COTS Journal

September 2016, Volume 18 – Number 9 • cotsjournalonline.com

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing JOURNAL

Military Systems Embrace Advanced Cooling Options

FEATURED: INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM (IDF) UPDATE/REVIEW SHIPBOARD SYSTEMS EYE NEW CONNECTIVITY SCHEMES DATA SHEET: RACKMOUNT SYSTEMS An RTC Group Publication

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The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing JOURNAL

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.

September 2016 Volume 18 Number 9

FEATURED p.10 Barriers Fall Between Development and Deployed Systems SPECIAL FEATURE Cooling Options for Rugged Box Systems 10

16

Solutions and Standards Advance for Box-Level Cooling Optimizing Thermal Controls in Pre-Validated Systems Simon Parrett, Kontron

30

To Tame the Drone Frontier

8

The Inside Track

38

COTS Products

50

Marching to the Numbers

Post-PC Tech Rules at Intel Developer Forum 2016 John Koon

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Open Standards for Navy Modernization 24

6 Editorial

Jeff Child

TECH RECON Update/Review from Intel Developer Forum 2016 20

DEPARTMENTS

Cable Technology Advances Meet Shipboard Network Needs Robert Moore, TE Connectivity

3G-SDI’s Many Advantages Serve Defense Video/Display Needs John Payne and Chris Fadeley, EIZO Rugged Solutions

DATA SHEET Rackmount Systems Roundup

Coming in October See Page 48

On The Cover: The F-35C completed its third and final shipboard developmental test phase (DT-III) last month. Shown here an F-35C Lightning II arrived at Hill Force Base, Utah in April. The aircraft was the first Navy variant to arrive at the base where it underwent depot modifications through the summer.

(U.S. Air Force photo/R. Nial Bradshaw)

34 Rackmount Systems Move Toward Converged Solutions Jeff Child

35

Rackmount Systems Roundup

Digital subscriptions available: cotsjournalonline.com

COTS Journal | September 2016

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JOURNAL

The Journal of Military Electronics & Computing

Editorial

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeff Child, jeffc@rtcgroup.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Johnny Keggler, johnnyk@rtcgroup.com SENIOR EDITOR John Koon, johnk@rtcgroup.com

WESTERN REGIONAL SALES MANAGER John Reardon, johnr@rtcgroup.com (949) 226-2000 EASTERN REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Ruby Brower, rubyb@rtcgroup.com (949) 226-2004

Finance

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

MANAGING EDITOR James Pirie, jamesp@rtcgroup.com

CONTROLLER Cindy Muir, cindym@rtcgroup.com (949) 226-2000

EDITORIAL OFFICE Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief Phone: (603) 429-8301

Art/Production

Publisher

PUBLISHED BY THE RTC GROUP Copyright 2016, 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.

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

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COTS Journal | September 2016

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To Tame the Drone Frontier

I

t makes sense that military UAVs and unmanned systems in general are key topics for COTS Journal. By definition unmanned systems are directly dependent on embedded computing, software and electronics to fly and perform missions—whether for combat or reconnaissance. One would have to be blind however to ignore the fact that the biggest growth area for drone technology in the past couple years has been dominated by commercial/civil unmanned platforms. Within that the largest chunk is the huge number of small hobbyist kinds of air vehicles. But as commercial uses blossom for drones—ranging from film-making to agriculture to construction and more—the drone market is on track to be a multi-billion dollar market before the end of the decade.

I got to witness the lifeblood of that market earlier this month at InterDrone show in Las Vegas, the industry’s largest show devoted to commercial drones. I had the honor this year to moderate two technology panels at the show—one on processors and one on power sources.

While there, I make good use of my time networking with drone technologists and decisions makers. I also very much enjoyed the keynote speech by Michael P. Huerta, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Integrating commercial drones into the FAA’s mission has been a monumental effort especially in the past year, and Huerta covered all those bases in his speech.

Huerta talked about how drones have fundamentally changed aviation, and have changed society as a whole. According to administrator, there are about 320,000 registered manned aircraft today, and it took 100 years to reach that number. In less than nine months since the administration put the drone registration process in place, there have been more than 520,000 registered hobbyists. That number is close to 550,000 if you factor in commercial users.

Huerta also talked about how this growing industry is an important collaboration between the federal government, stakeholders and the industry as whole. “Despite our sometimes different viewpoints, we all agree on one thing, and that is we want to see safe the integration of unmanned aircraft,” said Huerta. The balance is to support the safe integration of drones, but also to be sure the FAA isn’t stifling innovation.

The FAA’s official rule for the commercial use of unmanned drones, Part 107, went into effect in late August. As part of the administration’s flexible strategy, it has begun granting waivers to commercial operators who wish to operate beyond the rule. The waivers include night operations and beyond line of sight. Huerta believes that by issuing these waivers, the FAA will not only be able to foster innovation, it will also be able to collect important information that will help guide the FAA on future efforts.

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COTS Journal | September 2016

It’s too soon to tell what impact the rapid growth of the commercial/consumer drone industry will have on the defense side of drone technology. And since most military drones are fixed-wing and commercial drones are mostly rotary-wing they may continue down separate paths. But it will be important for the defense industry to keep its eyes on where commercial drone technology is going.

Today one interesting point of intersect is a new DARPA program called Aerial Dragnet. The program seeks innovative technologies to provide persistent, wide-area surveillance of all UAS operating below 1,000 feet in a large city. While Aerial Dragnet’s focus is on protecting military troops operating in urban settings overseas, the system could ultimately find civilian application to help protect U.S. metropolitan areas from UAV-enabled terrorist threats.

According to DARPA, as off-the-shelf drones become less expensive, easier to fly, and more adaptable for terrorist or military purposes, U.S. forces will increasingly be challenged by the need to quickly detect and identify such craft—especially in urban areas, where sight lines are limited and many objects may be moving at similar speeds. Although several systems are being developed for tracking small UAVs by extending surveillance methods used in open areas where large line-of-sight buffers mitigate the threat, these systems are impractical for operation in urban terrain. Aerial Dragnet seeks to leapfrog these approaches by developing systems adapted to the fundamental physics of small UAVs in urban environments that could enable non-line-of-sight (NLOS) tracking and identification of a wide range of slow, low-flying threats.

The program seeks an array of innovative approaches, but the broad vision is for a network of surveillance nodes, each providing coverage of a neighborhood-sized urban area, perhaps mounted on tethered or long-endurance UAVs. Using sensor technologies that can look over and between buildings, the surveillance nodes would maintain UAV tracks even when the craft disappear from sight around corners or behind objects. The output of the Aerial Dragnet system would be a continually updated common operational picture (COP) of the airspace at altitudes below where current aircraft surveillance systems can monitor, disseminated electronically to authorized users via secure data links.

Because of the large market for inexpensive small UAVs, DARPA says the program will focus on combining low cost sensor hardware with software-defined signal processing hosted on existing UAV platforms. The resulting surveillance systems would thus be cost-effectively scalable for larger coverage areas and rapidly upgradable as new, more capable and economical versions of component technologies become available.

The

INSIDE TRACK General Atomics Li-Ion Battery System Tapped for Dry Combat Submersible General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced that it has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to provide Lithium-ion Fault Tolerant (LiFT) battery systems for use on U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) new Dry Combat Submersible (DCS), a long endurance delivery vehicle capable of transporting divers in a dry environment (Figure 1). The GA-EMS LiFT battery system will power the DCS propulsion and internal support systems.

LiFT battery systems are high energy density solutions for both

manned and unmanned underwater vehicles. LiFT’s single cell fault tolerance prevents uncontrolled and catastrophic cascading cell failure. This not only ensures the safety of any on-board personnel, but also ensures systems continue to operate through faults to enable mission completion. In April of this year, the LiFT battery system successfully underwent at-sea on-hull demonstration testing on a USSOCOM undersea vehicle.

Lockheed’s Dry Combat Submersible houses up eight individuals and keeps them dryer on critical underwater missions.

Microsemi Space Solutions Fly on Juno Spacecraft

control systems, and in various instruments which have now been deployed and are returning scientific data. Microsemi’s high and low voltage radiation-hardened power supply modules support guidance and controls systems on board the Juno spacecraft.

Microsemi has extended its congratulations to NASA for the Juno spacecraft’s successful mission to date, including its orbit insertion at Jupiter, as its mission turns towards the data collection phase. After an almost five-year journey the spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit (Figure 2). A wide variety of Microsemi’s radiation-tolerant products were used in mission critical applications during Juno’s launch and journey across the solar system.

Over the next few months, Juno’s mission and science teams will complete the transition to the final 14-day science orbit and initiate formal collection of scientific data.

Microsemi’s radiation-tolerant field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) from the RTSX-SU and RTAX-S product families are in use within the space vehicle’s command and

8

Figure 1 Lockheed’s Dry Combat Submersible houses up eight individuals and keeps them dryer on critical underwater missions.

General Atomics San Diego, CA. (858) 455-3000 www.ga.com

A wide variety of Microsemi’s radiation-tolerant products were used in mission critical applications during Juno’s launch and journey across the solar system.

Microsemi Aliso Viejo CA (949) 380-6100 www.microsemi.com

US Navy Links SM-6 with F-35 Aircraft in Flight Test

Figure 2 A wide variety of Microsemi’s radiation-tolerant products were used in mission critical applications during Juno’s launch and journey across the solar system.

COTS Journal | September 2016

In a first-of-its-kind engagement, a Raytheon Standard Missile-6 linked with an F-35 fighter destroyed a medium-range, medium-altitude, subsonic target.

The USS Desert Ship (LLS 1), a land-based U.S. Navy Combat System equipped with the latest AEGIS Baseline, fired the SM-6, which intercepted the over-thehorizon target, out of sight of its operators.

The mission was the latest in a test series for Naval Integrated Fire Control – Counter Air, or NIFC-CA, a program designed to link U.S. Navy ships and various airborne sensors, such as the F-35, into a single integrated sensor network.

During this capability demonstration, the SM-6 received continuous updates from the network, including the fighter aircraft, leading to the successful intercept of the target.

Raytheon Waltham, MA (781) 522-3000 www.raytheoncom

The

INSIDE TRACK EXCLUSIVE: FOUR SECURITY PRINCIPLES FOR AN INTERCONNECTED WORLD – AN OP-ED Scott Orton, VP, Secure Processing Solutions Mercury Systems The issue of security in support of critical defense platforms and missions has never been more important. Several years ago the conversation around building security into the elements and subsystems that make up defense platforms was a “nice to have” consideration. This was weighed against other crucial demands as our acquisition professionals sought to field the most capable systems for our warfighters within the limits of their budgets. Today it is a “need to have” as the very effectiveness of the defense platform becomes dependent on the level of security afforded it.

Systems have been and will continue to become interconnected at an astonishing rate. Sometimes the connections are by design and sometimes they happen in an ad hoc manner. From a security perspective, these interconnections pose a significant risk due to data aggregation/linking, threat/vulnerability mismatches (or “seams”), and a lack of defensive countermeasure interoperability and integration. Due to this, even the best designed and scrutinized secure defense platform may become vulnerable because of an interconnection created outside of the parameters of the original design.

For this reason, we would urge that all electronic systems deployed for use by our warfighters employ some basic principles of “built-in” security. There are four principles to our secure solution thesis: • Secure Solutions Must Be Designed In: First and foremost, for defense platforms to be secure against today’s advanced threats, the security must be built-in, not bolted-on. This is necessary to address the seams in security implementations that form within a single platform due to the interplay between legacy and contemporary security policies as well as between the various security disciplines. An enabler of this principle is to provide secure building blocks that can be stitched together based on the threat even as they are integrated and customized during subsequent stages of integration. Done well, a building block approach promotes competition and innovation without large cost overlays or over-reliance on custom solutions.

We are now entering into our fourth generation of building secure solutions that can then be integrated into a customer’s solution and ultimately the platform’s secure architecture.

• Secure Solutions Must Be Domestic: The principle here is not about being xenophobic or unwelcoming of our more complex inter-connected world. The advantage of a domestic supply chain comes from the enforceable regulation and oversight of the suppliers and the consequence of US law should participants in that supply chain misbehave. Much of the broader IT industry, which the DoD has become dependent on, is now manufactured and sourced outside of the US, either in places where supply chains are hard to track, or even

worse, in countries where there is the risk of a highly compromised solution. The potential for bad actors is significantly reduced when the supply chain has motivation to police itself at a high standard as it does in the US. We engineer, develop and manufacture all of our secure solutions domestically.

• Secure Solutions Must Be Extensible: While the security community can attempt to “future proof ” architectures through rigor and expertise, the unpredictable nature and deployment speed of threats against defense platforms require that we design in ways to quickly update and improve security capability. We provide secure building blocks that are standardized and can be used, in a repeatable way, by our customers who then include them in their secure architectures.

This approach allows the customer to be in control as they build their secure processing platforms using and re-using our technologies as needed. It also allows for the replacement of building blocks as new security methods become preferred and/or new building blocks to be added as threats emerge.

• Secure Solutions Must Be Interoperable and Integrated: The challenge with the maturing security disciplines of information assurance, anti-tamper, cyber-defense, and supply chain risk management is that adversaries will seek to attack the seams in these disciplines.

This seems to only become more pronounced as policies in these disciplines are tailored across user communities and implemented to varying degrees across defense platforms. The attack vectors are uninhibited by the siloed walls of any particular security discipline and hence our security practices will need to also overcome these confines to be successful. Thankfully, there has been a growing convergence in the language, cross-training, and processes of these disciplines. Our next challenge will be to recognize the elements that form inter-platform solutions and to start requiring that the security of defense platforms be integrated before these technologies are exploited. Again, this challenge will be eased by incorporating “built-in” building blocks but also adding standardized interfaces.

As multiple technologies are integrated into a single interconnected platform it is essential that standard interfaces are developed to allow interoperability in areas of encrypted data-at-rest, secure start-up, user authentication, tamper monitoring and reporting, and secure run-time operation.

Mercury Systems Chelmsford, MA (978) 967-1401 www.mrcy.com

COTS Journal | September 2016

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SPECIAL FEATURE Cooling Options for Rugged Box Systems

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COTS Journal | September 2016

SPECIAL FEATURE

Solutions and Standards Advance for Box-Level Cooling In order to use the fastest, cutting edge processing, box-level systems need ways to eliminate the resulting heat. A variety of technologies and products help smooth the way.

Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

I

n part because military system developers are risk-adverse by nature, it’s taken years for acceptance of any kind of cooling technique more exotic than clever heatsink configurations. But as demand for more computing power continues, methods like liquid cooling, spray cooling and even fan-based cooling are being designed in and deployed by some, and at least considered by others.

Driven by Moore’s Law, electronic systems can always expect ever faster processors, ever larger memories and ever speedier interconnects to feed even the most hungry computing appetites. However there’s a down side when these cutting edge processors are clocking at high speeds: the silicon becomes thermally excited and heats up. It’s a constant battle to remove that heat before it gets to the threshold where that heat can’t be removed fast enough.

Moreover, achieving that same leading edge of computer performance in an embedded application is a real challenge—particularly in harsh or rugged environments like military aircraft or ground vehicles.

COTS Journal | September 2016

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SPECIAL FEATURE

JLTV Cooling Design Win In a vehicle example of cooling, in May Aspen Systems announced they would be supplying Environmental Control Units (ECU’s) for critical communications electronics cooling for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) being produced by Oshkosh Corporation (Figure 1). The initial JLTV production contract called for a delivery total of nearly 17,000 vehicles, while the total program is expected to result in over 50,000 JLTVs delivered to the US Military.

Aspen’s miniature vapor compression environmental control units have been successfully deployed on the SOCOM MRAP’s.

These ECU’s are used to cool electronics mounted outside the passenger cabin in the rear of the vehicle. In addition to providing 550 W of cooling, the system also provides up to 300 W of heating for temperature and humidity control for critical communications systems. These ECU’s are 5 times lighter, 4 times more energy efficient, and half the size of thermoelectric based systems.

Many Cooling Options As military system developers have begun to embrace cooling methods beyond basic conduction-cooling, a number of vendor-created cooling solutions have emerged.

At the same time, VITA has churned at a set of Working Groups and VITA Standards addresses different types of cooling. The table in Figure 2 lists several types of cooling options and their associated VITA standards (where applicable). For its part Mercury Systems offers solutions across all those types of cooling.

According to Mercury they focus is on lowest risk adoption and scalability and on keeping cooling solutions modular and open system agnostic enabling them to span across platforms and form factors. The companies cooling technologies cool the most powerful processors and RF/M devices for greater processing density across embedded open systems, including 3/6U OpenVPX and AdvancedTCA. Figure 3 shows Mercury’s Air Flow By solution which is it considers the most efficient OpenVPX air-cooling technology available. Modules are sealed removing the need for filtration Earlier this year, Mercury rolled out its newest cooling technology Liquid Flow-By. Liquid Flow-By enables open system ar12

COTS Journal | September 2016

chitecture (OSA) modules to operate unrestricted and reliably, regardless of the presence of a cooling air supply. Liquid Flow-By integrates liquid cooling capability into Mercury Systems’ Air Flow-By technology.

Both Air and Liquid Flow-By have a technology readiness level of nine (TRL-9), uniquely deliver double-sided cooling and are compliant to the rugged OpenVPX and ATCA OSAs for technology insertions. The cooling liquid may be the platform’s own fuel supply which enters each module through non-drip, quick disconnects to complement or take over the native air cooling capability of each module.

help reduce weight and cost for cooling high density, high power dissipation 3U and 6U module based systems. Because VITA 48.8 does not use module-to-chassis conduction cooling, it also promises to help drive innovative use of new lightweight plastic or composite material based chassis. The VITA 48.8 Working Group is chaired by Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, with Lockheed Martin serving as the standard’s editor. The working group has set a goal of submitting the finalized VITA 48.8 draft for ANSI ratification later this year.

New Air Flow Open Standard

One of the reasons the defense industry was so reluctant to embrace exotic cooling technologies is that that often the solutions are at odds with harsh environmental requirements of platforms like military vehicles. General Micro Systems addressed that problem by crafting a cooling solution “from the ground up.” Its cooling approach is that each electronics module in the system is designed from the ground up to be conduction cooled and to meet rugged MIL standards, such as MIL-STD-810G, MIL-S-901D, MILSTD-1275E, MIL-STD-461F and DO-160D, to

In January VITA announced its most recent cooling Working Group focused on the air flow through (AFT) cooling standard, VITA 48.8, for use in size, weight, power and cost (SWAP-C) constrained 3U and 6U VPX module-based systems. VITA 48.8 seeks to achieve weight and cost reduction for AFT cooling by eliminating the use of wedgelocks and ejector/injector handles.

The resulting open standard for the VITA 48.8 will bring AFT cooling to COTS 3U form factor VPX modules. It will also

Cooling in High Shock Environments

Figure 1 Aspen Systems’ Environmental Control Units (ECU’s) were selected for electronics cooling for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) being produced by Oshkosh.

SPECIAL FEATURE

Cooling Technologies for Processor Subsystems Air-cooling

ANSI/VITA 48.1 for OpenVPX

Conduction-cooling

ANSI/VITA 48.2 for OpenVPX

Air Flow-By

ANSI/VITA 48.7 for OpenVPX

Liquid Flow-By

Augments ANSI/VITA 48.x for OpenVPX

Liquid Flow-Thru

ANSI/VITA 48.4 for OpenVPX

Liquid-cooling

--

Spray-cooling

--

Figure 2 Table lists several types of cooling options and their associated VITA standards (where applicable). (Source: Mercury Systems whitepaper “Agnostic, scalable OSA packaging and cooling”).

mention a few. GMS’s products are equipped with GMS’ patent pending RuggedCool.

The company claims that it allows systems using Intel-based CPUs with a TjMax of 105 degrees C to operate in an industrial temperature environment (-40 to +85 degrees C) at full operational load without throttling the CPU. At the heart of Rugged Cool is the choice to employ a corrugated alloy slug with an extremely low thermal resistance to act as a heat spreader at the processor die. That’s in contrast with other approaches that use thermal gap pads to conduct heat from the CPU to the system’s interface to the cold plate. Once the heat is spread over a much larger area, a liquid silver compound in a sealed chamber is used

Figure 3 This Air Flow By solution provides an efficient OpenVPX air-cooling technology. Modules are sealed removing the need for filtration.

method allows for simple, lightweight thermal solutions. In many cases, complex liquid or air cooled systems can be replaced or coupled with a thermal storage component to reduce SWaP. Specifically ACT has developed the several tools to enable faster and more accurate response to customer needs.

These include Internal Geometry Optimization Tools; Cross Channel Communication, Pressure Management; Repeatable and precise processing and sealing; Transient Modeling and Testing Validation; Multiple Enclosure Manufacturing Options (3D printing, laser welding, TIG welding, brazing).

Multi-Sectional Fansinks Another cooling specialist product is Advanced Thermal Solutions QuadFLOW fansink, It uses directed airflow in multiple fin fields to cool electronic components up

to transfer the heat from the spreader to the systems’ enclosure.

An advantage of RuggedCool technology is its effect on shock and vibration. With this technology, the CPU die does not make direct contact with the system enclosure, but rather connects via a liquid silver chamber which acts as a shock absorber. This shock absorber prevents shock from being transferred from the enclosure to the flip chip ball grid array (FCBGA), thus saving the CPU from micro-fractures.

Cooling System Specialists While embedded computing vendors offer some of the most innovative system cooling solutions, there’s a number of cooling product specialists that continue to advance their offerings. One example is Advanced Cooling Technologies (ACT). This month ACT announced it has increased its design and manufacturing capabilities to meet increasing demand for its Phase Change Materials (PCM) heat sink products.

According to the company, these temporary thermal storage solutions are becoming a critical element in military applications involving short mission durations, pulse mode operation, and directed energy.

In these heatsinks, the PCM absorbs heat during device “on” times, without increasing temperature, by undergoing a solid to liquid phase change. The heat is dissipated during device “off ” times through the reverse liquid to solid phase transition. This

Figure 4 QuadFLOW fansinks maximize extraction of heat from their integral heat sink fins. These fin fields are not parallel but instead are designed to allow airflow to enter from multiple directions

to 30 percent more effectively than the liquid cooling methods currently deployed in 1 and 2U commercial servers. Conventional heat sinks provide large amounts of cooling surface relative to their volumes. They work well in many applications where space is not an issue, including multi-U servers and workstations. But where space is highly constrained, cooling methods that rely on increased surface areas and airflow rate can’t adequately dissipate heat from high power electronic components.

The patented QuadFLOW fansinks are COTS Journal | September 2016

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SPECIAL FEATURE

engineered for cooling high power electronic devices, such as CPUs and GPUs, using air as the coolant (Figure 4). They are designed to maximize extraction of heat from their integral heat sink fins. ATS uses its own Multiple Flow Entrance Technology to engineer several fin fields on the same heat sink base area. These fin fields are not parallel to each other, but instead are designed to allow air-

flow to enter from multiple directions. The patented QuadFLOW internal wall design prevents any coupling of airflows between adjacent fin fields.

Advanced Cooling Technologies Lancaster, PA (717) 295-6021 www.1-act.com

Advanced Thermal Solutions Norwood, MA (781) 769-2800 www.qats.com Aspen Systems Marlborough, MA (508) 281-5322 www.aspensystems.com Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Ashburn, VA (703) 779-7800 www.cwcdefense.com General Micro Systems Rancho Cucamonga, CA (909) 980-4863 www.gms4sbc.com Mercury Systems Chelmsford, MA (978) 967-1401 www.mrcy.com

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SPECIAL FEATURE Cooling Options for Rugged Box Systems

Optimizing Thermal Controls in Pre-Validated Systems Choosing a cooling solution for a rugged box system is a complex task. Everything from the ambient environment to the power dissipation of sub-systems must be analyzed.

Simon Parrett, Conceptual/Structural/Thermal Engineer Kontron

P

ushing the environmental limits of performance is essentially the definition of mil-aero design. While box-level computing systems create an advantage with Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) pre-validated for a range of rugged application needs, developers must also possess a comprehensive understanding how thermal factors affect their designs. Design challenges can involve everything from managing the ambient environment and component and sub-system power dissipation to accommodating the “as installed” thermal factor. Each of these considerations must be addressed keeping in mind greater performance capabilities coupled with continued reductions in system footprint to determine the optimal cooling option.

Using the right tools and optimization techniques, developers can readily validate a box-level system’s thermal performance for their specific application. Sophisticated tools such as thermal modeling and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) evaluation enable the most successful designs, based on highly accurate projections of airflow, temperature distribution and heat transfer between components, boards and ultimately within the fully-deployed system.

Pre-Validated Systems Small form factor, application-ready systems enable development versatility. These ruggedized systems pack a lot of perfor16

COTS Journal | September 2016

Figure 1 Developed such rugged platforms as vehicles or helicopters, COBALT provides a performance advantage for graphics-heavy imaging and sensor data processing applications.

mance into tight quarters, offering features that include highly integrated imaging, sensors, networking, avionics, multifunction displays and communications. Suitable for harsh environments such as ground vehicle systems, shipborne computing, manned aircraft and UAV payloads, these small footprint systems capitalize on extended thermal characteristics ‘by design’—or via a Computeron-Module (COM) that can be specifically engineered and optimized for extended temperature applications.

By addressing significant power densities generated at the board, chassis and

system levels, application-ready systems both reduce risk and streamline deployment. A sealed IP67-rated housing and fanless operation further support operations in severe environments. These systems meet Size, Weight, Power and Cooling (SWaP-C) needs through extreme ruggedization and offer processor performance/power options ranging from low power Intel Atom to high performance Intel Core i7-based systems.

A box-level system optimized for SWaPC is the Kontron COBALT offers a complete, rugged small form factor system with operating temperatures -40 to +71 degrees C (Figure 1). As a sealed IP67 system, Kontron COBALT is a complete, rugged small form factor system. Its rugged features include a special Rapid Shutdown circuit design, an on-board mechanism enabling survivability from episodes such as high energy electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

Solving Thermal Challenges In addition to reducing resources needed for design and development, application-ready systems also empower innovation—enabling designers to focus on cooling solutions created to handle the most extreme deployment scenarios. Designers must solve four primary areas to optimize thermal performance of rugged box-level systems: They must optimize the enclosure fin interface with the ambient environment using computational fluid dynamic (CFD)

SPECIAL FEATURE

driven parametrics; They must conduct a system-level thermal analysis to determine any power dissipation trade-offs and how one internal sub-system impacts another; They must perform an examination of the primary internal thermal conduction paths to the enclosure; and, the must look at how the installed thermal platform affects overall system performance.

To perfect the thermal performance of a natural convection cooled product, designers need to first focus on the design of the cooling fin geometry. A proven baseline design can be used to incorporate finning formed into the upper surface of the enclosure housing. Maximum heat is removed from the circuit board and processor, commonly designed to sit near the housing surface. Upper surface fins are able to be supplemented with modular rear and side wall mounted heat sinks if additional cooling is deemed necessary (Figure 2).

There are numerous fin design parameters to consider along with the four finned surfaces of the enclosure. This is a

time-consuming process as repeat iterations may be required to solve the application performance goals. Risk is a factor as well, with the potential for wasted resources if the design proves incapable of meeting application needs. Alternatively, new and more advanced software tools provide designers with more detailed data than traditional CFD software tools. These new software tools should be applied in tandem with analyzing a broad base of “Design of Experiments” design scenarios, creating an environment capable of quickly guiding engineers to fin geometries considered most advantageous for a given design.

Demonstrated by a design optimization tool that compliments the existing ANSYS Icepak CFD software, these more powerful algorithms reduce risk and accelerate design by evaluating sensitivities against a number of design and performance variables unique to each application. Iterations are reduced and the entire design process is streamlined significantly, using the final CFD analysis as a final validation of fin design.

Figure 2 Graphic shows the Response Surface Evaluation CPU Temperatures vs. Fin Parameters.

SIDEBAR

Evaluating Thermal Management Options Pre-certification assures all required system functionality has been implemented in a chassis; as opposed to deploying a chassis categorized as “designed to meet,” a sealed and temperature-controlled environment is certified to protect and ensure reliability of the electronics inside. For example, systems manufactured and validated to meet MILSTD-810G’s various environmental requirements are ready to withstand specified extremes of temperature, vibration, shock, salt spray, sand and chemical exposure.

Another approach includes evaluating potential impact of radiative cooling in passively cooled convection systems, often operating at low power. Because of reductions in size, weight and power, radiation can significantly influence placement of components, as well as locations where the completed system can be reliably deployed. To remediate these challenges, developers may instead opt for a sealed system with a natural convection design as a means to achieve scalability and excellent power dissipation.

A typical small form factor aluminum chassis may have an ambient temperature of 15 to 20 degrees C. This same system may also dissipate up to one third of its power through the effects of radiation; this is a significant measurement relative to overall power dissipated and may become even more significant depending on the end-use application, for example performing at higher altitudes common to UAVs. Embedded computing suppliers such as Kontron are addressing these market requirements, investing in technologies to optimize thermal management in small form factor platforms.

COTS Journal | September 2016

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SPECIAL FEATURE

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Power Dissipation Trade-Offs

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CFD tools are capable of providing system level thermal analysis and to test thermal relationships between the other various electronic sub-systems within the enclosure. This will reveal performance trade-offs that may be required, for example considering power dissipated by an optional XMC expansion card. It also exposes the potential for increased operating temperature from the COMs processor designed in close proximity.

CFD analysis provides invaluable information, particularly in conjunction with finite element analysis commonly executed as a best practice in design and development.

Designers can gain insight related to maximum operating temperatures for each component, processor thresholds for both low and high temperatures, power and power density of components, and sidewall versus internal to external wall conductive path components. By compiling comprehensive data, designers are better able to not only select the best product profile option for a specific application, but also to more easily maintain compliance with customer-specified MIL or RTCA test standards.

Validating the efficiency of thermal paths between higher power, solid state components and the enclosure walls is also important. Using thermal simulation tools offered with CAD design software, designers may determine the width of a heat spreader. Adjustments may be required in order to optimize its gradient thermal path to the uppermost surface. Once validated, the most effective final solution will ensure minimal thermal resistance while maintaining a low mass.

Evaluate System Performance The final area of evaluation is the specific operating environment where the box-level platform and full system will be deployed. For instance, how much headroom remains in the performance envelope if the system is deployed in the thinner air conduction conditions common to an UAV or other aircraft? While a system onboard a UAV may benefit of a colder environment, atmospheric effects at higher altitudes can affect cooling fans and must be considered.

Because of the powerful impact of local environmental factors, careful evaluation of elements such as mounting platform mate8

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rial, mounting orientation, vicinity to other electronic equipment, altitude and potential solar loading are critical maximizing thermal performance.

Questions about two highly relevant factors are necessary. First, what is the possible performance impact of a small form factor, box-level platform mounted on an aluminum cold plate? Second, is there potential for radiation exchange between nearby electronic enclosures using comparable power? These influences underscore the need for a comprehensive understanding of contributing thermal factors, ensuring that reliable performance “as designed” is consistent with the “as installed” environment.

Optimized Thermal Management Optimization tools and techniques play an essential role in establishing a boxlevel system’s thermal performance for a given application. Sophisticated tools such as thermal modeling and CFD help designers evaluate many thermal methodologies.

These tools are valuable resources in verifying optimal fin geometries, the conductive relationships between sub-systems, and the effect of power dissipation paths within the enclosure. Critically, the same tools also validate the “as installed” environment will perform as expected and required. The sidebar “Evaluating Thermal Management Options” in this article explores various approaches to thermal management.

Pushing the limits of performance—accommodating severe temperature ranges, jarring shock and vibration, rapid decompression, high altitudes and exposure to corrosive materials – remains an ongoing challenge for military systems developers.

By optimizing thermal controls in the latest application-ready systems, developers are applying development resources wisely and ensuring long-term survivability for mission-critical applications.

Kontron Poway, CA (888) 294-4558 www.kontron.com

TECH RECON Update/Review from Intel Developer Forum 2016

Post-PC Tech Rules at Intel Developer Forum 2016 At this year’s IDF the post-PC era was in full swing as Intel looks to a future dominated by the cloud, 5G, IoT, machine vision, merged reality, artificial intelligence, autonomous cars, drones and data centers.

John Koon, Senior Editor

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here’s little doubt that Intel technologies ranging from processing to connectivity to visual intelligence have become staples for today’s military system designs. And in this era where the PC is less of a sole driver of Intel’s universe, a greater focus is now on vertical markets like virtual reality, drones, intelligent things and big data.

All that was crystal clear at last month’s Intel Development Conference (IDF16) in San Francisco. The show showcased the latest innovations of the world’s largest silicon supplier along with its future road map. COTS Journal’s staff was there to see key technology topics and product exhibits at IDF16 from Intel and its partners.

On the first day of the 2016 Intel Developers Forum (IDF16), keynote speaker Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO, highlighted four themes and introduced quite a few new technologies.

The four themes show a path to where Intel is headed into the future. These include: 1. Refining the experience of computing; 2. Building a world of visual intelligence; 3. A cloud designed for innovation; and 4. Empowering the next generation innovation.

Project Alloy Open Exemplifying pretty much all four themes combined, Intel at IDF16 introduced a new Project Alloy Open, all-in-one Virtual Reality platform, a reference design for developers.

This wireless head-mounted device (Figure 20

COTS Journal | September 2016

Figure 1 At IDF16 Intel CEO Brian Krzanich demonstrated on stage the capability of the Project Alloy Open, all-in-one Virtual Reality platform and how Merged Reality worked.

1) allows users to move around freely to see the real objects in front and interact with a 3D images created by Alloy. In the demo, a real dollar bill was used to cut off a rotating image object. The interaction of virtual space and real-time object is called Merged Reality (MR). This is one step ahead of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Additionally, Intel is collaborating with Microsoft to optimize the performance of the product with Windows holographic (Microsoft refers

to it as mixed reality) running on Project Alloy next year. While there are different business opportunities for VR, there is no clear indication which direction the market will go. Will the low cost VR or high-end merged reality product go mainstream?

RealSense technology, another new concept introduced by Intel, included a stereo camera along with the Intel software and processor to allow developers to design applications such as interactive autonomous

TECH RECON

machines with the 3D view to gauge object depth and distance much like a human does.

Developers kits are available now for the OEM. Visual Intelligent (an Intel term and the concept is similar to machine vision) would require RealSense technology. There are many applications for Visual Intelligence targeted

by Intel. Among them are factory inspection, automation as well as autonomous driving.

At IDF16 Intel also launched the Joule platform and developer kit for the IoT developers. It includes the support of the Intel RealSense cameras for depth of field (DOF), 802.11ac, USB 3.0, GPIO, Intel HD graphic with 4K video capture and display and developers can have a choice of processor. The Joule 570x comes the 64-bit, 1.7 GHz quad-core Intel Atom T5700 with burst frequency up to 2.4 GHz, 4 Gbytes of LPDDR4 RAM and 16 Gbytes of eMMC memory while the 550x comes with the 1.5 GHz quad-core Intel Atom T5500 processor, 3 Gbytes of LPDDR4 RAM and 8 Gbytes of eMMC memory.

The Joule platform is scalable to support the entry-level Arduino 101 to the advanced Intel Edison and Curie modules. With the Intel Joule platform, high performance systemon-module (SOM) or partner modules, developers can deliver rapid prototypes and take it to production and minimize cost for applications such as computer vision, robotics, drones, IIoT, VR, AR and edge computing. The package is so small it can be packaged with a smart tooth brush or safety glasses.

7th Gen Core Processor Beyond Intel launched the high performance 7th Gen Intel Core Processor Family to aim at “Immerse Internet”, an Intel term referring to the idea that you can view, work and play with super speed. It supports 4K ultra high-definition and 360 degree video and USB-C (40 Gbps)

with battery life of up to 10 hours per charge.

The processors have an increase of 19 percent in web application (as measured by SYSmark 2014; Intel Core i7-7500U vs. Intel Core i76500U) and 12 percent in production performance (as measured by WebXPRT* 2015; Intel Core i7-7500U vs. Intel Core i7-6500U).

Based on the new processor, Dell XPS 13 can deliver a faster CPU of 3.5 GHz ( from 3.1 GHz) in Core i7 and increase a 16G RAM clock rate from 1866 MHz to 2133 MHz. According to Navin Shenoy, corporate vice president and general manager for the Client Computing Group at Intel, “Our new 7th Gen Intel Core based systems is 15 times faster than a 5-year-old PC, allow you to watch 4K TV on a laptop.” Additionally, Intel predicted that future connectivity will be using fiber optics to move the massive amount of data among networks, Brian explained that silicon would be connecting directly to fiber optics replacing copper (Figure 2).

Industrial Edge, Connected Cars To support the industrial edge products, Intel reintroduced the Curie module. Based on the Intel Quark SE SoC, the low-power, 32bit processor comes with 384 Kbytes of flash memory and 80 Kbytes of SRAM. With battery charging capability, it uses the Bluetooth low energy design with 6-axis combo sensor with accelerometer and gyroscope aim at tracking body movement and object motion in healthcare and industrial applications. Intel IQ software kits are available to support user identity in wearable products and make social interaction easier for fitness device wearers.

Transportation and connected car represent a new growth area for many silicon companies and they are actively pursuing this market segment. At IDF16, BMW and Intel made a joint announcement with a dramatic

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COTS Journal | September 2016

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TECH RECON

entry in which a driverless BMW model i3 came on stage. The passenger, Elmar Frickenstein, leader of BMW’s autonomous driving unit, was welcome by Brian. Intel and BMW partner together in the development of autonomous cars to be produced in 2020. Even though I learned the news from the press release in July, witnessing this in person was still very impactful. Connected car is an important area for Intel as it encompasses both cloud and data.

According to Intel data transfer and consumption would increase dramatically. By 2020, the daily transfer would be 15 Gbytes daily for a person, 4000 Gbytes for automotive, 40,000 Gbytes for an airplane and a remarkable one million Gbytes for a smart factory. Therefore, the management of large quantity of data would be important. Today, Intel has a stronghold in the data center business and would hope to continue that trend.

During IDF16, Intel also heighted the importance of having a big and efficient data center, 5G and efficient cloud computing.

Intel’s FPGA Future By acquiring Altera, Intel has included FPGA as part of its strategic offerings. Altera now operates as the Programmable Solutions Group (PSG) within Intel. On the third day of IDF16 held in San Francisco, the PSG held its Intel SoC FPGA Developer Forum (ISDF) where Intel’s CEO, Brian Krzanich, and PSG corporate vice president and general manager, Dan McNamara, addressed the audience. Krzanich confirmed to the audience Intel’s commitment to investing in and growing its FPGA business. FPGAs provide multifunction acceleration for various applications such as autonomous cars, data center, traffic gateway hubs, smart factory, military and wireless application.

For example, during holidays when phone call peak traffic creates heavier workload for the data center, FPGA-based data centers can be reconfigured to meet that need with a much shorter lead time then the alternative solutions. FPGAs and SoC FPGAs provide the benefits of performance, flexibil-

ity, optimization of hardware and software programmability with good power efficiency.

The latest product Stratix 10 FPGA, based on Intel’s 14nm Tri-Gate process, are the first Intel-branded FPGAs, and mark the company’s FPGA commitment. For the above reasons, Schneider Electric has selected Intel’s FPGAs and SoC FPGAs as an end-to-end solution to power its IoT, sensor and device network.

Altera San Jose, CA. (408) 544-7000 www.altera.com Intel Santa Clara, CA (408) 765-8080 www.intel.com

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TECH RECON

SIDEBAR

Intel Partner Solutions Showcased at IDF16 As always at Intel Developer Forum, Intel’s partners were out in full force showcasing a variety of technologies. Here’s some the most interesting ones from IDF16.

Secure Cloud and Edge Computing

Internet-of-Things for Smart Cities

Cloud and Edge computing are key technologies that the defense industry can leverage to its particular needs. Like the general consumer space, military uses are ramping up their appetites for increasing data transfers and data consumption. At IDF16, Emerson Network Power introduced the SmartCabinet solution to meet the demand. This unit is a pre-fabricated system optimized for prescribed IT load. Additionally it has physical security and remote monitoring capability. Its SCB1000, 2000 and 3000 models are all TAA compliant, with approximately between 265- to 430-pounds depending on hardware content. The power include a single 1500VA /3000VA UPS to support up to 18 minutes of run time in case of external power failure.

This product is a partnership of Emerson Network Power, Lenovo and OSISoft to support data center, IoT and edge computing. The system uses REST-based (Representational State Transfer) Redfish API, (an open industry standard specification and schema that specifies a RESTful interface).

The SmartCabinet supports two Lenovo System x3550 M5 servers used to discover, track and monitor system configuration and performance while the integrated OSIsoft PI System focuses on data analytics to provide insights of the data movement and use. Redfish is an open specification developed by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), an industry standards organization to simplify network management.

Other board members of DMTF include Intel, Microsoft, Dell, Hitachi and HP and industry support for the organization has been gaining momentum in recent years.

Connecting defense assets whether they are a facilities-based or deployed is part of the DoD’s broad network-centric goals. That’s piqued an interest in Smart City technologies. An example showcased at IDF16 was Advantech collaborating with AT&T and GE to demonstrate the concept of a Smart City. AT&T, provider of the networking infrastructure in the city for many years, stated that smart city solutions have a purpose. The integration of technology will provide sustainability, cost reduction, citizen well-being and economic development. If done right, smart city solutions will connect utility, vehicles, homes, meters, health (hospital) and security. Currently, AT&T has 29 million IoT devices on its network.

The AT&T network also supports the GE Predix platform for city data management. Independently, Advantech, the world’s largest industrial computer manufacturer, provides an IoT architecture which runs the Microsoft Azure on top of its hardware platform to communicate with carious sensor and IO including RF modules, automation, and smart mesh.

Its hardware offerings include a full-line of Intel-based (Bay Trail/Apollo Lake) single board computer as well as ruggedized custom designs for 24/7 operation with temperature range from -40 to +85 degree centigrade with optional conformal coating (Figure A).

On the software side, the Advantech platform supports the GE Predix for machine data management and has built-in GPS using Wind River’s IDP 3.1. Other useful IO and options include HDMI, MIPI camera, 16 Gbyte DDR3/4 memories, USB, Wi-Fi and Ethernet. Smart city infrastructure as provided by “Current powered by GE” is part of the solution. These connected sensor enabled intelligent nodes, which

Emerson Network Power Columbus, OH (614) 888-0246 www.emersonnetworkpower.com

Figure A This Intel-based ruggedized custom SBC supports temperature range from -40 to +85 degrees with optional conformal coating.

attach to street lighting poles, are multifunction hubs with embedded sensors to detect pedestrians and vehicle metadata, temperature, pressure, air quality, vibration, noise, and gunshot that can feed data through a network, such as AT&T’s, into GE’s industrial data platform, Predix.

Meanwhile Current by GE will also provide APIs for ISV’s (independent software vendors) and developers to access the data from these nodes, in real-time, for applications. Currently, AT&T is conducting a smart city pilot program in seven locations including Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX, Georgia Institute of Technology, Miami-Dade County, FL, Montgomery County, MD and Chapel Hill, NC. Advantech, AT&T and GE are each providing a platform to help OEM and end customers build future smart cities which will ultimately benefit their citizens.

Advantech Irvine, CA (949) 519-3800 www.advantech.com

COTS Journal | September 2016

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TECH RECON

SIDEBAR

Intel Partner Solutions Showcased at IDF16 The Innovative 3D XPoint Memory Memory density is important to all sorts of high-compute applications, the defense market is no exception. At IDF16 Micron showcased its new line of 3D XPoint memory technology. Micron branded this non-volatile memory technology, jointly developed with Intel, as QuantX. According to Micron, QuantX SSD performance can read at 10 microseconds and write at 20 microseconds or less, 10 times better than NAND flash-based SSD (Figure B). Micron positions QuantX in the mid-price range with better performance than NAND, but is still 4 to 5 times higher than NAND. According to Micron demand is very high. Micron is also working with its ecosystem members to develop controllers and end products.

The 3D XPoint memory technology is a new innovation. Its architecture shaped like a three dimensional checkerboard with memory cells sit at the intersection of the word and bit line. Data can be written in small sizes and in a very efficient manner.

This new development is 10 times denser than NAND and can potentially deliver an impressive performance of 1000 times lower latency than NAND. Though the technology was co-developed by two companies, Intel has separately branded its offering as Intel Optane. Intel’s main target is data center while Micron will pursue the IoT and mobile applications. At IDF16, it showed off a 140 Gbyte SSD and is said to be working with Facebook, LinkedIn and the like to further advance the use of Intel Optane. What will the future hold? This new 3D XPoint innovation will continue to improve and may be the memory of the future. But others are not standing still. IBM is working on a competitive non-volatile memory technology, a 3 bits/cell Phase Change Memory (PCM) and can be a strong competitor.

Micron Boise, ID (208) 368-4000 www.micron.com

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COTS Journal | September 2016

Internet-of-Things Enables Predictive Maintenance Military system developers are looking closely at industrial IoT technologies that can leverage for defense systems. IoT solutions for built for manufacturing downtime prevention are an example. Along those lines, ADLINK Technology showcased a Predictive Maintenance and Quality solution at IDF16. The company partnered with IBM to deliver called Vortex Edge PMQ. It is a preintegrated hardware/software including the Intel-based MXE series cognitive gateways, IBM PMQ business analytics software, Data distribution by PrismTech Vortex software and the optional SETO-1000 industrial appliance if additional edge computing power is needed. Sensors are placed inside the target manufacturing equipment to monitor temperature, vibration, movement and other necessary parameters depends on the particular equipment. A healthy performance profile, say temperature, is used to compare with the data collected from the sensors in almost real-time.

When the temperature data collected from the sensors are outside the acceptable profile, the IBM PMQ analytic software will be able to analyze and provide actionable items such as informing the operator for further action. Edge computing is essential in predictive maintenance. Having the ability to send data from sensors to the cloud is not enough because someone has to decide what to do with the massive data collection.

What edge computing does here is for the ADLINK MXE cognitive gateway product to process that data and only send the information with “insight” such as “the cooler is overheating; need action” to the cloud (if the operator is remote). This will reduce data transferring and processing time.

ADLINK Technology San Jose, CA (408) 360-0200 www.adlinktech.com

Figure B Based on the new 3D XPoint technology, QuantX is priced in the mid-range of all memory technology but with better performance than NAND.

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SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Open Standards for Navy Modernization

Cable Technology Advances Meet Shipboard Network Needs The open architectures of today’s shipboard naval systems offer huge benefits. But cable technologies need to keep pace with new performance and bandwidth demands.

Robert Moore, Global Specialist High Speed Cable TE Connectivity

I

t’s perhaps stating the obvious, but today’s naval vessels are electronic creatures: heavily networked and relying on these networks for every aspect of the ship’s operation. As with any network, there is a never-ending thirst for higher data rates and more connectivity to allow more sophisticated capabilities. Connectivity ranges from individual subsystems to fleet operations.

The U.S. military favors using off-theshelf technology as a lower risk path than developing things from the ground up. Such technologies enjoy widespread use so that benefits and drawbacks are well understood.

They likewise reap the rewards of high-volume production that translates into lower costs as well as a wide supplier base to foster competition and prevent vendor lock. Even so, off-the-shelf technology often needs to be ruggedized to meet the more demanding environments of military applications.

The traditional closed-architecture that long characterized naval systems suffered from not being able to provide a suitable upgrade path to keep up with progress in state-of-the-art computers. One example of the moves to COTS-based systems is the CANES (Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services) program to create a single integrated software-based computing platform to replace five separate legacy systems. CANES unifies command, control, 26

COTS Journal | September 2016

Figure 1 CANES platforms have been installed on many U.S. Navy ships including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). communication, computer, and intelligence systems, but not combat systems or machinery control (Figure 1). The result is a flexible, robust system that can evolve in capabilities in much the same way as commercial systems.

Ethernet and More As with any high-performance computer system, the network is critical in connecting users to each other and to the information from sensors such as radar. As the de facto protocol for high-speed networks, Ethernet reigns supreme. It has been

shown to be robust, scalable, and capable of remarkable evolution in data rates. Success breeds success as the dominance of Ethernet continues to grow. For “industrial” applications, such as the ship’s mechanical systems, Profibus protocols also find use.

Profibus signals, through EtherNet/IP, easily integrate in the Ethernet ecosystem.

Shipboard cabling must not only meet the electrical requirements of the protocols carried, it must also meet the special needs of marine applications. Resistance to seawater is an obvious requirement. Depending on the application, resistance to oils, sol-

A34_COTS_2_25x9_875_A34.qxd 7/29/16 2:40 PM

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

vents, and other fluids may also be required.

Safety Is Paramount In the enclosed environment of a ship, fire is a major concern. Cables must be selected with careful attention to their flammability and smoke properties. Traditional PVC cables, for example, contain halogens that present a health hazard when burned.

A halogen-containing plastic can release hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, and other dangerous gases when burned. When hydrogen chloride comes into contact with water, it forms hydrochloric acid, which is also dangerous. Beyond being toxic to humans and animals, these gases are also highly corrosive to metal.

High levels of smoke, whether containing toxic gases or not, are another hazard.

Smoke inhalation is the major source of death in fires. In addition, smoke generation can hamper safe evacuation and firefighting efforts by reducing visibility. As a result, low-smoke, zero-halogen (LSZH) cable jackets and insulations are preferred to increase safety in the enclosed ship environment. Zero-halogen materials contain only trace amount of halogens—less than 0.2 percent—meaning they are essentially halogen free. Figure 2 shows the relative smoke generation of different plastics over time. It shows that smoke density of most common jacket materials can cause loss of visibility quickly. LSZH materials allow visibility to be maintained.

LSZH materials do not offer the same moisture resistance as some alternative materials. LSZH high-speed data cables (Ethernet cabling) that transit through watertight compartments not only need to be waterblocked to prevent water moving from compartment to compartment in the case of damage, but also need to prevent moisture ingression into the cable through the jacket that would degrade the data transmission properties of the cable over time.

Cable size and weight are also issues.

Reduced-diameter cables make more efficient use of valuable shipboard space.

Cross-linked materials, such as ETFE, allow thin-wall constructions that can significantly reduce the overall diameter and weight of the cable on the order of 30 to 40 percent. Fluorinated polymers such as ETFE are not a zero-halogen materials, but do find use in insulations or where LSZH cables may not be needed.

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Figure 2 LSZH materials do not create sufficient smoke to deter visibility.

COTS Journal | September 2016

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SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

system. Traditionally, this additional protection was mainly achieved by running cable in metal conduit. The conduit provides most of the protection; the cable itself offered only minimum protection. The trend today is to move away from metal conduits and place the burden of EMP protection onto the cable. This requires a well-shielded cable, typically one with a double braid and single foil.

Most shipboard cables meet the requirements of either MIL-DTL-24640 or MIL-DTL-24643. M24640 cables use LSZH jackets, but allow non-LSZH insulation for conductors. These cables are not generally used for high-speed signals, but for power and control applications. M24643 cables, on the other hand, use LSZH materials throughout the cable. The specification includes several constructions of Cat 5e Ethernet cables, differing in waterblocking components, shielding, and other details. The release of spec sheets for Cat 6a is imminent, giving a path to high 10 Gb/s data rates.

Tradeoffs in Cable Design The requirements of water resistance, low smoke and fire hazards, size and weight, and EMP protection compete with one another and therefore represent tradeoffs in cable design. For example, shielding added for EMP protection increases the size and weight of the cable. In addition, the cable must meet the electrical requirements for carrying high-speed signals.

Material choices involve balancing the tradeoffs in performance characteristics and, of course, cost. Because the primary function of the cable jacket is to insulate and protect, it can be made of different material than the dielectrics of the internal components. As an example, foamed dielectrics may be used in an Ethernet cable to save weight, but the LSZH jacket necessitates the use of a more rugged solid material.

Jacket materials can be modified to highlight certain characteristics, which is especially helpful if you have a particular

challenge. TE Connectivity, for example, uses special formulations to achieve specific characteristics rather than relying on generic, off-the-shelf polymers. Our expertise in material science allows us to create proprietary polymers that can be further modified to enhance mechanical, environmental, and electrical performance.

Differential Twisted Pairs Ethernet cable are constructed as differential twisted pairs with a characteristic impedance of 100 ohms. Four-pair cables are the standard configuration, although two-pair cables also exist. The characteristic impedance is determined by the geometry of the cable and the dielectric properties of the insulation and jacket. Changes in materials, insulation thickness, conductor size, and the spatial relationship of the pairs all affect the characteristic impedance and other electrical parameters such a crosstalk.

Cable design becomes an act of balancing

LIGHTWEIGHTS THAT PACK A PUNCH Even the smallest parts can make a big difference. TE Connectivity’s (TE) INSTALITE Molded Boots provide a rugged, low-weight solution for sealed harnesses while significantly reducing weight and increasing fuel economy. The new Black Zinc Nickel Plating provides a smart, lightweight and RoHS-compliant alternative to cadmium plating to help meet tightening environmental restrictions without sacrificing the electrical performance, harsh environment protection and temperature ranges as cadmium finishes.

Connect with TE to learn how lightweight connectors can deliver powerful results for military applications at te.com/instalite Š 2016 TE Connectivity Ltd. family of companies. All Rights Reserved.

INSTALITE, EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS, TE, TE Connectivity and the TE connectivity (logo) are trademarks of the TE Connectivity Ltd. family of companies.

EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS

TE-ADM_SealedHarness_HP_COTS.indd 1

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COTS Journal | September 2016

6/3/16 4:10 PM

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

the various parameters. Figure 3 shows an example of a size and weight-reduced Ethernet cable, compared to a standard commercial cable.

Since the U.S. military tends to be cautious about adopting new technology, 1 Gbit/s Ethernet and Category 5e is still the prevalent cable in naval applications. While widely used in commercial applications, Cat 6a cable, with the ability to carry 10 Gbits/s, has not been as widely adopted by the military as it has by the commercial world. Mil specs exist for Cat 6a cables for aerospace applications, for example, but specifications for marine cables are still in process.

Safer, Higher Performance Today’s LSZH cables create a safer shipboard environment by reducing the cable’s flammability, its ability to generate toxic gases, and its low-smoke generation. At the same time, they continue to evolve electrically to carry higher data rates and me-

Figure 3 With proper design and materials selection, cables can be created to solve specific needs, such as reduced size and weight, while meeting Ethernet’s electrical specifications and the application’s mechanical and environmental requirements.

chanically to meet requirements of size and weight reduction while maintaining robust characteristics.

TE Connectivity Berwyn, PA (610) 893-9800 www.te.com

Rough & Ready Data Storage AS9100 Rev C/ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Phoenix-developed state-of-the-art enabling technology provides users with products that ensure the highest performance storage and data network systems. These systems range in size and application from multi-terabyte Fibre Channel RAID, NAS and Storage Area Network (SAN) configurations to conduction cooled plug-in Open VPX solid state disk storage modules.

Rugged, Deployable Data Storage Solutions

Lock and load performance

INTERNATIONAL

We are the Choice

SSD to 4TB in 3U Module

www.phenxint.com 714-283-4800 COTS Journal | September 2016

29

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Open Standards for Navy Modernization

3G-SDI’s Many Advantages Serve Defense Video/Display Needs Video interface technologies tend to advance so fast it’s hard to keep pace. Military system developers should examine the benefits of moving to 3G-SDI. John Payne, Product Manager Chris Fadeley, Senior Software Engineer EIZO Rugged Solutions

O

ne of the most daunting tasks for engineers is how to employ existing and proven technology while hopefully future proofing systems for technology upgrades. This is of critical importance to systems in the military market with air and naval systems having life cycles that can be in excess of 35 years.

The problem is even more acute in deploying video imaging and display technology.

Video image resolutions have been steadily increasing in size based on improving sensor/camera resolutions and increasing quality and resolution of LCD panels. Just in the past few years the video broadcast industry has moved from PAL (720x576 Interlaced) to HD720p60 (1280x720 Progressive) and then to HD1080p30 (1920x1080 Progressive) and future formats of WQHD (2560x1440) and UHD-1 (3840x2160) are on the near horizon.

The bandwidth required to support these formats pose a challenge for selecting an interface standard since the size of the data is becoming exponentially larger.

Analog standards like VGA are willfully inadequate for today’s higher resolutions.

Digital video is the only choice, but which standard is the optimum choice? DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort and SDI (Serial Digital Interface) are the typical options when handling a digital video signal and many monitors support multiple input types. However, there are clear tradeoffs between each of them.

30

COTS Journal | September 2016

Interface

Cable Length

Audio

Number of Pins

Year Designed

3G-SGI

100 m

Yes

2

2006

HDMI

10 m

Yes

19

2002

Display Port

3m

Yes

20

2006

DVI-D

3m

No

24

1999

Figure 1 Multiple factors to compare amongst video interfaces—including supported cable length, resolution and audio integration.

Back to Basics To select the best solution, it is necessary to go back to the basics. Military systems require reliability, simplicity, expandability, and mature standards based technology. Looking at DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort – all these are digital standards employing some form of SERDES technology. However, they all require multiple channels (connections) of serialized data. Thinner (lesser number of connections) cables are much preferred since cable thickness can drive the flexibility, weight, length, and ease of installation. Besides, to ensure video quality, HDMI usually can have a maximum length of 20 meters and DVI-DL (Dual Link) and DisplayPort can both be approximately 4.5 meters.

Resolution and audio integration are also important considerations. DVI-DL supports resolutions up to 2560x1600, but does not support audio. HDMI_2.0 and DisplayPort V1.2 can support 3820x2160 at 60 frames per second and support audio. Figure 1 shows a summary those different interfaces.

While HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort are more widely found and familiar in the consumer space, SDI is a more widely accepted interface standard for video distribution. It is a mature standard that was first adopted by the commercial video broadcast community but in recent years it has been incorporated in a number of consumer devices such as low cost HD video cameras. This is advantageous because COTS suppliers will

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

have a larger ecosystem of SDI capable components and technology and therefore supporting longer life cycles will be easier.

Examining SDI Closer Looking under the hood, SDI is 4:2:2 YCbCr format. Where Y is the luminance component and Cb/Cr are the chrominance components. YCbCr format is often preferred over RGB because of the efficiencies gained by sampling the luminance at twice the rate as the chrominance components.

This subsampling creates a loss in color accuracy, but because of the way the human eye interprets data, the subsampling using a YCbCr system is much more effective in preserving quality than what is used in an RGB system.

There are a few variations on the standard, supporting increasing resolutions: SD-SDI (SMPTE259M) supports 640x480 60 frames/ sec ( fps), HD-SDI (SMPTE292M) supports 1280x720 60fpsor 1920x1080 at 30fps, and 3G-SDI (SMPTE424M) supports 1920x1080 at 60fps. New formats have been defined to support 2160p30 (6G-SDI) and 2160p60 (12GSDI) with a resolution of (3840x2160) with frame rates of 30fps or 60fps respectively, but these formats are not yet widely adopted. Figure 2 compares the various SDI options. HDSDI is currently the most widely adopted SDI implementation, but recently a push has been made to support 3G-SDI resolutions since they provide twice as many frames as HD-SDI

at the same 1920x1080 resolution. These additional frames can be critical in a mission environment.

In addition to sending video data, SDI also supports embedded audio as well as ancillary data (ANC, which is also referred to as metadata). This allows cameras/sensors to generate and send all typical data types over a single standard. Another key benefit of SDI over DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort is that SDI is usually transmitted over low-loss digital video grade RG6-syle coaxial cable.

The benefits are compelling, SDI is a single connection cable—very flexible, minimal weight, and inexpensive connectors on each end which also lock. And since many legacy systems still using analog feeds already use RG59/RG6 cables, in most environments, no re-cabling will be required. The existing cable feed can be re-purposed and only the front and end products (SDI transmitter and receiver) will have to be changed to support SDI. Since it is a single connection there are no reverse insertion or mating issues. SDI can also be supported over optical fiber for extended reach applications.

Cable Length Advantage Maximum cable length is also a clear advantage. SDI employs a NRZI (Non-Return-to-Zero Inverted) coding scheme that allow clock and data to be encoded together and minimizing residual DC components on the signal. This allows SDI cable lengths

COM Express: Wide Variety, Long Lifecycles

DFI Tech offers COM Express modules with the latest generation Intel Core i ™ and Atom™ processors. With seven-year CPU lifecycle support, DFI Tech offers a wide variety of board-level and system solutions.

•Up to 6th Generation

Intel Core i7 (Skylake)

•Basic, Compact, Mini, Qseven, and Carrier versions

Name

Standard

Example Video Max Bitrate Resolutions

Introduced

12G-SDI

SMPTE ST-2082

2160p60

12 Gbit/s

2015

6G-SDI

SMPTE ST-2081

2160p30

6 Gbit/s

2015

3G-SDI

SMPTE 424M

1080p60

2.970 Gbit/s

2006

Dual Link HD-SDI

SMPTE 372M

1080p60

2.970 Gbit/s

2002

HD-SDI

SMPTE 292M

720p, 1080i

1.485 Gbit/s

1998

ED-SDI

SMPTE 344M

480p, 576p

540 Mbit/s

–

SD-SDI

SMPTE 259M

480i, 576i

360 Mbit/s

1989

Figure 2 HD-SDI is the most widely adopted SDI implementation, but recently a push has been made to support 3G-SDI resolutions providing twice as many frames as HD-SDI at the same 1920x1080 resolution.

•Type 6, Type 2, Type 10, and more

•Seven year & beyond lifecycle support

•System-level design and customization available

www.dfitech.com sales.inquiry@dfitech.com Sacramento, CA 916-568-1234

COTS Journal | September 2016

31

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

to be quite long. For example, 3G-SDI using Belden 1855P cable is capable of lengths of up to 40 meters. Using higher quality can enable lengths of up to 200 meters. This allows the SDI signal to be physically routed large distances on vehicles ( for example, from front all the way to the back of a large vessel) with no concern for data integrity issues.

Ancillary data is also supported in the SDI standard. Data such as audio, close captions, timecode, and metadata. Metadata and timecodes are of particular importance in military and ISR applications since image sensor data must be timestamped and data about sensor positon must be transmitted in a synchronize fashion with the image.

Clearly, there are a number of benefits to employing SDI video interconnect format over other digital standards including DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort. SDI cables, while simple coax with BNC type connectors on the ends, offer flexibility in installation, longer cable length and a locking mechanism

32

COTS Journal | September 2016

that survives rugged environments. Sometimes, there are coax cables already present in many analog configurations Reuse of these cables saves time and money. Also, SDI cables weigh far less than HDMI or DisplayPort cables. All these advantages offer it as an attractive video alternative in the military environment.

Roadmap to 4k Support Furthermore, the SDI standard has a defined technology roadmap to support 4K resolution and beyond. This allows engineers to deploy 3G-SDI for today’s 1080p requirements with the ability to potentially support 2160p30 and 2160p60 sensor/cameras and LCD displays without having to modify installed cabling.

Users of EIZO Rugged Solutions’ products are showing great interest in adopting 3G-SDI as the standard of video interconnect. Their expectation is that by developing products with high quality coax connection,

Figure 3 The Tyton VS2 is a ruggedized small form factor box-level video encoding and streaming solution. It provides a low-latency, high-efficiency rugged H.265 (HEVC) video encoder with dual 3G-SDI inputs.

they will offer future technology upgrades (such as 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI) without re-cabling. This future proofs their installations.

Companies in the defense space including EIZO Rugged Solutions now offer products that support these xx-SDI standards. For example, the Tyton VS2—a low-latency, high-efficiency rugged H.265 (HEVC) video encoder with dual 3G-SDI inputs (Figure 3). The Tyton VS2 is a ruggedized small form factor box-level video encoding and streaming solution which can be used to take multiple SDI inputs, encode/compress the incoming data and distribute it over the network, either for recording, processing or display at a remote location.

Another product is the Condor 4107xX which is a rugged conduction-cooled XMC graphics card that offers 2 3G-SDI inputs and 2 3G-SDI outputs. With dedicated video capture circuitry and a powerful AMD 8860 GPU processor, the card offers very low latency from the time of raw data capture to

display on to the screen, including all the processing in between, including overlays.

Moreover, this allows SDI to not only be used at the camera/sensor level, but also at the display/monitor level allowing computers to be 100 feet or more from the display monitor, something that cannot be done with DVI, display port or VGA. Though the use of SDI sensors has been the standard for years now, the use of SDI monitors in military vessels with advanced desktop environments has only recently begun with certain installations benefiting greatly from the simplicity and flexibility of SDI. This is highly beneficial on larger craft where a desktop environment may have to be rendered or split/mirrored a large distance away from the source with very low or no latency. Previously, installations would opt to compress and stream these desktop feeds to all needed locations on the vessel with an induced latency, but with these desktop feeds and monitors being natively

SDI they can instead be hardwired throughout the installation.

SDI Perfect Military Fit Benefits of SDI and its cabling system fit very nicely into the military environment considering the requirements such as very long product life cycles, upgradeability, ruggedness and responsiveness (low latency).

Though previously product availability would define what cabling and interface should be used, in recent years with the large variety of rendering, monitor, and sensor options now available, there is no reason not to shy away from SDI for video handling and distribution throughout an installation.

EIZO Rugged Solutions Altamonte Springs, FL (407) 262-7100 www.eizorugged.com

LCR Embedded System’s complete line of integrated rugged industrial and military systems, from off-the-shelf to fully customized, are ideal for all aspects of mission-critical computing. To learn more about what we can do for you and your application, contact us today.

Our integrated systems feature VME, VPX, ATCA and CompactPCI architectures For chassis, backplanes and integrated systems, LCR Electronics is now LCR Embedded Systems.

(800) 747-5972 e-mail sales@lcrembedded.com www.lcrembeddedsystems.com

COTS Journal | September 2016

33

DATA SHEET Rackmount Systems Roundup

Rackmount Systems Move Toward Converged Solutions Rackmount systems are moving from simple bladed compute platforms to complete converged solutions that mix high levels of computing, storage and networking.

Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief

W

hile one end of the spectrum of military system design focuses on compact size and mobility, there’s another where it’s all about compute density and scalability. The latter is where rackmount systems shine.

Blade server based computing solutions and other rackmount systems are well suited for military applications ranging from satellite control to vehicle based C4ISR gear to shipboard comms and networking platforms.

Naval platforms need such technology to increase their levels of automation aboard ships (Figure 1). With complete server-level computers now easily available in a 1U blade, developers can pack a lot of computing in a convenient rack-based space alongside an off-the-shelf 1U network router and advanced communications boards. That means network routers, specialized encryption systems, precision timing boards and so on. A more recent trend in rackmount systems is where all the storage and networking are integrated into the same system as the computing blades.

Meanwhile the processing levels used are lifting rackmount systems in many cases into the High Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC) space. Like an HPEC system, there’s a ranged of what the industry defines as HPEC. Everything to highly dense arrays of GPGPU to data-center level of computing 34

COTS Journal | September 2016

Figure 1 A rackmount system shown here waiting for installation on the guidedmissile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) as part of the ship’s CANES implementation.

based on server-class Xeon processors and all their support electronics. There’s also a focus computing virtualization as key for HPEC platforms so that software programs function can massively parallel multiprocessing systems as if they’re on a single processor.

In contrast to backplane-based architectures like VME or CompactPCI, rackmount systems are bus-less and typically use Ethernet or other cable-based technology to link boards with one another. Eliminating the backplane also significantly reduces overall system weight. This approach has become popular in military comms gear in vehicles or aircraft where every pound of weight is precious.

Other twist on rackmount systems in

recent years is the focus on cable-based interfacing such at PCI Express-Over-Cable and Ethernet. 10 Gbit Ethernet is becoming entrenched as a favorite data plane interconnect fabric in compute-intensive applications like sonar, radar or any application that networks sensor arrays together. But PCI Express has inherent advantages that make it better for control functions than Ethernet. Almost 10 years ago the PCI-SIG approved the PCI Express External Cabling Specification that defines PCI Express implemented over a standard cable. It enables the full bandwidth of the PCIe bus to be achieved within multiple chassis systems and small local networks.

DATA SHEET

Rackmount Systems Roundup

Military Grade Server Features Xeon Processors and Redundant Power

Field Deployable Rugged HPC Sever Has Optional Liquid Cooling

2U System Integrates Functionally of Four or More Servers

Chassis Plans’ M5U22XX is rugged rack mount military server systems that incorporates high quality long life motherboards or backplanes providing a variety of chip sets and processors including single and dual Xeon processors.

These systems are designed and built to meet MIL-STD 810G and MIL-S901D to support rugged military grade computer programs in harsh deployable environments. Custom solutions available.

Eurotech’s DuraHPC 5-1 features highperformance multi-core Intel Xeon serverclass processors , an optional integrated liquid cooling subsystem, and a shock/ vibration-resistant solid state disk (SSD).

Fitted with an ingress-protected aluminum chassis, hermetically sealed MIL-DTL-38999 connectors, and highly efficient thermal management scheme, the rugged DuraHPC 5-1 is designed to operate over extended temperature ranges and comply with MILSTD-810G environmental and MIL-STD461F EMI/EMC conditions.

The S2U King Cobra from General Micro Systems is a 2U rackmount system designed to replace several 1U/2U servers, switches/ routers, RAID controllers, and Auxiliary Power Units (APU) with a single 2U, 17-inch deep rack mountable (or freestanding) enclosure. All of its subsystems and boards are "LRU swappable" using PCI Express 3.0 interfaces over OpenVPX at every system interface. This means that every subsystem can be customer-replaced—an imperative for battlefield deployments such as shipboard, wide-body aircraft, or ground vehicles.

• 5U x 22.0-inch chassis.

• Extended-life motherboard options with long life processors.

• EATX and Enhanced EATX form factors.

• Single and dual Xeon E3/E5.

• Multiple I/O card slot options.

• Up to (4) 2-1/2 inch drives, fixed or removable, slim DVD and one floppy drive bay.

• Field deployable 167 Gflop HPC. • Rugged HPC cluster capable with QDR 40 Gbps Infiniband/ 10 Gbit Ethernet interconnects.

• Dual 6-core Intel Xeon 5600 processors at up to 3.46 GHz clockspeed.

• Up to 24 Gbytes of soldered down DDR3 RAM for faster memory access.

• 3+1 redundant power supply.

• External / integrated liquid cooling.

• Tested to or designed to meet MIL-STD-810G.

• 1U/2U configurations.

Chassis Plans San Diego, CA (858) 571-4330 www.chassis-plans.com

Eurotech Columbia, MD (301) 490-4007 www.eurotech-inc.com

• Dual E5 Xeon SBC patent-pending GMSdesigned CPU socket.

• Low-profile patented RuggedCool technology.

• 20-port managed Gigabit Ethernet switch.

• Removable PCIe 3.0 SSD-based 48 TB RAID storage (RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, 50).

• PCIe 3.0 subsystem for user I/O with 4 standard full-length 16x PCIe plug-in boards.

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

FIND the products featured in this section and more at

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COTS Journal | September 2016

35

DATA SHEET

Rackmount Systems Roundup

3U Accelerator System Embeds 16 NVIDA Telsa P100 GPUs

4U Server Features Compact 22 Inch Depth and Pressure Cooling

1U Server Sports Dual E5-2600 V4 Xeons and Eight SAS/SATA Drives

The CA16000 Compute Accelerator from One Stop Systems embeds sixteen NVIDIA Tesla GPU accelerators. The CA16000 occupies only 3U of rack space and connects directly to one or four host server(s) through the latest technology PCIe x16 Gen3 connections. Four removable canisters house up to four full-height, fulllength, PCIe x16 double-wide GPUs and one half-length, half-height IO card each.

The system is powered by three 3000-watt redundant power supplies and includes an IPMI-based system monitor.

The IPC4472 from Systel was designed specifically for the US Navy for use in aircraft systems with a firm requirement that the system could not be deeper than 22 inches. Systel was able to design a 4U rack mount with a depth of only 22 inches, cool the system to run in a 0 to 50 degrees C environment even though it is pulling 1100 Watts. That had to be done with fulfilling the customer's requirement of having up to 7 additional PCI-E slots (along with the dual GPU cards) while ensuring that the system was MIL-STD-810G compliant.

Themis Computer’s RES-XR5-1U-8D features up to two E5-2600 V3 Series Intel Xeon processors with up to 20 cores per socket, 1 TB of DDR4 ECC memory, eight SAS/SATA drives, and enhanced reliability.

Designed for military, industrial, or rugged commercial use, the RES-XR5-1U server keep mission-critical applications available in demanding environments where Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) is an important consideration.

• 3U High.

• Now available with NVIDA Tesla P100 GPUs; Four removable canisters with four GPUs each.

• Fully IPMI v2.0-compliant system monitoring capability.

• Three 3000-Watt power supplies.

• Superior cooling with eight temperature controlled fans.

• Up to four PCIe x16 Gen3 cable connections to host server(s).

One Stop Systems Escondido, CA (877) 438-2724 www.onestopsystems.com

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36

COTS Journal | September 2016

• Standard I/O chassis, 7 slot, positive pressure cooling.

• 22.5-inch deep chassis designed for military and harsh industrial environments.

• Active ATX and E-ATX motherboard architecture.

• Latest Intel and AMD processors including Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 processors.

• Two fixed internal shock-mounted SATA hard drive, rotational or solid state.

• MIL-STD-810G shock and vibration.

Systel Sugar Land, TX (281) 313-3600 www.systelusa.com

• Up to two E5-2600 v3/v4 Series Intel Xeon processors with up to twenty cores per socket.

• Up to 1 Terabyte of DDR4 ECC DRAM. • IPMI v2.0 support.

• Expansion with two PCIe 3.0 16X full size cards.

• Up to 8 removable 2.5 inch SATA or SAS disk drives.

• Two Gigabit Ethernet or Two 10 Gigabit ports (RJ45).

• 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 IPMI 2.0 port.

• 0 to 50 degrees C operating temperature.

Themis Computer Fremont, CA. (510) 252-0870. www.themis.com

DATA SHEET

RACKMOUNT SYSTEMS ROUNDUP Links to the full data sheets for each of these products are posted on the online version of this section.

5U Server Supports 8 HDD/SDDs and up to 18 PCI Express 3.0 Option Cards

Rugged 1U MicroTCA Chassis Holds Six AMC Slots

2U Platform Boasts Intel Xeon E31200 V5 Series Processor

Trenton System’s THS5087 HDEC Series 5U rackmount computer is a high density embedded computing system designed with local HDD/SDD support and support for a slimline optical disc drive. The THS5087 features a system host board and backplane solution that delivers a proven computing solution in the industrial control and automation and GPU computing arenas. The high density system configuration, flexibility, and rugged computer design enables deployment across a wide spectrum of industries.

The VT950 Vadatech is a rugged 1U chassis used in Mil/Aero or other applications that need to withstand shock/ vibration. The lightweight aluminum construction provides 6 single module midsize AMC slots. For front panel retention, there is a single MicroTCA.1 screw on the opposite side of the ejector handle on each module slot.

The PL-80630 from WIN Enterprises is a 2U rackmount hardware networking system designed with the Intel 14nm microarchitecture from the efficient Xeon E31200 V5 processor family of 6th Generation Core i7/i5/i3 ( formerly codenamed Skylake), coupled with the Intel C236 series chipset. With this next generation 3-D tri-gate design 6th generation Intel Core processors deliver enhanced processor performance and improved thermals (TDP). In addition, a new socket type, LGA 1151, has been implemented for this dieshrinking architecture.

• HEP8225 system host board supporting two, long-life Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 or v4 processors.

• Rugged, lightweight aluminum chassis.

• Backplane supports up to 18 PCIe 3.0 option cards.

• Up to 8 HDD/SDDs and local optical media drive bay.

• Multiple 10GbE and 1GbE LAN ports.

• Built-in system fan speed control and system monitoring.

Trenton Systems Lawrenceville, GA (770) 287-3100 www.trentonsystems.com

• MicroTCA rugged 1U 19 inch rackmount chassis platform.

• Meets MIL-STD-810F, MIL-STD-901D for shock/vibration.

• Meets MIL-STD-461E for EMI. • Supports up to six single module mid-size.

• x8 PCIe Gen 3 routing (or dual x4).

• Chassis accepts AMCs with single retention screw opposite of ejector handle on each slot.

• AMC.1, AMC.2, AMC.3 and AMC.4 compliant.

• Front-to-back cooling.

Vadatech Henderson, NV (702) 896-3337 www.vadatech.com

• Supports Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 V5 and Core i7/i5/i3 Series processors, LGA 1151.

• Two-channel DDR4 ECC/Non ECC 2133 MHz memory, max support 64GB. • Supports a maximum of 4x PCIe X8 slots for LAN expansion up to 32 GbE Copper/Fiber ports.

• One PCIe X16 and PCIe X1 slot for supports an expansion module.

• 3 x 2.5 inch HDD/SSD swappable storage.

WIN Enterprises North Andover, MA (978) 688-2000 www.win-ent.com

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COTS Journal | September 2016

37

COTS

FIND the products featured in this section and more at

PRODUCTS

intelligentsystemssource.com

Fanless Embedded Computers Support Three Independent HD Displays ADLINK Technology has announced its MXC-6400 Series of high-performance expandable fanless embedded computers, featuring 6th generation Intel Core i7-6820EQ/i5-6440EQ/ i3-6100E processors and the QM170 chipset. Along with leading performance, high storage density from 4x 2.5-inch SATA drives, and rugged fanless construction withstanding operating shock up to 50G and vibration to 5Grms, the MXC-6400 Series meets the needs of rugged applications.

Up to three independent displays are supported, accelerated HW media codecs enable Ultra HD 4K, dual-channel DDR4 2133MHz SO-DIMM sockets accommodate up to 32 Gbytes of memory, and PCI and 2 PCIe Gen3 x8 (or 1 PCIe Gen3 x16) slots fully optimize expansion.

The MXC-6400 Series is equipped with 4x 2.5-inch SATA III installation capability with RAID 0/1/5/10 support, via two hot-swappable 2.5-inch SATA III trays and two internal 2.5-inch SATA III ports, and one CFast socket. Storage maintenance burdens are relieved, and massive, flexible storage capacity combines with built-in data security to better empower intelligent transportation systems and niche industrial automation (IA) markets.

The MXC-6400 Series simplifies ownership tasks such as installation and maintenance with a front-mounted I/O array providing support for up to three independent displays via two DisplayPort and one DVI-I ports enabling up to 4K UHD resolution, two softwareprogrammable RS-232/422/485 + two RS-232 ports, three GbE ports with teaming function, six USB 3.0 ports, and 16CH DI and 16CH DO. Fanless rugged construction withstands up to 50G shock and 5Grms vibration and operating temperatures of -20 to 70 degrees C (with industrial SSD or CFast).

ADLINK Technology, San Jose, CA. (408) 360-0200. www.adlinktech.com

50-Foot Dual Outlet Extension Cord Boasts Explosion-Proof Operation

PXI Express Switching Module Series Offers Comprehensive Solution

Larson Electronics has announced a heavy duty extension 50-foot cord equipped with two twist lock receptacles designed to provide secure connection of explosion proof equipment in hazardous locations. The EPEXC-50-2X20A-12.3 explosion proof extension cord from Larson Electronics is designed to extend the reach of equipment in hazardous locations where power receptacles are not in close proximity to the work space.

This cord is fitted with two explosion proof twist lock receptacles constructed of non-sparking aluminum for connection of equipment. It is terminated with a 20 amp explosion proof plug on the other end for safe and secure connection to power receptacles.

VTI Instruments has introduced its SentinelEX PXI Express (PXIe) Switching Series, the latest addition to its SentinelEX PXIe Test and Measurement Suite. The PXIe Switching Series includes 11 multiplexer modules, 4 matrix modules, 2 generalpurpose switching modules, 1 power switching module, 16 RF multiplexer modules, 2 RF matrix modules, and 11 microwave switching modules. They are compatible with 18-slot and 9- slot 3U PXI Express mainframes and a 4-slot portable PXI-hybrid mainframe, as well as digitizer, arbitrary waveform generator, programmable resistor, digital I/O, embedded controller and remote controller modules, all included in the SentinelEX PXIe Test and Measurement Suite.

Larson Electronics Kemp, TX (903) 498-3363 www.larsonelectronics.com

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COTS Journal | September 2016

VTI Instruments Irvine, CA (949) 955-1894 www.vtiinstruments.com

COTS PRODUCTS

292 pin BGA Socket Handles Extreme Temps with High Electrical Performance Ironwood Electronics has introduced a new BGA socket addressing high performance requirements for Micro Controller Units: CBT-BGA-6062. The contactor is a stamped spring pin with 31 gram actuation force per ball and cycle life of 125,000 insertions. The self inductance of the contactor is 0.88 nH, insertion loss less than 1 dB at 15.7 GHz and contact resistance is less than 30mOhms. The current capacity of each contactor is 4 amps at 60 degrees C temperature rise.

Socket temperature range is -55 to +180 degrees C. Socket also features a floating guide for precise ball to pin alignment. The specific configuration of the package to be tested in the CBTBGA-6062 is a BGA, 17x17mm, 0.8mm pitch, 292 position, 20x20 ball array.

Ironwood Electronics Eagan, MN (952) 229-8200 www.ironwoodelectronics.com

Secure, Mobile Routing – Anywhere You Need It Highly Integrated Memory Modules (HiMODs) DDR2/DDR3/DDR4 up to 8 GBytes in 16 x 22 mm x 1.5 mm package Two independent channels in one package for small embedded systems Wide word widths x32/x40/x64/x72/x80 bits Fast – currently to 2400Mbs Low Power – typcially 50% of discrete DRAMs Wide temperature range available – industrial, extended, military Simpliied layout routing of critical high speed buses Evaluation boards available Solves SWaP challenges in HPEC and network switching & routing applications Approximately 80% less board area than discrete components, even greater savings compared to DIMMs

*Supplies Limited

Let our systems integration and custom packaging design teams show you how to take rock solid Cisco IP networking anywhere it needs to go.

Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking, Radio Aware Routing and onboard hardware encryption comes in many shapes and sizes.

Finally, another choice.

www.stackedtechnologies.com

COTS Journal | September 2016

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COTS PRODUCTS

3U VPX SBC Pair Serve up Xeon-D and Security Features Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) has announced the availability of the XPedite7674 (shown) and XPedite7676 Intel Xeon D-1500 family processor- based 3U VPX embedded single board computers. These powerful boards support up to 16 Xeon-class cores in a single, power-efficient, SoC package with native extended temperature support on four, eight, and twelve core-count SKUs. The XPedite7674 is an Intel Xeon D-1500 processor-based 3U VPX single board computer that can support up to 16 core-count SKUs with native extended temperature support on up to 12 core-count SKUs. An integrated, user-configurable, Xilinx Kintex UltraScale FPGA module delivers enhanced performance and security for a wide range of embedded computing applications. Featuring up to 8 Gbytes of DDR4-2133 ECC SDRAM memory, more than 1 million logic cells with enhanced system logic cell packing to reduce dynamic power, and support for a DeepCover Security Manager secure supervisor, the Xilinx Kintex UltraScale FPGA provides a dependable host for custom security functions.

The XPedite7674 supports a variety of I/O to the VPX connectors, including dual 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-KR), SATA port

capable of 6 Gb/s, USB 2.0, and RS232/422/485 serial ports. The FPGA also provides GPIO, 1000BASE-X Gigabit Ethernet, and High-Speed Serial ports to the VPX connectors. The XMC site supports a x8 PCI Express Gen3capable port and a SATA port, as well as XMC P16 I/O, mapping P1w9-X12d per VITA 46.9.

The XPedite7676 is a secure, Intel Xeon D-1500 processor-based 3U VPX single board computer that can support up to 16 core-count SKUs with native extended temperature support on up to 12 core-count SKUs. The XPedite7676 integrates SecureCOTS technology with a Microsemi SmartFusion2 security SoC. The XPedite7676’s XMC site supports X24s+X8d+X12d I/O. Extreme Engineering Solutions, Middleton, WI (608) 833-1155. www.xes-inc.com

COTS

PRODUCT GALLERY Create Custom I/O Apps using AcroPack® Mezzanine Boards Featuring an Artix-7 FPGA

Tyton VS2

• PCI Express Generation 1 interface • Reconfigurable Xilinx® FPGA • Mix and match countless I/O combinations in a single slot • High channel count digital interface: RS485, LVDS and TTL interface options • 32Mb quad serial Flash memory • 33,280 logic cells • 41,600 Flip flops • 1,800 kb block RAM • Conduction-cooled options • Solid-down connector I/O interface • Wide temperature range • VPX and PCIe carriers

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Acromag

Eizo Rugged Solutions

Phone: (877) 295-7084 FAX: (248) 624-9234 Email: info@acromag.com Web: www.acromag.com/acropacks

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COTS Journal | September 2016

Rugged Stand-Alone Solution H.265 (HEVC) / H.264 (AVC) Video Encoding and Streaming Two 3G-SDI Video Inputs (other video formats possible on per customer basis) Two Bypass SDI Video Outputs 1GB Ethernet Output (All encoded streams sent over same Ethernet port) SNMP based control API ( for easy integration into existing user applications) Web Server Configuration App for easy configuration of device CoT & KLV Metadata Insertion Multiple Encoded Streams per Input (8x Dynamic Encoding Cores) Customizable Design Even at Low Volumes Stereo Audio Input w/ AAC Audio Encoding Low Power & Low Latency Small Compact Form Factor Ruggedized for Vibration, Shock, Humidity (MIL-STD-810G & IP67) -45°C to 85°C Operating Temperature

Phone: (800) 330-8301 FAX: (407) 339-2554 Email: tyton@eizo.com Web: www.eizorugged.com

COTS PRODUCTS

PCI Express x4, Gen3 XMC Carrier Meets Embedded I/O Needs TEWS Technologies has added PCI Express carriers to its product portfolio. The TPCE278 is a standard height PCI Express Revision 3.0 compatible module that provides one slot for a single-width XMC module.

It provides a versatile way to upgrade well known XMC I/O solutions to the PCI Express signaling standard used to build modular, flexible and cost effective I/O solutions for all kinds of applications. The PCI Express x4 link from the host board to the XMC module is enhanced by a PCIe Gen3 Redriver, allowing safe operation of XMC modules on PCIe mainboards.

The TPCE278 supports XMC front panel I/O, and also P14 and P16 rear I/O Embedded Solutions independently. for the Next 25 Years XMC P14 rear I/O is provided through Acromag Redefines SWaP-C With a Tyco AMPMODU System 50 0.050x0.100 Our New AcroPack® I/O Platform flat ribbon cable connector. The I/O lines are routed differential. XMC P16 rear The AcroPack® product line updates our popular Industry Pack I/O modules by using the I/O is implemented through two Samtec mPCIe interface format. We added 19mm and a 100 pin connector to provide up to 50 QTH-DP 0.50mm Q Pairs High Speed isolated rear I/O signals, giving you a tremendous amount of capability on an Ground Plane Socket Strip, Differential Extremely Small Footprint - Without Cabling!

Pair connector providing access to all P16 I/O lines. The PCIe edge card connector provides +12V and +3.3V. The TPCE278 Key Features Include: uses the +12V of the PCIe edge card ▪ A/D, D/A, serial, digital I/O, connector to generate all power supply counter/timers and FPGA voltages for the XMC slot (+3.3V, VPWR and +12V).

▪ Low-power consumption For increased power requirements of ▪ Solid-state electronics an XMC module, TEWS offers TPCE278 ▪ -40 to 85°C standard operating variants with a PCIe Graphics Power temperature Connector to supply the +12V for generating all the power supply voltages ▪ Conduction cooled models available for the XMC slot providing power of up ▪ Mix and match endless I/O combinations to 75W. A 10-pin JTAG header is available in a single slot by using our VPX or for XMC module debugging purposes. All Two AcroPack I/O modules shown PCIe-based carriers five JTAG signals are routed directly to plugged into a PCIe carrier the XMC slot. Designed for demanding environments, the TPCE278 operates from -40 to +85 degrees C. Visit Acromag.com/AcroPacks TEWS Technologies Reno, NV (775) 850-5830 www.tews.com

Embedded I/O Solutions

FPGA Modules

AcroPack I/O Modules

TO LEARN MORE

VME SBCs

SFF Embedded Computers

www.acromag.com | solutions@acromag.com | 877-295-7084

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COTS PRODUCTS

Low-Power 3.5-Inch SBC Provides 1.04 GHz N3000 Pentium/Celeron DFI Tech offers a 3.5-inch SBC for lowpower requirements that features Intel® Atom™ or Pentium/Celeron processor options. The BW551 3.5 inch SBC features the N3000 Pentium/Celeron processor family with 4W of power consumption. The entry level version is a dual core at 1.04 GHz speed with burst frequency up to 2.08 GHz. There are also other processor options including a quad core Atom Processor x5-E8000 version at 5W. The board features 1 DDR3L SODIMM memory up to 8 Gbytes and three independent displays of VGA, LVDS LCD panel, and DP++. The other I/O includes 4x USB 3.0/2x USB 2.0, 2x GbE, 4x COM, 1x 8-bit digital I/O, and 1x SMBus. DFI Tech Sacramento, CA (916) 568-1234 www.dfitech.com

Star Communications, Inc.

Modular Development Platform for 3U VPX Provides 6 Slots 4DSP’s VPX370 is a second generation VPX development platform in a compact 3U VPX form factor. The VPX370 is a 6-slot system with a modular architecture that enables users to add high performance FPGA and I/O to the base configuration addressing many application requirements such as digital RF memory (DRFM), synchronous multi-channel MIMO systems, software defined radio (SDR) and more. All 4DSP FPGA, I/O technology, and backplanes used in the VPX370 can be configured for rugged conduction cooled form factors making the system an ideal platform for developing IP and technology with an easy migration path to a deployed rugged system such as the VPX362.

4DSP Austin, TX (800) 816-1751 www.4dsp.com

CompactPCI Serial Functions as PCIe Mini Card Carrier

signal processing receivers computing accelerators x 6.6” >65 Teraop/s 4.4 Small.

Powerful.

Affordable.

Easy-to-use.

4.4 x 6.6 x 0.8 inches >65 Teraops/sec scalable 1-4 FPGAs installs in any PC or server

The SP4-MAMBO from EKF Elektronik is a peripheral board for CompactPCI Serial systems and serves as a universal quad PCI Express Mini Card carrier, for both PCIe and USB driven Mini Cards. With the SP40980-MAMBO version EKF now introduces an 8-port CAN 2.0B controller. The carrier card comes with four dual port CAN modules (Peak PCAN), which are wired to a common D-SUB 25-pin front panel connector. All eight ports are isolated against each other and ground. With a CAN data transfer rate from 5kbps up to 1Mbps and a maximum bus length of 13km, the SP4-0980-MAMBO is suitable for many applications.

EKF Elektronik Hamm, Germany +49 (0)2381/6890-0 www.ekf.de

made in the U.S.A.

www.starcommva.com 42

COTS Journal | September 2016

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COTS PRODUCTS

Test Platform Features PXI Express Marries and RF Test Capabilities Marvin Test Solutions has expanded the capabilities of its TS‐900 PXI semiconductor test platform with the addition of the TS‐960e system which offers PXI Express (PXIe) performance and expanded test capabilities for RF devices and SoC applications. The TS‐960e accommodates PXIe and PXI modules ‐ providing high‐ performance digital, mixed‐signal, and RF test capabilities in a compact, single chassis footprint.

The TS‐960e platform combines 256, 125 MHz digital I/O channels with per‐ pin‐PMU with multiple RF and analog test instruments in a single, 21‐slot PXIe chassis. Available as a bench top or with an integrated manipulator, the TS‐960e platform takes full advantage of the PXIe architecture to achieve a full‐featured test solution for digital, mixed–signal or RF test applications.

The GX5296 delivers high‐performance digital test capabilities and is ideal for addressing verification, focused production, and failure analysis test needs ‐ or for replacing legacy test systems. The GX5296 builds on the successful GX5295 digital subsystem, offering unrivaled timing, edge‐placement, density, memory, and parametric measurement capabilities.

The TS‐960e is available with Keysight Technologies’ comprehensive portfolio of PXIe RF instrumentation which can address a wide range of RF applications including WLAN, Bluetooth, Cellular, EW, and F transceivers.

Available instrumentation options include Keysight Technologies’ vector transceiver, vector signal analyzers and generators, and vector network analyzer PXIe modules; offering wafer and packaged RF test capabilities from 9 KHz to 27 GHz. All of these modules as well Keysight’s VSA measurement application software are fully integrated with the TS‐960e’s system software, ATEasy.

Microwave Shielding Effec-veness

140

120

Shielding Effec-vness (dB)

100

80

60

40

20

0

Marvin Test Solutions Irvine, CA (949) 263-2222 www.marvintest.com

10

16

19

21

23

26

28 31 34 38

Frequency (GHz)

COTS Journal | September 2016

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COTS PRODUCTS

600W Constant Current Supplies Enable Charging Energy Storage Systems TDK has introduced the TDK-Lambda brand EVS constant current AC-DC power supplies. These board style 300W rated models can operate without forced air cooling, with the enclosed 600W models having an internal cooling fan. With a five-year warranty, these supplies are ideal for charging batteries in energy storage systems, or for other applications requiring constant current outputs. The EVS series will accept a wide 85 to 265Vac input and has nominal 18V (300W only), 36V and 57V outputs for use with 12V, 24V and 48V lithium ion, nickel hydride and lead acid batteries. The 300W supplies measure 3.31- x 1.65- x 7.09-inches and have an optional perforated cover, with the 600W measuring 4.72- x 2.4- x 7.48-inches.

TDK-Lambda Americas, San Diego, CA (619) 628 2885. www.us.tdk-lambda.com/lp.

High Temperature Dual Op Amps Target Harsh Environments Designs Datel introduced the AM-606HT series, a line of harsh environment amplifiers that are developed and manufactured using processes that originate with Datel's MIL-PRF-38534 standards and controls. These standards have been extended and increased to meet the demanding -55 to +200 degrees C operating temperature ranges. The AM-606HT has a gain bandwidth of 28MHz, a slew rate of 250V/µs and can settle to 0.01 percent in less than 180ns while delivering excellent dynamic performance for harsh environment systems. The DC performance of the AM-606HT includes less than 1.5mV of offset, a voltage noise density below 8nV/√Hz and a total supply current under 10mA. Datel, Mansfield, MA (508) 964-5397. www.datel.com

COTS Technology with a Custom Twist.

Many companies choose to focus on what they offer to the customer by way of solutions and skills. System providers and niche market OEMs often sub-contract their computer hardware design. If your application has unusual requirements, Sundance has the skills and resources to specify, design, manufacture and test a custom solution for you.

Our design engineers will help you to develop a specification that meets your requirements, whilst making every effort to ensure that your product conforms to appropriate industry standards. By doing so, your product will be re-useable in future system-building applications. As a result, you will enjoy the benefits of both compatibility and an optimised solution, along with a fast, cost-effective route to market.

For more information on any of these products, or assistance please contact us and we will help you the best we can.

Sundance Multiprocessor Technology Ltd. cots@sundance.com • www.sundance.com Photo: U.S. Air Force / Sr. Airman Nathanael Callon

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COTS PRODUCTS

High-reliability Customization, Quick turn-around TT Electronics offers a comprehensive range of customizable high reliability parts for military and aerospace applications.

Rugged H.265 (HEVC) Video Encoder Boasts Dual 3G-SDI Inputs

Our OPTEK Technology and BI Technologies brands specialize in providing you with customized and standard products of the highest quality, reliability, and performance.

EIZO Rugged Solutions ( formerly Tech Source) has introduced the Tyton VS2—a low-latency, highefficiency rugged H.265 (HEVC) video encoder with dual 3G-SDI inputs. The Tyton VS2 is a ruggedized small form factor box-level video encoding and streaming solution designed to serve video transmission needs in harsh field environments.

The MIL-STD-810G and IP67 compliant Tyton VS2 is capable of capturing two 3G-SDI inputs simultaneously and encoding them using the highly versatile H.265 (HEVC) or H.264 (AVC) video encoding standards.

Both video inputs can be internally split and routed to each of the product’s eight built-in dynamic encoding engines (1080p60 encoding utilizes two engines and HD utilizes a single engine); each individually configurable to different bitrates.

Each of the Tyton VS2’s eight dynamic encoding cores can individually be configured to encode to H.264 or H.265 standards using software API settings, allowing true future proofing of existing installations looking to utilize H.265 in the future.

The Tyton VS2 also features an internal video (3G-SDI) bypass and overcomes the need for an external video splitter. The TytonVS2 features a hardware implementation of CoT (Cursor on Target) and KLV (Key Length Value) metadata insertion.

Our newest product is the radiation tolerant optocoupler well-suited for CubeSat and deep spaceflight applications.

From concept to production, we aim to partner with you at every level to help you meet the challenges of your industry.

EIZO Rugged Solutions Altamonte Springs, FL (407) 262-7100 www.eizorugged.com

Hallogic Hall Effect Sensors

Precision and Panel Potentiometers

Slotted/Reflective Switches

Optically Coupled Isolators

www.ttelectronics.com/high-reliability FIND the products featured in this section and more at

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TTE_HI-REL_COTS.indd 1

COTS Journal | September 2016

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11/08/2016 09:42

COTS PRODUCTS

LXI Digitizers Deliver Fully Synchronous Multi-channel Acquisition Spectrum Instrumentation has expanded its popular LXI-based digitizer NETBOX series by releasing eight new DN6.49x digitizers offering from 24 to 48 fully synchronized channels. The instruments are ideal for applications where a large number of signals need to be acquired and analyzed with speed and precision. Each channel of a DN6.49x series digitizer is equipped with a high precision 16 bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a versatile front-end amplifier that features six input ranges from ±200 mV up to ±10 V, switchable input impedance (50 Ω and 1 MΩ) and programmable offset. Users can choose between models that offer maximum sampling rates of 10 or 60 MS/s with on-board acquisition memory of either 64 Msamples (128 Mbytes) or 128 Msamples (256 Mbytes) per channel.

All the ADCs are clocked synchronously to ensure signal timing and inter-channel phase relationships are always preserved. The flexible front-end and clocking system are complemented by advanced trigger circuitry to capture the widest range of input signals. The 16 bit ADCs typically offer much better resolution

than other measuring systems, such as scopes or analyzers, and optimized digitizer performance allows the finest signal details to be detected.

Spectrum Instrumentation Hackensack, NJ (201) 562-1999 www.spectrum-instrumentation.com

FINAL [sent 20160122 to JReardon, johnr@rtcgroup, for Jan COTS printmag (0.25pg)

Fast, versatile interface for STM1—OTU3 via 40G or 2x10G • Half-height profile • Arria V GZ FPGA • PCIe Gen3 x8 • 2GB DDR3

DRAM

Ask for PCIe8g3 A5-10G or PCIe8g3 A5-40G Contact: info@edt.com | edt.com/product/pcie8-g3-A5-10g

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COTS Journal | September 2016

COTS PRODUCTS

SSD Family Offers eUSB 10-Pin Form Factor, 256 GB Capacities

USB 3.0 Modules Provide Video Capture in SDI or DVI Sensoray has introduced its new Model’s 3364 a USB 3.0 device available in SDI or DVI versions. It captures uncompressed SD/ HD video in resolutions up to 1080p60 and uses H.264 video compression for inputs up to 1080p30, both with very low latency.

A USB 3.0 device, it is capable of capturing uncompressed video at full frame rates and simultaneously sending uncompressed (preview) and compressed streams to the host. Both models are UVC devices (USB Video Class), and do not require a devicespecific driver or an external power supply.

They are controlled using a video API (DirectShow or Video4Linux). The video stream multiplexer has precision hardware timestamps which ensure A/V sync. Video outputs are available for operation in decoding or pass-through modes. Realtime text and graphic overlay generators can position up to 160 characters of text anywhere on the video frame. A unique text string may be defined for each overlay generator. Text variables are automatically updated every video frame. Model 2464 handles the same input signal types but has an Ethernet interface.

Sensoray Tigard, OR (503) 684-8005 www.sensoray.com

Virtium has introduced its TuffDrive eUSB 3.0 embedded storage modules. They are among the industry’s first eUSB 3.0 10-pin storage solutions for industrial and embedded applications, feature speeds of up to 4.8 Gbps—ten times the throughput of USB 2.0—and capacities from 2- to 256-Gbytes, while drawing less than 1W. At those capacities the storage modules are ideal for booting operating systems, logging video and data, and hosting storage-hungry applications. Furthermore, by drawing such little power, they can operate in the absence of cooling fans—or even airflow.

The SSDs feature, industry-proven industrial connectors and mounting that assure durability in environments known for shock and vibration. The devices are available in Virtium’s CE (MLC), XE (iMLC) and PE (SLC) classes. SMART support provides the ability to monitor drives’ health using standard SMART commands. The also support Virtium’s vtView SSD Software, enabling drive analysis for optimal configuration. Optional security features include AES encryption and write protection, ensuring data is protected and secure from falling into the wrong hands. The units support industrial operating temperatures -40 to 85 degrees C. Prices for Virtium’s eUSB 3.0 TuffDrive embedded storage modules start at under $20 each.

Virtium Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (949) 888.2444 www.virtium.com

PICMG 1.3 SBC Implements M.2 NVMe, DDR4, and Multiple Video Links The TKL8255 is Trenton Systems’ latest PICMG 1.3 single board computer based on Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 or Intel Core 6xxx processor options. It features support for DDR4 system memory, native PCI Express 3.0 links, USB 3.0 ports, three video ports, and an onboard M.2 connector for supporting a plug-in NVMe storage module. It sports four DDR4-2133 Standard DIMMs and an M.2 interface driven by x4 PCIe 3.0 link for NVMe modules. Three video interfaces include 1 Display Port and 2 DVI-D headers. There’s also an HD-Audio interface header on board. I/O includes four USB 3.0 ports and six USB 2.0 ports along with three Ethernet LANs. A full-length aluminum backer plate is provided. Trenton offers a 5-year factory warranty and 7+ years of SBC availability.

Trenton Systems Gainesville, GA (770) 287-3100 www.trentonsystems.com

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COTS Journal | September 2016

47

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

Company Page# Website

Acromag..............................................41........................... www.acromag.com AIM......................................................22........................ www.aim-online.com Cemtrol................................................2.............................. www.cemtrol.com Critical I/O...........................................5............................ www.criticalio.com DFI tech...............................................31..............................www.dfitech.com EDT......................................................46....................................www.edt.com Eizo Rugged Solutions.........................32........................www.eizorugged.com Elma Electronics.................................39................................. www.elma.com Equipto................................................43.......................www.equiptoelec.com LCR Embedded Systems......................33........ www.lcrembeddedsystems.com Mercury Systems, Inc. ........................51................................. www.mrcy.com MPL.....................................................46......................................www.mpl.ch North Atlantic Industries..................19, 21................................ www.naii.com NovaSom Industries............................18........... www.novasomindustries.com

One Stop Systems, Inc. ......................4, 7....................... onestopsystems.com Pentek.................................................52.............................. www.pentek.com Phoenix International..........................29........................... www.phenxint.com Pico Electronics, Inc............................27................. www.picoelectronics.com Pixus Technologies..............................14.............www.pixustechnologies.com Stacked Technologies..........................39.........www.stackedtechnologies.com Star Communcations Inc.....................42......................www.starcommva.com Sundance............................................44..........................www.sundance.com Systel USA...........................................25.......................... www.systelusa.com SynQor.................................................15...............................www.synqor.com TE Connectivity...................................28......................................www.te.com TT Electronics.....................................45..................... www.ttelectronics.com TQ-Systems.........................................49...............www.embeddedmodule.net COTS Gallery Ad..................................40.........................................................

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: Comms and Networking in Land, Sea and Air

It’s safe to say that large portion of today’s U.S. military platforms is either directly or indirectly involved in communications or networking critical information between warfighters. The trend is toward every vehicle, every aircraft, every ship, every UAV and every soldier on the ground to be able to quickly share data, voice and even video with almost any level of the DoD’s operation. This section explores the display, computing and networking technologies that are all part of a net-centric military.

Tech Recon Jeff’s Picks: Jeff Child’s Top GPGPU Boards and Systems

In the Jeff’s Picks section we choose the top products in a different category each month and share insights on why they’re significant in terms of design innovation, market relevance and technology leadership. The October Jeff’s Picks section looks at General Purpose GPU (GPGPU) solutions that deliver extreme levels of advanced processing.

48

COTS Journal | September 2016

System Development: Integrating RF Electronics with Embedded Computing

While both RF and embedded computing are critical technologies for a host of military systems, the two worlds have traditionally run in separate circles. Today the push is toward streamlining the integration of RF and digital subsystems. Designers of advanced sensor processing applications want more affordable, flexible and open standards-based solutions.

Articles in this section look at the how technologies within the RF and Microwave domain are merging with modular, open systems architectures such as OpenVPX.

Data Sheet: High Reliability Power Supplies Roundup

Selecting power supplies and power conversion electronics rank as make or break technical choices in embedded military computer systems. With more and more computing stuffed into smaller spaces, power has direct implications on the size, cooling and mobility of a board or box-level system. Articles in this section examine technology trends affecting DC/ DC converters, power supply module bricks and slot-card power supplies (VME, VPX, cPCI and others).

Experience Real Design Freedom

Only TQ allows you to choose between ARM®, Intel®, NXP and TI • Off-the-shelf modules from Intel, NXP and TI • Custom designs and manufacturing • Rigorous testing • Built for rugged environments: -40°C... +85°C • Long-term availability • Smallest form factors in the industry • All processor functions available

For more information call 508 209 0294 www.embeddedmodules.net

COTS Journal’s

MARCHING TO THE NUMBERS OVER 100

3.1 BILLION

$

Forecasted value of the vetronics market is projected to reach by 2021 at a CAGR of 4.30 percent during the forecast period, according to a new research report published by ASDReports.com.

Network centric warfare, situational awareness, embedded technology systems commonality, and shift towards COTS enabled improved SWaP specifications are the key factors driving the vetronics market. In emerging countries, such as India and China, there has been an increase in procurement of technologically advanced military land vehicles, which is fueling the growth of vetronics in the APAC region.

147

Number of sailors that make up the crew of the Navy's newest and most technologically advanced surface ship, future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000). The ship arrived this month at Naval Station for another port visit on the 3-month journey to its new homeport in San Diego. Zumwalt is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission destroyers designed to strengthen naval power by providing deterrence, power projection and sea control.. While in Norfolk, Zumwalt is scheduled to perform operational proficiency training, certifications and preparation for its October commissioning.

4 MILLION

Total number of flight hours achieved General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ Predator-series family of UAVs including MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and MQ-1C Gray Eagle (shown). The milestone was crossed on August 7th, with 291,331 total missions completed and 90 percent of all missions flown in combat. Flight hours have continued to grow at unprecedented rates in recent years, with 500,000 flight hours achieved from 1993 to 2008, one million hours in 2010, two million hours in 2012, and three million hours in 2014. Every second of every day, an average of 70 Predator-class aircraft are airborne worldwide.

50

COTS Journal | September 2016

Number of More Cobham components that are on board every F-35 Lightning II, including microelectronic components, microwave systems, motion control solutions for the Electrooptical Targeting System (EOTS) gimbal, communications chips, pilot survival products and aerial refueling equipment. Cobham recently received a series of orders worth tens of millions of dollars for radio frequency (RF) microelectronics that support the F-35 program.

The work will be performed by the San Diego, California location of Cobham Microelectronic Solutions, part of the Cobham Advanced Electronics Solutions sector.

19.4 MILLION

$

Value of a recent contract that extends Lockheed Martin’s support , the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) orbiting observatory through September 2018, with a further extension possible through September 2019. IRIS has taken more than 24 million images or spectral measurements of the sun since its launch three years ago. In this new extension, IRIS will be able to study a wide range of phenomena, including the source regions of fast solar wind, a stream of charged particles that continuously emanates from the sun at speeds of 1,000 km/s and fills the space around the Earth, according to Lockheed Martin.

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Copyright © 2016 Mercury Systems and Innovation That Matters are trademarks of Mercury Systems, Inc. - 3193

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