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Rugged wearable computer
Glacier Computer: Ridgeline W200 Looking like the stuff of science fiction, the Ridgeline W200 wearable computer from Glacier Computer is made of a reinforced magnesium alloy with a QVGA 3.5" touch-screen LCD display. Running either Windows CE 6.0 or Linux, the wrist-mounted PC is ideal for some defense applications such...
Quad-core rugged enterprise server family
Themis Computer: XR3 family (RES) SWaP, RAS, RES: These compose the alphabet soup Themis Computer uses to describe its XR3 family of 1RU, 2RU, and 3RU rugged servers. The Rugged Enterprise Servers (RES) use Intel's Nehalem-inspired quad-core Xeon 5500 CPUs to emphasize SWaP and Reliability, Availability, and Service (RAS)....
'Modded' memory comes to COTS PCs
Corsair: Hydro Series H30 water block and Ice Series T30 thermoelectric coolers PC gamers are famous for "modding" their rigs by overclocking the CPUs to achieve better-than-stock performance. But doing so causes systems to run hot, necessitating beefier fans and liquid cooling. This same technology can also be applied to benign military gear that still needs to opera...
Rugged COTS LCD with built-in image algorithms
Z Microsystems, Inc.: Ground Control Station (GCS) display panel Sure, "anyone" can ruggedize an LCD to make it withstand extreme temperatures, shock, vibration, salt spray, and humidity in explosion environments. We're kidding, of course. Ruggedizing an LCD while also making it sunlight readable is no small feat. That's why Z Microsystems' Ground Contr...
Boards warranted for seven years
Acromag, Inc.: Extended warranty on PMC, Industry Pack, PCI, and CompactPCI boards and modules Ironically, editor Chris Ciufo just purchased an extended warranty for a Subaru Outback for 7 years/70,000 miles. Seems as if Acromag had the same idea for its PMC, Industry Pack, PCI, and CompactPCI boards and modules: Adding six years onto the base one-year warranty gives users a huge co...
Clean power, clean design
Falcon Electric: SVR Pro Series Military environments are notoriously dirty: Marines scrabbling around in the mud, the grease and bunker oil sloshing around in a bilge, and the floor of an AC-130 gunship littered with spent brass. Oh, and don't forget the power supplies for the electronics, which can experience surges, s...
All-in-one AC-DC brick builds rugged military systems
Martek Power: MW400S Have an AC-powered system that needs to supply DC voltages
from 2 VDC up to 28 VDC? Martek’s 400 W MW400S power module with active Power Factor Correction (PFC) is designed specifically for A&D as well as industrial apps. Feed the unit
90-265 VAC, single phase, at 47-440 Hz, and it&...
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 White Paper: Data Management for Military and Aerospace Embedded Systems
McObject — Modern cockpits bombard pilots with tremendous volumes of data, including tactical information, navigation data, system status, and more. Within modern weaponry, computers are used extensively to process, prioritize, and present critical data. On-board systems have evolved into substantial computing platforms that are tightly integrated and continuously share information. This torrent of data within aerospace and military embedded systems presents multifaceted data management requirements, which are increasingly addressed via off-the-shelf embedded database management systems (DBMSs)  White Paper: Reaping the benefits of X-by-wire for Military Land Vehicles
Ian Hodgson and Matthias Mäke-Kail — X-by-Wire is a generic name given to technologies that seek to replace traditional mechanical control systems with electronic replacements. Pioneered by companies like Airbus in the aerospace domain, the mechanical links that translated the stick or pedal actions of the pilot into movements of the control surfaces were replaced by electrical sensors, computers and servo actuators. The benefits of this transformation of vehicle management apply equally to land- or water-based vehicles as they do to airborne craft. Video: First Public Demo of a Live OpenVPX System
Mark Littlefield, Nauman Arshad and Bob Sullivan — On October 18, 2009, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing partnered with Hybricon to make industry history with the first public demonstration of a live OpenVPX™ (VITA 65) system at MILCOM 2009/Boston.  Releasing the processing potential of GPUs
Duncan Young — High-performance Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have evolved from fixed-function graphics execution units to SIMD processors. Now, the key to implementing GPU processing lies in a new generation of tools including CUDA, OpenCL, and more to integrate code development across heterogenous CPU/GPU architectures.  Preparing for lead-free electronics
John Wemekamp — The rapid adoption of lead-free solder is the most significant change brought to the defense market as a result of RoHS and WEEE influences. However, many military and aerospace equipment integrators, vendors, and end users are wary of using lead-free materials because of concerns about long-term reliability, temperature, and harsh military environmental use.  Modernizing legacy military systems with top-grade static analysis
Tom Schultz — Outdated legacy code bases in warfare and defense systems create vulnerabilities to safety and prohibit the introduction of new, network-centric technology. With static analysis, these systems can be retrofitted to be high integrity, making devices more technologically competitive.  Daily Briefing: News Snippets
Sharon Schnakenburg — A roundup of recent military trends and contract bends including: NASA's 'background' technology moves forward in development; Boeing demo embodies Future Force; 3U VPX drafted for M1A2; USMC radios: Making the grade?; and many other headlines.  'EAL 6+' says it all – or does it? Q&A with Marc Brown, Vice President, VxWorks Product Strategy and Marketing for Wind River Systems
Military Embedded Systems magazine — Editor's note: To be or not to be … EAL 6+ certified: That is the question. Apologies to William Shakespeare, but you get the point. With EAL 6 (or 6+) certification becoming the latest trend among embedded software vendors, the criteria for achieving such should be fairly straightforward … or is it? Marc Brown, VP over VxWorks Product Strategy and Marketing at Wind River Systems, reveals what he claims are misassumptions about EAL 6+, as the company’s VxWorks MILS Platform 2.0 undergoes NSA/NIAP evaluation for EAL 6+ compliance. He also has a thing or two to say about the company’s recent acquision by Intel, multicore, and a clarified focus for the future. Edited excerpts follow. |
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