18 minute read
Editor’s Choice for April
April 2020 COT’S PICKS
Concurrent Technologies and Vanguard Rugged Storage join together to offer AI Solutions at the Edge
Concurrent Technologies has teamed up with Vanguard Rugged Storage to provide an enhanced range of storage solutions for VPX based systems. With the adoption of workload consolidation and Artificial Intelligence based inference at the edge technologies in addition to more traditional signal processing applications, the need for storage has dramatically increased. Furthermore, the requirement for rugged conduction-cooled systems that have front removable storage devices can now be satisfied with selected storage modules.
Initially, Concurrent Technologies is offering three new storage modules, all based on the OpenVPX standard with SATA connectivity for reliable operation and high throughput rates. TR MS6/522 is a 3U VPX board fitted with two
Niobium-based connector allows passage of data and electricity underwater for a variety of applications
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has signed its first non-exclusive agreement to manufacture niobium-based connectors (NiobiCon™) specifically designed for harsh environments.
NiobiCon TM is a new way of making electrical connections underwater that enables power transfer and data exchange without using seals, oil or moving parts. This technology was developed to address the inefficient recharging of unmanned vehicles in underwater environments. When the niobium connector enters in contact with the water, it creates its own thin isolating layer, which gets scraped off when the connection is made. Once disconnected, the layer instantly regenerates.
“NiobiCon TM is a patented technology that has global commercial and defense applications,” said Alan Lytle, vice president, undersea systems, Northrop Grumman. “It is an innovative wet-mateable connector technology we have developed that will not only improve reliability and cost-effectiveness, but also revolutionize the industry. We are excited to take the first step in fixed solid state drives for up to 16TB capacity and is designed for use in air-cooled applications. TR MS6/523 is also a 3U format module that offers a single front removable solid state drive for rugged conduction-cooled applications. VR MS6/524 is a 6U air-cooled board with two front removable solid state drives. These modules are released and available for deployment. Further developments are underway and are anticipated to be available later in 2020.
Jane Annear, Managing Director of Concurrent Technologies, commented: “Our processor boards offer direct attached storage suitable for some missions, but we’ve been looking
to expand our capabilities to include Network developing solutions for specific future applications.”
Northrop Grumman has entered into an agreement with iCONN Systems LLC, which specializes in the manufacture of connectors for harsh environments as their first non-exclusive licensee. They will work with potential customers to develop more reliable interconnects for both commercial and defense applications.
“iCONN Systems is excited to design, develop and manufacture interconnects with attached Storage and Storage Area Networking solutions for some time. This alliance with Vanguard Rugged Storage helps us deliver on our objective to provide more content to our customers.”
Phil Loudin, CEO of Vanguard Rugged Storage, commented: “Our mission is to provide embedded data storage that is super fast and built to last. Our storage products are highly complementary to Concurrent Technologies’ processor boards and we’re excited with this relationship as it enables us to serve a wider market.”
Concurrent Technologies Corporation www.ctc.com
Northrop Grumman’s patented technology introducing true wet-mateable connector products,” said Rich Regole, CEO, iCONN Systems, LLC.
Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.
Northrop Grumman www.northropgrumman.com
April 2020 COT’S PICKS
Green Hills Software’s Safe and Secure INTEGRITY Multivisor Powers the Latest Advancements in Multi-Operating System Automotive Cockpit Platforms for MARELLI
Expands support for creating the most advanced mixed-criticality automotive electronic solutions for global automotive OEMs
Green Hills Software, announced a demonstration of Green Hills Software’s advanced hypervisor solutions on MARELLI’s latest AMOLED display multi-OS cockpit solution. Based on the latest Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Automotive Cockpit Platform, this advanced, software-defined automotive cockpit features the Android operating system combined with digital cluster and safety applications in a single, high performance electronic control unit (ECU). Both domains are safely and securely consolidated and separated by the Green Hills INTEGRITY® real-time operating system and its Multi
Abaco Systems Announces Significant Upgrade for SWE540A 40 Gigabit Ethernet Switch
Abaco Systems today announced a significant upgrade for its NETernity SWE540A 6U OpenVPX VPX 40 Gigabit Ethernet Switch with the availability of a conduction-cooled variant, enabling the highest possible Ethernet speeds to be deployed in a broader range of environments – notably, those most susceptible to extremes of heat and vibration. Customers can now standardize on a single switch, choosing the most appropriate ruggedization level according to the planned deployment.
The SWE540A offers the opportunity to create complete, 40 Gigabit-capable systems featuring Abaco’s SBC627 6U VPX single board computer and DSP282A multiprocessor. The new version of the SWE540A also provides a straightforward upgrade opportunity for existing users of Abaco’s conduction-cooled GBX460 10 Gigabit Ethernet Switch, simplifying the transition from 10 Gigabit Ethernet to 40 Gigabit Ethernet. visor® secure virtualization services.
The MARELLI platform relies on the proven real-time INTEGRITY technology, certified up to and including ISO 26262 ASIL D, and its safe and secure Multivisor virtualization ser
vices to safely combine safety-critical services
driving multiple displays, such as the instrument cluster with an Android-based in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system. Two displays are separate AMOLED 1920x720 bonded together by the SWE540A include data center bridging to accommodate even the most data-intensive applications. SWE540A connectivity includes four QSFP+ (40GBASE-SR4/LR4) ports and two 1000BaseT ports to the front panel, and 40GBASE-KR4/10GBASE-KX4 with up to 39 rear I/O ports for data plane and control plane to the rear panel.
The rugged SWE540A supports full Layer 2/3 features including hardware Layer 3 forwarding at fabric speed rates. Layer 3 switching and routing is a critical requirement for advanced security and complex networks. It provides dynamic routing over standard routing protocols, enabling a flexible range of network/fabric configurations and applications. under a unique glass. In addition, the MARELLI software teams use the ASIL D-qualified MULTI® integrated development environment to build and debug their software to achieve the highest performance, safety and security.
“We are very pleased that MARELLI selected Green Hills technology and experience for the safe and secure foundation of its latest advancements in mixed-criticality software cockpit platform offerings,” said Dan Mender, vice-president of business development, Green Hills Software. “System-critical functions, safely and securely combined with guest operating systems such as Linux and Android, are key priorities for the automotive market. Now, global automotive customers can be enabled with an industry proven, advanced E-Cockpit solution, reducing the cost and time-to-market for deployment of the next generation
Green Hills Software www.ghs.com
in complex software-centric solutions.” ensure the fastest possible transit of data between subsystems – not least those that gather field of operations data, turn it into actionable information and deliver it to where it’s needed,” said Peter Thompson, Vice President, Product
Management at Abaco Systems. “This new variant of the SWE540A is designed for precisely those environments – delivering not only leading edge Ethernet speeds but also the rugged reli-
ability that is critical to mission success.”
Abaco Systems Inc. www.abaco.com
April 2020 COT’S PICKS
Lynx announces LynxOS-178 compliance with FACE™ 3.0 specifications
Lynx Software Technologies, an innovator in modern platform software technologies, has announced updated APIs for the LynxOS-178 operating system that meet FACE™ (Future Airborne Capability Environment) 3.0 specifications, with full conformance certification to the FACE 3.0 technical standard expected by late summer 2020.
The FACE standard, first supported by Lynx in 2014, facilitates common approaches for using open standards with avionics systems. FACE-certified products help lower implementation costs, accelerate time-to-field for new capabilities, promote design reuse, and ease portability of applications. Lynx is a long-term member of the FACE consortium and has ensured LynxOS-178 compliance with all iterations of the technical specification on an ongoing basis. LynxOS-178 support for Intel®, Arm® and PowerPC® architectures enables FACE applications to be used across multiple platforms.
“LynxOS-178 combines high performance and reliability with industry standards that promote openness and flexibility,” said Pavan Singh, Vice President of Product Management at Lynx. “By supporting the latest updates to the FACE technical standard, LynxOS-178 enables avionics developers to deliver systems quickly and cost-effectively that provide optimum protection and security for operators.”
As a native POSIX, hard real-time partitioning operating system, LynxOS-178 uniquely supports POSIX APIs that ensure more efficient interactions between software components while preserving reliability and ensuring safe software execution. The latest version of LynxOS-178 has been validated with the LYNX MOSA.ic™ software framework based on the LynxSecure® separation kernel hypervisor. Systems can run multiple LynxOS-178 guests independently to benefit from greater flexibility and strong isolation of applications for increased reliability, as well as accelerating system validation, debug, and integration.
The latest version of LynxOS-178 also extends support for the latest ISO C++ standards, C++ 11 and C++-14. Further enhancements to the RTOS capabilities include a kernel-mode network stack with IPv6 support and a single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) driver that facilitates efficient interactions with PCIe devices and virtual functions when running within the LYNX MOSA.ic framework.
Lynx Software Technologies www.lynx.com
April 2020 COT’S PICKS
Pixus Announces Rugged Rackmount Chassis for Longer OpenVPX Modules
dSPACE has added multitarget capability to two of its automotive radar sensor test systems: DARTS 9030-M and DARTS 9030-MS. A single unit can now simulate multiple independent radar echoes at the same time. A new software upgrade also provides multitarget capability for existing systems.
The software-based functionality extension allows for simulating up to four objects independently of each other. Each echo can be assigned its own distance, speed, and amplitude (RCS). The excellent signal quality of the simulated targets, as well as accuracy and reproducibility, are not affected by the simultaneous simulation of several targets.
Users can opt to purchase an extended software license for the simulation of two, three, or four targets. “By providing new functions through
Pentek’s Four-channel, 1.25 GHz D/A Jade Architecture XMC Ideal for Waveform Generation
Pentek, Inc., announced its most recent addition to the Jade® Architecture family, the Jade® Model 71871, a four-channel 1.25 GHz D/A converter XMC for RF and IF waveform generation. The Model 71871 combines two Texas Instruments DAC3484s to deliver four independent analog outputs each through its own digital upconverter and 16-bit D/A with sampling rates to 1.25 GHz. A Xilinx Kintex Ultrascale FPGA contains factory-installed functions that include a sophisticated D/A waveform generation IP module. It allows users to easily deliver waveforms stored in either on-board memory or off-board host memory to the four D/As. Complex output waveforms, each with bandwidths up to 250 MHz, can be independently translated to programmable IF frequencies.
“The Jade Model 71871 builds on the capabilities of the popular Jade line of XMCs,” said Robert Sgandurra, director of Product Management. “Pentek’s Navigator Design Suite adds more IP with each product release, all of which is fully available to our customers for even more effective product development.”
The Model 71871 can be configured with a range of Kintex UltraScale FPGAs to match specific requirements of the processing task, spanning the entry-level KU035 (with 1,700 DSP slices) to the high-performance KU115 (with 5,520 DSP slices). The intelligent software, we are continuously improving our existing solution, preparing it for any future requirements,” explains Dr. Andreas Himmler, Senior Product Manager for automotive radar systems at dSPACE.
dSPACE added radar testing systems to its range of products last year, by entering into a cooperation with the radar specialists miro•sys and ITS. The dSPACE Automotive Radar Test Systems (DARTS) include solutions tailored to the entire value chain, from sensor testing by chip manufacturers to hardware-in-the-loop validation and end-of-line testing of vehicles by automobile manufacturers. The DARTS solutions are also used in homologation and the aftermarket.
DARTS 9030-M is a modular, high-frequency solution for automotive radar sensors, enabling the validation of radar-based automotive applications in
many areas – from chip design to sensor development KU115 is ideal for demanding beam-forming, modulation, encoding and encryption of the signals prior to transmission. For applications not requiring large DSP resources or logic, a lower-cost FPGA can be installed.
A pair of front-panel μSync connectors allows multiple modules to be synchronized. The Model 71871 can be optionally configured with a P14 PMC connector with 24 pairs of LVDS connections to the FPGA for custom I/O to the carrier board. An optional P16 XMC connector adds an 8X gigabit link to the FPGA to support serial protocols.
to testing driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicles. The system simplifies realistic over-the-air tests by simulating radar echoes of objects in road traffic with variable distances, speeds, and sizes.
The DARTS product family consists of solutions tailored to a multitude of applications, from compact systems for the laboratory desk to test benches that can be used in closed-loop operation with other simulators and test automation. The systems are modular, scalable, and fully software-configurable.
Pixus Technologies www.pixustechnologies.com
The Jade Architecture
The Pentek Jade architecture is based on the Xilinx Kintex UltraScale FPGA, which raises digital signal processing (DSP) performance by over 50% over the previous family, with equally.
Pentek, Inc. www.pentek.com
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April 2020 COT’S PICKS
Curtiss-Wright’s NSA Approved, About the DTS1 Two Layer Encryption
Common Criteria Certified DTS1 Storage Device Now Qualified for Approach The DTS1 uniquely incorporates two distinct layers of AES 256-bit encryption into one Extended Operating Temperature device, making protection of Top Secret data Range (-45º to +85ºC) more cost effective and low risk than traditional NSA Type 1 device development. Both the Actively cooled, rugged, NAS device now brings hardware and software FDE layers have been Top Secret protection of data-at-rest to most individually evaluated and certified against two demanding air, ground and sea deployed platforms Common Criteria protection profiles: (1) collabo
Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions divi– Encryption Engine; (2) collaborative Protection sion, announced that its Data Transport System Profile for Full Disk Encryption – Authorization (DTS1) Network Attached Storage (NAS) device, Acquisition. The DTS1 has also been approved to the embedded industry’s first commercial offbe on NATO Information Assurance Product List the-shelf (COTS) data-at-rest (DAR) storage solu(NIAPC). tion to support two layers of full disk encryption (FDE) in a single device, has been fully tested and validated for operation at the extended -45º to +85ºC operating temperature range per MIL-STD-810G methods and procedures. This qualification makes the DTS1 ideal for use in the harshest deployed military environments, including high altitude, long endurance (HALE) UAS platforms that must operate as high as 40,000 ft. The DTS1 is the only Common Criteria certified NAS rative Protection Profile for Full Disk Encryption solution endorsed by the NSA and approved by About the DTS1 NATO with two certified encryption layers. A cold The very small DTS1 NAS device, which plate was used for the active cooling testing, and weighs only 3.77 lb. (1.71 kg) and measures only included an integrated DTS1 unit containing a 2 1.5 x 5.0 x 6.5” (38.1 x 127 x 165.1 mm), delivers up terabyte removable memory cartridge (RMC). to 4 TB of solid state storage (SSD) with two layers of certified encryption. It supports PXE pro
“We’re very excited that our industry-leadtocol so that network clients on a vehicle or airing DTS1 network storage and encryption solucraft can quickly boot from the encrypted files on tion has now been validated for deployment in the DTS1’s RMC. This approach both facilitates the harshest, most demanding military environsoftware updates for network clients and signifiments, whether at high altitude, on an unmanned cantly reduces SWaP by eliminating the need for aircraft, or in a space constrained, densely packed individual hard disks in each network client. Curground vehicle deployed in the desert,” said Lynn tiss-Wright offers two mounting options for the Bamford, President, Defense and Power. “With DTS1, the VS-DTS1SL-FD, which is designed for support for actively cooled -45º to +85ºC operacockpit use with DZUS mounting panel, and the tion, the certified DTS1 is now able to support a VSDTS1SL-F, which uses L-brackets to support much wider range of environmentally challengvery flexible mounting within space-constrained ing applications, bringing cost-effective, NSA-applatforms. The L-bracket configuration supports proved protection of data-at-rest to many more mounting on a cold plate for the extended temprograms.” perature range. vice to retrieve stored data or save new captured data. Networked devices using heterogeneous operating systems (Linux®, VxWorks®, Windows®, etc.) that support industry standard NAS protocols (i.e., NFS, CIFS, FTP, or HTTP) can store data on and retrieve data from the DTS1. The DTS1 also supports iSCSI protocol for block data storage and PCAP protocol for Ethernet packet capture. The DTS1 is designed to ensure system resiliency and secure operation to thwart cyber attacks.
The Common Criteria Advantage
The DTS1 has been evaluated against a common set of international standards, enabling system designers in 31 Common Criteria Recognition Agreement (CCRA) member countries in Europe, Middle East, North America, and Asia, and the NATO states, to confidently, without requiring further evaluation, select the device to greatly reduce the development time of their deployed encryption solution. The rugged small form-factor DTS1 NAS device is designed to store and protect large amounts of data on helicopters, fighters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), and intelligence surveillance reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft that require the protection of sensitive DAR to international standards.
Complete Embedded System Solutions
The DTS1 is designed for rugged applications that require the storage, removal, and transport of critical data such as cockpit data (mission, map, maintenance), ISR (camera, I&Q, sensors), mobile applications (ground radar, ground mobile, airborne ISR pods), heavy industrial (steel, refinery), and video/audio data collection ( flight test instrumentation). The device can be easily and quickly integrated into a complete rugged deployed system based on Curtiss-Wright’s broad range of open architecture single board computers and DSP modules, as well as fully integrated mission computers, sensor management systems, and network switches.
April 2020 COT’S PICKS
Flex Logix Discloses Real-World Edge AI Inference Benchmarks Sowing Superior Price/Performace For All Models
InferX X1 sampling expected Q3 2020
Flex Logix Technologies, Inc., the leading supplier of embedded FPGA (eFPGA) IP, architecture and software, today announced real-world benchmarks for its InferXÔ X1 edge inference co-processor, showing significant price/performance advantages when compared to Nvidia’s Tesla T4 and Xavier NX when run on actual customer models. These details were presented at today’s Linley Spring Processor Conference by Vinay Mehta, Flex Logix’s inference technical marketing manager, which can be viewed at this link.
The InferX X1 has a very small die size: 1/7th the area of Nvidia’s Xavier NX and 1/11th the area of Nvidia’s Tesla T4. Despite being so much smaller, the InferX X1 has latency for YOLOv3, an open source model that many customers plan to use, similar to Xavier NX. On two real customer models, InferX X1 was much faster, as much as 10x faster in one case.
In terms of price/performance as measured by streaming throughput divided by die size, InferX X1 is 2-10x better than Tesla T4 and 10- 30x better than Xavier NX.
“Customers expect that they can use performance on ResNet-50 to compare alternatives. These benchmarks demonstrate that the relative performance of an inference accelerator on one model does not apply to all models,” said Geoff Tate, CEO and co-founder of Flex Logix. “Customers should really be asking each vendor they evaluate to benchmark the model that they will use to find out the performance they will experience. We are doing this for customers now and welcome more – we can benchmark any neural network model in TensorFlow Lite or ONNX.”
The InferX X1 is completing final design checks and will tape-out soon with sampling expected in Q3 2020 as a chip and as a PCIe board.
Flex Logix’s InferX X1 edge inference co-processor provides excellent inference efficiency, delivering more throughput on tough models for less $, less watts. It has been optimized for what the edge needs: large models and large models at batch=1. InferX X1 offers throughput close to data center boards that sell for thousands of dollars, but does so at single digit watts and at a fraction of the price. InferX X1 is programmed using TensorFlow Lite and ONNX: a performance modeler is available now.
Flex Logix Technologies, Inc., https://flex-logix.com
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Alphi Technology Corporation .................................. 19 .......................................... www.AlphiTech.com Annapolis Micro Systems ...................................... 13 ........................................ www.annapmicro.com Behlman Electronics ............................................ 5/BC ........................................... www.behlman.com Fairview Microwave ............................................... 15 .............................. www.fairviewmicrowave.com Kingston Technology ............................................. IBC ............................................. www.kingston.com Milpower Source ..................................................... 17 ............................................. www.milpower.com MPL ..................................................................... 13 .................................................... www.mpl.com Neonode ................................................................ 22 .............................................. www.neonode.com New Wave DV ......................................................... 30 ......................................... www.ewwavedve.com OSS ........................................................................ IFC ................................. www.onestopsystems.com Pentek .................................................................. 28 ................................................ www.pentek.com PICO Electronics, Inc ............................................. 11 ................................... www.picoelectronics.com Pixus Technologies ................................................ IBC .............................. www.pixustechnologies.com Sealevel ................................................................. 14/26 .............................................. www.sealevel.com University of Cincinnati Online............................... 12 .............................................. www.online.uc.edu. Versalogic ............................................................. 4 ............................................. www.versalogic.com
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