COTS Journal by RTC Media

Data Sheet: FPGA Processing Board Roundup

JOURNAL

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

Tech Upgrade Programs Leverage VME and CompactPCI

FPGAs and ADCs Fuel Digital Conversion Advances 16th Annual EOL and Obsolescence Directory

An RTC Group Publication

March 2015 Volume 17 Number 3

cotsjournalonline.com

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JOURNAL

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

CONTENTS

COTS (kots), n. 1. Commercial off-the-shelf. Terminology popularized in 1994 within U.S. DoD by SECDEF Wm. Perry’s “Perry Memo” that changed military industry purchasing and design guidelines, making Mil-Specs acceptable only by waiver. COTS is generally defined for technology, goods and services as: a) using commercial business practices and specifications, b) not developed under government funding, c) offered for sale to the general market, d) still must meet the program ORD. 2. Commercial business practices include the accepted practice of customer-paid minor modification to standard COTS products to meet the customer’s unique requirements. —Ant. When applied to the procurement of electronics for he U.S. Military, COTS is a procurement philosophy and does not imply commercial, office environment or any other durability grade. E.g., rad-hard components designed and offered for sale to the general market are COTS if they were developed by the company and not under government funding.

March 2015 Volume 17 Number 3

FEATURED p.10 VME and CompactPCI Shine On as Tech Upgrade Heroes SPECIAL FEATURE Tech Upgrades with VME, CompactPCI and More 10 14

VME and CompactPCI Shine On as Tech Upgrade Heroes

DEPARTMENTS 6 Editorial

Headway on Reforms

Jeff Child

Various Strategies Mitigate VME Interface Obsolescence

The Inside Track

Nigel Forrester, Concurrent Technologies

COTS Products

Marching to the Numbers

TECH RECON Signal Chain: Digital Conversion with FPGAs and ADCs 18 FPGA and ADC Technologies Bulk up for Digital Conversion Duties Jeff Child

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Annual EOL and Component Obsolescence Directory 22 Many Resources Available for Combating Component Obsolescence Jeff Child

DATA SHEET FPGA Processing Boards Roundup

Coming in April See Page 48 On The Cover: VME enjoys a long legacy in military systems and really shines as an upgrade technology. Mission computers based VME rack systems were part of the C-130 cockpit upgrade. Shown here, a C-130J Super Hercules waits to be loaded with cargo in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn in northern Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo/Sr. Airman Nathanael Callon).

28 FPGA Processing Boards Push New Performance Barriers Jeff Child

30 FPGA Processing Boards Roundup

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COTS Journal | March 2015

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JOURNAL

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

Editorial EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeff Child, jeffc@rtcgroup.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Johnny Keggler, johnnyk@rtcgroup.com SENIOR EDITOR Clarence Peckham, clarencep@rtcgroup.com MANAGING EDITOR James Pirie, jamesp@rtcgroup.com

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HOME OFFICE The RTC Group 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150 San Clemente, CA 92673 Phone: (949) 226-2000 Fax: (949) 226-2050 www.rtcgroup.com EDITORIAL OFFICE Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief 20A Northwest Blvd., PMB#137, Nashua, NH 03063 Phone: (603) 429-8301 PUBLISHED BY THE RTC GROUP Copyright 2015, The RTC Group. Printed in the United States. All rights reserved. All related graphics are trademarks of The RTC Group. All other brand and product names are the property of their holders.

NEW HIGHER 3U

POWER. NEW HIGHER 6U HEALTH MONITORING PERFORMANCE. Behlman VPXtra™ 500M 3U Power Supply VME HMC-A

VPX HMC-A VPX HMC-B

VME RTM

VPX RTM

INTEGRATED COMBAT SYSTEMS (ICS) Orbit Electronics Group’s Integrated Combat Systems (ICS) has announced the availability of two new 6U VME System Health Monitors, two 6U VPX System Health Monitors, and a Rear Transition Module (RTM) for each.

BEHLMAN ELECTRONICS Orbit Power Group’s VPXtra™ 500M 3U COTS DC-toDC power unit has joined the world-famous family of 6U Behlman VPXtra™ Power Supplies. This 3U power supply is a rugged, highly reliable, conduction cooled, switch mode unit. It is VITA 62, Open VPX compliant, and delivers 550 Watts of DC power via six outputs. The 12V, 3.3V, and 5V main outputs can be paralleled for higher power. VPXtra™ 500M accepts 18- to 36-VDC input, compliant with MIL-STD-704, and can supply highpower DC output. They require no minimum load and provide overvoltage and short circuit protection, as well as overcurrent and thermal protection. Behlman also provides a wide range of VME and 6U VPX power supplies. See them at www.behlman.com or www.vmevpx.com.

VME HMC-B

These six products join the over 135 standard and customized VME and VPX products shown on Orbit’s web portal at www.vmevpx.com. They are among the most advanced such components available today. All 6U System Health Monitors feature a unique, proprietary feature-rich GUI; Ethernet, USB and/or RS 232 interfaces; set-up; data logging; field upgradable firmware; and data password protection. ICS is also a leader in designing and building advanced military and industrial electromechanical assemblies.

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EDITORIAL Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

Headway on Reforms

he phrase “era of tight, constrained budgets”—in different forms— is now so familiar in today’s conversation that it’s almost automatic now. While this leanness in budget has caused the defense industry a lot of pain, the uncertainty aspect of it was most painful for our embedded computing segment of the industry. Once the certainty returned most in our industry were glad to take advantage of increased spending on upgrades and tech insertion types of business coming their way. It’s interesting to look at just how the more budget constrained period of the past couple years has affected how efficient the defense industry has been in controlling its costs and keeping procurement buying power as strong as possible. Along those lines, earlier this month the GAO released a report with its assessment of the DoD’s major weapons systems acquisition programs—looking at how well they’ve kept to cost and schedule goals. Within the report is also a look at how 38 current and 15 future major defense programs are implementing selected acquisition reforms focused on affordability, cost savings, and competition. The report concludes that more DoD programs are implementing acquisition reform initiatives now than over the past five years. And that while real progress has been made, the DoD still faces challenges in fully implementing these reforms. Here are some observations concerning key acquisition reform initiatives and program concurrency from the GAO report. Thirtyfive of the 53 current and future programs the GAO assessed have established an affordability constraint, an improvement from its last assessment, and all but one of these programs reported they are on track to remain within their constraints. Thirty-four of the 38 current programs the GAO assessed have conducted a “should-cost” analysis resulting in anticipated savings of $32.3 billion; over half of which has been realized. While 49 of the 53 current and future programs the GAO assessed do have acquisition strategies that include some measures to encourage competition, less than half of the 15 future programs plan to conduct competitive prototyping before system development start. All but 2 of the 38 current programs assessed conducted a configuration steering board, with 25 programs reporting that this review occurred during the past year. Nine programs reported that changes were approved at their last review.

COTS Journal | March 2015

Eighteen of the 38 current programs the GAO assessed have held a milestone B since 2009. Ten of these programs were granted a total of 19 different waivers to selected components of mandatory program certifications required at this point. DOD most frequently waived components of the certifications related to ensuring full funding availability for product development and completion of preliminary design review prior to milestone B. In another insight—which strikes a particular cord with our embedded market—twenty-five of the 38 current programs the GAO assessed reported software development as a high-risk area. Of these, 19 programs plan to begin production prior to completing the software development for integration with system hardware and achieving baseline capabilities. Eleven of the 15 current programs the GAO assessed, that have started production, plan to perform 30 percent or more of their developmental testing during production despite the increased risk of design changes and costly retrofits. Five of these programs expect to place more than 20 percent of their procurement quantities under contract before developmental testing is completed according to the GAO report. The GAO report did include a brief mention of modular open architecture computing which gave me mixed feelings. I’m pleased when that concept—so central to our marketplace—gets a mention. But I’m also struck by how little the use of standards-based open architecture technologies like VME, VPX or CompactPCI get recognition in terms of program cost and schedule efficiencies. I think they get way overlooked too often in such studies. The report talked about the use of modular, open architectures to enable competition for upgrades or the use of build-to-print approaches to enable production through multiple sources. Among current programs, periodic reviews to address long-term competition, the use of open systems architecture, or the acquisition of complete technical data packages were among the most frequently cited strategies according to the report. In this era of tight, constrained budgets—see? there’s that phase again—the defense industry has to make use of every reform idea, every technology advantage and every good idea to get the most for its money. So even if our embedded computing industry and our open architecture technologies are unsung heroes, they are heroes nonetheless.

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INSIDE TRACK Navy Awards IXI Technology $2.22 Million Contract for I/O Conversion IXI Technology has announced it has won a multi-year, firm-fixed price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract for its advanced Data I/O Converter system. IXI’s Data I/O Converter converts data from the Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) to fiber for the AN/SLQ-32(V) shipboard electronic warfare system that provides electronic support and countermeasure protection for U.S. and international navies. IXI’s Data I/O Converter is a critical component of the AN/ SLQ-32(V) 6 system (Figure 1) and is used to convert information from non-open architecture legacy systems to an open architecture Linux system via an Ethernet local

Curtiss-Wright Gear Used for ESA IXV Spacecraft’s First Launch and Retrieval Subsystems from CurtissWright Defense Solutions played roles in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) historic first launch and retrieval last month of the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV), the ESA’s experimental reentry vehicle (Figure 2). In order to test re-entry technologies for future spacecraft, the IXV was launched into a suborbital path by a Vega rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Curtiss-Wright, as a partner to Alenia Aermacchi S.p.A on the IXV program for over five years, supplied FIND the products featured in this section and more at

www.intelligentsystemssource.com

COTS Journal | March 2015

area network (LAN). IXI’s Data I/O Converter is the only solution verified and certified by the AEGIS certification authority for interface to the AEGIS Combat Management System. The Data I/O Converter links weapons, radar and other critical systems to Windows or UNIX/Linux-based computers over Ethernet. It allows for the freedom and flexibility of transferring data to systems that are not directly connected to the military I/O channels. IXI Technology Yorba Linda, CA (714) 692-3800 www.ixitech.com

Figure 1 An AN/SLQ-32(V)6 System has been installed on the USS Bainbridge (DDG-96), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, for operational testing.

the IXV program with its rugged data handling and telemetry subsystem technology. Curtiss-Wright’s Dublin-based operation provided data acquisition, networking and recording subsystems that were installed on the IXV spacecraft to acquire sensor data throughout the duration of the mission. The IXV program is the ‘intermediate’ segment of the ESA’s requirement to develop and flight test the technologies and critical systems required to autonomously return future missions from low earth orbit.

Figure 2 Curtiss-Wright supplied the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle program with its rugged data handling and telemetry subsystem technology.

Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA (703) 779-7800 www.cwcdefense.com

Cubic Awarded $65 Million Contract for Ground Combat Training Support Cubic has announced it was awarded a contract valued at more than $65 million for two Combat Training Centers (CTCs) from a Middle East Army customer to include U.S. Army versions of I-MILES Tactical Vehicle System (I-MILES TVS), InstrumentedMultiple Integrated Laser Engagement System Individual Weapon Systems (I-MILES IWS) and the TVS adapter kit to enable simulation of combat vehicles. I-MILES IWS uses laser emitters that attach to military

The

INSIDE TRACK TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT PC/104 Consortium Adds OneBank Option to PCI/104-Express, PCIe/104 Specs

Figure 3 The high res, optically coupled BICU displays have been designed and qualified for the M1A2 Abrams tank and will be delivered to the US Army over a period of five years. weapons and on-body sensors to replicate combat and records data for later review. I-MILES TVS, the vehicular adaptation of Cubic’s man-worn Individual Weapons System, equip tactical vehicles with lasers, sensors and electronics. The I-MILES TVS solution will also include Cubic’s “Shooter” CVS kit. Under the new contract, Cubic will manage and support the logistics of the centers for three years following installation and acceptance of the centers by the customer. Cubic will also provide on-site staff to help develop and manage exercises, facilitate after action reviews and provide immediate assistance for hardware and software management. Cubic Defense Systems San Diego, CA (858) 277-6780 www.cubic.com

Army Awards Palomar $28.6M Contract for M1A2 Abrams Tanks Displays Palomar Display Products announced that it has been awarded

a $28.6 million firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to produce Biocular Image Control Unit (BICU) displays for M1A2 Abrams tanks (Figure 3). This award by the US Army Contracting Command also includes associated spares, repairs and engineering services. The high resolution, optically coupled BICU displays have been designed and qualified for the M1A2 Abrams tank and will be delivered to the US Army over a period of five years, through 2020. According to Palomar, the repeat selection of Palomar Display Products as a sole source supplier of vital equipment to the most advanced fighting vehicle in the world reinforces Palomar’s position as the primary supplier of thermal sight displays for the US and International armored vehicle market. Palomar Display Products Carlsbad, CA (760) 931-3200 www.palomardisplays.com

FIND the products featured in this section and more at

The PC/104 Consortium has announced the latest revision of the PCI/104-Express & PCIe/104 Specification, Revision 3.0, that provides an additional option called “OneBank”. The PCIe/104 OneBank uses a smaller, lowercost bus connector which is compatible to the full size PCIe/104 connector currently in use today. It allows designers to stack boards using a complimentary Figure 4 format that frees up PCB real estate for additional components as well as poten- The smaller PCIe/104 OneBank bus connector allows designers to stack tial cost savings (Figure 4). boards using a complimentary The OneBank option was driven by the desire to minimize the resources format that frees up PCB real needed for a given application. The stan- estate for additional components. dard PCIe/104 bus allows for maximum bus feature flexibility. It consists of a three bank connector with 152 pins and is available as either a Type 1 or Type 2. Both Type 1 and Type 2 have a common feature set and pin assignments which include: Four x1 PCI Express Links, Two USB 2.0, ATX power and control signals: +5V Standby, Power supply on, Power Good, Power: +3.3V, +5V, +12V, SMBus. Type 1 has the common feature set plus one x16 PCI Express Link that can be configured as two x8 Links or two x4 PCI Express Links dependent on the host. Type 2 has the common feature set plus two x4 PCI Express Links, two USB 3.0, two SATA, LPC Bus, and RTC Battery. The OneBank connector concept consists of removing two of the three “banks” of the standard PCIe/104 connector, resulting in a 52-pin connector as opposed to the full-size 156-pin connector. The OneBank connector is positioned so that it will plug into the bank 1 of the standard PCIe/104 connector. The signals of the OneBank include the same four x1 PCI Express Links, Two USB 2.0, ATX power and control signals: +5V Standby, Power supply on, Power Good, Power: +3.3V, +5V (reduced current) as found on the first bank of the standard PCIe/104 bus making them plug in compatible. By removing two of the banks, 0.513 in2 of PCB real estate on each side is freed up. And with speed scales up to PCIe Gen 3 on the PCIe/104 bus, developers are given plenty of bandwidth for the future even with just four x1 PCIe links. For more information about the PCI/104 Express and PCIe/104 specifications and the newest OneBank option and to download a free copy of the specification, go to www. pc/104.org PC/104 Consortium Los Gatos CA (408) 337-0904 www.PC104.org

www.intelligentsystemssource.com

COTS Journal | March 2015

SPECIAL FEATURE Tech Upgrades with VME, CompactPCI and More

COTS Journal | March 2015

SPECIAL FEATURE

VME and CompactPCI Shine On as Tech Upgrade Heroes Blending legacy-compatibility with cutting edge compute performance is a tricky mix. But CompactPCI, VME and other architectures continue to provide solutions to keep tech upgrade programs on track. Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

n this new era of constrained defense budgets the importance of technology upgrades are more vital than ever. That means fewer new program design wins, but there will be many more opportunities to add new technology to existing military platforms. Implementing the right tech upgrade strategy varies depending on whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just the processing technology that needs a refresh or whether the interconnect speeds and other capabilities are the issue. With both VME and CompactPCI a new board with the latest and greatest processor, memory and I/O can easily be dropped into a slot that could be decades old. VME is still more suited for use in applications that are event-driven. Meanwhile, upgrade options for CompactPCI include PICMG 2.16, CompactPCI PlusIO and CompactPCI Express. And MicroTCA meanwhile offers an upgrade alternative to both VME and cPCI with some interested cost savings.

VME Dominates Upgrades Although there are a lot of embedded computing open architecture choices today none can claim the rich and successful legacy in military systems held by VME. VME has been able to remain backward compatible and facilitate technology refresh in military programs. Ensuring VMEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longevity is the fact that there are hundreds programs in the military using VME. Among

COTS Journal | March 2015

SPECIAL FEATURE

Figure 1 The XCalibur4530 is a high-performance 6U VME SBC with the 4th generation Intel Core i7 Haswell processor. It provides up to 32 Gbytes of DDR3L-1600 ECC SDRAM in two separate channels, two PrPMC/PrXMC slots, and up to 64 Gbytes of NAND flash.

the highest profile of these include the Abrams Tank Systems Enhancement Package (SEP) Upgrade; F-18 Advanced Multi-Purpose Display Program; Bradley Vehicle Electronics Upgrade; B-52 Mission Computer Upgrade; Aegis Guided Missile Destroyer Sonar Upgrade; B-2 Bomber Radar Upgrade; Boeing B-1B Bomber Avionics Upgrade; and C-130 Cockpit Upgrade. VME has enjoyed decades of refresh business in all of these upgrade programs and programs like them. One very strong trend seen in VME SBC offerings over the years is an increasing demand and supply of Intel-processor based boards. As Intel’s line of processors developed for laptop and other portable devices evolved, the power dissipation dropped over the past several years. As a result, today, Intel processors like its Core i7 family are now solidly in the range of cutting-edge performance within a reasonable realm of power dissipation. In past couple years a slew of single board computing products based on Core i7 have emerged, the latest of which sport the 4th generation Core i7 processor. Based on the Intel microarchitecture, formerly codenamed “Haswell,” the new processor integrates new features such as the Intel AVX2 instructions, which dramatically accelerate floating-point-intensive computations. Also included is the improved Intel AES-NI, which accelerates data encryption and decryption.

Advanced Processing on VME An example along such lines is the XCalibur4530, a high-performance 6U VME 12

COTS Journal | March 2015

single board computer from Extreme Engineering Solutions (Figure 1). Along with the 4th generation Intel Core i7 Haswell processor, the board provides up to 32 Gbytes of DDR3L-1600 ECC SDRAM in two separate channels, two PrPMC/PrXMC slots, and up to 64 Gbytes of NAND flash. The XCalibur4530 also hosts numerous I/O ports, including Gigabit Ethernet, USB, SATA, graphics, mezzanine I/O, and RS-232/422/485 through the backplane connectors. According to Extreme, significant maintenance and diagnostics advantages are achieved through using the remote configuration and management feature, Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT), within X-ES’s previous generation Intel Core i7 processor-based products. With that in mind, the company has continued to offer those advantages to its customers by including Intel AMT 9.0 support for its 4th generation Intel Core i7 processor-based products. Other improvements within the 4th Generation Intel Core i7 processor include increased raw processing performance per watt, hardware-based memory encryption with Intel AES New Instructions (AES-NI), and increased floating-point and integer performance utilizing Intel Advanced Vector Extensions 2.0 (AVX 2.0). The graphics processing unit (GPU) in the 4th generation Intel Core i7 processor has also been enhanced, adding additional execution units and up to a 24% increase in raw performance. The 4th generation Intel Core i7 processor also sup-

Figure 2 The F23P SBC supports the CompactPCI PlusIO (PICMG 2.30) specification, meaning it can be used in a hybrid system to control both CompactPCI and CompactPCI Serial peripheral boards.

ports OpenCL 1.2, enabling it to perform as a GPGPU.

CompactPCI a Mature Option Once the new kid on the block, CompactPCI now has both maturity and a broad product range. Those factors have led to many program wins for the technology. The 3U flavor of cPCI is particularly attractive to space/weight-constrained applications, eclipsing any comparable performance that 3U VME could achieve. There’s not much chance that cPCI will ever match the legacy of VME in the military market, but CompactPCI did fill a lot of needs during the gap when VPX was going through its growing pains. For technology upgrade situations there are many cases where there’s no need to move away from CompactPCI. That’s because the PCI Industrial Manufacturers Group (PICMG) has developed performance upgrade paths for cPCI, such as PICMG 2.16 and CompactPCI Express, and the PICMG 2.30 specification, called CompactPCI PlusIO. The most recent CompactPCI Serial (CPCI-S.0) specification adds greater support for serial point-to-point fabrics like PCI Express, SATA, Ethernet and USB in the classic CompactPCI form factor. The specification contains definitions for both system and peripheral slots in 3U and 6U board sizes. It also includes definitions for eight PCI Express links, eight SATA/ SAS serial buses, eight USB 2.0/3.0 buses and eight Ethernet interfaces at system slots.

PCI Express Meets cPCI Next up PICMG made a new revision and upgrade to the CompactPCI Express specification, Revision 2. That revision to the CompactPCI Express specification adds 5 gigabits per second transfer rate and 8 gigabits per second transfer rate PCI Express operation. This provides up to four times the bandwidth while maintaining full backward compatibility with previous CompactPCI and CompactPCI Express products. Equally important, the specification goes to great length to define how a product’s PCI Express signaling is validated to ensure interoperability. An example of a recent CompactPCI PlusIO product offering is MEN Micro’s F23P SBC (Figure 2). The board can be customized with the full range of 4th generation Intel Core i7, Core i5, Core i3 and Celeron processors. For exceptionally high performance applications,

SPECIAL FEATURE

surveillance of surface units and low-flying air units, while the navigation function enables quick and accurate determination of own ship position relative to nearby vessels and navigational hazards. The system’s radar processors and displays combine COTS products and specialized technologies to create navigational awareness. The AN/SPS-73 is replacing the AN/SPS64(V) and AN/SPS-55(V) Figure 3 systems in their capacity The AN/SPS-73(V)12 Surface Search Radar is used on U.S. as navigational radars on Navy ships like the USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), the lead the US Navy Ships. The tech ship of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. refresh will improve signal processing and automatic the Intel i7-4700EQ quad core processor pro- target detection capabilities. The AN/SPSvides a base frequency of 2.4 GHz and a Turbo 73(V)12 Surface Search Radar is used on U.S. Boost frequency of 3.4 GHz. In addition to Navy ships like the USS Arleigh Burke (DDGTurbo Boost, all processors incorporate In- 51) (Figure 3), the lead ship of the Arleigh tel’s Hyper-Threading, Active Management Burke-class guided missile destroyers. Technology and Virtualization Technology. The F23P supports the CompactPCI Plu- MicroTCA Size Advantages sIO (PICMG 2.30) specification, meaning it Another embedded computing architeccan be used in a hybrid system to control both ture worth considering for upgrade programs CompactPCI and CompactPCI Serial periph- is MicroTCA. MicroTCA offers a solution eral boards. Compliant with the standard, the for system developers that need to upgrade F23P offers four each of USB 2.0, PCI Express from their legacy parallel bus systems to a x1 and 6 Gbit/s SATA interfaces as well as one new architecture with more bandwidth and Gigabit Ethernet port on the J2 rear I/O con- performance than bus architectures such as nector. The front of the board provides access legacy VME and CompactPCI. MicroTCA was to VGA graphics, two Gbit Ethernet and two developed by the PICMG group, the same orUSB 2.0 ports. ganization that created CompactPCI in the 1990’s—which are likewise many of the same Navy Radar Using CompactPCI companies that created VME in the VITA In an example of CompactPCI being group. used to replace VME, late last year the Navy MicroTCA is a good fit for a wide range has announced their intention to award of applications because of its high perfora contract to Raytheon for AN/SPS-73 OJ- mance-to-size ratio and versatility. The archi727(V) tech refresh kits in support of AN/SPS- tecture has benefits over other form factors 73(V) surface-search shipboard radar. The due to its robust system management, interupgraded reportedly involves replacing older processor bandwidth, and high-reliability VME boards with CompactPCI boards from features. While both VME and CompactPCI Acromag. The AN/SPS-73 is a short-range, are based on the 3U and 6U Eurocard form two-dimensional, surface-search/navigation factor. A 3U (5.25 in. or 133.35mm) x 160mm radar system that provides contact range or board takes up much more area than a and bearing information. The AN/SPS-73 75mm by 180mm MicroTCA single modprovides for signal processing and automatic ule. The serial fabric approach of MicroTCA target detection capability. Its surface search provides more inherent reliability. If one sefunction provides short-range detection and rial lane has a problem it does not affect the

other traffic lanes. In contrast parallel buses like VME and CompactPCI have all the data go across a shared bus so if there is a problem it can affect all of the traffic on the bus. Whichever embedded computing architecture is used, the industry offers a lot of product and technology resources to feed all levels of requirements. Both the standards groups and the product vendors involved in technologies like VME, CompactPCI and MicroTCA have put many years of development expertise designed to match the long deployment cycles of the defense industry. Aitech Defense Systems Chatsworth, CA (888) 248-3248 www.rugged.com Concurrent Technologies Woburn, MA (781) 933 5900 www.gocct.com Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA (703) 779-7800 www.cwcdefense.com EKF Elektronik Hamm, Germany +49 (0)2381/6890-0 www.ekf.de Extreme Engineering Solutions Middleton, WI (608) 833-1155 www.xes-inc.com GE Intelligent Platforms Charlottesville, VA (800) 368-2738 defense.ge-ip.com General Micro Systems Rancho Cucamonga, CA (909) 980-4863 www.gms4sbc.com Kontron America Poway, CA (858) 677-0877 www.kontron.com MEN Micro Ambler, PA (215) 542-9575 www.menmicro.com North Atlantic Industries Bohemia, NY (631) 567-1100 www.naii.com

COTS Journal | March 2015

SPECIAL FEATURE Tech Upgrades with VME, CompactPCI and More

Various Strategies Mitigate VME Interface Obsolescence VME faces a bump in the road as chip causes some angst. Fortunately a variety of technology solutions will keep VME ready and able to serve. Nigel Forrester, Technical Marketing Manager Concurrent Technologies

lmost all military hardware has a life time extending to multiple decades. And while it is possible—and sometimes desirable—to implement a range of modular technology transitions it is much less likely that the chassis and backplane can be swapped out as they are typically not Field Replaceable Units (FRU). Relatively few open standards have been around long enough and reached the level of maturity to be seriously considered as a basis for standards-based equipment, VME being the most notable. This venerable standard dating back almost 30 years was originally used by a range of other industrial, medical, transportation and academic system developers but recent figures published by the VITA standards organization suggest that 80 percent of VME products are now used by defense organizations. Before sequestration, forecasts suggested that the newer serial fabric based VPX standard would match VME revenues by 2012 but more recent studies have shown that VME is still likely to outsell VPX until 2017 or perhaps longer (Figure 1). Irrespective of the cross over date, it is clear that there’s strong demand to retain many existing VME based programs at the same time as VPX becomes more widely used for new designs. An example program relying on VME is the C-130 cockpit upgrade which is 14

COTS Journal | March 2015

Sales of VITA Products – In Millions – Boards and Systems 3U VPX (Board) 6U VPX (Board) VME (Board) 3U VPX (System) 6U VPX (System) VME (System) 0.0

50.0

100.0

150.0

200.0

250.0

300.0

350.0

• VME accounted for approximately 70% of the market in 2013 BUT • The market for VME components is expected to shrink by between -5% and -10% for the next five years • The market for VPX components is expected to grow at a rate of +20% to +25% for the next five years • IHS expects 2017 to be the first year when VPX sales exceed those of VME

Figure 1 VME continues to play a huge role in the defense market. Market analyst IHS predicts 2017 to be the first year when VPX sales exceed those of VME. Source: IHS

comprised of a digital glass cockpit driven by mission computers based on open architecture VME rack systems (Figure 2).

End-of-Life for Bridge Chip Fast forward to August 2014 when there was an announcement that the de-facto VME bridge, available from a single source was go-

ing End of Life around the end of 2015. While there are solutions to get around this component end of life, none of them are straightforward and potentially require some updates to hardware and software. In a commercial environment it may be relatively easy to replace a key board with something newer. But this is absolutely not the case if you are making a

SPECIAL FEATURE

Figure 2 An example program relying on VME is the C-130 cockpit upgrade which is comprised of a digital glass cockpit driven by mission computers based on open architecture VME rack systems.

product that is already deployed on a piece of military hardware. One of the reasons given by military engineers for not using off-the-shelf products more widely is their concern that vendors of open standards boards will walk away when this type of End-of-Life event happensâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;leaving them to solve the issue without knowing how the core boards work. Their argument is that while difficult, it is easier to update a solution if it is based on their own custom designed boards for a critical application than having to step in part way through a program to replace a standard board. This is exacerbated by long life cycles of military equipment which can easily exceed 20 years.

Backwards Compatibility VMEbus originated in the early 1980s, initially as a 32 bit wide data and address parallel bus. There were a number of updates to the specification, first to extend to 64 bits followed by revisions to enable higher bandwidth operation with 2eVME and 2eSST protocols. The continued success of VMEbus, however,

is really down to the way that it is backwards compatible. It is still possible, for example, to use boards or systems that comply with the original specification, this may limit the system throughput but it enables very long life cycles to be achieved and permits technology transitions where appropriate. When VMEbus was conceived the overall functionality per board was much lower, just to achieve a processor complex would have required two or more slots. We now have the luxury of modern semiconductor devices which include multiple processor and graphics cores, solid state storage, very high bandwidth networking and many other features and these semiconductor devices universally communicate using serial interfaces like PCI Express and SATA.

Bridge Devices for Interconnect The VMEbus board designer has to include one or more bridge devices to translate between the native serial interconnections and the backplane parallel VMEbus. This has a cost and real estate footprint but

it does have the positive attribute of providing a degree of independence between processor generations and the board edge interface. This makes it possible to design fit, form and function compatible hardware designs although that is a bit of a simplistic view. In many cases a technology transition to newer hardware is gated on the availability of drivers and a board support package for the chosen operating system. As a result of the bridge chip end of life announcement, Concurrent Technologies quickly reviewed the status of their VME product line and also surveyed their military and defense system developers to find out their ongoing requirements. One of the clear messages received was that many of the programs that use Intel based VMEbus processor boards are unable to transition to an alternative architecture due to the complexity of their application, the amount of hardware and software to be ported and the economic and logistic viability of swapping out chassis already deployed in the field. In addition, those system developers that are looking to move to an alternative architecture such as VPX need a considerable period of overlap. During this time, which might extend to a few years, they need to continue to purchase existing VMEbus boards to ease their transition.

Options to Handle the EoL Issue Issuing End of Life notices for VME products and walking away from this still popular architecture is not an option for COTS vendors. Instead there are a number of potential options that can be appropriate, dependent on the specific program including: 1. Many military system developers must retain the ability to purchase existing VME boards to satisfy critical program needs. 2. A small but significant group of system developers use VME form factor boards in their systems but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use the VMEbus for communication. 3. Based on the survey results from Concurrent Technologies, under 20 percent of VMEbus implementations even use the higher speed VMEbus transfer protocols like 2eVME and 2eSST. These protocols were the extensions to the original VMEbus specification for higher throughput operation and require a modern bridge device. COTS Journal | March 2015

SPECIAL FEATURE

Military system developers needed to have firm reassurance regarding the availability of VME products going forward. The following set of options offered by Concurrent Technologies illustrates the ways the problem can be mitigated: Extended Manufacturing Contracts: Offering extended manufacturing contracts for current generation VME boards. In this case Concurrent procures sufficient Tsi148 devices (the VMEbus bridge device about going End of Life) to meet the specific program requirements and store them in its warehouse. These devices are then issued to in-house manufacturing lines to build boards for the specific system developer program on the timescales defined in the contract. Having its own on-site storage and manufacturing facilities means Concurrent retains control of the devices and allows the company the flexibility to build relatively small batch sizes. In addition the company will be procuring a stock of Tsi148 devices to allow it to continue to support repair requirements of boards in the field for several years. Macro Component Solution: For those system developers not using the VMEbus interface on Concurrent’s processor boards, engineers have designed a macro-component that fits on existing boards replacing the Tsi148 device. This connects a few key signals from the VMEbus connector and routes them through to board logic. This enables these boards to respond in the expected way to a number of VMEbus signals like SYSRESET, the VMEbus System Reset. This solution was relatively easy to implement: the printed circuit boards remain unchanged; the Tsi148 was replaced and a few associated VMEbus interface components removed; the board logic firmware had a minor update and Concurrent released updated board support packages for common OS such as Windows and Linux. The biggest challenge faced was updating internal test suite to use Ethernet as the communication interface instead of VMEbus to allow us to continue to test multiple boards in a single VME chassis. Concurrent has released versions of its popular VP 91x/x1x and VP 717/08x boards with this ‘bridge-less’ solution and are now in the process of enabling the same solution on other products driven by system developer demand (Figure 3). This option is almost 16

COTS Journal | March 2015

Figure 3 This version of the VP 717/08x board is offered as a ‘bridge-less’ VME solution. Concurrent is now in the process of enabling the same solution on other products driven by system developer demand.

risk free for system developers able to avoid VMEbus transfers and removes any current component obsolescence. New VME Product Roadmap: To provide assurance that it will continue to support the VMEbus market, Concurrent Technologies has introduced two new VME boards based on the latest Intel Core i7/i5 and Intel Atom processors. We have a number of programs still in the development stage for military hardware like missile control and radar systems that can still accept simple migrations before volume deployment starts. These boards use the Universe-II VMEbus bridge device which the supplier, IDT, claims will be supported ‘indefinitely’ as it isn’t tied to a specific manufacturing fab. The company’s expectation is that these two boards will be subject to its standard life cycle: a minimum of 5 years general availability; up to an additional 5 years of extended manufacturing for existing system developers; followed by another 5 years of service and repair support. There are some differences between the Tsi148 and Universe-II bridges; however Concurrent engineers had previously designed boards with the Universe-II and so have all the hardware and firmware expertise to design new boards with this earlier generation device. To ensure the lowest impact at the application level, Concurrent Technologies provides an Enhanced VME Application Programming Interface (API). This API provides a consistent approach to the VME interface on all Concurrent Technologies’

VME/VXS boards and already supported both the Tsi148 and Universe-II devices. Previously Concurrent’s VME Application Programming API had helped system developers migrate from Universe-II bridge based boards to Tsi148 based boards and now it minimizes the changes needed for the reverse migration from TSi148 back to Universe-II. In addition, Concurrent Technologies has produced a Technical Information Note detailing the minor technical differences as a reference for system developers in this transition.

Enabling a Smooth Transition In summary, Concurrent acted as fast as anyone in the industry to acknowledge this specific end of life issue and come up with options to enable system developer choice. It has launched two brand new VMEbus boards and two new bus-less variants in plenty of time before the end of life deadline and minimized any changes to system developer application software through VME Enhanced API and board support packages. For the small percentage of system developers using the higher speed VME transfer protocols such as 2eSST, the company has offered an extended manufacturing option and has also completed an evaluation of an alternate FPGA based bridge with this functionality. An FPGA based solution has the advantage of providing independence from specific silicon obsolescence but requires more fundamental hardware and firmware design changes that would have added risk and not enabled us to provide system developers a choice of solutions in the same timeframe. Concurrent plans to continue to discuss system developers’ needs to assess what VMEbus solutions they need with the expectation of maintaining a strong portfolio of VME products along with an easy migration path to alternate architectures. Concurrent Technologies Woburn, MA (781) 933 5900 www.gocct.com

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TECH RECON Signal Chain: Digital Conversion with FPGAs and ADCs

FPGA and ADC Technologies Bulk up for Digital Conversion Duties Applications like radar and SIGINT are always hungry for faster, more efficient analog-to-digital signal conversation. Supporting those needs, a variety of board-level solutions integrate FPGAs alongside ADCs and fast data paths between them. Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

he digital conversation phase of the Signal Chain is the realm of two key technologies: analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and FPGAs. Demanding radar, SIGINT and similar defense applications rely on digital receivers where signals are changed from analog to digital using multiple analog-to-digital converters (ADC) and specially crafted FPGA architectures. The trend has to been to do that digital conversion as soon along the signal chain as possible. But the output data has to maintain the proper fidelity so it’s useful to later stages of the processing. Digitalizing ends up being quite a systems problem because it’s all about moving the data efficiently between components. High-bandwidth A/D converters with high sampling rates must connect to extremely fast data transfer paths to store and process data with triggering or gating circuitry to digitize pulse waveforms at precisely the right time. Some systems requite a wideband digital receiver to translate the IF signal down to baseband. The signal processing is then handled with fast, fixed-point engines. To feed those needs, board vendors continue to push the barriers with solutions with ever faster ADCs and more sophisticated FPGAs. A number of digital receiver products combine ADCs and FPGAs on one 18

COTS Journal | March 2015

Figure 1 For digital conversion in radar systems board vendors continue to push the barriers with solutions with ever faster ADCs and more sophisticated FPGAs. For size-constrained radar systems aboard UAVs those board level solutions need to be highly integrated.

VME, VPX, or PCI Express board, while others partition the integrate an FPGA processing engine with mezzanine-based ADCs using form-factors like FMC or XMC. And for size, weight and power (SWaP) constrained radar systems aboard UAVs for example, those board level solutions need to be highly integrated (Figure 1).

Family of 6U VPX Solutions Many of those trends were exemplified in the family of 6U VPX boards added to the Pentek product line last fall: the Models 57xxx with one XMC module installed and the Models 58xxx with two XMC modules installed (Figure 2). These products extend the company’s building block strategy of

TECH RECON

Digitizing on XMCs

Figure 2 The 6U VPX Model 57xxx and Model 58xxx boards accommodate either one or two (58xxx) Cobalt or Onyx FPGA XMCs, significantly increasing the functional density of a VPX slot. The Cobalt and Onyx XMC FPGA modules include cards with A/D converters at sampling rates to 3.6 GHz.

using Cobalt Virtex-6 and Onyx Virtex-7 XMC FPGA modules on carriers for open architecture industry-standard form factors. These boards are designed for both lab and rugged environments with deployable conduction-cooling options. The 6U VPX Model 57xxx and Model 58xxx boards accommodate either one (57xxx) or two (58xxx) Cobalt or Onyx FPGA XMCs, significantly increasing the functional density of a VPX slot. With the 57xxx versions, users can install their own XMC module in the second site. The boards take advantage of the increased I/O to the backplane by adding optional LVDS lines from the FPGA on each XMC to user pins of the VPX backplane connectors. Key functions of Pentek’s 23 Cobalt and Onyx XMC FPGA modules can now be extended to 6U VPX systems for data acquisition, software radio and digital signal processing, including Serial FPDP and LVDS digital I/O; A/D converters with sampling rates to 3.6 GHz; D/A converters with sampling rates to 1.25 GHz; Digital down converters (DDC); Digital up converters (DUC); RF tuners to 4 GHz; and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) channelizers up to 2200 channels. Options are available for larger FPGAs, serial interface lines, and LVDS FPGA I/O.

The XMC mezzanine form factor is well suited for the bandwidths need to do signal digitization. With that in mind, the DCM-V6-4R160-1T1000-XMC from Mercury Systems implements a flexible FPGA-based architecture in the space efficient XMC mezzanine card form factor (Figure 3). The module provides four analog IF inputs and, optionally, one analog IF output via MMCX connectors on the front panel. Analog-todigital (A/D) conversion is accomplished by two, dual-channel, National Semiconductor ADC16DV160CILQ A/D converters. The ADC16DV160CILQ can digitize analog signals at rates of up to 160 MSPS with 16-bit resolution. The optional digital-to-analog data conversion is performed by a singlechannel Texas Instruments DAC5682Z, which supports 16-bit signals at up to 1 GHz. This XMC module provides dual Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGAs to assist with the signal processing and data movement functions. The Signal Prosecutor FPGA is responsible for the bulk of the signal processing. This Virtex-6 LX240T has many high-performance resources, including 241,152 logic cells, 37,680 slices, and 768 DSP blocks in an 1156 pin-package FPGA. It also gives access to 512 Mbytes of DDR3 SDRAM and 9 Mbytes of QDR2 SRAM to aid with signal processing functions. A second FPGA, a Virtex-6 LX130T, functions as the primary bus interface FPGA and implements an 8-lane PCIe Gen 1.1 or 2.0 compliant interface to the J15 XMC connector. The two FPGAs are interconnected via dual full-duplex 16-lane HSDL interfaces, each capable of data rates of up to 1.0 Gbps and a 4-lane serial transceiver 6.25 Gbps interface operating with the Aurora protocol, capable of an aggregate data rate of 2.5 Gbytes/s.

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Tightly Integrated Solution Also making use of the XMC form factor Innovative Integration offers its X6-250M, a PMC/XMC I/O module that integrates digitizing with signal processing. The module has a Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGA signal processing core and high-performance PCI Express/ PCI host interface. Applications include software-defined radio, radar receivers and multi-channel data recorders. The card has eight simultaneously sampling A/D channels that sample at rates up

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TECH RECON

Figure 3 The DCM-V6-4R160-1T1000-XMC from Mercury Systems implements a flexible FPGA-based architecture in the space efficient XMC form factor. The module blends two Virtex-6 FPGAs and two ADCs that can digitize analog signals at rates of up to 160 MSPS with 16-bit resolution.

to 310 Msamples/s (14-bit). The A/Ds have matched input delays and response. The A/D are supported by a programmable sample clock PLL and triggering that support multi-card synchronization for large scale systems. A Xilinx Virtex-6 SX315T (LX240T and SX475T options) with four banks of 1 Gbyte DRAM provides a very high-performance DSP core with over 2000 MACs (SX315T). The close integration of the analog I/O, memory and host interface with the FPGA enables real-time signal processing at extremely high rates. The X6-250M has both XMC and PCI interfaces, supporting PCI Express or older PCI systems. The PCI Express interface provides up to 3.2 Gbyte/s sustained transfers rates through an x8 PCIe Gen2 interface. The module may be conduction-cooled using VITA20 standard and a heat spreading plate. Ruggedization levels for wide-temperature operation are from -40° to +85°C (conformal coating) and 0.1 g2/Hz vibration.

A Focus on Wideband A major advantage of today’s FPGAs is that they provide ample, programmable, high-speed I/O. That’s why they can be placed close to the analog-to-digital converters (ADC) behind radar phased arrays. Board level vendors continue to roll out integrated solutions using the latest greats ADCs and DACs tied with FPGA processing. In an example along those lines, Curtiss-Wright last fast announced a collaboration with Tektronix 20

COTS Journal | March 2015

Component Solutions to developed technology that double the analog-to-digital (ADC) and digital-to-analog (DAC) data bandwidth performance supported by its CHAMP-WB OpenVPX board family. The new receiver and transmitter products will deliver 25 Gsamples/s and the combined board-set will enable direct RF sampling of bandwidths up to 12GHz using open architecture COTS modules. The board-set’s ultra-high sampling rate will enable these applications to scan huge swaths of bandwidth for signals of interest. The CHAMP-WB was the first entry in Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions’ family of user-programmable Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA-based computing products and is targeted specifically at wide-band, low latency applications that require large FPGA processing, wide input/output requirements, with minimal latency. When combined with the TADF-4300 module, featuring 12 GS/s 8-bit ADC technology and 12 GS/s 10-bit DAC technology from Tektronix, an extremely high performance wide-band DRFM system can be created. The combined card-set is called the CHAMP-WB-DRFM (Figure 1). The CHAMPWB complements this processing capability with a data plane directly connected to the FPGA with support for Gen2 Serial RapidIO (SRIO). 10.3 Gbps Aurora links can also be supported between FPGA cards. Alternate fabrics can also be supported with different FPGA cores.

Digital Conversion on VXS/VME Especially in these budget constrained times, the military upgrade programs are very much front and center. As a result there’s great demand to offer the latest and greatest technologies on VME. And VXS continues to provide a “here and now” solution for marrying switched fabric speeds to VME-based military embedded computing. Feeding that need, TEK Microsystems provides the Gemini-V6 board. It supports either one 12-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) input channel at 3.6 Gsamples/s (GSPS) or three input channels at 1.8 GSPS, combined with a 12-bit DAC output channel operating at up to 4.0 GSPS. Gemini-V6 is based on the National Semiconductor ADC12D1800RF device, which supports either a pair of channels in non-interleaved mode or a single channel

using 2:1 interleaved sampling. Gemini-V6 contains two ADC devices, supporting a total of either three channels plus trigger at 1.8 GSPS, or one channel plus trigger at 3.6 GSPS, plus a separate 12-bit DAC output channel based on the Euvis M653D that operates at up to 4.0 GSPS. The Gemini-V6 contains two front-end FPGA devices, one attached to the ADCs and one to the DAC. The front-end FPGAs can be configured with LX240, SX315, or SX475 devices, providing both the highest FPGA processing density available in any 6U form factor today as well as the only VME / VXS platform supporting Virtex-6 FPGAs. The two front-end FPGAs are supplemented with a “back-end” FPGA that can be used for additional processing or for backplane or front panel communications. The Gemini-V6 includes six banks of DDR3 memory with total capacity of 5 Gbytes and aggregate throughput of 32 Gbytes/s, supporting a wide range of signal processing algorithms with deep memory buffering of the entire signal acquisition stream. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA (703) 779-7800 www.cwcdefense.com Mercury Systems Chelmsford, MA (978) 967-1401 www.mrcy.com Innovative Integration Simi Valley, CA. (805) 578-4260. www.innovative-dsp.com. Pentek Upper Saddle River, NJ (201) 818-5900 www.pentek.com TEK Microsystems Chelmsford, MA (978) 244-9200 www.tekmicro.com

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SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Annual EOL and Component Obsolescence Directory

Many Resources Available for Combating Component Obsolescence With constrained budgets becoming a way of life, the costs and problems resulting from component obsolescence are now more urgent than ever. Good news is there’s a bundle of distributors, specialty engineering firms and government groups with services to ease such burdens. Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

he problem of component obsolescence—or Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) in the more verbose terminology of the defense industry—is inevitably always getting worse. But thankfully there is a sophisticated group of companies and organizations who are in the business of dealing with such problems. Displayed on the following three pages of COTS Journal’s 16th Annual End-of-Life Supplier Directory, are those organizations and the services they provide. Long gone now are the days with large scale computing and semiconductor technology development were driven by the defense industry. Today markets such as consumer devices like phones, tablets and PCs are orders of magnitude larger than the military electronics market. And so naturally it’s the priority of semiconductor firms to stay in synch with the life cycles of those consumer markets—markets where devices have system lifecycles that have gone from about 18 months to now sometimes less than a year. This continues to pose creating an ever worsening problem for the military where platform lifecycles are still at least a decade long and often longer. When a critical chip goes end-of-life, system developers need to prepare for that contingency or at least be aware of where 22

COTS Journal | March 2015

Figure 1 The Air Force had to spend $105 million for a last time buy on over 80,000 FPGAs that were discontinued by their manufacture. The chips were needed for the Air Force’s Joint Strike Fighter program.

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

to find the resources to deal with it. In a recent extreme example, when the Air Force faced an unscheduled expense in their Joint Strike Fighter program when they needed to pay $105 million for a last time buy on over 80,000 FPGAs that were discontinued by their manufacturer (Figure 1). As the Directory shows, there are a bunch of different ways to deal with the problem of COMPANY/ ORGANIZATION

an IC or subsystem becoming no longer available. On one hand, there are many aftermarket chip suppliers who stock inventories of devices that have gone obsolete. These range from small firms specializing in aftermarket business to large distributors who include aftermarket products in their portfolio. Then there are packaging firms who do custom assembly of obsolete integrated circuits using

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The vendor provides a service to locate DMS components and boards/systems.

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Specialty packaging

Industry reference

Refers to processing OEM die, not an emulated solution. Vendor may emulate a DMS device in a gate array or fullcustom device, or provide a pseudo-form, fit and functional equivalent. Has foundry capability to fabricate wafers. N/A

Packages components as monolithic or multi-chip modules. Denotes an organization or company with widely recognized knowledge or information concerning the DMS industry.

Established platform parallel bus protocols like VMEbus and CompactPCI still have their place in today’s and tomorrow’s harsh environment, real-time/hard-deadline embedded sub-system applications...especially when these products are upgraded and maintained to keep pace with the newest, fastest processor and memory technologies. While there are some applications where high speed serial fabrics like VPX are ideal, there are others where VMEbus or CompactPCI still rule the roost. One company continues to actively invest in maintaining – and not obsolescing – their military and space embedded computing products with a proactive 12-year minimum COTS Lifecycle+™ Program. And one company continues to also invest in delivering the very best of the newest embedded COTS computing platforms with the new, serial fabric protocols.

And one company actively invests in technology insertion at the board level, creating backplane, pin-compatible products with the latest, next generation memory and processor technologies “on-board”. And that same company still delivers their legacy bus products at full speed and full capability and full mil temp range (-55 to +85°C) with those latest technologies. The one company to do all that? Aitech. Check our website to learn more about our technology roadmaps and how they protect your investments. Aitech Defense Systems, Inc. 19756 Prairie Street Chatsworth, CA 91311 email: sales@rugged.com Toll Free: 888-Aitech8 - (888) 248-3248 Fax: (818) 407-1502 www.rugged.com

DATA SHEET FPGA Processing Boards Roundup

FPGA Processing Boards Push New Performance Barriers Today’s FPGA chips are like complete high-performance systems in their own right. Embedded board vendors are designing them onto product solutions that let system integrators get the most compute muscle and data movement efficiency possible. Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

or military system designs, FPGAs have all but taken over as the key technology for digital signal processing. So much so that even the term “DSP” is now automatically associated with FPGAs. The reason is that the signal processing functionality on board today’s FPGA chips are ideally suited to the kind of system-oriented DSP functions used in defense. Feeding those needs the signal processing capabilities of FPGAs continue to climb, to satisfy those applications for whom an appetite for ever more digital signal processing muscle is endless. Aside from processing, another big advantage of FPGAs lies in their ample, programmable, high-speed I/O, which is why they are often found close to the analogto-digital converters (ADC) behind radar phased arrays. Board level vendors continue to roll out integrated solutions using the latest greats ADCs and DACs tied with FPGA processing. Today FPGAs are complete systems on a chip. Faster FPGA-based DSP capabilities combined with an expanding array of IP cores and development tools for FPGAs are enabling new system architectures. The high-end lines of the major FPGA vendors even have general-purpose CPU cores on them. And the military is hungry to use FPGAs to fill processing roles. Devices like 28

COTS Journal | March 2015

Figure 1 FPGAs technology is used in several critical systems of the F-35 fighter aircraft including radar, comms and navigation systems.

the Xilinx Virtex-6 and -7 and the Altera Stratix IV and V are examples that have redefined an FPGA as a complete processing engine in its own right. And newer FPGA families like Xilinx’s Kintex 7 and Altera’s Arria 10 FPGAs are also showing up on embedded board-level products. The Data Sheet roundup on the next couple pages shows several examples along those lines. The requirements for many FPGAbased systems continue to call for ever more data collection capacity. They want, for example, to process that data—in the form of radar captured video or images—presents major system design challenges for develop-

ers of military platforms. Board-level FPGA computing solutions have grown to become key enablers for waveform-intensive applications like sonar, radar, SIGINT and SDR. Almost all modern radar systems rely heavily on FPGA technology. The U.S. Air Force Global Hawk has always been a heavy user of computing technologies including boardand box-level systems powered by both general purposes processors and FPGAs. The next-generation, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye carries data recording and playback systems that can scale up to dozens of modular, heterogeneous input/output channels and FPGA-based protocol engines to support application-specific processing in real time during record and playback. Exemplifying the sort of scale to which FPGAs are used in the military, a couple years ago Lockheed Martin was awarded a an Air Force contract modification of over $104 million to procure and deliver of over 80,000 Xilinx FPGAs required for building Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. FPGAs are used in several of the F-35 (JSF)’s systems including radar, comms and navigation systems (Figure 1).

DATA SHEET

FPGA Processing Boards

PCIe Card Blends High-Bandwidth Analog I/O and UltraScale FPGA

Kintex 7-Based FPGA XMC Family Serves up Rich I/O

PCIe Card Offers Arria V FPGA, Dual 40Gig or Octal 10Gig Ports

The PC870 from 4DSP is a highperformance PCI Express card combining an A/D channel, a D/A channel and a Kintex UltraScale FPGA. The low-latency data path of the PC870 enables 2.2 GHz of instantaneous analog bandwidth in both the receive and transmit directions. The analog signal input and output are available on the front panel on AC-coupled coax connections.

Acromag’s XMC-7K is a family of XMC mezzanine modules enhanced with Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA for low-power consumptions and exceptional 128M x 64bit DDR3 SDRAM processing performance. Typical applications include hardware simulation, communications, in-circuit diagnostics, military servers, signal intelligence, and image processing.

Bittware’s A5-PCIe-L (A5PL) is a lowprofile PCIe x8 card based on the Altera Arria V GZ FPGA. The high-performance, power- and cost-efficient Arria V GZ provides a high level of system integration and flexibility for I/O, routing, and processing. The A5PL is a versatile and efficient solution for network processing and signals intelligence applications.

• Kintex UltraScale XCKU035, XCKU040, XCKU060, or XCKU075 FPGA • Single-channel, 10-bit A/D up to 5 Gsps • Single-channel, 10-bit D/A up to 5 Gsps • PCIe Gen3 x8 • 4 Gbyte 1600 MT/s DDR3 SDRAM • 256 Mbit Serial flash • Single-lane SFP+ interface • LVDS IO signaling between A/D, D/A and FPGA for low latency 4DSP Austin, TX (800) 816-1751 www.4dsp.com

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COTS Journal | March 2015

• Build options include Xilinx XC7K325T or XC7K410T FPGA device.

• High performance Altera Arria V GZ FPGA.

• Eight-lane high-speed serial interface on rear P15 connector for PCI Express Gen 1/2 (standard), Serial RapidIO, 10-Gigabit Ethernet, and Xilinx Aurora supported.

• PCIe x8 interface supporting Gen1, Gen2, or Gen3.

• Rear I/O for 4 or 8-lane high-speed serial interface on the P16 XMC port.

• Board Management Controller for Intelligent Platform Management.

• Select I/O or LVDS pairs plus global clock pairs direct to FPGA via rear P4 or P16 port.

• USB 2.0 for programming and debug.

• Optional plug-in I/O, dual SFP+ ports, or conduction-cooled for extended temperature. Acromag Wixom, MI (248) 295-0310 www.acromag.com

• Dual QSFP+ cages for 2x 40GigE or 8x 10GigE.

• Timestamping and synchronization support. • Memory options: up to 8 Gbytes of DDR3 SDRAM with ECC; Up to 512 Mbytes RLDRAM3; Up to 72 Mbytes QDRII+. BittWare Concord, NH (603) 226-0404 www.bittware.com

NEW THIS YEAR

Our new “Data Sheet” style round-up format Links to the full data sheets for each of these products are posted on the online version of this section.

6U OpenVPX FPGA Board Combines Three FPGAs and 12 GB of Memory

3U VPX Virtex-7 FPGA Module Has FMC Site and Freescale P1010 CPU

FPGA PMC/XMC Module Blends Digitizing and Processing

The CHAMP-FX4 is the flagship 6U product in Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions’ family of user-programmable Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA-based computing products, designed for embedded highperformance digital signal and image processing applications. The 4th generation 6U FPGA card, the CHAMP-FX4 combines the dense processing resources of three large Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGAs with over 12 Gbytes of memory resources,

The XPedite2470 is a high-performance, reconfigurable, conduction- or air-cooled, 3U VPX, FPGA processing module based on the Xilinx Virtex-7 family of FPGAs. With multiple high-speed fabric interfaces, external memory, Virtex-7 FPGA, an FMC site, and high-density I/O, the XPedite2470 is ideal for customizable, high-bandwidth, signal-processing applications.

Innovative Integration’s X6-250M is a PMC/XMC I/O module that integrates digitizing with signal processing. The module has a Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGA signal processing core and high-performance PCI Express/PCI host interface. Applications include software-defined radio, radar receivers and multi-channel data recorders.

• OpenVPX (VITA 65) profile MOD6-PAY4F1Q2U2T-12.2.1-11, VPX REDI (VITA 48 option). • Three user-programmable Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGAs (585T or X690T). • Two FMC interfaces with 80 differential signal pairs. • Onboard PCIe Gen3 switch and onboard SRIO Gen2 switch. • Xilinx ZYNQ FPGA with Dual ARM Cortex A9 processor. • 1 Gbyte DDR3L SDRAM and 256 Mbytes of application flash. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA (703) 779-7800 www.cwcdefense.com

• Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA XC7VX485T. • FMC-compliant carrier card (VITA 57) with High Pin Count (HPC) connector. • Freescale QorIQ P1010 processor with one PowerPC e500 core at up to 800 MHz. • Up to 512 Mbytes of DDR3L-800 ECC SDRAM for P1010; Up to 16 Gbytes of SPI flash for P1010; Up to 1 Gbytes of NAND flash for P1010. • Four channels of x32 DDR3L SDRAM, up to 1 Gbytes each for FPGA. • LVDS and high-speed GTX transceiver connectivity between FPGA and FMC. Extreme Engineering Solutions Middleton, WI (608) 833-1155 www.xes-inc.com

• Eight 250 MSPS, 14-bit A/D channels. • 1.5Vp-p, AC-Coupled, 50 ohm, SSMC inputs. • Xilinx Virtex6 SX315T/SX475T or LX240T. • 4 Banks of 1 Gbyte DRAM (4 Gbytes total). • Gen2 x8 PCI Express option providing 2 Gbyte/s sustained transfer rates. • PCI 32-bit, 66 MHz with P4 to Host card PMC/XMC Module. • Ruggedization Levels for Wide Temperature Operation. Innovative Integration Simi Valley, CA (805) 578-4260 www.innovative-dsp.com

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COTS Journal | March 2015

DATA SHEET | FPGA Processing Boards

VPX Card Serves up QorIQ CPU and Dual Virtex-7 FPGAs

VME/VXS FPGA Processing Engine Embeds High-Speed Datapaths

PCI Express Stratix V FPGA Card Targets Network Processing

Interface Concept offers a 6U VPX FPGA processing board called the IC-FEP-VPX6b, a VPX hybrid processing engine that has a PCIe advanced switch to couple the processing nodes. With this combination of a high performance Freescale QorIQ processor, dual FPGAs and FMC sites, the board provides a solution for radar, sonar, electronic warfare and other very high demanding digital signal processing applications.

The Ensemble SCFE-V7-VXS Virtex-7 FPGA processing engine from Mercury Systems provides processing for applications such as EW, ELINT, SIGINT and radar. When incorporated with other board Ensemble multi-computing modules and high-performance RF converters, card can be part of a heterogeneous subsystem that can be tailored to specific applications and platforms.

The PCIe-395 network processing card from Nallatech provides a powerful PCI Express computing and I/O platform for FPGA development and deployment across a range of application areas including SIGINT, network security and algorithm acceleration. The PCIe-395 features network interfaces are directly coupled to an Altera Stratix V FPGA with high bandwidth DDR3 SDRAM and QDR-II+ memories.

• QorIQ T1042 quadcore supporting four integrated 64-bit e5500 Power Architecture processor cores. • The QorIQ provides Ethernet, Serial and USB ports. • 2 Gbytes of DDR3L SDRAM with ECC (up to 4 Gbytes). • 32 Gbytes (MLC) or 16 Gbytes (SLC) Nand flash. • The PCIe advanced switch enables coupling between the processor, the FPGAs and the fabric links of connector. • Other Fabric Links of the VPX backplane are directly connected to the FPGAs GTH transceivers. Interface Concept Quimper, France +33 (0)2 98 57 30 30 www.interfaceconcept.com

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COTS Journal | March 2015

• Two Virtex-7 XC7VX690T FPGAs, One Xilinx ZYNQ XC7Z045 (SOC) FPGA. • 1 bank of 2 Gbyte DDR-III SDRAM and 2 banks of 18 Mbyte QDR-II SRAM. • FMC datapath has LVDS 80 pairs at up to 1 GHz and GTX SerDes 8 lanes up to 10.0 Gb/s each. • UltraFMC datapath as LVDS 100 pairs at up to 1 GHz. • Inter-FPGA network consists of 32 fullduplex HSDL lanes at 1.0 Gbits/s and 64 half-duplex HSDL lanes at 1.0 Gbits/s. The 4 GTX SerDes lanes provide up to 10.0 Gbits/s each. Mercury Systems Chelmsford, MA (978) 967-1401 www.mrcy.com

• PCI Express form factor. • Altera Stratix V FPGA. • Four SFP+ ports supporting a range of 1G and 10G protocols including 10GbE. • 8-lane PCI Express Gen 3 host interface with up to 5.0 Gbyte/s WRITE and up to 5.0 Gbyte/s READ. • Two independent banks of 18 Mbyte QDR-II+ SRAM. • Four independent banks of 8 Gbyte DDR3 SDRAM. Nallatech Camarillo, CA (805) 383-8997 www.nallatech.com

DATA SHEET | FPGA Processing Boards

Half-size PCIe FMC Carrier Has Virtex-7 FPGA, Optical Interface

PCIe/104 Card Sports Spartan-6 User Programmable FPGA

VXS/VME FPGA Card Serves up 12-Bit ADCs and DACs

The newest member of Pentek’s Flexor line of FMC carriers is the Model 7070 PCIe FMC carrier with a Virtex-7 FPGA. As a stand-alone signal processing board, it provides an ideal development and deployment platform for demanding DSP applications. Combined with any of Pentek's FMCs, it creates a complete radar and software radio solution.

RTD Embedded Technologies’ FPGA35S6046 and FPGA35S6101 (shown) are PC/104 FPGA modules with a PCIe/104 stackable bus structure. The FPGA35S6xxx modules provide a platform for customer developed FPGA code. Based on a Xilinx Spartan-6, they feature four RS-232/422/485 transceivers connected to FPGA pins allowing custom serial port implementations.

The QuiXilica Gemini-V6 VXS from TEK Microsystems is a 6U VME and VXS high-speed digitizer board that combines FPGA processing with 12-bit ADC and DAC technology. By employing three Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGAs, the board combines high resolution wideband signal acquisition and generation with the onboard high density FPGA processing for applications such as target generation, jamming, and CM / CCM techniques.

• VITA-57.1 FMC site offers access to a wide range of possible I/O.

• PC/104 form factor.

• Supports Xilinx Virtex-7 VXT FPGAs.

• PCIe/104 stackable bus structure.

• GateXpress supports dynamic FPGA reconfiguration across PCIe.

• PCIe x1 interface.

• 4 Gbytes of DDR3 SDRAM. • PCI Express (Gen. 1, 2 and 3) interface up to x8. • Optional user-configurable 12X optical gigabit serial interface. • Optional LVDS connections to the Virtex-7 FPGA for custom I/O. • Commercial and extended-temperature versions available. Pentek Upper Saddle River, NJ (201) 818-5900 www.pentek.com

• Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA with up to 101,261 Logic Cells, 5,800 Kb of internal RAM and PCI Express interface. • Gbit of DDR2 SDRAM. • On-board 27 MHz oscillator. • 32 RS-232/422/485 I/Os using four connectors; Each connector can support a single full RS-232 port or two TX/RX only ports. RTD Embedded Technologies State College, PA (814) 234-8087 www.rtd.com

• One 12-bit ADC channels at 3.6 GSPS, or three channels at 1.8 GSPS. • Combines ADC with DAC output channel at up to 4.0 GSPS. • Twelve fiber optic interfaces. • One SFP port for Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. • Three Virtex-6 devices available per board (LX240, SX315, or SX475). • 5 Gbytes of DDR3 SDRAM. • Convection or conduction cooled options. TEK Microsystems Chelmsford, MA (978) 244-9200 www.tekmicro.com

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COTS Journal | March 2015

COTS

PRODUCT GALLERY High Performance HPERC-IBR-HC • SWaP-efficient, sealed SFF system

SIU33 –Sensor Interface Unit – Conduction Cooled

• Intel® Core™ i7 processor

• Configure with up to 9 I/O and communication function modules

• VITA 75.22 coldplate mounting

• 40+ different modules available

• Soldered DDR3L-1333 8GB – Up to 16GB RAM

• SBC-less stand-alone operation supported via Gig-E

• Quad Gigabit Ethernet • Ultra-Fast Solid-State-RAID • Available GPGPU on 16-lane 3rd Generation PCI Express • Triple display support (DP/HDMI/DVI) • Extreme Rugged™ operating temperature: -40°C to +85°C

ADLINK Technology Phone: (408) 360-0200 Email: info@adlinktech.com Web: www.adlinktech.com

• 3 x 3U cPCI Slots • PowerPC®, Intel Core i7® or ARM SBC Processor • Windows®, Linux and VxWorks® OS Support • 4.71”W x 4.78”H x 7.95”D • MIL-STD-810G & MIL-STD-461F

North Atlantic Industries, Inc. Phone: (631) 567-1100 FAX: (631) 567-1823 Email: info@naii.com Web: www.naii.com

Scalable GigE Switches

Expandable Intel Core i7 Mission Computer

• Stacking expandable 1 Gbps Ethernet switches

• Quad, dual, and single-core options

• Board-level 10-pin headers or RJ-45 jacks

• 1.5 – 2.1 GHz Processors (3.1 GHz Turbo Boost)

• Eight ports per board, and expandable in groups of eight

• Integrated 2.5-inch SATA carrier

• Can be used standalone or with a host computer

• PCIe/104 expansion for additional functionality

• Link, activity, and speed LEDs for each port

• Standard I/O including GigE, SATA, USB, Serial, SVGA, DisplayPort and programmable digital I/O

• Stackable PCI Express (PCIe/104) expansion • Enclosure configurations with D-sub receptacles, RJ-45 jacks or watertight military cylindrical connectors

• Tailored solutions including conformal coating, watertight enclosures, EMI suppression, cylindrical military connectors and LEDs

• -40 to +85°C Operation

• Fanless -40 to +85°C Operation (Quad-Core at -40 to +70°C)

RTD Embedded Technologies, Inc.

Phone: (814) 234-8087 Email: sales@rtd.com Web: www.rtd.com AS9100 & ISO 9001 Certified

COTS Journal | March 2015

Phone: (814) 234-8087 Email: sales@rtd.com Web: www.rtd.com AS9100 & ISO 9001 Certified

Optimizing SWaP is our passion.

MEET A BRAND NEW CES AT CES-SWAP.COM

THE SWISS RUGGED COMPUTERS COMPANY HAS A NEW LOOK! We design and manufacture rugged embedded computers engineered to meet the most demanding performance requirements with optimal Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) considerations.

CES-SWAP.COM

COTS

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PRODUCTS

www.intelligentsystemssource.com

Pico-ITX SBC is based on Intel Bay Trail Atom E3800 Processor Congatec has announced a new Pico-ITX SBC based on the Intel Atom E3800 processor series. The compact design with a footprint of 70x102mm makes the SBC highly versatile. The Intel Atom E3800 processors are also suitable for use in the extended industrial temperature range. Thanks to their low power consumption with just 5 to 10 W TDP, the single-chip Bay Trail solutions are ideal for passively cooled and enclosed systems that can be used in harsh environments. The integrated Intel Gen7 HD graphics supports two independent displays in Full HD resolution (LVDS 2x24bit via an internal connector and DP++; and HDMI1.4 via a connector on the I/O panel). The hardware supports or directly accelerates DirectX 11.1, OpenGL 3.2 and OpenCL 1.2. The RAM memory is soldered to the board. Depending on the processor, a total of up to 4 Gbytes of DDR3L-1666 are available. The I/O panel further provides two USB2.0 ports, an RJ-45 connector for 10/100/1000 Gbit Ethernet, plus a 12 Vdc power supply. Also integrated are an additional USB 2.0 port, a USB 3.0 SuperSpeed port, a connector for backlight and LVDS, fan control, HDA audio, two serial ports (RS232, RS232/485/422), a

SATA connection, a half-size slot for shared mSATA/miniPCIe, plus another half-size miniPCIe slot. Various interfaces including ACPI 5.0, I2C bus and LPC bus allow easy integration of legacy I/O interfaces via the feature connector. Real-time clock (RTC)and Intel High Definition Audio complete the feature set. Congatec San Diego, CA (858) 457-2600 www.congatec.com

ARM-based Embedded Solution Targets Vibration Measurement Data Translation has announced the DT7837 ARM-based dynamic signal analyzer module for noise and vibration measurement. The computer portion of the module uses a ruggedized BeagleBone Black ARM processor. To assist OEM users, complete source code is provided that can be modified and used without any restrictions. Further examples show how to develop an embedded application for any specific purpose using various open-source libraries and utilities. The highly accurate front-end design of the DT7837 allows simultaneous measurement of four 24-bit IEPE sensor inputs at a sampling rate of 102.4 ksamples/s. The module is ideal for precision measurements with microphones, accelerometers, and other transducers that have a large dynamic range. Common applications include audio, acoustic, and vibration testing. The DT7837 is fully equipped to do many vibration tasks by including a 24-bit stimulus output, tachometer, general-purpose Digital I/O, external trigger functions, and counter/timers. These functions are supported by a complete set of well-documented APIs that enable development of an embedded application using the AD, DA, counter timers, tachometer and other on-board I/O. The DT7837 is available with prices starting at $1,995 for the OEM version. Data Translation, Marlboro, MA. 1-800-525-8528. www.datatranslation.com

VPX Card Serves up QorIQ CPU and Dual Virtex-7 FPGAs Interface Concept has announced a 6U VPX FPGA processing board powered by two Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGAs and one QorIQ T1042 e5500 quad-core processor. The IC-FEP-VPX6b is a VPX hybrid processing engine that has a PCIe advanced switch to couple the processing nodes. Two FMC mezzanine sites (VITA 57.1) allow connecting ADC, DAC, general IOs, video, sFPDP or additional FPGA FMC modules. With this combination of a high performance Freescale QorIQ processor, dual FPGAs and FMC sites, the IC-FEP-VPX6b provides the ideal platform for radar, sonar, electronic warfare and other very high demanding digital signal processing applications. It is available in air-cooled and conduction-cooled grades. FIND the products featured in this section and more at

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COTS Journal | March 2015

Interface Concept, Quimper, France. +33 (0)2 98 57 30 30. www.interfaceconcept.com

COTS PRODUCTS

VNX Mission Computer Serves Small Form Factor System Needs

VNX mission computers. Based on VPX technologies, VNX is the small form factor standard for conduction cooled modules. The base VNX 2+1 System consists of a chassis supporting two double-wide 19mm and one single-wide 12.5mm VNX modules. One 19mm site hosts an SBC, initially an AMD G-Series SoC quad-core processor with two independent GPUs. The second 19mm site can host either a second SBC, an image processor, or a video conversion module. The 12.5mm site is configured to hold either an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with GPS and optional SAASM capability, or a dual MiniPCIe I/O carrier with a variety of mezzanine modules for Data Bus, Discrete and Analog I/O functions including MIL-STD-1553, CAN, and ARINC-429. An I/O transition panel supports the MIL connectors for power and I/O connectivity. A rear transition panel supports mSATA storage, as well as optional external high speed optical interfaces. Internal to the chassis, all modules are conduction cooled. External chassis options include convection, conduction and forced-air conduction cooling, as well as various mounting features. Linux is provided as initial operating system. Support for ARINC 653 operating systems is planned. For application development CES offers a four slot VNX chassis with two 19mm slots, two 12.5mm slots and an I/O transition panel provisioned with commercial connectors, allowing the use of readily available cables and data interfaces. Once the application is developed, the I/O transition panel on the ROCK-3 series chassis can easily be replaced with a customized panel, as required. Creative Electronic Systems Geneva, Switzerland +41 (0)22 884 51 00 www.ces.ch

Stay ahead of the

FMC225 • TI ADC12J4000 12-bit @ 4.0 GSPS ADC • Analog Devices AD9129 14-bit @ 5.7 GSPS DAC • Ultra-low noise wideband PLL

AMC529 • Dual port DAC 14-bit at 5.7 GSPS (2.85 GSPS direct RF synthesis) • Xilinx Virtex-7 690T FPGA in FFG-1761 package

Competition

Highest Performance Signal Processing Modules For the highest performance/density FPGA and FMC signal processing solutions, come to VadaTech. Our cutting-edge and high reliability modules will keep your signal processing system ahead of the pack. Using open-standard COTS architectures, we can scale to offer unmatched price/performance levels, saving you time, effort, and money. Envision a new level of performance density!

• Direct RF sampling clock via front panel

www.vadatech.com • info@vadatech.com • 702.896.3337

COTS Journal | March 2015

COTS PRODUCTS

3U VPX Module Provides VICTORY Networking and Processing

Consumer Antenna Capabilities Applied to Aerospace and Defense Bringing its expertise to military and aerospace markets in the form of moldable composites and selective metallization, TE Connectivity (TE) is delivering antennas that are smaller and lighter, and offer higher performance and increased functionality in flight and ground applications. Advancements in materials science are enabling nextgeneration technologies like low-profile conformal antennas and antennas integrated into housings that help reduce complexity, simplify manufacturing and provide consistent performance. Recent advances in long and continuous glass fiber composites reduce the need for tedious and costly hand layups of traditional radome manufacturing, while enabling the creation of stronger, thinner and lighter radomes. Composite enclosures can be 30 to 40 percent lighter than the aluminum enclosures they replace. TE’s consumer antenna heritage also brings reliable solutions for dramatically reducing weight by integrating some circuit board traces, wires and connectors for fewer overall components. For example, TE’s 3D selective metallization process can be applied to a wide range of substrates including plastics, chemically resistant composites, glass, ceramic and metals to reduce weight. This process enables rapid development and manufacturing of robust 3D antennas for harsh environments. TE Connectivity Berwyn, PA (610) 893-9800 www.te.com

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COTS Journal | March 2015

Curtiss-Wright announced that its Defense Solutions division has introduced the industry’s first single-slot module solution for integrating the essential networking elements needed to implement the U.S. Army’s VICTORY standard on legacy and future ground vehicles. The new VPX3-671 VICTORY Ethernet Switch and SBC is a rugged 3U VPX module. It features a core subset of the advanced network switch and computing resources of Curtiss-Wright’s groundbreaking Digital Beachhead subsystem. The lightweight, compact VPX3-671 provides a line replaceable module (LRM) approach for implementing VICTORY. The VPX3-671 delivers a fully-featured 12-port managed Gbit Ethernet switch that is tested to be compliant with the VICTORY specification as an Infrastructure Switch. It features a powerful set of networking features to implement high-speed advanced in-vehicle network architectures and supports connectivity for legacy 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps Ethernet devices, as well as today’s 1000 Mbps Ethernet systems. The VPX3-671 networking core supports a wide range of popular switching features, including support for IPv4/v6, VLANs, IGMP multicast, QoS, MSTP/RSTP, link aggregation, port mirroring, jumbo frames and static routing for WAN connectivity. The VPX3-671’s 1.2 GHz Freescale Power Architecture QorIQ Dual-core P2020based general purpose SBC is optional and is installed as a mezzanine daughtercard. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, Ashburn, VA. (703) 779-7800. www.cwcdefense.com

COTS PRODUCTS

PC/104-Plus SBCs Sport Bay Trail Processor and Rich I/O

Diamond Systems has unveiled its rugged, highly integrated ARIES PC/104Plus single board computer based on the Intel E3800 “Bay Trail” processor family. Designed in the PC/104-Plus form factor with wings (114 x 102 mm / 4.5 x 4.0 inches), Aries’ full rectangular shape provides more coastline for I/O connectors, enabling an unmatched level of feature integration onto a single board its size. In this compact form factor, Aries includes a wide range of display capabilities, system I/O, plus data acquisition, meeting the majority of today's connectivity requirements in a single board. Available configurations include the E3845 1.91GHz quad core processor and the E3826 1.46GHz dual core processor, with choice of 2 or 4 Gbytes of soldered memory. Dual independent displays are supported, with connections for dual channel 24-bit LVDS LCD, VGA, DisplayPort, and HDMI. Available PC I/O includes 3 USB ports, 4 RS232/422/485 ports with fully programmable configuration, dual Gigabit Ethernet, and a SATA port that supports both on-board SATA DOM and off-board SATA devices. The optional integrated data acquisition includes 16 16-bit A/D channels with 250 kHz sample rate, 4 16-bit D/A channels with voltage and current outputs, a programmable waveform generator, and 22 programmable digital I/O lines, all supported by Diamond’s free, industryleading Universal Driver data acquisition programming library. The Aries SBC family was designed with rugged applications in mind with an operating temperature of -40°C to +85°C, memory soldered on board, an integrated heat spreader thermal solution, 50 percent thicker PCB, and latching I/O connectors. Single unit pricing starts at $750 without on-board data acquisition.

Acromag Embedded Computing & I/O Solutions

Diamond Systems, Mountain View, CA. (650) 810-2500. www.diamondsystems.com

COTS Journal | March 2015

COTS PRODUCTS

PCIe Gen3 Expansion Set Supports MicroTCA and Other Systems VadaTech has announced two boards that provide highspeed PCIe Expansion from an industrial PC to MicroTCA, ATCA, or other systems. The versatile modules can be used with industry standard options for copper or fiber cables. Customization is not required. The PCI123 is a PCIe compliant module routing x16 PCIe Gen 3 out of the front panel ports. The module supports an aggregate raw data rate of up to 128 Gbps. This module can be cabled to Vadatech UTC006 MicroTCA Carrier Hub (MCH) for PCIe Expansion. The MCH offers quad SFF-8644 ports for PCIe Gen3 expansion (x16, x8, or x4). It features a PCIe switch and routes PCIe x16 to the Rear Transition Module (RTM). Vadatech Henderson, NV (702) 896-3337 www.vadatech.com

COTS Journal | March 2015

Rugged Microprocessor-Designed Inverter Provides 3000 VA Schaefer has announced the PRP-3000 Series of highly efficient, pure sine wave inverters that provide up to 3000 VA of power. Standard input voltages of 24 VDC, 36 VDC, 48 VDC, 72 VDC, and 110 VDC are inverted to adjustable 120VAC or 230VAC outputs. Units can be configured for three phase synchronization. All models in the PRP-3000 Series feature overload protection and an LED indicator for output OK or alarm conditions. A wide operating temperature of –25ºC to +70ºC allows for installations in extreme conditions and meets EN50155Class 3. PRP-3000 Series pricing is $2375 each at 50 pieces. Schaefer Hopkinton, MA (508) 436-6400 www.schaeferpower.com

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COTS PRODUCTS

Deployable PCI Express FMC Carrier Has Optical Interface

CompactPCI Serial Switch Delivers 25 Gbit Ethernet Ports

Pentek has introduced the newest member of its Flexor line of FMC carriers: the Model 7070 PCIe FMC carrier with a Virtex-7 FPGA. Combined with any of Pentek’s FMCs, it creates a complete radar and software radio solution. The Flexor Model 7070 features a high pin-count VITA 57.1 FMC site, 4 Gbytes of DDR3 SDRAM, PCI Express (Gen. 1, 2 and 3) interface up to x8, optional 12x user-configurable gigabit serial I/O and optional LVDS connections to the FPGA for custom I/O. The Flexor Model 7070 PCIe FMC carrier is designed for commercial and extended temperature operating environments. The Flexor Model 7070 module starts at $15,995.

MEN Micro has released the new G101, a managed 3U flexible multiport Gbit Ethernet switch, with a 29 Gbit/s switch matrix, implemented as a CompactPCI Serial board. Specifically designed for rugged mobile communication in harsh environments, the new Ethernet switch conforms to the EN 50155 railway standard. The board features a total of up to 25 Gbit Ethernet ports. The 29 Gbit switch matrix incorporates different software protocols to ensure high speed and high efficiency and the large software pool enables various protocols like security, synchronous Ethernet and stability as well as for temperature needs.

Pentek Upper Saddle River, NJ (201) 818-5900 www.pentek.com

MEN Micro Ambler, PA (215) 542-9575 www.menmicro.com

FIND the products featured in this section and more at

www.intelligentsystemssource.com

The Event for Embedded, M2M and IoT Technology 2015 Real-Time & Embedded Computing Conferences Boston, MA – April 08

Minneapolis, MN –October 06

San Diego, CA – August 21

Chicago, IL – October 08

Orange County, CA – August 27 Seattle, WA – November 05

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COTS Journal | March 2015

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40 Gbit 13U ATCA Shelf Meets NEBS Requirements Pixus Technologies has introduced a 13U ATCA Shelf, the PXS1340, supporting a 14-Slot 40G BASE-KR4 Backplane for 40GbE performance.. Designed to meet NEBS, the PXS1340 features a front-to-rear airflow cooling configuration for exceptional thermal management. Independent testing confirms over 270 W per slot cooling performance. Full redundancy of all of the Field Replaceable Units (FRUs) including the quad Cooling Units (CUs), dual Power Entry Modules (PEMs), dual Shelf Manager Controllers (ShMCs), and Hubs is an important feature of the PXS1340. AC power supplies and 10G BASE-KR backplane options are available.

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COTS Journal | March 2015

COTS PRODUCTS

R-Series SoC and 16 Mbytes of Memory Ride Rugged COM Express GE’s Intelligent Platforms has announced the fully rugged bCOM6-L1700 Type 6 COM Express Module. Differentiated from ‘commodity’ COM Express modules by its high performance, extreme durability and low lifetime cost of ownership, it features the latest R-Series System-on-Chip (SoC) from AMD, providing it with not only superior throughput but also extensive graphics capabilities. The bCOM6-L1700 itself is available in two performance/watt variations, and is the first of its type to offer up to 16 Gbytes of soldered memory. Its inherently rugged design and construction make the bCOM-6-L1700 ideal for deployment in challenging harsh environments that are subject to extremes of temperature, vibration and shock in which maximum uptime is missioncritical. Extended mechanical construction protects the module, which is designed for optional conformal coating for even greater resistance to moisture, dust, chemicals, and temperature extremes. Sophisticated dynamic thermal management optimizes uptime and helps prevent damage to the system. A further differentiator for GE’s COM Express range is GE’s ability to provide customers with the support necessary to enable them to develop their own carrier card configurations, or to provide custom carrier card variants on request. This ability

Avionics Interface Computer Simplifies Test and Development Data Device Corporation has introduces the Avionics Interface Computer (AIC), providing a scalable, programmable, and portable platform to develop and test MILSTD-1553 and ARINC 429 system applications via an Ethernet network. The AIC features 2 PMC and 2 Mini-PCIe expansion sites, allowing users to select interface boards optimized for their specific application and connectivity needs. An Atom E3845 processor provides programming flexibility and simplifies connectivity by automatically bridging messages in real-time between Ethernet, ARINC 429, and MIL-STD-1553. The BU-67121W AIC also lowers the complexity and cost of many long discrete cables by locating the 1553/429 interfaces close to onboard electronics, and then using the Ethernet interface to provide network access and control from the test lab. Data Device Corp., Bohemia, NY. (631) 567-5600. www.ddc-web.com

provides significant flexibility to systems integrators looking to create unique, high value-added solutions while reducing cost, risk and time-to-market. As well as supporting up to 16 Gbytes of memory, the bCOM6-L1700 supports four SATA interfaces, a Gbit Ethernet port, eight USB 2.0 and four USB 3.0 ports and either eight GPIO ports or an SD Card interface. GE Intelligent Platforms Charlottesville, VA (800) 368-2738 defense.ge-ip.com

MCU Development Board Provides Camera, Display and I/O Options FTDI Chip technology partner MikroElektronika has announced the release of a complete ecosystem of development products to support the FT90X series of 32-bit applicationoptimized microcontroller units (MCUs). The 266mm x 220mm format EasyFT90X development board has an FT900 MCU, on-board CMOS camera, 3.5-inch 320 x 240 pixel resolution TFT display with touch screen, a microSD card slot and a vast array of I/O options. Also included on this board are a mikroProg Fast USB 2.0 programmer and an in-circuit debugger, plus a range of simple MikroElektronika compiler examples. The board has a power consumption of less than 80mA if peripheral modules are not connected. FTDI Chip Glasgow, United Kingdom. +44 (0) 141 429 2777 www.ftdichip.com.

FIND the products featured in this section and more at

www.intelligentsystemssource.com

COTS Journal | March 2015

COTS

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Index

www.intelligentsystemssource.com

Company Page# Website

Acromag..............................................39........................... www.acromag.com

North Atlantic Industries.................. 17, 19................................. www.naii.com

Aitech Defense Systems, inc...............27..............................www.rugged.com

One Stop Systems, Inc. ....................29, 40.............www.onestopsystems.com

AUVSI..................................................41.......................... www.auvsishow.org

Orbit Electronics Group........................5.............................. www.vmevpx.com

COTS Product Gallery..........................34.........................................................

Pentek, Inc...........................................7............................... www.pentek.com

CES.....................................................35..........................www.ces-swap.com

Phoenix International Systems, Inc. .....4............................ www.phenxint.com

Critical I/O..........................................21........................... www.criticalio.com

Pico Electronics, Inc............................45................. www.picoelectronics.com

Dynatem..............................................24........................... www.dynatem.com

RTD Embedded Technologies, Inc. ......52.................................... www.rtd.com

EDT.......................................................4.....................................www.edt.com

RTECC.................................................42.................................www.rtecc.com

Extreme Engineering Solutions............51..............................www.xes-inc.com

Sealevel Military..................................38......................www.sealevel-mil.com

Harting................................................44...................... www.harting-usa.com

SynQor, Inc..........................................49...............................www.synqor.com

High Assurance Systems.....................43........................www.highassure.com

Trenton Systems, Inc. .........................44.................www.trentonsystems.com

Inteligent Systems Source...................46.... www.intelligentsystemssource.com

Vadatech.............................................37...........................www.vadatech.com

Mercury Systems, Inc. .........................2.................................. www.mrcy.com COTS Journal (ISSN#1526-4653) is published monthly at 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150, San Clemente, CA 92673. Periodicals Class postage paid at San Clemente and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to COTS Journal, 905 Calle Amanecer, Ste. 150, San Clemente, CA 92673.

COMING NEXT MONTH Special Feature: Boards and Rugged Boxes in UAV Payloads and AUVSI Special Coverage

For medium and large UAVs, the pressure is on to add more payload functionality in the same space or add more separate payloads on the same platform. Many vendors are announcing solutions for such needs at this year’s AUVSI show. This section looks at box-level computer systems and the trade-offs versus slot-card solutions and how system consolidation is impacting the radar, imaging processing and communications capabilities of next-gen UAVs.

Tech Recon--Signal Chain: Naval Signal Intelligence

Throughout 2015 our Tech Recon feature delivers a series of sections that follow a sequential path hitting all the key technologies that are part of a signal chain. The series tracks the various types of processing, storage and display technologies that are critical at each point along the path. Starting in January with Signal Capture, the section hits a different phase along the chain each month. The April Signal Chain section looks at the board-level and system-level technology and products used for today’s Navy Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) systems.

COTS Journal | March 2015

System Development: DoD Budget Report: Major Weapons Programs

The DoD’s budget request for fiscal year 2016 is actually larger than that of the past couple years. And with a budget deal in place for 2015, there’s at least the promise of more certainty in the year ahead. Many advanced programs are likely to see some shifts in funding, and tech refresh and upgrade programs are already seeing an increase in activity. This section examines what has happened in the DoD’s major military programs and what the opportunities are for embedded computing and electronics technologies.

Data Sheet: VME SBCs for Tech Refresh Roundup

VME was crafted specifically so that it can adapt to new technologies while still retaining backward compatibility. That’s why it’s perfect for technology refresh programs. A new board with the latest and greatest processor, memory and I/O can easily be dropped into a slot that could be decades old. Articles in this section examine the current activity in traditional VME SBCs with a product album listing representative products.

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MARCHING TO THE NUMBERS OVER 6,300 The number ballistic missiles worldwide not controlled by the U.S., NATO, China or Russia according to U.S. intelligence agencies. That number is expected to reach almost 8,000 by 2020. Those kind of numbers are driving demand from the U.S. and its friends and allies for improved defenses against ballistic missile raids. Serving that demand Raytheon has upgraded the computer processor of the AN/TPY-2 ballistic missile defense radar, enabling the system to both perform better during raids and to more quickly and accurately discriminate between a missile’s warhead, and non-threats such as countermeasures. Raytheon delivered the first upgraded EEU to the Missile Defense Agency on Jan 30, 2015.

16 Navy Ships The total number of U.S. Navy ships that will be named for a woman once the future USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) is commissioned. The future USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), launched from the Austal USA shipyard Feb. 25, marking an important production milestone for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. The ship is named after former United States Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. LCS 10 will also be only the 13th ship to be named for a living person since 1850. The ship will return to the shipyard to continue final outfitting and activation until her christening later this year. She is expected to deliver to the fleet in 2017.

155.9 Billion

The worth that the Global Military Platform Lifetime Support Services market is expected to reach in 2015 according to a new study from ASDReports.com. Sunk costs following procurement investments mean that many national governments are seeking to extend and maximize the length of time their platforms can remain in service, as well as the availability of these fleets. This means lifetime support services are a financial imperative in order to extract maximum value for money from the investment made through expensive procurements. The report provides a detailed analysis of the latest political, economic and technological trends at the heart of the Military Platform Lifetime Support Services Market from 2015 to 2025. 50

COTS Journal | March 2015

$267 MILLION Value of contract award by the U.S. Navy to Northrop Grumman to develop and manufacture the next-generation surface electronic warfare system. The Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 will enhance the AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare attack system through a series of upgrades that add new technologies and capabilities for early detection, signal analysis, threat warning and protection from anti-ship missiles. Northrop Grumman’s SEWIP Block 3 solution features active and passive arrays, performing electronic warfare and communications functions with continuous 360-degree coverage.

50 Percent

Percentage of the Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) used by single U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier during an insurgent airstrike thanks to the onboard BRU-70/A Digital Improved Triple Ejector Rack (DITER). The attack was in support of the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS in January. During its first mission, the rack performed as designed. The aircraft deployed four Laser JDAMs from two DITERs. Soon, Harriers with DITER will be capable of carrying three JDAMs on each rack depending on the mission requirement and armament configuration.

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