COTS Journal by RTC Media

Data Sheet: Rugged Box Systems Roundup

JOURNAL

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

Small Form Factor Boxes Disrupt Slot-Card Status Quo

Processing/RF Integration Enables Jamming and ECM Systems Optical Solutions Boast Advantages Over Copper

An RTC Group Publication

November 2015 Volume 17 Number 11

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.

November 2015 Volume 17 Number 11

FEATURED p.10 Small Form Factor Systems Challenge Slot-Card Approach SPECIAL FEATURE Small Form Factor Systems vs. Slot-card Solutions 10

Small Form Factor Systems Challenge Slot-Card Approach Jeff Child

TECH RECON Signal Chain: Radar Jamming and Electronic Countermeasures 16

DEPARTMENTS 6 Editorial

What’s the Third Offset?

The Inside Track

COTS Products

Marching to the Numbers

Jammer and Countermeasure Systems Ride RF and Compute Advances Jeff Child

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Optical Interconnects Gain Momentum 20 Optical Links Provide Many Advantages for Military Systems Rodger Hosking, Pentek

Coming in December See Page 44 On The Cover: The M109A7 upgrade to the Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzer includes a state-of-the-art “digital-backbone” and power generation that provides significant growth potential for future payloads. Shown here U.S. Army soldiers wait to fire a M109A6 Paladin during annual training at Camp Shelby, MS. (Photo by Tech. Sgt. Brian E. Christiansen).

DATA SHEET Rugged Stand-Alone Box Roundup 24 26

Rugged Box Systems Gain More Functionality and Performance Jeff Child

Rugged Stand-Alone Box Roundup

Digital subscriptions available: cotsjournalonline.com

COTS Journal | November 2015

U.S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation Required by 39 USC 3685. 1)Title of Publication: COTS Journal. 2) Publication Number 1526-4653. 3) Filing Date 10/01/2015 4)Frequency of issue is monthly. 5)Number of issues published annually: 12. 6)Annual subscription price: n/a. 7)Complete Mailing Address of Known Offices of Publication: The RTC Group, 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County. 8)Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters of General Office of Publisher: The RTC Group 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County, California. 9) Publisher: John Reardon, The RTC Group, 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County, CA 92673. Editor: Jeff Child,905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County, California. Managing Editor: James Pirie. The RTC Group, 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County, CA. 10) John Reardon, Zoltan Hunor. The RTC Group; 905 Calle Amanecer, Suite 150, San Clemente, CA 92673 Orange County, California. 11)Known Bondholders Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None. 12)Tax Status: The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes has not changed during the preceding 12 months. 13)Publication Title: COTS Journal. 14)Issue date for Circulation data: 10/1/15 COTS Journal. 15a)Extent and Nature of Circulation: average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months (Net press run): 12416. Number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 10,000 b)1. Paid/requested outside-county mail subscriptions stated on form 12011. (Include advertiserยนs proof and exchange copies)/Average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months:12011, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 9875. b) 2. Paid in-county subscriptions (include advertiserยนs proof and exchange copies)/average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months/number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: n/a. b)3. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales and other non-USPS paid distribution/average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: n/a, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: n/a. b)4. Other classes mailed through the USPS/average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: n/a, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: n/a. c)Total paid and/or requested circulation [sum of 15b. (1), (2), (3) and (4) average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 12011 number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 9375. d1) Free distribution outside of the mail (carriers or other means)/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: n/a, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date:n/a. e) Total free distribution (sum of 15d. and 15e.)/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 105 number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 605. f) Total distribution (sum of 15c and 15e)/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months:12416 number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 12416. g) Copies not distributed/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 20, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 20. h) Total (sum of 15f and g)/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 12416 number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 10000. i) Percent paid and/or requested circulation (15c divided by 15f times 100)/ average number copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 99.8%, number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 99.8% 16. Publication of statement of ownership. Publication will be printed in the October issue of this publication. 17)Signature and title of the editor, publisher, business manager or owner: James Pirie (Managing Editor)11/01/2015. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subjected to criminal sanctions(including fines and imprisonment)and/or civil sanctions (including multiple damages and civil penalties). James Pirie, Managing Editor

COTS Journal | November 2015

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

Art/Production ART DIRECTOR Jim Bell, jimb@rtcgroup.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Hugo Ricardo, hugor@rtcgroup.com

Advertising WESTERN REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Mark Dunaway, markd@rtcgroup.com (949) 226-2023 EASTERN REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Ruby Brower, rubyb@rtcgroup.com (949) 226-2004

Finance VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE Cindy Muir, cmuir@rtcgroup.com (949) 226-2000

Publisher PRESIDENT John Reardon, johnr@rtcgroup.com VICE PRESIDENT Aaron Foellmi, aaronf@rtcgroup.com

COTS Journal 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.

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EDITORIAL Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

What’s the Third Offset?

ecause electronics and computing technology advances so fast it’s not always easy to grasp the significance of the stateof-the-art or its impact while those advances are happening. That’s just as true for cutting edge semiconductor innovations as it is for military platform-level technology. Defense decision makers at the highest levels apparently struggle with articulating these evolutions as well, though they understand putting them into focus matters a great deal. Case in point is the speech earlier this month by Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work at the Reagan Defense Forum held at the Reagan Presidential Library. In that speech Work discussed the progress of an initiative called the “Third Offset Strategy” unveiled a year ago by former defense secretary Chuck Hagel. A little background first. There’s a history of how the United States has had to deal with adversaries that are defined as “great powers.” Russia and China fit the definition as “states that can take on the dominant power, the United States, conventionally and have a nuclear deterrent force that can survive a first strike. As Work describes when you’re are dealing with great powers, the first and most important thing is to keep us from having a war with them. “It’s all deterrence. Offset strategies are focused on great powers, and are focused on one thing and one thing alone: that is making sure that our conventional deterrent is as absolutely strong as possible, to make sure the chance that we would go to war would be very, very low.” With that in mind, the United States has never tried to match a great power tank for tank, ship for ship, airplane for airplane, or person for person. Instead it tries to offset. We’ve had two offsets before, one in the 1950s, where the use of a tactical nuclear weapon would deter a conventional attack on Western Europe. Then in 1975, when the Soviet Union gained strategic nuclear parity, the United States shifted to a second offset involving conventional weapons with nearzero miss, precision-guided weapons. In the last 12 month since Chuck Hagel passed the torch to Ashton Carter, the DoD has been developing a so-called Third Offset Strategy. “Secretary Carter is the one who is really breathing life into what this really will be,” said Work. During his speech Work said the DoD has already started to make investments toward Third Offset Strategy and that the DoD will able to talk more about that once it finishes its 2017 budget bill. Instead of specific examples, Work went on to talk about the big idea behind the strategy. “It’s about humanmachine collaboration and combat teaming,” he said. This he broke down into five basic building blocks.

COTS Journal | November 2015

First is the question of how do you go up against great powers in a conventional sense when they have as many guided weapons as you do and have a home field advantage? The next is the idea of autonomy and leveraging the speed-of-light responses of artificial intelligence. “The way to go after human-machine collaboration is allowing a machine to help humans make better decisions faster,” said Work. The Secretary used the F-35 as an example of today’s human-machine collaboration. The F-35 is not a fighter plane he said. Rather it is a flying sensor computer that sucks in an enormous amount of data, correlates it, analyzes it, and displays to the pilot on his helmet. Another part of the strategy is assisted human operations. This means technologies like wearable electronics and making sure that our war-fighters have combat apps that help them in every single possible contingency. Part of this is also human-machine combat teaming: using unmanned systems and manned systems. The last piece is autonomous weapons. “You take those five building blocks, you put them on a single network where everything is learning at the speed of light: that is the reconnaissance strike complex of the 21st Century,” said Work. Bottom line is the DoD is articulating the Third Offset Strategy as a future empowered by human-computer interaction, computebased autonomous systems and advanced networking. It goes without saying that those are all areas where the products and technologies provided by our military embedded computing industry—and that we focus on in this publication—are indispensable. Sounds like COTS Journal is once again in just the right place at the right time.

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INSIDE TRACK Green Hills Software OS Selected for Air National Guard C-130 Modernization Green Hills Software had announced Georgia Tech Research Institute’s selection of the Integrity-178 tuMP multicore operating system for the US Air National Guard’s Tactical Airlift Mission Software Suite (TAMSS) software modernization program (Figure 1). This new software environment will be based on Green Hills Software’s Integrity-178 Time-Variant Unified Multi Processing (tuMP) operating system for Intel architectures. Using the Integrity-178 tuMP operating system, the Georgia Tech Research Institute will transform this existing airborne C-130 computer system, based on an Intel i7 multicore processor, from

a single-use model to a multi-use platform capable of hosting diverse applications and provide for future growth. Integrity-178 tuMP offers complete support for the ARINC-653 Part 1 standard as well as Part 2 optional features such as Sampling Port Data Structures, Sampling Port Extensions, Memory Blocks, Multiple Module Schedules and File System. Integrity-178 tuMP also aligns with the FACE 2.1 Safety Base and Security profiles.

PICMG Forms Working Group CompactPCI Serial Space Use

mental requirements unique to the space environment, provisions for high availability and the addition of serial interfaces such as SpaceWire, TT-Ethernet and Rapid I/O for interboard communication. According to Joe Pavlat, president of PICMG, the CompactPCI Serial base specification has the mechanical and conduction cooling technologies needed for space already defined and in place. Both 3U and 6U Eurocard formats are supported.

A new working group has been established within the PICMG standards association focused on extending CompactPCI Serial technology to space applications. The new working group, Space CompactPCI Serial was initiated by PICMG member companies and well-known industry leaders, such as Airbus Defense & Space, Thales Alenia Space, and STI Spacetech. It is being assembled by Manfred Schmitz, CEO of MEN Mikro Elektronik, the parent company of MEN Micro, the North American subsidiary. The sub-committee is currently seeking additional companies to contribute to the planning and development of the new Space CompactPCI Serial standard. This group will focus on topics that include fault detection, environ8

COTS Journal | November 2015

Green Hills Software Santa Barbara, CA. (805) 965-6044 www.ghs.com

PICMG Wakefield, MA (781) 246-9318 www.picmg.org

BAE Receives $245.3 Million Contract to Continue Paladin Production The U.S. Army awarded BAE Systems a contract option worth

Figure 1 The Integrity-178 tuMP operating system will transform the existing airborne C-130’s aircraft’s computer system from a single-use model to a multi-use platform capable of hosting diverse applications.

$245.3 million to complete the low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the M109A7 self-propelled howitzer and M992A3 ammunition carrier. The M109A7 program is a significant upgrade over the vehicle’s predecessor, the M109A6 Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzer. It uses the existing main armament and cab structure of the M109A6, but replaces the vehicle’s chassis structure with a new design that increases survivability and allows for the integration of Bradley common drive-train and suspension components. The system leverages technologies developed under the Crusader and Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon programs such as a 600 volt on-board power generation, distribution and management system, coupled with high-voltage gun drive and projectile ramming systems. The state-of-the-art “digital-backbone” and power

Figure 2 The Paladin’s state-of-the-art “digital-backbone” and power generation capability provides significant growth potential for future payloads. generation capability provides significant growth potential for future payloads as well as accommodating existing battlefield network requirements. The upgrades ensure commonality with the existing systems in the U.S. Army’s Armored Brigade Combat Team, including the BAE Systems-built

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INSIDE TRACK Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle. BAE Systems McLean, VA. (703) 847-5820 www.baesystems.com

Austal Awarded $53.4 Million for 11th US Navy EPF Vessel Procurement Austal USA was awarded a $53.4million contract to procure long-lead materials for the 11th Expeditionary Fast Transport for the U.S. Navy. The award covers materials including main propulsion engines, generators, water jets, main reduction gears, and other long-lead time items. Austal’s EPF program is steadily maturing with five ships delivered and three more under construction at its Mobile, AL facility. The 338-ft Spearhead-class EPF is currently providing high-speed, highpayload transport capability to fleet and combatant commanders. The EPF’s large, open mission deck and large habitability spaces provide the opportunity to conduct wide range of missions—from engagement and humanitarian assistance or disaster relief missions

being conducted today to the possibility of supporting a range of future missions including special operations support, command and control, and medical support operations. To date EPFs have been deployed to the EUCOM, AFRICOM, SOUTHCOM and PACOM areas of responsibility. Austal USA Mobile, AL (251) 434-8080 usa.austal.com/

Sierra Nevada Tapped for USMC Dismounted Electronic Countermeasure Systems Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has been awarded a $73.2 million contract by the United States Marine Corps (USMC). Fulfillment includes providing the USMC’s Mobile Expeditionary Units (MEUs) with the most modern and highlycapable dismounted Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) system in the DOD inventory, the Modi II. The delivery order on this indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract is for 581 systems, including spares and training. Work is expected to be completed by August 2016.

Figure 4 The Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) is the Air Force’s primary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) analysis tool. Modi II is one of SNC’s Electronic Warfare and Range Instrumentation (EWR) solutions. It is used both offensively and defensively to disrupt enemy communications on the battlefield. SNC’s EWR products are currently fielded in support of numerous United States military contingencies worldwide, protecting our forces against Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Devices (RCIEDs). SNC’s EWR software-definable ECM systems are configured for use in man-packable (backpack), vehicular, fixed-site and airborne applications. The Modi II system is state-of-the-art and is becoming a truly viable building block for a potential multi-function, networked, DOD system of systems architecture. Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) Sparks, NV (775) 331-0222 www.sncorp.com

USAF Awards Raytheon a $393 Million Deal for ISR Mission Support

Figure 3 Expeditionary Fast Transport Brunswick (EPF-6) launched from the Austal USA shipyard in May 2015.

tool (Figure 4). Under the new contract, Raytheon will continue to sustain, maintain and ensure operational availability of platforms and legacy systems that produce actionable intelligence for the Air Force. These systems collect, process, analyze and disseminate data collected by sensors aboard the Air Force’s ISR platforms—U-2, RQ-4 Global Hawk, MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper and MC-12. The DCGS contract was awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and directly supports the 25th Air Force, part of the U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command. Raytheon IIS has captured more than $2.2 billion in Air Force mission support contracts so far this year, including a U.S. Air Force space launch range contract and a NORAD contract for a variety of operations services. Raytheon Waltham, MA (781) 522-3000 www.raytheoncom

Raytheon will continue mission support for the U.S. Air Force’s Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) under a new $393 million contract. DCGS is the service’s primary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) analysis

COTS Journal | November 2015

SPECIAL FEATURE Small Form Factor Systems vs. Slot-card Solutions

COTS Journal | November 2015

SPECIAL FEATURE

Small Form Factor Systems Challenge Slot-Card Approach With reducing weight and power (SWaP) a priority, military decision makers are looking at whether to rely on slot-card systems or migrate to a small form factor box-level solution Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

ore and more as prime contractors try to reduce their costs by outsourcing technology, they’re looking to embedded computing suppliers to meet their needs rather than build electronic subsystems in-house. At the same time technology upgrades are now gaining even more importance as the DoD does fewer “new start” platforms and more upgrading of existing platforms. Whether under the term tech upgrade, tech insertion or modernization, extending the life of Current Force military platforms is the theme across all branches of the DoD. As upgrade programs move forward, a major decision for military system developer is whether to stick with standards-based slot card architectures or instead use integrated off-the-shelf box-level computers. The traditional approach is to use slot-card boards in a card cage. This means choosing a bus architecture, a rugged card cage and an SBC, plus any additional I/O boards to fulfill the requirements. Over the past several years, traditional embedded board vendors are adding stand-alone rugged box-level systems to their military market offerings.

COTS Journal | November 2015

SPECIAL FEATURE

Figure 1 Small form factor systems are attractive wherever size, weight and power (SWaP) is a priority concerns—especially in UAVs.

Emerging SFF Standards

Efforts have been made to standardization A drawback of rugged box pre-inte- on the mechanical format or I/O configuragrated systems is there have been little or no tion. Three VITA draft specification efforts standardization on the format or I/O config- have been in the works in the past couple urations between vendors of these products. years: VITA 73, VITA 74 and VITA 75. It took a while for those efforts to achieve traction with few new products and slow progress with the VITA specifications. Standards or not, ERacks • Welded Aluminum • Lightweight & Rugged rugged- box level sys• 3U to 14U Sizes • EMI/EMC Shielding Available tems is perhaps one of the most active design Amazon Racks activities in the embed• Rotomolded Polyethylene • Integral Wheels • 4U to 14U Sizes • Short Lead Times ded computing industry. These solutions are edging out traditional backplane-centric slot 19" rack-mount transit cases are shockcard system architecmounted, with 19"-34" deep chassis, in various colors and options, including Air Conditioning. tures in many military Also available – single lid cases. All racks & cases platforms. This boxare certified to MIL-STD-810F, stable from -40F to +158F and highly customizable. level system trend is dominating wherever size, weight and power CP Cases, Inc. (SWaP) is a priority— (410) 352-9450 sales.usa@cpcases.com especially in UAVs and www.cpcases.com military vehicle electronic systems. Rugged box-level systems span a wide range of formats, sizes and configurations with a wealth of non-standard formats

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COTS Journal | November 2015

that have emerged (Figure 1). An example of a recent non-standard small form factor offering is the XPand6903 from Extreme Engineering, a rugged, sealed, and compact fanless embedded box PC utilizing the Intel Atom E3800 family of processors (Figure 2). The XPand6903 can be DIN rail mounted for easy installation into an industrial cabinet. It supports the Intel Atom E3800 family processor, which offers up to four cores at 1.91 GHz. The internal SATA SSD memory modules combine the convenience of high-capacity off-the-shelf storage with the reliability of solid-state non-volatile memory. The standard configuration includes dual VGA video, two Gbit Ethernet ports, four USB ports, and RS-232/422 ports. The XPand6903 also supports operating temperatures from -40 to +70 degrees C ambient.

Slot-Card Approach Has Flexibility The slot-card approach offers a number of advantages. One is the flexibility in terms of I/O complement that can be supported. For example if a MIL-STD-1553 interface is needed, such a board can be added. That flexibility is very welcome especially when not all the I/O requirements are defined at the beginning of a project—which happens quite frequently in military programs. Also for functions like comms and networking systems sometimes it’s helpful to leave open for the end-user for reconfiguring fielded systems to their own needs. In some cases of tech refresh or tech

Figure 2 The XPand6903 is a rugged, sealed, and compact fanless embedded box PC utilizing the Intel Atom E3800 family of processors and internal SATA SSD memory modules.

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cessors developed for laptop and other portable devices evolved, the power dissipation dropped over the past several years. In this era of constrained DOD Figure 3 budgets VME upThe VNX (VITA 74)-based ROCK-3 family of systems features the grades and refreshes integration of the Intel Atom E3845 processor series as well as are much more support for Wind River safe and secure operating system along likely to be funded, with CoreAVI’s real time and safety critical suite of OpenGL drivers. rather than forklift upgrades requiring new backplanes, upgrade programs, the bus architecture is packaging, and power supplies. An example already given—with VME having the larg- from a couple years ago was the Engineerest legacy in military applications. That ing Change Proposal 2 (ECP 2) program said, VPX-based systems are bringing new for the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle. performance and functionality to slot-card That program called for the development kinds of systems. One very strong trend seen of an upgraded rugged embedded procesin VME SBC offerings over the years is an sor subsystem. Curtiss Wright was tapped increasing demand and supply of Intel-pro- to supply its Turret Processor Unit III (TPU cessor based boards. As Intel’s line of pro- III) subsystem, comprising its Fire Control

COTS Journal | November 2015

Processor III (FCP III) single board computer and COTS PMC-651 Ethernet Switch, as the baseline solution for the subsystem. The compact, lightweight single chassis solution featured hybrid backplane technology that supports both VME and VPX open standards. This accommodates hosting the critical pre-qualified items like VME-based Fire Control Processor to be able to work alongside OpenVPX modules.

Enclosure Design Freedom with VNX Among the standards-based box-level systems VITA 74, now dubbed VNX, has seen the most activity over the past 12 months. The VNX specification leverages concepts from the VPX and OpenVPX standards as well as the VITA 57 FMC specification. VNX defines two standard modules. Each are 89 mm by 75 mm, but differ in thickness and the number of pins associated with each module. The 12.5 mm module is well suited for applications such as an I/O carrier for MiniPCIe mezzanine cards, data storage, or functions such as GPS. The 19 mm module

SPECIAL FEATURE

has a higher power dissipation capability and can host functions such as SBCs, Software Defined Radio components, Graphics/ Video, FPGAs or more complex I/O implementations. An interesting facet of the VNX specification is that it is does not define the enclosure. As a result, the system architect is free to configure the modules in the most appropriate combinations for the specific deployment. Modules are inherently conduction cooled allowing maximum flexibility for cooling the enclosure. Various enclosure designs include cooling by natural convection, conduction cooling, and forced convection cooling. Enclosures vary in size from a sleeve to hold a single module to designs incorporating more than ten modules. In May Creative Electronic Systems (CES) announced the first product line of mission computers based on VNX (Figure 3). The ROCK-3 family of systems features the integration of the Intel Atom E3845 processor as well as support for Wind River safe and secure operating system along with CoreAVI’s real time and safety critical suite of OpenGL drivers. In addition to the AMD G-Series SoC and the Intel Atom E3845 processor CES is working on the integration of several other processor architectures. The support for Wind River VxWorks 653 Platform along with CoreAVi’s OpenGL drivers is the very first integration done in a VNX form factor. It is a step toward DO-178 safety certification and the ability to address safety critical applications within a small form factor mission computer. 4DSP Austin, TX. (800) 816-1751 www.4dsp.com Acromag Wixom, MI (248) 295-0310 www.acromag.com ADLINK Technology San Jose, CA (408) 360-0200 www.adlinktech.com

Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA. (703) 779-7800. www.cwcdefense.com. 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 Innovative Integration Simi Valley, CA (805) 578-4260 www.innovative-dsp.com Kontron Poway, CA. (888) 294-4558 www.kontron.com Mercury Systems Chelmsford, MA. (978) 967-1401. www.mrcy.com North Atlantic Industries Bohemia, NY (631) 567-1100 www.naii.com Octagon Systems Westminster, CO (303) 430-1500 www.octagonsystems.com RTD Embedded Technologies State College, PA (814) 234-8087 www.rtd.com Themis Computer Fremont, CA. (510) 252-0870 www.themis.com

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15 November 2015 9/29/14

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TECH RECON Signal Chain: Radar Jamming and Electronic Countermeasures

Jammer and Countermeasure Systems Ride RF and Compute Advances No longer aimed at simply disrupting enemy electronic systems, jamming and ECM platforms are using integrated RF and computing technologies to misdirect electronic detection systems. Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

earing the end of COTS Journal’s year-long “Signal Chain” series, this month looks at technologies and platforms focused on the stage of the signal chain where sensor data stream signals are modified to be sent out for radar jamming or as an electronic countermeasure (ECM) to confuse enemy systems. This is stage where electronics and computer are used not passively to detect signals, but rather to send them toward the enemy as an attack. Gone now are the days where electronic warfare was simply about denying an enemy’s use of electronic systems aimed at detecting your warfighters and their assets. Today it’s more about gaining an edge by deceptive jamming designed to cause an adversary’s systems to misinterpreting the electronic environment. A number of RF and computing technologies enable this evolution of capability such as Digital RF Memory (DRFM) technology.

DRFM Technology in Use For its part, Mercury Defense Systems, a subsidiary of Mercury Systems, has expertise in Digital RF Memory (DRFM) technology. It has made use of smaller packages, faster responses and vast volumes of low-latency compute power define modern DRFM evolution. According to Mercury, its our lat16

COTS Journal | November 2015

Figure 1 Offering direct digital synthesizer (DDS) capabilities, the OpenRFM Ensemble RFM-1RS18 is a single-channel tuner available in four configurations that cover 2 to 18 GHz.

est generation DRFM technology produces modules as thin as 0.44inches (standard modules are 0.8 inches wide, typical peer solutions are double width or 1.6 inches wide) and leverage the advantages of Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS) Local Oscillator (LO) technology. DDS enables sub-microsecond tuning speeds over a wide bandwidth. That however is only beneficial if their associated digital noise is compensated for or eliminated. To address that the company uses advanced circuit design and materials, IMA topology and construction and especially, detailed design simulation to achieve excellent spurious, inter-module and phase noise

performance. It that way DDS noise is completely negated. Mercury Defense Systems has receive numerous offers from the U.S. Navy in the past couple years for its DRFM jammers. Most recently in June, Mercury received a $7.6 million follow-on order against its 5 year sole source basic ordering agreement (BOA) to deliver advanced Digital RF Memory (DRFM) jammers to the U.S. Navy. The order was received in the Company’s fiscal 2015 fourth quarter and is expected to be shipped by the end of its fiscal 2017 second quarter.

Board Level Solutions An example board-level product offering direct digital synthesizer (DDS) capabilities is Mercury’s OpenRFM Ensemble RFM1RS18 single-channel tuner family (Figure 1). It is available in four configurations that cover 2 to 18 GHz. Two down-converter tuners convert signals to a lower frequency IF for processing, and two transmit up-converter tuners convert an IF to a user-selectable frequency between 2 and 18 GHz. All four are composed of up to three OpenRFM modules and require only a single 6U VXS slot. They can be used as stand-alone units or paired, dramatically reducing the time required to configure application-specific subsystems.

TECH RECON system, with an option for the thirteenth lot to be exercised in 2016. The 46 systems plus spare weapons replaceable assemblies will equip new aircraft as well as modernize the existing fleet. The order also includes field support and assembly repairs.

Next Gen Jammer Program

Figure 2 The ALQ-99 tactical jamming system is used on the Navy’s EA-6B Prowler and EA-18G Growler (shown) electronic attack aircraft.

One of the two down-converter tuners has an instantaneous bandwidth of 1.5 GHz; its output is split into four IF outputs, each with a 375 MHz bandwidth centered at 745 MHz. The other has a single 1 GHz wide output centered at 1.875 GHz. Both downconverter tuners include a fast switching direct digital synthesizer (DDS). Both tuner up-converters have single outputs, a tunable range of 2 to 18 GHz and can accept 1 GHz of bandwidth centered at 1.875 GHz. One model also has a DDS. The up-converter tuner without a DDS can be paired with the down-converter model with a DDS, sharing the down-converter tuner’s synthesizer to provide locked tune frequencies. The upconverter tuner with a DDS can be used as a stand-alone unit, or it can be paired with the single output down-converter tuner to provide an RF transmit/receive solution with independent tuning capabilities in both transmit and receive paths.

Upgrading Aircraft Jammer At the platform level, one of the most advanced radar jamming systems is the Navy’s EA-18G Prowler aircraft. The Navy has both short term upgrade and long term replacement plans to the sophisticated jamming systems aboard the Growler. Earlier this year Exelis received a U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center contract valued at $15.3 million to perform essential sustainment work on the ALQ-99 tactical jamming system. The ALQ-99 is used on the Navy’s EA-6B

Prowler and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft (Figure 2). Under the contract, Exelis was tasked to redesign three modules—components of the ALQ-99’s universal exciter upgrade shop-replaceable assembly—to extend the service life of the Navy’s principal standoff jammer. As part of the redesign, Exelis replacing legacy application-specific electronic components (ASICs) with modern field-programmable technology (FPGAs), enhancing reliability and the system’s ability to adapt to changing mission needs. The work will also include extensive qualification testing to ensure that the aircraft can operate successfully in challenging environments. According Exelis, the ALQ-99 is expected to continue supporting the Navy’s electronic attack mission for several years until a nextgeneration solution is fielded. Exelis was acquired by Harris this summer. In August Harries announced it has received a $97 million order to provide the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) with self-protection jammers for the integrated defensive electronic countermeasures (IDECM) program. Harris will provide its ALQ-214 radio frequency integrated countermeasure system, which is already used by the Navy to protect carrier-based F/A-18s, including both Hornets and Super Hornets, from sophisticated RF threats such as hostile radars and air defense systems. Under the latest order, Harris will begin producing the twelfth full-rate production lot of the

Meanwhile, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy, Raytheon recently completed Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) testing for its Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) array prototypes at the Benefield Anechoic Facility at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The prototype testing, conducted over a six week period, indicated that the NGJ will fulfill the U.S. Navy’s stringent requirements for EIRP, a prime indicator of the system’s range and capacity for reaching and affecting multiple targets simultaneously. The NGJ is built on a combination of high-powered, agile, beam-jamming techniques and cutting-edge solid-state electronics to achieve two goals: meet the U.S. Navy’s electronic warfare mission requirements and provide a cost-effective open systems architecture for future upgrades. It is scheduled to replace legacy ALQ-99 tactical jamming pods, delivering new capabilities for the Navy’s EA18G Growler. Earlier this month Raytheon announced it—along with the U.S. Navy—completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the NGJ program, a key milestone in the acquisition process. The Navy plans to declare Initial Operating Capability for the Jammer in 2021. According to Raytheon the jammer’s open architecture design, coupled with highpowered, solid state electronics and agile jamming techniques, will enable us to meet U.S. Navy electronic warfare mission requirements while ensuring the affordability of future upgrades.

Shipboard Electronic Warfare As for shipboard electronic warfare systems, the most advanced on-going is the Navy’s Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP). For the past 17 years Navy’s Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP), a spiral-block development program, has provided a common/ open and scalable architecture to leverage emerging technologies. In Block 2 of the Navy’s SEWIP initiative employed the first sensor to be fully compliant with the Navy’s Product COTS Journal | November 2015

TECH RECON Line Architecture strategy (Figure 3). By using COTS components, it provides additional cost savings and ease of maintenance for sailors. Called the AN/SLQ-32(V)2, the system found on all U.S. aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and other warships is upgraded with key capabilities that determine if the electronic sensors of potential foes are stalking the ship. Mercury Systems provided Lockheed Martin with advanced radio frequency (RF) microwave tuner and intermediate frequency (IF)

products as part of the SEWIP Block 2 upgrade. In July the Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $154 million low-rate initial production contract for Block 2 to provide additional systems to upgrade the AN/SLQ-32 systems on U.S. aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and other warships. Block 2 is the latest in an evolutionary succession of improvement “blocks” the Navy is pursuing for its shipboard electronic warfare system. In 2013 and 2014, Lockheed Martin was awarded 24 systems as part of low-rate initial

Figure 3 Block 2 of the Navy’s SEWIP initiative is upgraded with key capabilities that determine if the electronic sensors of potential foes are stalking the ship.

production, the first 10 of which have been delivered to the Navy on schedule.

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COTS Journal | November 2015

In another interesting recent electronic warfare technology announcement, earlier this month the Office of Naval Research issued a solicitation for the Electromagnetic Command and Control (EMC2) project. The effort is aimed at close integration of disparate RF system electronics and antennas to reduce costs and RF interference. The effort is leveraging work underway in the Integrated Topside (InTop) shipboard antenna program. According to the solicitation synopses, the EMC2 effort is for the study, design, fabrication, integration, and test & evaluation (T&E) tasks anticipated for the development and demonstration of a set of prototypes, and their component subsystems, that integrate RF functionality (Electronic Warfare (EW), Radar, Communications (Comms), Information Operations (IO)) into a common set of multi-function apertures, electronics and software/firmware through an architecture that is modular, scalable across platforms and open at the RF, electronics and software/firmware levels.

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SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Optical Interconnects Gain Momentum

Optical Links Provide Many Advantages for Military Systems With advantages over copper interconnects such as signal integrity, security and data rate, optional links offer an attractive alternative. New specifications define how to deploy those optical links and build efficient system designs. Rodger Hosking, Vice President, Pentek

dvances in optical interface technology boost performance levels to help meet increasing data rates and signal bandwidths. New specifications define how to deploy these optical links within open industry standards, affording improved interoperability and supporting future upgrades. Offering many advantages over traditional copper connections, optical links will boost data rates, improve signal integrity and security, and greatly extend distance between system components. One major shortcoming of copper cable is signal loss, which becomes a serious limitation for higher frequency signals and longer cable lengths. Across a span of 100 meters, optical cables can sustain data rates up to 100 times higher than copper cable. Because copper cables radiate electromagnetic energy, eavesdropping on network cables is a major security concern, not only for military and government customers, but also for corporations, banks, and financial institutions. Advanced signal sniffers in vehicles and briefcases are hard to detect and restrict. Optical cables are extremely difficult to â&#x20AC;&#x153;tapâ&#x20AC;? without damaging the cable, resulting in immediate detection. Signals flowing in copper cables are also susceptible to contamination from nearby sources of electromagnetic radiation, such as antennas, generators, and motors. This is 20

COTS Journal | November 2015

critical for military and commercial aircraft and ships, as well as manned or unmanned vehicles, which are often packed with dozens of different electronic payloads. Optical cables are completely immune to EMI and even lightning discharges.

lower than copper cables that depend on commodity metal pricing. As is often the case, industrial, military and government embedded systems are now taking advantage of the many benefits of this rapidly advancing commercial technology.

Smaller and Lighter

Optical Cables

Physically, optical cables are much smaller and lighter than copper cables, especially important for weight-sensitive applications such as weapons, unmanned vehicles, and aircraft. Optical cables will operate just as well when submerged in seawater, and are completely immune to electrical shortingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;especially important where explosive vapors may be present. To ease installation through conduits and passages, optical cables have smaller diameters and can withstand up to ten times more pulling tension than copper cables. The table in Figure 1 compares the tradeoffs between optical and copper cable technologies. Driven by huge commercial markets for data servers, storage networks, telecom systems, and home and office internet and entertainment systems, optical interfaces are replacing older copper connections for good reasons: cost and performance. As the use of optical cables becomes more widespread, the cost per length can be much

An optical cable is a waveguide for propagating light through an optical fiber. It consists of a central core clad with a dielectric material having a higher index of refraction than the core to ensure total internal reflection. Optical cables use either multi-mode or single-mode transmission. Multi-mode cables accept light rays entering the core within a certain angle of the axis. They travel down the cable by repeatedly reflecting off the dielectric boundary between the core and the cladding. The core diameters are typically 50 or 62.5 microns, and the wavelength of light is typically 850 nm. Single-mode cables propagate light as an electromagnetic wave operating in a single transverse mode straight down the fiber using typical wavelengths of 1310 and 1550 nm. The core diameter must be no greater than ten times the light wavelength, typically 8 to 10 microns. Although single-mode cables can carry signals over lengths 10 to 100 times longer than multi-

A46_CotsJrnl_2-25x9_875V8_A45.qxd 9/23/15 11:4

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

PROPERTY

COPPER

OPTICAL

Interface Transceiver Cost

Low

High but dropping

PC Network Interface Cards

Integrated in PC or laptop

Usually optional at $100-$200

Power over Ethernet

Supported at low cost

Not possible

Data Rate

1 GHz

> 10 GHz

Cable Loss – 100 meters

94 percent

3 percent

Max Transmission Distance

100 m (Cat 6)

300 m (multi-mode) 10 km (single-mode)

EMI Susceptibility Risk

Moderate

Zero

EMI Radiation Risk

Moderate

Zero

Security / Eavesdropping Risk

High

Extremely Low

Termination Costs

Low

High

Cable Cost per Length

High

Low

Cable Weight per 1000 m

60 to 600 kg

6 kg

Fire Hazard

Supports current flow if shorted

Zero

Tensile Strength

25 pounds

100-250 pounds

Cleaning Requirements

Yes

Figure 1 Advantages and disadvantages between copper and optical interfaces.

mode, the transceivers are more expensive. Hundreds of different types of optical cable connectors exist, each addressing specific applications and environments. The challenge is connecting the ends of two optical cables to retain the maximum fidelity of the light interface, in spite of human factors, tolerances, contamination, and environments. Special tools and kits for cleaning the ends of each optical fiber are essential for reliable operation.

Optical Transceivers Coupling electrical signals to light signals for transmission through optical cables requires optical transceivers. Most systems require full duplex operation for each optical link to support flow control and error correction. A pair of optical fibers, often bonded together in the same cable, supports transmit and receive data flowing in opposite directions. Although several analog light modulation schemes (including AM and FM) have been used in the past, now almost all transceivers use digital modulation. Optical emitters simply translate the digital logic levels into on/off modulation of the laser light beam, while the detectors convert the modulated light back into digital signals.

This physical layer interface for transporting 1’s and 0’s can support any protocol. The latest transceivers use laser emitters to support data rates to 100 Gbits/s and higher, and each generation steadily reduces the power, size and cost of devices. Different technologies are required for emitters and detectors, but both are often combined in a single product to provide full-duplex operation. Optical transceivers thus provide a physical layer interface between optical cables and the vast array of electrical multigigabit serial ports found on processors, FPGAs, and network adapters. As a result, optical transceivers are transparent to the protocols they support, making them appropriate for a virtually any high speed serial digital link. Electrical signals of the optical transceivers connect to the end point device, which must then handle clock encoding and recovery, synchronization, and line balance at the physical layer. Data link layer circuitry establishes framing so that data words can be sent and received across the channel.

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Protocols define the rules and features supported by each type of system link, COTS Journal | November 2015

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

New Features for VITA 49

Figure 2 The Cobalt Model 52611 Quad Serial FPDP 3U VPX module supports four full-duplex LC optical cables for connections between chassis, each operating at over 400 Mbytes/s.

ranging from simple transmission of raw data to sophisticated multi-processor support for distributed networks, intelligent routing, and robust error correction. Of course, heavier protocols invariably mean less efficient data transfers and increased latency. Generally, it is best to use the simplest protocol that satisfies the given system requirement. As an example of a lightweight protocol, Aurora for Xilinx FPGAs features onboard link-layer engines and high-speed serial transceivers. Aurora is intended primarily for point-to-point connectivity for sending data between two FPGAs. It includes 8b/10b or 64b/66b channel coding to balance the transmission channel, and supports single- or full-duplex operation. Aurora handles virtually any word length and allows multiple serial lanes to be bonded into a single logical channel, aggregating single lane bit rates for higher data throughput. Data rates for each serial lane can be 12.5 Gbits/s or higher. Extremely simple and with minimal overhead, Aurora is very efficient in linking data streams between multiple FPGAs within a module, or between modules across a backplane. Stepping up in complexity is the Serial FPDP protocol defined under VITA 17.1. It addresses several important needs of embedded systems, including flow control to avoid data overruns, and copy mode to allow one node to receive data and also forward it on to another node. The copy/ loop mode supports a ring of multiple nodes eventually completing a closed loop. 22

COTS Journal | November 2015

The nominal data rate on each lane is 2.5 Gbits/s, but advances in device technology now support rates almost twice that speed. Figure 2 shows an example Serial FPDP interface board. Infiniband defines a flexible, low latency, point-to-point interconnect fabric for data storage and servers with current rates of 14 Gbits/s, moving up to 50 Gbits/s in the next few years. Channel speeds can be boosted by forming logical channels by bonding 4 or 12 lanes. The venerable Ethernet protocol still dominates computer networks, with 10 Gbit Ethernet now commonly supported by a vast range of computers, switches, and adapters. Even though Ethernet suffers from high overhead, making it somewhat cumbersome for high-data-rate, low latency applications, its ubiquitous presence virtually assures compatibility.

Approved as an ANSI standard in 2007, VITA 49 defines standardized packets for connecting software radio systems for communications, radar, telemetry, direction finding, and other applications. The original specification addressed only receiver functions. Receive signal data packets deliver digitized payload data, a precise time stamp, and identifiers for each channel and signal. Context packets include operating parameters of the receiver including tuning frequency, bandwidth, sampling rate, gain, antenna orientation, speed, heading, etc. One notable shortcoming of the original specification was its inability to control the receiver. VITA 49.2, a new extension to VITA Radio Transport (VRT) now in balloting, adds control packets for delivering operational parameters to all aspects of the radio equipment, as well as support for transmitters (Figure 3). The new stimulus packets contain streaming digital samples of signals to be transmitted. Other new packets, called capabilities packets, inform the host control system of the available hardware in the radio along with the allowed range of parameters for control. Lastly, spectrum packets from the receiver deliver spectral information to help simplify spectral survey and energy detection operations required by the control system. With this latest extension, VRT provides a standardized protocol for controlling and configuring all aspects of a software radio transceiver. One major objective is enabling a common radio hardware platform to handle a wide range of applications simply by implement-

Figure 3 New extensions to the VITA Radio Transport (VRT) protocol define standardized packets for control and status of radio receiver and transmitter equipment, as well as digitized receive and transmit signal payload packets for added flexibility.

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

multi-mode transceivers and cable to support cable lengths of 100 meters or more. Single-mode transceivers will extend the distance to several kilometers. A wide range of MT optical cables and connector products allow board-to-board connections across the backplane, and backplane to-chassis connections for external MTP cables to remotely located systems. The 12 Gbyte/s VITA 66.4 optical interface complements the 8 Gbyte/s Gen 3 x8 copper PCIe interface on VPX P1, offering plenty of I/O for demanding applications. System engineers can now choose between optical and copper links to solve high data rate connectively requirements and take advantage of the benefits of each technology.

Figure 4 The Flexor Model 5973 3U VPX Virtex-7 FMC carrier is the industry’s first VITA 66.4 optical backplane product. Samtec FireFly optical transceivers deliver data rates up to 12 Gbyte/s full duplex to the backplane supporting a wide range of protocols implemented within the FPGA.

ing new host software algorithms that exploit VRT protocols to achieve the required modes of operation.

New Optical Interfaces for VPX Although optical interfaces using various connectors and cable types have been deployed in embedded systems for years, most of them use front panel connections. This can be a maintenance issue and is often not permitted in conduction-cooled systems. The VITA 66 Fiber Optic Interconnect group has developed a set of standards that bridge optical connections directly through the VPX backplane connector. The first three are variants for 3U and 6U systems and are based on MT, ARINC 801 Termini, and Mini-Expanded Beam optical connector technology, respectively. The metal housings are physically dimensioned to replace one or more of the standard MultiGig RT-2 VPX bladed copper connectors. The high-density MT variant defined in VITA 66.1 provides the highest density of the three, with up to 12 or 24 pairs of optical fibers, while VITA 66.2 and 66.3 each provide 2 pairs. A fourth standard soon to be released, VITA 66.4, uses the MT ferrule but with a metal housing half the size of VITA 66.1, thus occupying only half of the 3U VPX P2 connector position. These housings are available from major vendors, including TE Connectivity and Molex. To simplify implementation, Samtec offers its FireFly Micro Fly-Over system. It consists of a 12 pairs of optical fibers

installed in an MT ferrule. One 12-lane optical flat cable connects to a small VCSEL laser emitter module and the other connects to a detector module.

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

VITA 66.4 Standard Implementation Figure 4 shows the industry’s first implementation of the emerging VITA 66.4 standard, the Pentek Flexor Model 5973 3U VPX Virtex-7 FMC carrier. Here the electrical interfaces of the FireFly emitter and detector modules are connected directly to the GTX serial transceiver pins of the Virtex-7 FPGA. Today, FireFly transceivers are rated for 14 Gbits/s with 28 Gbits/s versions coming soon. With Pentek’s Model 5973 operating at nominal data rates of 10 Gbits/s through each optical fiber using the Aurora protocol, the backplane throughput is 12 Gbytes/s, simultaneously in both directions. The first version of this product uses

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COTS Journal | November 2015

DATA SHEET Rugged Stand-Alone Box Roundup

Rugged Box Systems Gain More Functionality and Performance Managing to gain performance while at the same time reducing in size, rugged box systems continue to evolve as critical solutions for military platforms. Meanwhile they are becoming more than just computing systems as they add new functionalities. Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

or decades the military embedded computing industry basically revolved around the single board computer as the defining product category. Other subsystem boards and product all revolved around working alongside the popular SBCs and their form factors. That’s now changed to where rugged box-level systems are now equally significant to SBCs. That’s in part because military system developers continue to seek out higher levels of system integration. That’s put rugged boxlevels systems in the limelight for military decision makers. Even though the number of product offerings have grown over the last year, a smaller set of vendors provided most of these new systems. Three technology trends dominant the latest crop of rugged box systems. First, there’s an ongoing push to greater levels of performance. Many of the system employ chips like the Intel Quad Core i7 Broadwell processor or the XeonD server-class processor. Second, there’s an emerging trend of combining complete subsystem functionalities that go beyond basic mission computing roles. Networking router technology and HD video recording functionality are two examples along those lines. And finally, there’s a basic move toward smaller, lighter more compact systems driving by the general desire to reduce size, 24

COTS Journal | November 2015

Figure 1 Open architecture box-level computers are well suited for LPD 17 class ship’s high-reliability requirements.

weight and power (SWaP) in military platforms. Another trend in box-level systems is one of terminology. Many vendors are applying to term High Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC) to their offerings. This gets confusing because there are several different conflicting definitions of what HPEC is supposed to mean. The mostly boil down to the theme of leveraging technologies like VPX and PCI Express to provide massive processing power for compute-intensive systems. They are designed to meet immense throughput and processing requirements in space-constrained systems handling more than a teraflop of data.

An example of today’s box-systems technology in use is Octagon System’s FLEET computers which were selected for deployment on several of the Navy’s LPD 17 class of expeditionary warfare ships (Figure 1). The LPD 17 class is the U.S. Navy’s newest generation of amphibious warfare ships. Octagon’s product dependability will support the success of warfare missions. The LPD 17 ship class supports amphibious transport of assault forces of the United States Marine Corps. This class of ship is becoming the most sophisticated amphibious ship ever produced, offering unprecedented war fighting capabilities. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems is the total ship electronics systems integrator for all LPD 17-class ships and prime contractor for lifecycle engineering and support of Raytheon-designed and developed equipment. The open architecture FLEET computers are well suited for this program’s highreliability requirements, a feature proven through uncompromised performance. This recent order for the FLEET computer on LPD 25 is preceded by 104 initial fielding on the LPD 17 class in service ships. Fielding across the class will result in the eventual deployment of hundreds of Octagon computing platforms.

DATA SHEET

Rugged Stand-Alone Box Roundup

Box Systems Exploit UltraScale FPGA Performance The CESCC820 (Compact Embedded System) from 4DSP is a ruggedized, small form factor embedded system designed to provide a complete and generic processing platform for data acquisition, signal processing, and communication. With Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) in mind, the conduction-cooled CESCC820 features a low-power x86 CPU tightly coupled to a high-performance Kintex UltraScale UltraScale FPGA and FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC - VITA 57.1). • Intel Atom Quad Core 1.91 GHz processor. • 2 Gbytes of DDR3 SDRAM. • 64 Gbyte SSD (2x SSD option available). • HDMI, USB, 2x 1 Gbit Ethernet links, FMC HPC site, JTAG. • Kintex UltraScale XCKU040 FPGA with 4 Gbytes DDR3 SDRAM. • Enclosure base: 148 x 163 mm, Enclosure body: 121 x 163 mm. • Height 100 mm, weight: 3.0 kg. 4DSP Austin, TX. (800) 816-1751 www.4dsp.com

Small Form Factor Computer Offers Removable SSD Storage for Data Security Acromag’s ARCX box is a rugged, mission computer that is customizable-off-theshelf and SWaP-optimized. Available in single or double PMC/XMC expansion site versions, this small deployable embedded computer has thick circuit boards and advanced thermal management to allow the computer to operate reliably under hostile conditions. Compatible with industry standards and manufactured to IP67 standards and shock and vibration tested to MIL-STD-801G makes the ARCX a deployable solution for a wide range of industrial, military and aerospace applications.

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COTS Journal | November 2015

The HPERC-IBR-H Series from ADLINK is a military grade system in a sealed, IP67-rated enclosure featuring high speed MIL-DTL-38999 connectors. At just 63.5/100mm (2.5/3.9 inch) x 150mm (5.9 inch) x 203mm (8.0 inch), the HPERC-IBR-H Series is a highly integrated, compact VITA 75 compliant unit almost 30 percent smaller than other leading competitive products1. The HPERC-IBR-H Series meets SWaP requirements for modern military applications, with a focus on sensor data display, command, and control for mission computing. • VITA 75.22 coldplate mounting.

• 4th Generation Intel Core i7 processor.

• 3rd Gen Intel Core i7 processor.

• IP67 NEMA rating; MIL-STD-810F environmental specification.

• MIL-STD-38999 high speed connectors.

• Provides access to standard computer peripherals via Type 6 COM Express CPU. • Ports available include two HDMI/ DVI ports, one VGA port, three USB 2.0 ports, one SATA port and two Gbit Ethernet ports. • Two mPCIe/mSATA slots, PMC/XMC expansion, dual SSD drive bay (optional) and two SATA SSD drive bays. Acromag Wixom, MI (248) 295-0310 www.acromag.com

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Compact, Military Grade Rugged System is VITA 75 Compliant

• High speed eSATA, USB 3.0. • Soldered DDR3L-1333 8 -16 Gbytes DRAM. • Quad Gbit Ethernet; Available GPGPU on 16-lane 3rd Gen PCI Express. • Operating temperature: -40 to +85 degrees C. ADLINK Technology San Jose, CA (408) 360-0200 www.adlinktech.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.

Rugged 3U OpenVPX System Supports Safety Critical Standards

Rugged System Combines Core i7 Processor and Cisco 5915 Router

System Blends Core i7, Gbit Ethernet Switch and VICTORY Compliance

ROCK-2 from CES is a series of rugged, modular, pre-qualified, COTS subsystems optimized for C4ISR applications. With the ability to interact with sensors, acquire and process data and share it on a network or other standard avionic buses, ROCK-2 features all the core functions to fulfill the requirements of C4ISR applications. The system has been engineered with Design Assurance Level (DAL) safety certifications,

The Curtiss-Wright DuraWORX 80-41 is an ultra-rugged multi-function computing and networking system that combines a high performance 4th Gen Intel Core i7-based mission processor and a Cisco 5915 IOS-managed secure network router into a single modular platform designed for extended temperature, high shock and vibration environments. It integrates the capabilities of the standalone DuraCOR 80-41 computer and DuraMAR 5915 router subsystems.

The XPand6208 from Extreme Engineering is a rugged system based on the 4th generation Intel Core i7 ( formerly Haswell) processor and a 10 Gbit Ethernet switch. With a compact design and weighing less than nine pounds, the XPand6208 maximizes processing and networking performance while minimizing SWaP. The XPand6208 provides an alternative to traditionally larger slot-based systems; it is an actual Small Form Factor (SFF) system based on COTS 3U VPX modules.

• Up to 4 Freescale QorIQ P3041 processor with 2 Gbytes DDR3L each. Option for Intel Core i7. • Avionic I/O rich; Advanced video and graphics processing.

• 2.4 GHz Quad-Core 4th Gen Intel Core i7 Processor and Cisco 5915 ESR Router.

• 3U OpenVPX architecture.

• Modular I/O architecture: embedded Ethernet switch PCIe MiniCard, PCIe/104 I/O expansion.

• Fully integrated and prequalified. Tested to DO-160, MIL-STD-810.

• Designed to extreme MIL-810G/ DO-160 shock/vibe/thermal/altitude, humidity.

• Option for DAL-C (DO-178C/DO-254).

• Designed for demanding EMI/EMC per MIL-STD-461F + DO-160.

• 40 to +70 degrees C operating temperature. • Rugged sealed air-force-cooled subsystems with internal conductioncooled modules. Creative Electronic Systems Geneva, Switzerland. +41 (0)22 884 51 00. www.ces-swap.com

• 28 VDC MIL-STD-1275/704/DO-160 power supply with voltage transient protections. • Rugged IP67 (dust/waterproof) aluminum chassis with MIL-DTL-38999 connectors. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA. (703) 779-7800. www.cwcdefense.com.

• 4th Gen Intel Core i7-based processor ( formerly known as Haswell. 5th Gen Intel Core i7 (Broadwell-H) support available Q4 2015. • XPedite5205 Cisco IOS Gbit Ethernet Embedded Services Router (optional). • 10 Gbit Ethernet switch. • Layer 2 switching and Layer 3 routing management with extensive IEEE protocol and IETF RFC support (optional). • VICTORY Infrastructure Switch and Router support (optional). • Conduction- or convection- cooled chassis. Extreme Engineering Solutions Middleton, WI. (608) 833-1155 www.xes-inc.com FIND the products featured in this section and more at

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COTS Journal | November 2015

DATA SHEET | Rugged Stand-Alone Box Roundup

Rugged Display Computer Supports NTSC, PAL, RGB, USB and VESA

Rugged Box System Handles Four HD Video Channels with Low Latency

Rugged Embedded Computer Sports XMC IO Site and 1 Gbit Ethernet

The DAQMAG2A GE Intelligent Platforms integrates state-of-the-art products into a high technology readiness level (TRL 9) package that is ready for airborne video applications. Combining a rich video I/O functionality that includes four video outputs in multiple video formats and video ingest capability in multiple video formats with Intel Core i7 processing, the DAQMAG2A offers a low risk, highly capable video application platform with DO-160G qualification.

The GMS (General Micro Systems) SB1102-HDVR “Eagle” is a small formfactor rugged “video recorder/workstation processor” capable of simultaneously and in real time capturing four independent HD-SDI 1080p video channels at 60 fps, performing H.264 compression on-the-fly, storing the video to onboard removable SSD nDrives at up to 1 terabyte each, and distributing the video streams to seven Gbit Ethernet ports.

Innovative Integration’s SBC-Nano is a user-customizable, turnkey embedded instrument that includes a full Windows/ Linux PC and supports a wide assortment of ultimate-performance XMC modules. With its modular IO, scalable performance, and easy to use PC architecture, the SBC-Nano reduces time-to-market while providing the performance you need. It provides an XMC site for IO, user-programmable FPGA for IO interfaces, triggering and timing control, and USB ports.

• 3U boxed, VPX 3U form factor. • 2nd Gen. Intel Core i7, 3rd Gen. Intel Core i7 processor. • Maximum memory: 8 Gbytes DDR3 SDRAM; 8 Gbytes of flash memory.

• Up to 2.7 GHz Intel Quad Core i7 Broadwell processor. • Up to 32 Gbytes of 1600 MHz DDR3L memory with ECC. Up to 1 Terabyte of sealed, removable, nDrive SSD.

• Combines an industry standard COM Express CPU module with XMC IO module. • Intel-based CPU core via COM Express. • Small form factor: 150 x 75 mm.

• 64- to 256-Gbyte Solid State Disk with AE-128 hardware encryption,

• Records up to four HD video ports (SDI) simultaneously at 1080p/60Hz with audio; Simultaneous Record and Monitor/Playback over LAN.

• I/O includes audio, COM, Gbit Ethernet, NTSC, PAL, RGB, USB and VESA.

• Supports H.264 compression on all four channels simultaneously.

• Configurable IO uses standard XMC IO modules.

• Base plate cooling.

• Two USB 3.0 and six USB 2.0 ports.

• Operating temperature: -40 to +85 degrees C.

• Supports dual DVI-D / HDMI ports and one RGB video port.

• PCI Express IO site (VITA 42.3) delivers greater than 1600 Mbytes/s to CPU memory.

GE Intelligent Platforms Charlottesville, VA. (800) 368-2738. defense.ge-ip.com

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COTS Journal | November 2015

General Micro Systems Rancho Cucamonga, CA. (909) 980-4863 www.gms4sbc.com

• Rugged, stand-alone operation; Able to operate headless.

• USB 3.0/2.0 x1, USB 2.0 x2, SATA x2, mini DisplayPort; Optional 1 Gbit Ethernet link. Innovative Integration Simi Valley, CA (805) 578-4260 www.innovative-dsp.com

DATA SHEET | Rugged Stand-Alone Box Roundup

COM Express-Based System Supports XMC and mPCIe Expansion

6-slot 6U OpenVPX System Features Advanced Cooling Options

Configurable Communications Systems Leverage 3U cPCI

The highly scalable COBALT product family from Kontron is based on the COMe module Basic and Compact form factor module (Type 6) with a specialized carrier board assembly. It is available with a wide selection of power, interface options, thermal solutions, and mounting kits. The compact footprint and powerto-performance optimization make it suited for applications requiring high performance, reduced size-weight-power in an environmentally ruggedized platform.

Mercury Systems has developed a 6 slot rugged 6U OpenVPX subsystem for SWaPoptimized high performance computing. Featuring Intel Xeon server-class compute blades, 40 Gbit/s switch fabric and VITA 46.11 system management, the subsystem is cooled with Mercury’s Air Flow-By technology. It is also available in OpenRFM 6U VPX configurations as well as with either conduction-cooled or high-altitude Liquid Flow-By redundant air/fuel cooling.

North Atlantic Industries’ SIU35 is a highly configurable rugged COTS system or subsystem ideally suited for military, industrial, and commercial applications that require high-density I/O, communication, Ethernet switching, and processing. The SIU35 uses up five 3U cPCI boards to deliver off-the-shelf, SWaP-optimized COTS solutions. NAI’s Custom-On-Standard Architecture (COSA) offers a choice of over 40 intelligent I/O, communication, and Ethernet switch functions, as well as SBC.

• Small form factor 8.5- x 5.5- x 3.9-inches (99- x 216- x 14-mm). • Intel Core i7 processor options via COM Express Type 6. • Rugged, IP67 sealed system. • Configurable front panel for modular I/O profile options. • Supports XMC and mPCIe modules. • Extended temperature -40 to +71 degrees C. • No ITAR restrictions. Kontron Poway, CA. (888) 294-4558 www.kontron.com

• 6-slot rugged 6U OpenVPX subsystem. • Intel Xeon server-class compute blades. • 40 Gbit/s switch fabric interconnect.

• 5 x 3U cPCI slots for installation of up to 15 I/O and communication function modules.

• VITA 46.11 system management.

• 40-plus modules to choose from.

• Air Flow-By cooling technology.

• SBC-less, stand-alone operation supported via Ethernet connection to mission computer.

• Available in OpenRFM 6U VPX configurations. • Available with either conductioncooled or high-altitude Liquid Flow-By redundant air/fuel cooling. Mercury Systems Chelmsford, MA. (978) 967-1401. www.mrcy.com

• Processor options: Freescale PowerPC QorIQ P2041, Intel Core i7, Intel Atom, and ARM Cortex-A9. • MIL-STD-461F, MIL-STD-810G, MILSTD-1275 and MIL-STD-704A. North Atlantic Industries Bohemia, NY (631) 567-1100 www.naii.com

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COTS Journal | November 2015

DATA SHEET | Rugged Stand-Alone Box Roundup

Rugged Box-Level System Delivers 3D Graphics and Multitasking

Stackable Expandable Ethernet System Leverages PCIe/104

Xeon-based Rugged Server Boasts Small Form Factor

The TRAX-5 from Octagon Systems performs the work of several systems such as fleet management, situational awareness and equipment diagnostics. The application-ready design enables the user to run multiple applications with 3D graphics capability. One computer platform simplifies installation and maintenance; increases efficiency and safety and reduces “technology clutter”.

StackNET from RTD Embedded Technologies is a stacking, expandable 1 Gbps Ethernet switch. The initial Host module offers eight switched ports and an Ethernet connection through the PCIe/104 bus to an optional host CPU. The switch expands in groups of eight simply by stacking an expansion boards on the Host. New boards automatically connect to the switch. Integrators can choose from easy to wire 10-pin headers or standard RJ-45 jacks. StackNET is compatible with RTD’s stacking expandable IDAN enclosure system, which includes the Cisco 5915 Embedded Services Router.

Themis Computer’s second generation, Intel-based RES-mini ruggedized, small form factor server is designed for use in demanding environments. The RES-mini combines the robust design of the RES server with one E5-2600 V3 Series Intel Xeon processor with up to twelve cores, 512 Gbytes of DDR4 ECC memory, and enhanced reliability features, to provide industry-leading performance and superior resilience to shock, vibration, and temperature extremes.

• Open Architecture - run multiple programs simultaneously. • Intel Quad core with native virtualization support. • 3D video performance - DirectX 11, Open GL 3.0, Open CL 1.2. • Diverse antenna connectors. • Security features - Crypto Acceleration Engine. • Wireless - GPS, WiFi, Cellular, Mesh. • NovAtel Dual High Precision GPS. • Full Windows and Linux Support. Octagon Systems Westminster, CO (303) 430-1500 www.octagonsystems.com

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COTS Journal | November 2015

• Stacking expandable 1 Gbps Ethernet switch with 10-pin headers or RJ-45 jacks. • Eight ports per board, and expandable in groups of eight. • CPU is connected through the PCIe/104 stack and does not use any of the eight ports. • Compatible with the Cisco 5915 Embedded Services Router. • Cylindrical MIL-STD connectors available in rugged, watertight HiDANplus configurations. RTD Embedded Technologies State College, PA (814) 234-8087 www.rtd.com

• One E5-2600 v3 Series Intel Xeon processor with up to twelve cores. • Up to 512 Gbytes of DDR4 ECC DRAM; Eight, 2.5 inch drive bays. • Specially coated aluminum for light weight and corrosion resistance; Stainless steel reinforcement for strength and stiffness. • Operating shock: 3 axis, 35g, 25ms; Operating vibration: 4.76 Grms, 5Hz to 2,000 Hz (SSD). • MIL-STD-810G, MIL-STD-901D, MILSTD-167-1. Themis Computer Fremont, CA. (510) 252-0870 www.themis.com

COTS

PRODUCT GALLERY Scalable GigE Switches

CT-6530 Rugged Conduction Cooled 6U CompactPCI Processor Blade with 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7

• 22nm quad-core 4th generation Intel® Core™ i7/i5 processor with ECC • 8GB DDR3L-1600 ECC soldered memory • Two 64-bit/133MHz PMC sites with rear I/O • Two PCI Express x8 XMC sites • Configurable TDP

• Stacking, expandable 1 Gbps Ethernet switches • Board-level 10-pin headers or RJ-45 jacks • Eight ports per board, and expandable in groups of eight • Can be used standalone or with a host computer • Link, activity, and speed LEDs for each port • Stackable PCI Express (PCIe/104) expansion • Enclosure configurations with D-sub receptacles, RJ-45 jacks or watertight military cylindrical connectors • Fanless -40 to +85°C Operation

ADLINK Technology, Inc.

RTD Embedded Technologies, Inc.

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

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

Full Range of Displays Including Single Panel and Tri-Fold • Designed and Built to Meet MIL-STDs • Complete Revision Control • Designed and Built in the USA

your fast, flexible and responsive partner.

13469 Middle Canyon Rd., Carmel Valley, CA 93924 sales@middlecanyon.com • www.middlecanyon.com

COTS Journal | November 2015

COTS

PRODUCTS Rugged Solutions Feature 2U RAID and 3U OpenVPX SSD Formats In the article "Rugged Storage Solutions Advance on All Fronts" in August COTS Journal, we mistakenly omitted the following rugged storage products from Phoenix International Systems a leading manufacturer of rugged COTS data storage products. We apologize for the oversight. Phoenix Internationalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s RPC24 is a Solid State/Hard Disk Drive RAID Subsystem that features two 12 drive removable magazines housed in a rugged 2U (3.5 inch) panel height enclosure providing 16 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, 12 Gbit/s SAS, or 10 GigE iSCSI host interfaces to high performance SAS and/or high capacity SATA HDDs and SSDs. It delivers over 50 Terabytes of storage capacity and sustained transfer rates exceeding 6,400 Mbytes/s. The RPC24 supports TCG compliant and FIPS 140-2 certified encryption and is certified to military specifications MIL-STD-810G and MIL-STD461E. Users can remove and replace magazines in under 5 seconds. The system has no single point of failure operation and uses redundant, hot-swap components The is 3U OpenVPX module available in air-cooled or VITA 48 conduction cooled versions. SLC or MLC Solid State Disks provide up to 4 Terabytes of storage linked with SATA, SAS or PCIe interfaces. The unit operates in temperatures from -40 to 85degrees C. The VP1-250-SSD provides 256-bit AES ECB/CBC strength, NIST, CSE and FIPS 140-2 certified encryption and is TCG compliant. Secure erase, instant sanitization enable advance data elimination functionally. Phoenix International Systems Orange, CA. (714) 283-4800 www.phenxint.com

CompactPCI and VPX blades Sport Xeon Processor D-1500s ADLINK Technology has announced two new solutions based on the Intel Xeon Processor D-1500 Product Family. The ADLINK cPCI-6940 Series is a 6U CompactPCI processor blade in single/dualslot (4/8HP) width form factor and features the Intel Xeon processor D-1500 product family and 16 Gbytes of DDR4-2133 ECC soldered memory plus 2x SODIMM supporting up to 32 Gbytes of DDR42133 ECC socket type memory with a total memory of up to 48 Gbytes. The ADLINK VPX3010 Series (shown) is a rugged, conduction-cooled 3U processor blade featuring the Intel Xeon Processor D-1500 Product Family and DDR4-2133 soldered ECC SDRAM up to 16GB. The design of the VPX3010 conforms to numerous VITA standards, including the VITA 46.0 VPX Base Standard and VITA 65 OpenVPX architecture framework for VPX. The VPX3010 includes one 10GBASE-KX4 and up to three 1G Ethernet ports; up to PCIe x16 Gen3 interfaces supporting nontransparent bridge; and one XMC expansion slot (PCIe x8 Gen3) with rear I/O to P2. Soldered SLC NAND flash 32GB SATA 6 Gbit/s storage comes standard, with expansion options available using an RTM. An extended temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C is also supported. ADLINK Technology San Jose, CA (408) 360-0200 www.adlinktech.com

COTS Journal | November 2015

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COTS PRODUCTS

3U VPX Server Board Targets Clustering and Storage Concurrent Technologies has announced their first processor board based on the Intel Xeon Processor D-1500 Family. TR C4x/ msd is a 3U VPX board initially featuring the 8-core Intel Xeon Processor D-1548 and up to 32GB of DDR4 ECC DRAM for high performance embedded computing applications. Additional variants will be available based on processors with up to 16-cores in the Q1 2016 timeframe. For storage applications, TR C4x/msd has four SATA600 interfaces for external drives plus two SATA600 connections for on-board solid state disk options. For high speed networking applications, two 10 Gigabit Ethernet data plane ports could be used either as a system ingress/egress point or for local data connectivity within the chassis. Two Gbit Ethernet control plane ports are available on the backplane and two optional Gigabit Ethernet ports are available on the front panel of air cooled boards. Augmenting the 10 Gigabit Ethernet data plane, TR C4x/msd provides up to x16 PCI Express (PCIe) lanes on the backplane with a theoretical bandwidth of 15.6 Gbytes/s. These PCIe lanes enable more flexible mesh configurations, for example it is possible to construct a multi-processor 40-core cluster using five TR C4x/msd boards

with highbandwidth 3.9GB/s expansion plane links without the use of an additional switch module. Such configurations are made possible with Concurrent Technologies’ Fabric Interconnect Networking Software (FIN-S) which makes use of the on board nontransparent bridge and DMA capability to aid multiple TR C4x/msd is compliant with the recently ratified VITA 46.11 standard, designed to enable uniform system management functions across VPX based equipment. Concurrent Technologies Woburn, MA (781) 933-5900 www.gocct.com

Designed and Built to Meet MIL-STD 810G & 901D

• Servers Ranging from 1U to 5U • Complete Revision Control • Custom and Off-the-Shelf Solutions • Designed for Shipboard, Airborne and Ground Tactical Systems

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COTS Journal | November 2015

COTS PRODUCTS

500W AC/DC Power Supplies Offer Current Share, MIL-STD-461F Filtering

VITA 62 Power Boards Support System Management

North Atlantic Industries has announced the availability of the 56TS1, their latest generation, rugged, AC/ DC power supply. This COTS unit provides full-power at a baseplate temperature of +85 degrees C. Standard output voltages supported are +12 VDC, +24 VDC, +28 VDC OR +48 VDC. The unit can do current share with Share OK monitoring. Integrated EMI filtering is provided per MIL-STD-461F; CE102, CS114, CS115 and CS116. The unit accepts both 3-Phase AC or +270Vdc inputs. Operating temperature range is -55 to +85 degrees C. Pricing starts at $2,900 each in quantities of 100. North Atlantic Industries Bohemia, NY (631) 567-1100 www.naii.com

Pixus Technologies now offers power boards in multiple configurations for VITA 62 power supplies. Pixus VITA 62 Power Interface Boards (PIB) come in 3U and 6U heights in either single PSU or dual PSU formats. They have a header for the voltage sense and IPMB for VITA 46.11 system management or other IPMI-based options. The PIBs have several power bugs for 3.3V, 5V, and 12V power. A 26-pin header accommodates all of the general purpose IO signals from the PSUs. The power boards also have breakaway tabs at the bottom of the board. This allows the optional blockage of airflow helping to optimize chassis cooling. Pixus Technologies Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (519) 885-5775 www.pixustechnologies.com

Optimal SWaP

uncompromised performance ROCK-3 - VNX standard-based SFF mission computer

Still believing small form factor is necessarily custom? ROCK-3 is a small-form-factor, application-ready mission computer product line based on VNX: a VITA standard. It is the ideal candidate for C4ISR applications with decisive consideration for Size, Weight and Power. Visit CESâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; website to learn how VNX smoothly integrates with VPX.

www.ces-swap.com/rock-3

COTS Journal | November 2015

COTS PRODUCTS

VME Single Board Computer Sports Freescale QorIQ P5020 Artesyn Embedded Technologies has announced a new high performance VME single board computer, the MVME8105. The company has recently made a commitment to continue supply of many of its existing VME boards to 2025 and beyond. Featuring the Freescale QorIQ P5020 2.0 GHz processor, the MVME8105 provides 4 Gbytes of soldered DDR3-1333 MHz ECC memory, 512 Kbytes of MRAM non-volatile memory and 8 Gbytes of eMMC NAND Flash. It offers multiple USB, Serial and Ethernet ports and supports a range of operating systems including Wind River VxWorks, Linux and Green Hills Integrity. Artesyn Embedded Technologies Tempe, AZ (888) 412-7832 www.artesyn.com

CompactPCI Serial Board Does Peripheral Slot Card Duties EKF Elektronik has introduced the SU4-SOPRANO, a peripheral slot card for CompactPCI Serial systems, equipped with a PCI Express eight channel UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter). All ports are available through Micro-D front panel connectors, and can be user configured individually for either RS-232 or RS-485 by means of DIP-switches. The on-board transceivers allow for maximum bit rates up to 15 Mbps when operated in RS-485 mode and up to 1 Mbps in RS-232 mode. Full- and half-duplex is supported for RS-485, with up to 256 nodes on a party-line bus. The line termination can be switched on/off individually. EKF Elektronik Hamm, Germany +49 (0)2831/6890-0 www.ekf.com

MIL-STD-1553 RIGHT ON TARGET

STANAG3910/EFEX

Avionics Databus Solutions

ARINC429 AFDX®/ARINC664P7 Fibre Channel ARINC825 ARINC818

Modules – Software – Systems

Solving all your Avionics Databus Needs – Right on Target. www.aim-online.com

AIM Office Contacts: AIM USA LLC - Trevose, PA salesusa@aim-online.com AIM GmbH - Freiburg sales@aim-online.com AIM GmbH - Munich Sales Office salesgermany@aim-online.com

COTS Journal | November 2015

COTS PRODUCTS

1 GHz, 1750W RF Termination Aims at Phased-Array Radar Barry Industries has announced a RoHS compliant flange mount RF termination, T50R0-1750-1X, which dissipates 1750W with favorable return loss over a DC to 1 GHz bandwidth. The thick film on Beryllium Oxide (BeO) T50R0-17501X termination, with its internally matched circuit architecture, exhibits 20dB or better return loss from DC to 1 GHz. The flange and input tabs are constructed of robust silver plated copper. The overall footprint is 2.25- x 1.25-inches (57.15- x 31.75 mm). With its 1750W power rating, low VSWR and stable 50Ω resistor element, the T50R0-1750-1X is ideal for critical applications including Mobile Radio Base station, Broadcast and Phased-Array Radar. Barry Industries Attleboro, MA (508) 226-3350 www.barryind.com

1,000W VITA 62 Compliant Power Supplies Boast Intelligence Features Behlman Electronics has announced that it has added high intelligence features to its VPXtra 1000CD, dual output power supplies, thereby creating the VPXtra 1000CD-IQ. VPXtra 1000CD-IQ is VITA 62 compliant, and designed to power Open VPX modules. Its dual outputs offer 960 watts of 12 VDC and an auxiliary 3.3 VDC. Standard features include overvoltage, over current, short circuit and thermal protection, and the 12 VDC output can be paralleled for higher power and fail-safe redundancy. It’s “IQ” capabilities include the ability to monitor and report all output voltages; output current; input voltage; input current; and temperature. It also supports ANSI/VITA 46 signals for geographical addressing, NVMRO (Non-Volatile Memory Read Only) and SYSRESET. Other features include user-adjustable warning/fault levels for voltage, current and temperature; inventory management information such as part numbers, serial numbers, and revision status; SMBALERT # signal to alert system controller of a power supply fault; over 200K user storage memory for settings and information; extensive PMBUS command set and status registers support. A new five-output 700 Watt Behlman Intelligent VPXtra1000CM-IQ Power Supply is also available. Behlman Electronics Hauppauge, NY (631) 435-0410 www.behlman.com

Fanless DIN-rail Network System Serves up Atom Bay Trail Processor WIN Enterprises has announced the PL 83300 series of industrial network controllers. These ruggedly designed, DINrail type controllers feature the Intel Atom E3815, E3827 and E3845 ( formerly Bay Trail-I) processors with fanless operation. The PL-83300 series implement isolated protection design on Serial, Ethernet, power input and DI/DO ports for application in hazardous environments. The series is offered in two standard models depending on different needs (see table below). PL-8330E includes 6 isolated Ethernet RJ45 GbE and 2 isolated Serial ports (RS 232/422/485). The PL-8330S model features 2 isolated Ethernet RJ45 GbE and 6 isolated Serial ports (RS-232/422/485). WIN Enterprises North Andover, MA (978) 688-2000 www.win-ent.com

COTS Journal | November 2015

COTS PRODUCTS

COM Express Cards Feature 6th Gen Intel Xeon/Core Processors

Congatec has expanded its COM Express Basic portfolio with new server-class embedded modules. The new Server-onModules are equipped with 6th generation Intel Xeon and Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 processors (codenamed Skylake). The DDR4 memory of the conga-TS170 modules provides up to twice as much system memory performance for data-intensive applications while consuming 20 percent less energy and requiring only half the footprint of DDR3 RAM that is expected to become legacy in future applications. The new conga-TS170 modules are equipped with the latest 6th generation 14nm Xeon v5 and Intel Core processors. They feature a TDP of 25-45W, up to 8 Mbyte smart cache and super-fast 2133 DDR4 memory up to 32 Gbytes, implemented as ECC memory for safetycritical applications in the Intel Xeon variants. For energy-efficient 24/7 operation, the new modules support disconnected standby in place of the legacy S3 mode. The integrated 9th generation Intel HD Graphics 530 supports DirectX 12 for faster Windows 10 based 3D graphics on up to 3 independent 4K (3840 x 1260) displays via HDMI 1.4, DVI or DisplayPort 1.2. For legacy applications, a dual-channel LVDS output and optional VGA are available. Thanks to hardware support for the decoding as well as the encoding of HEVC, VP8, VP9 and VDENC, it is now possible to stream HD video energy-efficiently in both directions. Congatec San Diego, CA (858) 457-2600 www.congatec.com

The industry’s most trusted and widely used USB interfaces

Portable Avionics Databus Interfaces A reliable USB interface from Astronics Ballard Technology does it all – databus test,

· MIL-STD-1553, EBR 1553 · ARINC 429, 708, 717 · Serial, Discrete

analysis and simulation. Use it in the lab or in the field – it’s fully powered by a single USB port. Simply connect it to any available laptop, desktop or tablet PC and it’s ready to go. Add our CoPilot® interactive software for a complete easy-to-use solution.

NEW models with multiple protocols mean the best is now even better!

Get the best solution – all the protocols and channels you need in a single device

www.ballardtech.com/USB or call 425-339-0281

AS9100 / ISO 9001 Registered

ABT_Jet_COTS_Half-Page-Island.indd 1

4/10/2015 12:28:07 PM

COTS Journal | November 2015

COTS PRODUCTS

Multifunction Console System Blends Video Display and Radar Data Acq Cemtrolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s has announced the RDC (Radar Display Console), a ruggedized Multi Function Display Console built using the latest technology and COTS modules. It was designed and developed with the intention of ensuring high performance, high reliability, low weight, and cost. The RDC can be used in several areas such as C4I, commercial applications, civil air, maritime traffic control applications, and other field installations. The RDC comes fitted with a high-performance Radar Data Acquisition and processing platform that can capture and process one or two radar videos. The platform also contains an on-board ACP/ARP antenna position, 12 bit parallel azimuth, 50 MHz Radar Video sample rate capability, and a programmable pre-trigger compensation. The RDC also comes with two 24 inch displays with optional touch screens, and a 10.4 inch multi-touch screen. The RDC has been enhanced with high performance capabilities, enabling the RDC to handle highly demanding applications. Its construction and capabilities meet all the essential rigorous environmental standards such as MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-167, MIL-STD-461, enabling it to work in highly demanding environments at sea, in the air, and on land. Cemtrol Anaheim, CA (714) 666-6606 www.cemtrol.com

User-Definable Power and Ground Development System Rides OpenVPX Verotec is supplying configured TecSYS 3U VPX development chassis to a major US-based defense contractor for use in its new product developments. The half-width 3U KM6-RF subrack is the centerpiece of a 6U TecSYS thermally managed, powered, cooled and EMC screened desktop system. The core of the systems is a 6-Slot 10 layer VPX Power and Ground backplane fitted with the high performance, high density Tyco MultiGig connectors on a 5HP (one inch) pitch, which interface with daughter cards at the front of the unit and rear transition modules on the opposite face of the backplane. The system is fully compliant with VITA 46 and IEEE 1101.10/11. Verotec Manchester, NH (603) 821-9921 www.verotec.us

COTS Journal | November 2015

Military Power System Solutions

Mil-STD Compliant High Efficiency Field Proven

UPS

MPC

MPS

Military Power Supply (MPS)

3U & 6U Military DC-DC Power Supplies (VPX)

 Power 1250W / 1500VA 1U

 Power 1250W / 1500VA  Dual Input (AC & DC)  1U rack mount (17" x 21.6")  Low weight — 24 lbs.  Power factor correction at

 Power 4000W / 28Vdc  3-Phase AC Input:

 3U: 500W total output power  6U: 1000W and 800W total

 1U rack mount (17" x 19.6")  Low weight — 25 lbs.  Power factor correction at

 VITA 62 Compliant  90% efficiency at full load  Active current share

 Up to 8 units combined for

 MIL-STD-461F, MIL-STD-704,

 User I/O and Configuration

 Qualified to the most

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) & 2500W / 3000VA 2U

 Dual Input (AC & DC)  1U rack mount (17" x 21.6")  Low Weight - 32 lbs.  Hot-Swappable Battery  Cold-start with No AC or DC Input Connections

 Power Factor Correction at AC Input

 Ethernet, Communications and Signal I/O ports

Military Power Conditioner (MPC)

AC input

 True on-line double conversion

 Pure sinusoidal AC output voltage (115VAC, 60Hz)

 Full Power Operation from -40°C to +55°C

 Full Power Operation from -20°C to +55°C

Made in the United States of America.

80-265VAC; 47-65Hz

AC input

higher power signal port

 SNMP Network Port  Full Power Operation from -40°C to +55°C

1-978-849-0600 www.SynQor.com

VPX output power

through backplane

and MIL-STD-810G Compliant

stringent VITA-47 levels

COTS PRODUCTS

Rugged 20-25kW Power Systems Provide Liquid Cooling Schaefer has announced the addition of the CPW-5700 Series (ACDC) and BPW-5700 Series (Battery Charger) to its Heavy Industrial/Military COTS/MOTS (20KW to 30KW) Power Series. The units are designed for projects that demand robust and shock resistant power supplies in the harshest operating conditions (MIL-STD-901D/MIL-STD-810). The CPW / BPW 5700 Series offers three phase, wide input ranges for 200/400/440 and 480VAC and selectable output voltages and currents ( full range). Key features include Power Factor Correction (PFC/MILSTD-1399/ under 3 percent THDi), remote on/off, full galvanic isolation, ultra-wide operating temperature range of â&#x20AC;&#x201C;40 to +75 degrees C and high power-density and compliance to EMC/ Mil Standard (MIL-STD-461) as well as a full complement of protection/alarm signals such as over temperature, over current and over voltage. The CPW / BPW 5700 Series can be configured as a AC-DC power supply/source or full battery charging capability thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s liquid cooled and highly rugged along with easy integration via 19 inch design or modules that makes the series ideal for mission critical applications. Schaefer Hopkinton, MA (508) 436-6400 www.schaeferpower.com

UltraScale FPGA-Based Adapter Marries PXI Express and XMC Innovative Integration has expanded its presence into the PXI/ Instrumentation market with the addition of the PXIe-XMC Adapter. The PXIe XMC adapter can be utilized with all Innovative XMC cards including our newest generation models which provide 5 GHz analog I/O and use the Kintex XCKU060/XCKU085 UltraScale FPGA. This allows extremely rapid configuration of wide-channel count FPGA-accelerated RADAR, LIDAR and real-time control applications.. The adapter supports bulk PCIe x8 communications between the PXIe host controller and XMC modules (up to 7,800 Mbytes/s, sustained) concurrently with direct, ultra low-latency traffic between modules in a userconfigurable topology at sustained rates up to 6,300 Mbytes/s. Innovative Integration Simi Valley, CA (805) 578-4260 www.innovative-dsp.com.

COTS Journal | November 2015

COTS PRODUCTS

OpenVPX Modules Are Optimized for Intel Xeon Processor D-1500 Curtiss-Wright has announced that its Defense Solutions division has optimized its new 3U OpenVPX CHAMP-XD1 and 6U CHAMP-XD2 DSP modules to use the Intel Xeon processor D-1500 Product Family. The modules, which are available now with 8-core versions of the processor, will also be available with 12 and 16-core versions of the processor, which Intel will make available in the first quarter of 2016. The 12-core version will offer extended temperature support, and all of the variants offer 7-year availability. Intel Xeon processor D-1500 Product Family features the enhanced performance at low power that is ideal for use on rugged open architecture modules designed for deployment in extremely compute-intensive, harsh environment EW/C4ISR aerospace and defense applications. The new CHAMP-XDx open architecture COTS modules feature high-speed DDR4 memory and high bandwidth PCIe Gen 3 data paths on both the data plane and the expansion plane. Because the 3U and 6U CHAMP-XDx modules support software compatibility and share the same architected memory and compute nodes, as well as providing similar I/O, they increase application scalability and transportability. The XD1 module supports a combination of 1 Gbit and 10 Gbit Ethernet interfaces, while the XD2 module adds support for 40GbE. The new DSP modules also support CurtissWright’s recently introduced OpenHPEC Accelerator Suite of best-in-class software development tools. OpenHPEC Accelerator Suite speeds, simplifies, and lowers the cost of developing HPEC systems through the use of non-proprietary open standard based software. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA (703) 779-7800 www.cwcdefense.com

NanoSWITCH Rugged Sixteen Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch with Embedded X86 PC

The NanoSWITCH brings enterprise level layer 2/3 switching into the rugged environments found in military ground, air and sea vehicles, and unforgiving industrial environments such as offshore oil platforms. Typical applications include: • • • • •

Vehicle network switching Distributed architecture vehicle controller VICTORY compliant switch, router, timing, and control WAN – LAN interconnectivity and firewall Shared processing and peripheral communications

For more information, go to www.themis.com/nanoswitch

47200 Bayside Parkway, Fremont CA 94538 | 510-252-0870 | www.themis.com ©2015 Themis Computer. All rights reserved. Themis and the Themis logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Themis Computer. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

COTS Journal | November 2015

COTS PRODUCTS

Board Sets Provide Turn-key Multichannel, High-Speed A/D and D/A Pentek has introduced two more FlexorSets: FlexorSet Model 5973-324 for 3U VPX and Model 7070-324 for PCIe. They consist of the new Flexor Model 3324 4-Channel A/D and 4-Channel D/A FMC installed on either of two carriers. The carriers contain optimized Pentek FPGA intellectual property (IP) for A/D acquisition and D/A waveform playback, which is ideally matched to the four 500 MHz, 16-bit A/Ds and the four 1.5 GHz, 16-bit D/ As with digital up-converters (DUCs) on the FMC. The Model 3324 FMC front end accepts four analog HF or IF inputs on front panel connectors with transformer coupling into two Texas Instruments ADS54J69 dual A/D converters, boosting density for high channel count systems. On the output side, a Texas Instruments DAC38J84 D/A converter accepts baseband real or complex data streams from the FPGA. Each stream then passes through digital interpolation

and upconversion stages before delivery to the D/A. Output sampling rates up to 1.5 GHz are supported, with or without translation. FlexorSet carriers support the 3324 FMC with a choice of Virtex-7 FPGAs to match the specific requirements of the processing task. Both FlexorSets come pre-configured with a suite of built-in functions for data acquisition, time tagging and waveform playback, all tailored and optimized for the FMC and carrier. FlexorSets are designed for air-cooled, conduction-cooled, and rugged operating environments. The FlexorSet Model 5973-324 for 3U VPX and the FlexorSet Model 7070-324 for PCIe both start at $24,890. Pentek Upper Saddle River, NJ (201) 818-5900 www.pentek.com

Rugged 1 Gbit/s Deterministic Ethernet 6U VPX Switch Has 16 Ports TTTech has launched its TTE-Switch A664 6U VPX Rugged, a high-performance Deterministic Ethernet switch capable of full-duplex speeds of 10/100/1000 Mbit/s targeted for flight critical applications. The switch is engineered to maintain operation in the harshest environments and weighs less than today’s ultra-light laptops. The solution is suitable for efficient SWaP reduction management at the network system level. TTTech’s switches can be used as a core networking technology for generic multipurpose platforms in commercial aviation, helicopters, unmanned automotive and aerial vehicles as well as in space and maritime systems. The TTEthernet products uniquely support three different standard traffic classes (IEEE 802.3, ARINC 664 p7 and SAE AS6802) at 10/100/1000 Mbit/s speeds. TTTech North America (978) 933-7979 Andover, MA www.tttech.com.

COTS Journal | November 2015

Conduction Cooled Power Supplies Feature 60 Percent Size Reduction TDK has announced the introduction of TDK-Lambda’s CPFE1000FI of baseplate/ conduction-cooled 1000W power supplies. When compared to TDK-Lambda’s MIL-STD rated CPFE1000F, the overall product size has been reduced by 60 percent. Capable of operating without forcedair cooling, the supplies are suited to outdoor, sealed enclosure, communications and harsh environment applications, including RF amplifier and ground-based satellite equipment. These single output power supplies operate with a wide universal input range of from 90 to 265VAC with PFC and are available with DC outputs of 12V, 28V (adjustable to 24V) or 48VDC. Due to its wide output adjustment range of +/- 20 percent, the output voltage can be set to match a variety of customer-specific applications. The outputs of these units can be connected in series or parallel for higher power applications. The units will operate at full load with baseplate temperatures of -40 to +85 degrees C. Case style options for the CPFE1000FI include a U channel, with or without a cover, or as a PCB assembly measuring just 254mm x 107mm x 40mm. A coating option is also available for all models, providing protection against humidity and the ingress of containments. TDK-Lambda Americas San Diego, CA (619) 628 2885 www.us.tdk-lambda.com/lp

COTS PRODUCTS

Advanced 32-channel RS485/422 XMC Offers Rich Features The 7757 Advanced 32-channel RS485/422 XMC is a third generation successor to Technobox PMC solutions 2674 and 4289. Whereas the 2674 and 4289 offered 4K and 12K Logic Elements (LEs) respectively, the 7757 provides the approximate equivalent of 50K LEs within its Altera Cyclone V GX FPGA (5CGXFC4C6F2717N). The Cyclone V also provides considerably more internal SRAM and several PLLs, as well as multipliers that are typically used for DSP applications. Many key features of the 2674/4289 designs are retained such as asynchronous SRAM, 32 differential RS485 pairs, the facility to download FPGA code via PCI/PCI Express, a local sensor to monitor board temperature, and JTAG programming via an Altera USB-Blaster. Also carried over are FPGA-driven user LEDs, silicon delay lines for critical asynchronous FPGA circuits, serial EEPROM for user data, and an option for a precision oscillator. The 7757 preserves a 68-pin connector for its front panel interface and a PN4 connector for the rear. The 7757 supports up to two GEN-1 (2.5 Gbits/s) PCI Express lanes to a host processor via its

P15 connector— (either VITA 42 or VITA 61 style). Furthermore, the PCIe interface is built into the Altera Cyclone V GX as a hard core block, greatly simplifying access to PCIe resources. FPGA design programming is performed using Altera’s Quartus FPGA design software tools. A free web edition is available from Altera. Technobox provides sample FPGA and C code as a foundation for end user designs. Generally, designers will use Altera’s Qsys to implement internal FPGA buses for hooking up the PCIe core to user application blocks. Technobox West Berlin, NJ (856) 809-2306 www.technobox.com

6U VPX 10 Gbit Ethernet Switch Offers Huge Ethernet Port Density Extreme Engineering Solutions has announced the XChange3100, a conduction- or air-cooled, 6U OpenVPX 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch module that is capable of supporting various configurations of up to twenty-two 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports, twelve 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet ports, and eighty-eight 1000BASE-X Ethernet ports. It features three Broadcom BCM56450 Ethernet switches, each including 102.5 Gbits/s of nonblocking switching, an on-chip ARM A9-based CPU, an integrated hierarchical traffic manager to reduce overall board complexity and power, and a feature-rich packet processing engine, all within a single 40 nm device. One Broadcom switch is connected to the control plane, while the other two Broadcom switches are utilized for data plane switching. This allows the XChange3100 to provide completely independent control plane and dual data plane switching for use in systems that require network segregation for security or performance. The three switches also can be combined together for communication from the control plane to the data plane. The XChange3100 features a wide variety of configuration options to choose from, depending on project requirements. Additional features include extensive IEEE protocol and IETF RFC support, VICTORY Infrastructure Switch support, advanced cable open/short detection, IPv4 and IPv6 support, and a Ruggedized Enhanced Design Implementation (REDI) per VITA 48. Extreme Engineering Solutions Middleton, WI (608) 833-1155 www.xes-inc.com

20W DC-DC Converter Offers Ultra Wide Input Voltage Range Gaia Converter has extended its ultra wide input voltage range DC/DC Converters platform to the new High Rel MGDD-21 series, targeting Military and Airborne applications. Uniquely wide, the MGDD-21 Series 9-60V and 80V transient input voltage range is ideal to comply with MILSTD-1275, 704 or DO-160 standards without additional front end protection device. This unique performance is achieved thanks to Gaia's proprietary switching techniques while also keeping efficiency over 90 percent. With 2 outputs ( for parallel, serial or symmetrical operation) of 5V, 12V, 15V or 24V, they can cover a wide variety of needs Packaged in the tiny 1 x 1.25 x 0.3inch housing, the MGDD-21 Series have a wide temperature range of -55 to +105 degrees C and are fully encapsulated to fit rugged military and airborne environmental conditions. Gaia Converter Summit, NJ (908) 219-4033 www.gaia-converter.com

COTS Journal | November 2015

COTS

ADVERTISERS INDEX GET CONNECTED WITH INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS SOURCE AND PURCHASABLE SOLUTIONS NOW Intelligent Systems Source is a new resource that gives you the power to compare, review and even purchase embedded computing products intelligently. To help you research SBCs, SOMs, COMs, Systems, or I/O boards, the Intelligent Systems Source website provides products, articles, and whitepapers from industry leading manufacturers---and it's even connected to the top 5 distributors. Go to Intelligent Systems Source now so you can start to locate, compare, and purchase the correct product for your needs.

Index

intelligentsystemssource.com

Company Page# Website

AIM......................................................35.................................aim-online.com

MPL.....................................................36.............................................. mpl.ch

Avionics Interface Technologies..........45.....................................aviftech.com

North Atlantic Industries Inc............13, 15.........................................naii.com

Ballard Technology..............................37................................ballardtech.com

One Stop Systems, Inc. ....................14, 25..................... onestopsystems.com

Behlman Electronics............................5..................................... behlman.com

Pentek, Inc..........................................48.......................................pentek.com

CES.....................................................34...................................ces-swap.com

Phoenix International Systems, Inc. ....23.................................... phenxint.com

Cemtrol...............................................47......................................cemtrol.com

Pico Electronics, Inc............................21..........................picoelectronics.com

COTS Product Gallery..........................31.........................................................

RTD Embedded Technologies, Inc. .......2..............................................rtd.com

CP Cases Inc.......................................12.....................................cpcases.com

SynQor.................................................39....................................... synqor.com

Data Device Corporation.....................40.................................... ddc-web.com

Themis................................................41.......................................themis.com

Innovative Integration.........................38.......................... innovative-dsp.com

VadaTech.............................................18................................... vadatech.com

Mercury Systems, Inc. .........................7........................................... mrcy.com

WinSystems.........................................19............................... winsystems.com

Middle Canyon..................................31, 33......................... middlecanyon.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: Open Architectures for Airborne Platforms

Open architecture approaches have really taken off in the past year in the military and airborne platforms are no exception. System standards like FACE and computing architectures like OpenVPX are finding acceptance among airborne programs. The reduction of costs and complexity of the open approach are just too attractive to ignore. This section updates readers on the standards and solutions that serve today’s open architecture airborne platforms.

Tech Recon Signal Chain: Video Distribution and Display Systems for Warfighters

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 December Signal Chain section looks at the final stage of the signal chain: looking at video distribution and display technologies that present warfighters with the end result of the signal chain process.

COTS Journal | November 2015

System Development: COM Express vs. PC/104-FamilyForm Factors Both COM Express and PC/104—including the myriad PC/104 family spinoffs—offer advantages for military system developers. The choice is between a computing core module on a baseboard versus and an SBC with stacking capability. Both serve today’s needs for reducing size, weight and power (SWaP), but in different ways. Articles in this section address the tradeoffs between COM Express and PC/104.

Data Sheet: XMC and FMC Boards

XMCs are becoming entrenched as the natural successor to PMC as the leading mezzanine form factor in military applications. Meanwhile the VITA FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) specification defines an I/O mezzanine module designed to work intimately with an FPGA. FMC modules enable I/O devices that reside on an industry standard (VITA 57) mezzanine card to be attached to and directly controlled by FPGAs that reside on a host board. This Data Sheet section updates readers on these trends and provides a product album of representative XMC and FMC products.

Shared Memory Network Interfaces Introducing a Gigabit Speed, Low Latency, Shared Memory Network for Deterministic Applications • 2.125 Gbps optical loop network • Single-mode and multi-mode optical interfaces supported • Up to 256 Shared Memory Network Nodes • Sustained data rates up to 200 Mbyte/Sec • Up to 256 MB of Shared Memory • Device drivers for Windows, VxWorks, Linux, and LabVIEW

www.aviftech.com/sharedmemory ...with flexible hardware options and complete software support PCI

PCI Express

AIT is a division of

PXI Express

XMC

COTS Journal’s

MARCHING TO THE NUMBERS DOZEN

4,000

Number of additional UH-72A Lakota helicopters and associated mission equipment packages the U.S. Army has ordered from Airbus Defense and Space exercising $65.8 million in contract options. The UH-72A is manufactured on the same Airbus Helicopters Inc. production line in Columbus, Miss., that has delivered almost 350 Lakotas to the Army, Navy and for Foreign Military Sales customers to date, all on time and on cost. The UH-72A was competitively selected in 2006 for a broad range of active Army and Army National Guard missions. It has the lowest cost to buy, own and operate of any U.S. military helicopter in production.

100

Number of components in the upgraded Patriot missile’s radar digital processor (RDP), down from more than 700 in the legacy processor has more than 700 components. Fewer components reduce cost and eases maintenance. The U.S. Army is acquiring upgrade kits to make the combat-proven Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defense system better at detecting and destroying threats, cost less to operate, and run even

412.5 Million

more reliably than it already does. The U.S. Army recently awarded Raytheon a contract modification to an existing contract for radar digital processor (RDP) upgrade kits, not to exceed the amount of $86.2 million.

Value that the total Military Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV)) market is expect to reach by 2020 according to a new market research report, now available on ASDReports. com. It says the market is set to be worth $412.5m in 2015, as the market begins to grow rapidly during this forecast period. The 368 page report contains 331 tables, charts and graphs that utilize visual representation in order to clarify trends and market projections within the military UGV market. The report provides a range of forecasts for the period 2015-2025, as well as for 4 submarket sectors. 46

COTS Journal | November 2015

Number of nautical miles the three-stage ballistic missile Trident II D5 can travel and carry multiple independently targeted reentry bodies. The U.S. Navy conducted successful test flights Nov. 7 and 9 of two Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missiles built by Lockheed Martin. The world’s most reliable large ballistic missile, the D5 missile has achieved a total of 157 successful test flights since design completion in 1989. The D5 is the sixth in a series of missile generations deployed since the sea-based deterrent program began 60 years ago. The Navy launched the unarmed missiles in the Pacific Ocean from a submerged Ohio-class submarine.

48 Minutes

Duration of test flight company-owned General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator B integrated with a certified Rohde & Schwarz R&S MR6000A air traffic control radio. The MR6000A is a key component in supporting GA-ASI’s effort to deliver its Certifiable Predator B (CPB) RPA to European customers and to add additional German and European payload capability into its Predator-series aircraft. During the company-funded test, Predator B demonstrated its ability to integrate the airborne radio, delivering VHF radio communication to and from dismounted ground users equipped with a standard VHF aviation radio.

LAND

SEA

AIR

Ruggedized Products That You Can Count On. No Matter Where You Are. All of Cemtrol’s products are designed and developed with the intention of delivering high performance, high reliability, low weight, and cost. Thus ensuring that in even the most harsh environments our products will be there to deliver as promised. RADAR DISPLAY CONSOLE* (RDC): The RDC can be used in several areas such as C4I, commercial applications, civil air, maritime traffic control applications, and other field installations. The RDC comes fitted with a high-performance Radar Data Acquisition and processing platform that can capture and process one or two radar videos. Also included are 24” LCD Monitor displays with an optional touch screen and a 10.4” Monitor with a multi-touch screen. MINI-TIGER SYSTEM: The Mini-Tiger System is a ruggedized portable PC. Enclosure design features EMI/RFI shielding that complies with current MIL standards. Most of the components of the Mini-Tiger system are COTS using the latest technology available. The unit comes with built-in AIS and GPS and a 10.4” detachable sunlight readable LCD monitor with integrated multi-touch feature, and custom keypads. For more information on these and other products, please contact us at:

3035 E La Jolla St., Anaheim, CA. 92806 (714) 666-6606 • cemtrol@cemtrol.com www.cemtrol.com *Cemtrol consoles can be customized to support other applications per customer requirements in a very quick turnaround time.

Critical Recording in Any Arena When You Can’t Afford to Miss a Beat!

Introducing Pentek’s expanded line of Talon COTS, rugged, portable and lab-based recorders. Built to capture wideband SIGINT, radar and communication signals right out-of-the-box: • • • • • • • • • •

Analog RF/IF, 10 GbE, LVDS, sFPDP solutions Real-time sustained recording to 4 GB/sec Recording and playback operation Analog signal bandwidths to 1.6 GHz Shock and vibration resistant Solid State Drives GPS time and position stamping ® Hot-swappable storage to Windows NTFS RAIDs Remote operation & multi-system synchronization ® SystemFlow API & GUI with Signal Analyzer Complete documentation & lifetime support

Pentek’s rugged turn-key recorders are built and tested for fast, reliable and secure operation in your environment. Call 201-818-5900 or go to www.pentek.com/go/rtctalon for your FREE High-Speed Recording Systems Handbook and Talon Recording Systems Catalog.

Pentek, Inc., One Park Way, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 • Phone: 201.818.5900 • Fax: 201.818.5904 • e-mail:info@pentek.com • www.pentek.com Worldwide Distribution & Support, Copyright © 2013 Pentek, Inc. Pentek, Talon and SystemFlow are trademarks of Pentek, Inc. Other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.