September 2021
COT’S PICKS Abaco Systems Announce New 16-Port Serial Controller and XMC Carrier Card to Protect from Obsolescence
Abaco Systems announced the PMC523 16port serial controller and the SPR518 PCI Express ® XMC carrier card. Both provide innovative upgrade paths to protect our customers from obsolescence. The SPR518 and the PMC523 each deliver a necessary and beneficial technology refresh
which continues Abaco’s ongoing commitment to innovation at every turn. The PMC523 is a flexible solution and a technology insertion that integrates multiple serial I/O channels onto single-board computers (SBCs) with PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC) sites. Its efficient design packages 16 serial channels onto a single PMC. Additionally, this serial controller utilizes dual octal UARTs to increase overall performance through the reduction of programmed I/O operations. This provides an evolutionary path for enhanced software and ultimately protects customers who have already designed systems utilizing the previous generation PMC423. The SPR518 provides an upgrade path for customers by offering a replacement for the existing SPR418A. This card is a short form factor PCI Express (PCIe®) carrier for XMC mod-
Rugged AI Data Processing Hits New Performance Heights with Aitech’s A179 Ultra-SFF Supercomputer SWaP-optimized, GPGPU-based system enables exceptional computing performance, low power consumption at-the-edge Aitech has expanded its GPGPU-based product offerings with the A179 Lightning, a rugged, fanless AI supercomputer that delivers more performance than any other rugged system on the market in a similar form factor. With an ultra-compact footprint, roughly the size of a cell phone, the new SWaP-optimized A179 is powered by the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX platform based on the Volta GPU, which packs up to 384 CUDA cores and 48 Tensor cores. The incredibly high-performance, low-power unit reaches 21 TOPS INT8 at a remarkable level of energy efficiency. Adding to the applications already employing AI-based supercomputers, such as situation awareness systems, EW systems, and drones, the new A179 helps bring this powerful computing to even more military applications, including a smart soldier and man-portable systems, augmented reality, and an even broader set of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Dan Mor, Director, Video & GPGPU Product Line for Aitech, noted, “Rugged AI performance 28
COTS Journal | September 2021
is the leading-edge advantage in military intelligence. Being able to use GPGPU-based systems in the harshest environments gives system engineers the ability to forge new ground in rugged embedded computing. Aitech is focused on delivering this exceptional technology to our military and defense customers to use in their applications worldwide.”
ules which allows for use with traditional PCs. The PCIe interface provides for unimpeded data transfers at the full rate supported by the mezzanine card and is enhanced by a PCIe Gen3 Redriver. This enhancement allows for the safe operation of XMC modules on PCIe mainboards, where previously the SPR418A could only support Gen2. Pete Thompson, VP of Product Management for Abaco said, “Abaco’s commitment to our customers expands beyond the life cycle of one product, and innovation doesn’t stop after it hits the market. Our team listens to our customers’ needs to develop solutions that will outpace current products and provide an upgrade path to avoid obsolescence in the long run. Both the PMC523 and SPR518 are evidence of that commitment, as they each deliver a clear upgrade path with solutions that will enable our customers to succeed.” Abaco Systems www.abaco.com
neously. These include SDI (SD/HD), four FPD-Link™ III (to MIPI CSI) camera inputs, and eight composites (NTSC/PAL) channels.
In addition to the 21 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second, INT8) that the A179 Lightning provides, it offers 1050 GOPS/W INT8, the best available performance per watt as well as an H.264/H.265 hardware encoder/decoder.
Standard I/O ports, such as Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 & 2.0, DVI/HDMI out, CANbus, UART Serial, and a number for discrete, offer flexibility in data management. The system also accommodates up to two optional expansion modules (via factory configuration), such as additional I/O expansion modules or an optional NVMe SSD. The system allows for a removable Micro SD card and features 8 GB of LPDDR4x.
Video capture is made easy with several input types that enable multiple video streams simulta-
Aitech https://aitechsystems.com/
