market. Some secure critical communications applications include military radio communications and unmanned system data and command and control links. An efficient approach to embedded security solutions can help systems integrators and OEMs meet secure critical communications challenges in these applications.
Military Radio Communications
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Straub, a team leader with 1st Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and fellow 1st Platoon Marines kneel while halted during a security patrol, on April 30, 2012. 14
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The demand for SWaP-efficient tactical radios delivered expeditiously to the warfighter drives the need for encryption modules that are easy to use
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or uncrewed aerial vehicle, commonly known as a drone.
and integrate. New designs for tactical radio equipment manufacturers include easy to use and integrate, SWaP-efficient embedded security solutions that reduce an equipment manufacturer’s TTM. Historically, radio frequency (RF) signal chain designs have been consumed with board layout and signal processing efforts that require significant engineering expertise and time to achieve a working design. Reduced SWaP was achieved by selecting the most efficient discrete components and chassis materials. An alternative approach to reducing SWaP includes integrating RF system-in-packages (SiPs) or modules directly into a signal chain design. For example, advancements include a new direct-conversion RF transceiver and field programmable gate array (FPGA) preconfigured as part of a modern signal chain on a SWaP-efficient circuit card assembly. New RF transceiver devices combined with an FPGA and proven security features can re-
duce engineering expertise and time required to achieve a secure RF signal chain design. FPGAs in this signal chain configuration can be partitioned with a signal processing block, a trusted execution environment (TEE), and customer IP. The FPGA can also include a security application programming interface (API) between the TEE and signal processing partitions that provides access to security features for encrypted traffic, key management, secure boot, secure update, and secure storage. Overall, this design approach makes it easier for a systems integrator or OEM to integrate RF signal chain components and security features in a secure communications system while reusing proven RF signal chain and security functionality. TTM can be reduced by starting with a predesigned security solution that frees up engineering resources to do what they do best instead of spending valuable time designing and implementing security features. In addition to reduced TTM, this approach also reduces upfront development/nonrecurring
engineering (NRE) costs. The savings include the NRE efforts of several engineers over an 18- to 24-month period of performance, which equates to about $3M to $5M. In addition to development time, encryption certifications through the National Security Agency (NSA) or National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can take 18 to 24 months. This can increase a company’s TTM if the certification efforts are started late in the design process or after the fact. If so, the certifying authority will have to spend more time evaluating and understanding the existing design. Alternatively, TTM is reduced by engaging NSA or NIST early in the encryption design process with NSA or NIST compliant encryption algorithms and supporting documentation and by providing security modules that are easy to use and integrate. Modern embedded security solutions protect the entire signal chain—from antenna to bits—securing military communications through robust system hardware and software-based cryptographic technologies. In COTS Journal | July 2019
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addition, these solutions include well documented and defined security packages for existing hardware or embeddable FPGA-based encryption modules based on a scalable/flexible high assurance cryptographic processing platform capable of running on various families of FPGAs. An example development effort includes a next-generation software-defined radio (SDR) that requires an RF transceiver, FPGA, and an embedded encryption solution. In this case, the embedded encryption solution can be developed and certified in parallel with the SDR design. Starting this process with FIPS or NSA Suite B compliant cryptographic cores also reduces development time and certification risk as the algorithms have already been approved for use. Moreover, the use of previously certified encryption modules can further reduce certification time and risk.
Unmanned Systems Unmanned systems consist of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), robots, and autonomous tactical vehicles. These unmanned systems often include sensors, video sources, and communications systems for receiving and transmitting information to and from the platform. The information is transmitted via data link systems from the platform to a ground control station, command center, or remote control device. As such, unsecure, unmanned systems are vulnerable to cyber security attacks. An adversary or malicious actor can hijack a remote platform by masquerading as a legitimate remote control device. An adversary or malicious actor can also capture and/or manipulate sensor data and video. Accordingly, critical communications and command and control links should be secured to prevent cyber security attacks.
complexity of implementing security features on the family of Xilinx® Zynq® UltraScale+™ MPSoC (ZUS+) FPGAs. Sypher Ultra security features include secure boot, secure update, secure key storage, secure data in motion (traffic encryption), and secure data at rest. These features isolate sensitive cryptographic operations, protect IP, secure communications, manage device identity, and enable the distribution of software updates with confidence. Sypher Ultra security features can be implemented by nonsecurity experts using reference design software/firmware, an API, a graphical user interface (GUI), and user guides. Military communications systems and the data and command and control links on unmanned systems are examples of critical communications that must be secured for protected and safe operations. An FPGA-based security solution integrated in a SiP can help a systems integrator or OEM reduce SWaP and their TTM by starting certification efforts early in the signal chain design process. For more information related to ADI’s security solutions, visit analog.com/securitysolutions, visit analog.com/securitysolutions.
Interested in getting your copy of J O U R N A L
Security solutions for communications and command and control links include software and firmware for existing hardware, embeddable encryption modules, secure RF signal chain modules, and in-line security modules. These security solutions are generally provided through partnerships with unmanned systems integrators and security solution providers.
Sypher Ultra These new easy to use designs that reduce SWaP and TTM were developed by teams at Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). For example, an ADI product available to secure critical communications systems and reduce SWaP and TTM is Sypher™ Ultra, which reduces the 16
COTS Journal | July 2019
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SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
Navy Validates Lost 52 Project Discovery of Identification of WWII Submarine S-28 Gravesite Off Oahu By Lost 52 Project
July 4th is the 75th anniversary of USS S-28 loss.
After almost 75 years, utilizing advanced imaging technology, Ocean Explorer Tim Taylor and his “Lost 52 Expedition Team” officially discovered the final resting place for the 49 Sailors of the U.S. submarine S-28 (SS-133) off Oahu, Hawaii. The U.S. Navy recently validated the identity of the wreck, which Taylor located in 2017. July 4th, 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of the loss of the submarine, which was conducting exercises at the time she disappeared. “The discovery of the USS S-28 as part of my ‘Lost 52 Project’ continues to honor the men, their mission and their memory. It is important that they not be forgotten and that future
USS S-28 SS 133 photographed during the 1920s or 1930s 18
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generations recognize their invaluable sacrifice for our country and the world,” said Taylor. “Identification of a Navy gravesite is something Naval History and Heritage Command’s Underwater Archaeology Branch takes great care in doing,” said Sam Cox, Director of Naval History and Heritage Command. “After an exhaustive review of the data provided by Tim Taylor’s team, we can positively identify the wreck as S-28.” The keel of USS S-28 (SS-133) was laid down in April of 1919, just months after the end of the First World War. Commissioned on December 13, 1923, the S-Class submarine spent 16 years taking part in various Navy exercises
Image 1 - Taylor’s team utilized advanced photogrammetry to create imaging that allows them to research the site long after they have returned to the dock. The data produced by their expedition was key in helping to confirm that we were looking at the S-28 and not the S-35.
in the Caribbean and eventually the Pacific. When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7th she was being overhauled at Mare Island Naval Shipyard outside of San Francisco, California. She was one of several S-boats put
into service in World War II and was initially sent to Alaska to defend the Aleutians against a possible Japanese invasion. By mid-November, S-28 arrived in Pearl Harbor and for the next seven months trained in the waters around the island.
On July 3, 1944, S-28 embarked on an antisubmarine warfare training exercise off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. During the training, communication became sporadic and the boat sent her last communication to the Coast Guard cutter Reliance the evening of July 4th. Navy’s search of the area did not reveal the location of the submarine and two days later, a diesel oil slick appeared in the area. Later, a Navy Court of Inquiry could not determine the cause of the loss. During her service during WWII, she completed six war patrols and earned one battle star. “We’re thankful for the care and attention Tim and his team took in locating the wreck. Because of their efforts, we now know the final resting place of our shipmates. This discovery helps to ensure their service will always be remembered, honored and valued and we hope provides some measure of closure to their families,” continued Cox. S-28 (SS-133) rests in approximately 8,700 feet of water, which made the location of the ship impossible due to technological limitations of the era.
Image 2
After such an initial discovery, archeologists conduct exhaustive research to ensure its identity. In the case of S-28 the location at COTS Journal | July 2019
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which it was discovered offered a key clue to its identity.
rines, but the cowlings are a distinct indicator,” states Taylor.
Following World War II, the U.S. tested ordnance and scuttled U.S. and Japanese ships in the vicinity of the wreck site. Records indicated that her sister ship, USS S-35, had been scuttled in that same area. Finding the subtle differences between the two series of S-class submarines demanded some technical expertise and analysis. Through Taylor’s research, paired with historical archives, the Naval History and Heritage team were able to positively identify the wreck comparing design differences. Records revealed the hulls had uniquely different cowling covers on the forward bow planes.
Taylor’s team utilized advanced photogrammetry to create imaging that allows them to research the site long after they have returned to the dock. The data produced by their expedition was key in helping to confirm that we were looking at the S-28 and not the S-35.
The investigators also considered some likely superstructure modifications and the probability that deck guns were removed from the S-35 before it was scuttled as possible indicators. Ultimately, however, the cowlings provided the evidence the team needed to make the final confirmation. “The differences in external configurations are minimal on these 100-year-old subma-
Image 3 20
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The Lost 52 Expedition 2017 deploys state of the art deep-water autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV’s) as well as remotely operated vehicles (ROV’s). Mr. Taylor, CEO of Tiburon Subsea Services, Inc., and director of non-profit Ocean Outreach, Inc. has a reputation for working with the latest in undersea technology and with the top specialists in underwater exploration. This is Mr. Taylor’s fourth US WWII submarine discovery since 2010 and is part of his ongoing “Lost 52 Project”. The ongoing multi-year project is supported by STEP Ventures, who are dedicated to continuing work of the “Lost 52 Project” and shares its commitment to preserving and honoring the legacy of the lost WWII submariners and the bravery of our sailors for future generations.
Tim Taylor is a renowned ocean explorer, expedition leader, and underwater robotics expert who has spent twenty-nine years exploring the oceans. He has collaborated with noted geologists, marine biologists, archeologists, coral and shark scientists. In 2008 Tim received the Explorers Club “Citation of Merit” for his contributions to exploration. Over the past decade, his focus has been on the utilization of robotic technology in underwater expeditions. He pioneered a 1500-meter deep AUV search for submerged cultural resources spanning three years and 1800 square miles. His recent discoveries include three US WWII Submarines. Tim has been profiled in the London Financial Times, The New York Times, Bloomberg News and is a regular contributor on FOX, CNBC, BBC, CBC and CNN as an ocean technology and robotics expert. He is President of Tiburon Subsea Services specializing in supplying autonomous underwater robotics and founder of Ocean Outreach home of the “Lost 52 Project” dedicated to educating the next generation of ocean advocates.
PARIS AIR SHOW 2019 Paris Airshow Embraer
Embraer announced the launch of IKON, a cloud system for capturing, storing and analyzing high volume data for the predictive maintenance of the E-Jets family. The new system is totally based on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform and was developed by Embraer, with the support of the suppliers AWS ProServe and Claranet, using Big Data and Analytics technologies to deliver 96% productivity gains in the aircraft analysis and data processing, setting new standards in aeronautical services and support. Offering a high degree of scalability, elasticity, durability and analysis, the system delivers efficient management of processing and storage capacity, making possible for Embraer to optimize the data ingestion time of the E-Jets E2. Using AWS’s set of analytics services, this new technology identifies data patterns, and is even able to pinpoint and solve potential aircraft issues before they occur. This ability to perform predictive maintenance will help deliver new feature enhancements to the E2 and accelerate the delivery of improvements to previous models.
Boeing
Boeing is launching its latest round of flight-testing to assess new technologies that could address real-world challenges for airplane operators and passengers — from enhancing safety and sustainability to improving the flying experience. The company is debuting a Boeing 777 that will serve as the 2019 flying test bed for 50 projects. “This is the latest addition to our ecoDemonstrator program, where we look at how crew and passengers can have a better experience and how technologies can make flying safer, more efficient and more enjoyable,” said Mike Sinnett, vice president of product strategy and future airplane development at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “Using the 777 flying test bed lets us learn faster and move forward on improvements much quicker and with greater fidelity in defining their value.” Among the technologies being tested on this year’s ecoDemonstrator program are:
Airbus
The first Airbus C295, purchased by the Government of Canada for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) Fixed Wing Search and Rescue Aircraft Replacement (FWSAR) program, has completed its maiden flight, marking a key milestone towards de-
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livery by the end of 2019 to begin operational testing by the RCAF. The aircraft, designated CC-295 for the Canadian customer, took off from Seville, Spain, on 4 July at 20:20 local time (GMT+1) and landed back on site one hour and 27 minutes later.
COTS Journal | July 2019
• Sharing digital information between air traffic control, the flight deck and an airline’s operations center to optimize routing efficiency and safety. • An electronic flight bag application that uses
next-generation communications to automatically provide rerouting information to pilots when weather conditions warrant. • Connected cabin technologies that make galleys and lavatories smart, and monitor cabin conditions such as temperature and humidity to facilitate automatic adjustments. Cameras to provide more passengers with a view outside the airplane. Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator program first took to the skies in 2012. Five airplanes — a 737-800, 787-8 Dreamliner, 757, Embraer E170 and 777 Freighter — have tested 112 technologies through 2018. More than a third of the technologies have transitioned to implementation at Boeing or by program partners. Nearly half remain in further development while testing on the other projects was discontinued after learnings were accomplished. Among the technologies now in use are iPad apps that provide real-time information to pilots, enabling them to reduce fuel use and emissions; custom approach path information to reduce community noise; and a camera system on the 777X that will help pilots avoid ground obstacles. A key part of the ecoDemonstrator program is collaboration with industry partners to jointly test technologies and share learnings that advance aviation. More than a dozen partners are participating in the 2019 program, including an industry consortium developing a connectivity standard for networked cabins of the future known as iCabin. Flight tests will be conducted this fall. The flights will include a trip to Frankfurt Airport in Germany, where the ecoDemonstrator’s technology mission will be presented to government officials, industry representatives and STEM students to help inspire the next generation in aerospace leadership. A majority of the test flights will fly on sustainable aviation fuel to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and demonstrate the fuel’s viability.
PARIS AIR SHOW countinued
Bombardier
Embraer announced the launch of IKON, a cloud syBombardier’s family of high-performance business jets offers the perfect “ready-made” aircraft for C4ISR operations. Their excellent high speed cruise, loiter time capabilities at low speeds and high altitudes and higher ceiling providing greater look-down capability provide the performance required. • Providing solid performance parameters*: • Loiter time in excess of 12 hours. • Top cruise speed of Mach 0.88. • 45,000 ft typical operating altitude. Adaptable to Meet the Mission Beyond these superior platform capabilities, Global aircraft offer spacious wide-body, stand-up cabin that can be tailored to a wide range of configurations. Each Global aircraft offers personnel unrestricted access to the entire cabin in flight. Moreover, because these jets feature four engine-driven generators and an air-operable auxiliary power unit, they provide up to 205 kVA to all aircraft systems, including C4ISR mission equipment. Our Global aircraft are also equipped with Rockwell Collins’ advanced Pro Line Fusion avionics suite. The first avionics system with synthetic vision on a head-up display, it features a visor that folds down and presents the pilot with all the necessary aircraft performance, mapping and terrain information - making for excellent situational awareness even in the worst weather.
New retrofit solution demonstrated as part of Sikorsky’s Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV) system Triple redundant system for safety critical applications includes “jam free” electromechanical actuators. PARIS (June 17, 2019) – Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), with Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has developed a new technologically advanced fly-by-wire retrofit solution that enables autonomous flight for rotary and fixed wing aircraft. The technology was demonstrated as part of Sikorsky’s Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV) system. Sikorsky’s S-70 OPV Black Hawk flew for the first time on May 29 as part of the DARPA Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program. Designed for safety critical applications, the new system is triple redundant and replaces a mechanical system of rods and pulleys with electromechanical actuators controlled by an enhanced flight control computer. Collins Aerospace engineers worked with Sikorsky to design this “jam free” system with purely magnetic coupling, which eliminates the need for gearing, ball screws or clutches. This marks the first time such a system has been used in a safety critical aerospace application. The revolutionary design of the fly-by-wire solution allows much of the logic that would typically reside within the primary flight control computer to now reside externally in its own control module or the actuator itself. This further simplifies the system architecture and increases reliability. The system’s design allows it to be installed without modifying the hydraulic system or hydraulic actuator, removing the need for re-qualification of the hydraulic system and thus providing a more affordable retrofit option. This advanced technology offering from Collins Aerospace complements the next-gen Vehicle Management Computer (VMC) that the company announced it was developing at the 2018 Farnborough International Air Show. With 20 times the computing power of the company’s existing flight control computer, the VMC will enable fly-by-wire technology and autonomous flight for new and retrofit applications in civil and military aircraft, and is anticipated to reach the market in 2022.
Collins Aerospace joins Sikorsky in revolutionizing approach to autonomous flight with new fly-by-wire technology Black Hawk helicopter
Sikorsky S-70 OPV Black Hawk DARPA ALIAS flight demonstration (photo courtesy Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company) COTS Journal | July 2019
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July 2019
COT’S PICKS LCR Embedded Systems announces Customizable, Modular 6-Slot 3U VPX Chassis for Development Applications.
The OpenVPX enclosure can feature either a 3U VITA 48.1 or IEEE 1101.10 card cage with a variety of backplane profiles and other customization options available upon request.
Ideal Benchtop/Rackmount Platform Made by the Ideal Long-Term Partner to Transition from Development to Deployment
“What with the experience we offer our customers in all form factors, applications, and deployment environments, LCR Embedded Systems is at our best when we get in on the ground floor of any application — while things are still in the development and prototyping stage,” said LCR Embedded President Dan Manoukian. “With hundreds of fielded and proven systems hard at work all over the world, we can offer customers the most advanced development platforms as well as the most advanced design and manufacturing capabilities when the time comes to move from the lab to the final deployment environment, however harsh it may be.”
A3U VITA 48.1/IEEE 1101.10 card cage, a variety of backplane profiles, 70W/slot. June 3, 2019 – Norristown, PA – LCR Embedded Systems is pleased to announce the availability of its flexible, modular, highly customizable 6-Slot VPX development chassis for 3U VPX cards. The enclosure is 5U in height and suitable for benchtop or rackmount use, with 6 slots (5 payload and 1 switch), and two 2-slot PICMG 2.11 power supplies, and can cool up to 70W/slot with front-to-back forced-air cooling.
Congatec boards with 8th Gen Intel® Core™ Mobile processor and 10+ years availability Up to 58% performance boost with extended availability Congatec, a leading vendor of standardized and customized embedded computer boards and modules, announced today that the brand new embedded versions of the 8th Generation Intel® Core™ Mobile processors (codenamed Whiskey Lake) are now available on COM Express Type 6 Compact modules, 3.5 inch SBCs, and Thin MiniITX motherboards. OEM customers benefit from an instant performance boost of up to 58%¹ compared to previous embedded U-Series processors – enabled by 4 instead of 2 cores plus an overall improved microarchitecture. Thanks to features such as optional Intel® Optane™ memory 2 or USB 3.1 Gen2, everyday tasks are even more responsive. The processor cores allow efficient task scheduling and furthermore support the use of the RTS hypervisor software to allow additional optimization of I/O throughput from the input channels to the processor cores. Designed for harsh and space-constrained environments, the new high-end Intel® Core™ i7, Core™ i5, Core™ i3 and Celeron® embedded processor boards and modules are the first in the industry to offer long-term availability of 10+ years. This brand new embedded x86 design principle premiers at Congatec and within the entire embedded board vendor space² with the launch of the new 8th Generation Intel® Core™ 24
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than just systems,” Manoukian added. “They’re also a promise that when the time comes to get your solution into the real world, LCR Embedded Systems’ full arsenal of capabilities is at your disposal to help you achieve your mission.” LCR Embedded Systems, Inc. www.lcrembeddedsystems.com/
“All of our development systems are more Mobile processor boards. Addressing in particular the increased life cycle needs of the transportation and mobility sector, these new boards and modules are also a perfect fit for all other embedded applications – such as medical equipment and industrial controls, embedded edge clients and HMIs – as they enable extended life cycles without additional costs for customers. “One of our main goals is to simplify the use of embedded computer technology as much as possible for our OEM customers. That’s why we offer our brand new 8th Gen Intel® Core™ Mobile processor based embedded boards and modules now with 10+ and on basis of specific last time buy contract up to 15 years long-term availability right from the start, as 7 years are often insufficient for many high-end embedded computing sectors. Our extended life cycle – which, by the way, comes without additional costs – thus helps OEMs to extend their own product life cycles for an even better ROI,” explains Christian Eder, Director of Marketing at Congatec. In the past, many high-end embedded
applications tended towards life cycles shorter than 7 years, as they often required a new performance boost from next generation processors before then. But with increased certification demands in several new embedded application areas such as mobile vehicles, OEMs are similarly keen on longer life cycles today. Extending the life cycles of standard embedded x86 platforms to 10 or even 15 years off the shelf is consequently a major bonus for customers across the entire embedded computing market. “We are very happy to get our hands on embedded versions of this brand new Intel architecture with 10+ year long-term availability. Longer life cycles are a key requirement in many mobile applications we target in rugged environments, where high speed data streams need to be acquired and logged for 3D object recognition, LIDAR imaging, and mobile mapping. The same requirement that our end customers expect from our data recorders used for wireless network monitoring and automotive test systems or data loggers for test vehicles which store and analyze high speed data streams from external sensors on solid state drives or hard drives,” explains Thomas Hagios, CEO of MCTX Mobile & Embedded Computers GmbH. Congatec AB www.congatec.com
July 2019
COT’S PICKS Mercury Systems Delivers Full Range of Flight Safety Assurance to MissionCritical Aerospace and Defense Programs ROCK-2 architecture with BuiltSAFE technology powers smart, capable platforms with highperformance, safety-critical processing, saving customers time and money Mercury Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY, www. mrcy.com) announced today the availability of the full range of flight-safety certification levels in its ROCK-2 mission computing architecture, allowing customers to focus on developing critical aviation applications, while reducing system development time and cost. As requirements for flight-safety certification increase, ROCK-2 customers now have access to the complete range of design assurance levels (DAL), from DAL-E to the highest, DAL-A, and the critical safety assurance they need for a growing number of mission critical applications, including avionics, vetronics for defense and commercial fixed and rotary-wing platforms, ground stations,
Microchip and STAR-Dundee Create First SpaceVPX -Compliant Development Platform Featuring Radiation-Tolerant FPGAs and SpaceFibre Technology Platform enables developers to implement new high-speed data transfer technology for modern spacecraft using Microchip’s radiation-tolerant RTG4™ FPGAs Microchip Technology Inc. via its Microsemi subsidiary, collaborated with STARDundee to create an evaluation platform that implements SpaceFibre technology, which was recently recognized by the VITA Standards Organization (VSO) as a control-and-data plane option for its SpaceVPX interconnect standard.
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and urban air mobility platforms (UAM). “Customers can be assured that no matter what their safety-critical needs, the commercial-offthe-shelf (COTS) ROCK-2 platform will meet their flight-safety requirements,” said Ike Song, Mercury’s Vice President and General Manager for Mercury’s Mission Systems group. “Designed and built using long-life, state-of-the-art COTS components, the ROCK-2 architecture delivers on Mercury’s commitment to enable smart, capable platforms that provide customers the high-performance, safety-critical mission processing solutions they demand.” The ROCK-2 architecture features BuiltSAFE™ technology, bringing the highest level of flight-safety assurance to aerospace and defense applications. The ROCK-2 platform is an open systems-compliant, 3U OpenVPX™ form factor that is fully compatible with the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA). Together, ROCK-2 and BuiltSAFE™ offer customers an extensive portfolio of interoperable processing hardware, software, networking, datalink, graphics and I/O building blocks with supporting flight-safeThe SpaceFibre standard is already published as a very high-speed serial link standard by the European Cooperation for Space Standardization. The STAR-Dundee 3U SpaceVPX demonstration board speeds the development of flexible, high-speed SpaceVPX (VITA-78)compliant data-networking systems for space applications. As the first of its kind to feature FPGAs that are immune to radiation-induced configuration changes, the development board uses the unique architecture of Microchip’s RTG4 devices to optimize performance while providing systems with a critical additional level of failure protection in space. As SpaceVPX increases popularity for use in payload processor and system controller modules, the SpaceVPXcompliant platform utilizing Sp a c e Fi bre technology and Microchip’s RTG4 FPGAs provides the following benefits: Offers much higher performance than
ty certification artifacts, so their solutions can be deployed quickly with less program and schedule risk, and at a lower total cost of ownership than traditional systems. In addition, with both NXP® and multi-core Intel® processing options, as well as the support of multiple certifiable real-time operating systems, ROCK-2 solutions also deliver next-generation processing performance. From design to full product support, the included reusable DAL artifacts simplify the flight-safety certification process for both hardware (DO-254) and software (DO-178B/C) for greater program velocity with reduced risk. Mercury Systems Inc. www.mrcy.com
was possible with the previous SpaceWire data transmission standard Supports increasing demand for data to be transmitted between boards and systems onboard modern spacecraft Reduces mass and in return reduces cost by operating over electrical or fiberoptic cables Improves system reliability by enabling virtual planes to carry data, control and management information Protects spaceflight systems from configuration upsets in harsh radiation environments through built-in radiation mitigation techniques
in
Microchip’s non-volatile RTG4 FPGAs include logic resources, digital signal processing math blocks and 24 on-chip high-speed serializer/deserializer (SERDES) lanes and can be used to implement data-handling and processing subsystems that have multi-Gbit/s SpaceFibre interfaces.. Microchip Technology Inc. www.microchip.com
COTS Journal | July 2019
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July 2019
COT’S PICKS Code Dx and AdaCore Partner to Provide an Ada Application Security Testing Toolsuite Code Dx, Inc., provider of an award-winning application security management solution that automates and accelerates the discovery, prioritization, and risk management of software vulnerabilities, today announced its partnership with AdaCore, a trusted provider of software development and verification tools for the Ada, C, and C++ programming languages. Through this partnership, Code Dx Enterprise now supports AdaCore’s CodePeer advanced static analysis tool, an automatic Ada code reviewer and validator. This solution provides developers with one central location from which to view the results of multiple application security testing (AST) tools and
allows them to easily prioritize vulnerabilities for remediation. Developers can automatically pull results from AdaCore’s CodePeer into Code Dx Enterprise, without downloading and then uploading scan results each time. Users simply open Code Dx Enterprise and the latest results are there. “AdaCore is well respected in the aerospace and defense, rail, space, automotive and other industries that have complex requirements for developing high-integrity software,” said Anita D’Amico, Ph.D., CEO at Code Dx, Inc. “With our background with the Department of Homeland Security and our work with other government agencies, we have very similar missions to enable the development of software that is safe, secure, and reliable.” Code Dx Enterprise supports and integrates
with more than 70 commercial AST tools and techniques, including static, dynamic, and interactive tools; third-party component analyzers; and manual reviews, to provide total software application vulnerability correlation and management. “Through Code Dx Enterprise, our CodePeer users have a central location to store results and a dashboard to visualize key metrics,” said Jamie Ayre, Commercial Director at AdaCore. “In addition, the tool enables our users to more easily collaborate on testing and remediation processes, and to track findings over time. For CodePeer users who are developing multi-language software within the same application, Code Dx Enterprise provides a single repository to manage all of their AST activities.” Code Dx www.codedx.com
New – MIL-STD-1553 Mini-PCIe Card Avionics Databus Solutions AIM has introduced 2 variants of it’s PCI Express Mini Card, the AME1553-1 for MIL-STD-1553 Test and Simulation applications and the AME1553-1-E, being designed specifically for rugged, embedded MIL-STD-1553 applications. The card provides a very small form factor solution to MIL-STD-1553 applications. The extended temperature range and low power dissipation of the AME1553-1-E make it ideal for rugged flight applications with limited space due to its minimal Size, Weight and Power minus the Costs (SWaP-C). The card is a complete solution for MIL-STD-1553 applications in harsh environments where shock and vibration can create reliability challenges. The test and simulation version allows for single or full multifunction support of 1553 modes and always includes the test and simulation toolkit that includes error injection, bus replay, advanced triggering and many other test features that are ideal for all aspects of test and simulation. This is an ideal solution for portable data loaders, maintenance devices and portable analyzers. Having the card fully integrated into the corresponding host platform or Laptops/Tablet PC offers an advantage for the implementation of more rugged test and simulation or maintenance equipment since the I/O can use suitable rugged connectors. An easy to use Application Programming Interface (API) is provided along with low level 32/64-bit operating system specific drivers for Windows 7/8/10, Linux and VxWorks to ease systems integration. AIM GmbH www.aim-online.com
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COTS Journal | July 2019
July 2019
COT’S PICKS Abaco Announces Development Kit to Simplify, Speed and Reduce Cost of Developing Advanced Electronic Warfare Applications
those customers to save time and money and get to market faster,” said Peter Thompson, Vice President, Product Management at Abaco Systems. “Now, customers can have a VP430 up and running in their labs on the day the development kit is delivered.”
• Pre-integrates RFSoC platform, development chassis, single board computer, • Helps customers leverage extraordinary capability of VP430 Direct RF Processing System.
The VP430 responds to the cost- and complexity challenge of RF systems with multiple channels: more channels means more expensive and large RF signal up/down conversion and signal conditioning. The VP430 enables direct RF sampling which can be implemented in the digital domain, bringing greater flexibility to the signal processing chain. Additionally, simplified integration with RF sampling devices removes the complexity of JESD204B high speed serial interfaces.
Abaco Systems announced the VP430 Development Kit, which is designed to enable application developers to make a fast start on the creation, debugging and optimization of advanced electronic warfare applications. The VP430 Development Kit includes a VPX370 development platform, pre-integrated with a 3U VPX SBC329 single board computer, and the VP430 Direct RF Processing System. The VP430 was the first 3U VPX COTS solution to feature the all new Xilinx® ZU27DR RF system-on-chip (RFSoC) technology. It is also one of the densest analog FPGA DSP boards available, with eight ADC and DAC synchronized channels, and features the ability to synchronize multiple boards for even larger system applications. Designed for advanced electronic warfare applications including MIMO (multiple input/ output), beamforming, sensor processing and radar signal processing, the VP430 is a major step forward in performance and density, enabling the use of fewer boards and much less power while delivering increased processing throughput. In fact, for comparable capability, it occupies one fourth of the slots that earlier generation solutions would require. The VPX370 is a 6-slot system developed specifically for aerospace and defense applications. Its modular architecture enables users to add high performance FPGA and I/O to the base configuration, addressing many application requirements such as digital RF memory (DRFM), synchronous multi-channel MIMO systems, software defined radio (SDR) and more. Its flexibility means that customers can simply and quickly integrate their in-house developed 3U VPX boards.
The Xilinx RFSoC is a revolutionary step in integration technology bringing a combination of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) processing capability, a multi-processor embedded ARM® Cortex-A53 Application processing unit (APU), an ARM real time processing unit (RPU) and eight input analog-to-digital converter and eight digitalto-analog converter channels. Additionally, the Zynq® Ultrascale+™ architecture integrates all this with features to enable high security IP protection. The RFSoC brings extreme analog bandwidth with a sustained throughput of 6 GSPS per channel and greater than 12 GBps per channel digital offload capability. When combined with Abaco’s extensive portfolio of leading edge 3U VPX multiarchitecture processing boards including single board computers and graphics processor units, the VP430 enables complete systems to be built from high performance, interoperable COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) components. Abaco Systems, Inc www.abaco.com
“We’ve announced the VP430 Development Kit in response to demand from a number of customers who want to leverage the enormous capabilities of our VP430 RFSoC platform – but would prefer us to undertake the necessary integration, enabling COTS Journal | July 2019
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July2019
COT’S PICKS
Concurrent Technologies announces their first VPX™ board based on the latest generation Intel® Xeon® E Processors
Concurrent Technologies announced their first VPX™ processor board based on the Intel® Xeon® E-2200 processor family (previously known as Coffee Lake Refresh) just launched by Intel® for use in long life-cycle embedded applications. Air-cooled boards will be available for shipment in Q3 with rugged conduction-cooled variants due for qualification testing in Q4 this year. The default variant of TR E8x/msd is fitted with a 6-core Intel® Xeon® E-2276ME processor running at 2.8 GHz with up to 32 GB of soldered down DDR4 memory and a rich assortment of I/O including onboard graphics. These features make it particularly suitable for supervisory compute, display and storage tasks in the military, aerospace, transportation and industrial markets. Security is a key design requirement for this product – all TR E8x/msd boards are shipped with
Boot Guard enabled to ensure that only firmware authorized by Concurrent Technologies can be executed. Secure Boot is also permanently enabled, so that the operating system and application software are validated before execution. A TPM 2.0 device is fitted to act as a secure safe for encrypted key storage. For additional protection against external threats, Concurrent Technologies offers optional sanitization utilities or our proprietary security package to prevent against intrusion.
3 speeds. An on-board PCIe switch has DMA and Non-Transparent Bridge capability to enable high throughput transfers and multi-processor board configurations. Concurrent Technologies Corporation www.ctc.com
The board has been designed with a flexible PCI Express® (PCIe) configuration, to enable connection to several peripheral boards without a PCIe switch. The normal configuration has two x4 data plane ports with a further option to have up to three x4 data and expansion plane ports all running at Gen
COTS Journal | July 2019
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