Face it, programming FPGAs is difficult. So when Avnet introduced their Xilinx Spartan-3A FPGA Evaluation Kit earlier this year, designers rushed to plunk down $39 and snap up a couple thousand of them. And why not? Here was a stand-alone platform to tinker with to their heart?s content. Turns out that adding an external programmable microcontroller to the FPGA can save design time, FPGA gates, and power. So Avnet and Cypress teamed up, bolted on the Cypress CY3217 Programmable SoC, and magically added up to 100 peripheral functions outside the FPGA.

The PSoC enables FPGA configuration and flash memory programming through a built-in USB interface instead of the typical cumbersome serial PROM. Cypress? MiniProg programmer and downloadable PSoC Designer software add not only the USB feature, but also CapSense touch sensing, clocks, and programmable analog functionality. You know: all those real-world HMI thingys without which a defense system is nothing more than a current sink. In short, this simple external device has greatly enhanced the FPGA eval kit, simplified tabletop designs, and freed up power and resources inside the Xilinx FPGA. Seems like a good trade-off to us.

Developed originally for mass transit applications, the ITT Interconnect Solutions VEAM junction box assembly contains a complete harnessing system for in- and inter-vehicle electrical connections. We can picture the units installed in light rail applications (shown), but the box is just as applicable in light-duty military applications that don?t call for 38999-style screw-on cable assemblies. With rapid deployment the norm these days, add-in COTS equipment latched down to HWMMVs and TOCs still needs to be rugged, but not necessarily to the extent of requiring high-cost MIL-SPEC cable assemblies.

The VEAM includes terminal blocks, cables, and other electrical components designed to provide signal and power. Though each implementation is a custom solution, the target types of functions include control switchboards, CCTV equipment, inter-vehicle comms, power and signal, and motor supplies up to a whopping 660 A. The junction boxes are approved to IP66 standards (Ingress Protection, wet conditions), contacts are rated to 400 A, and the shells and contacts come in a wide variety of configurations. VEAM boxes are available in either standard or harsh environment versions, and complete systems can be tested to meet specific electrical, shock, and vibration specs.

First the good news: Panasonic?s semi-rugged CF-52 and CF-74 notebook computers are now available with Core 2 Duo processors and labeled with Intel Centrino 2 technology. But the bad news: It?s hard to figure out exactly what ?Centrino 2? means. Intel?s confusing nomenclature notwithstanding, the 15.4" CF-52 and sunlight-readable 13.3" CF-74 notebooks are now up to speed with Intel?s ? ahem! ? almost newest notebook processors (just wait a few months). We say that like it?s a bad thing. On the contrary: Panasonic?s Toughbook series is the gold standard for fully- and semi-rugged military laptops.

The company reports that more than 500 checks and tests go into every product before shipment, and that the CPU change is the first major upgrade in each product in more than 12 months of stability; this is a good thing, in light of consumer products like notebooks going obsolete in as little as three months. At the recent Intel Developer Forum, we got a chance to drop-kick a Toughbook and witness a spill test on the keyboard. These babies are tough, and keeping them production stable in their nice magnesium alloy cases with their shock-isolated HDDs is essential for mil duty. Besides the processor upgrade ? which when added to the CPU chipset and WiFi radio comprise ?Centrino 2? ? hard drive capacity goes up to 160 GB, and WiFi gets pumped up to 802.11 Draft N.

While the telcos continue to adopt PICMG?s AdvancedTCA form factor at their own pace, the military is deploying AdvancedTCA (and its mezzanine board, Advanced Mezzanine Card or AMC) for high-density deployed networks and phone systems. This essentially is creating POTS-like VoIP with all the features of a local Internet cloud, including voice, video, and high-speed file movement. Enea has developed its Accelerator Platform 2.0, the second generation of a software package designed specifically to provide carrier-grade teleco services for Kontron AdvancedTCA boards and platforms providing IP-based broadband, VoIP, IPTV, gaming (as in America?s Army), and streaming video.

Enea claims this is the first application-ready platform to ?integrate a carrier class Linux OS with middleware, network protocols, embedded management, database software, and DSP management.? The 2.0 version adds support for fine-grain, in-service software upgrades ? a critically important attribute in deployed military WANs. Mixed application version management takes the guesswork out of incremental upgrades. Other new features include SA Forum Availability Management, DSP management for data plane blades equipped with DSP farms (think: YouTube codecs or on-the-fly audio processing), HPI shelf management, and support for ConfD. The package also works with Embedded Planet and Mercury Computer?s AdvancedTCA/AMC-based DSP and PowerPC hardware.

SRAMs are fast, but take away Vcc and poof! There goes your data. On the other hand, flash memories retain data when they?re off, but they?re woefully slow when used in place of scratchpad RAM. One compromise between the two is Freescale?s Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), now available in two extended temperature ranges from e2v Technologies. e2v is a longtime partner, going all the way back to providing military versions of then-Motorola?s PowerPC product line.

MRAMs combine nonvolatility with SRAM speed plus the density of DRAM. Unlike flash (which uses trapped charges in the silicon bulk) or SRAM (which stores bits with conducting transistors), MRAM works by creating magnetic switches on a nanoscopic grid and storing data as electric fields. e2v?s EV2A16A 4 Mb MRAM operates at SRAM speeds of 35 ns read/write, while still offering a standard SRAM interface to make system design a breeze. The 44-lead TSOP device is available in extended (-40 ?C to +110 ?C) and military (-55 ?C to +125 ?C) temperature ranges.

The company SBS Technologies popularized the conduction-cooled flavor of 3U CompactPCI single board computers because the size offers such a nifty space savings over 6U. The 3U module can easily fit into legacy ATR boxes, making it a nice upgrade path. Similarly, GE Fanuc Embedded Systems ? which purchased SBS a couple of years ago ? hasn?t forgotten about legacy migration with its latest 3U conduction-cooled CompactPCI SBC, the CR5. That?s because it?s FFF backward compatible with the previous CR4 version.

Sporting an Intel Core Duo LV running at 1.66 GHz, the SBC includes up to 2 GB of DDR2 SDRAM with ECC, a 400 MHz memory bus via Intel?s 3100 ICH memory and I/O controller, and a 667 MHz FSB. There are two GbE ports, two SATA ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and eight of the ever-popular-in-defense GPIO ports. An optional mezzanine card adds CompactFlash and SVGA graphics.

So you?ve hardened the chassis, ruggedized the boards, chosen solid-state storage for reliability ? even shock-mounted the LCD. But what about the LCD controller board? That?s the realm of Digital View?s HE-1400 and HE-1600 Series rugged LCD controllers. These COTS LRUs specifically target industrial and military installations with a -40 ?C to +80 ?C operation, and ?dirty? 12 VDC power that can vary by as much as 25 percent. Shock and vibration are handled from the board design up, including locking connectors and such attention to detail as low-mass tantalum capacitors that don?t act like cantilevered masses. They are even available in conformal-coated versions.

The HE-1400 is 4.2" x 3.6" and supports LVDS and TTL LCD panels at SXGA (4:3) and WXGA (16:9 at 1,366 x 768 pixels) feeding DVI and ARGB. The HE-1600 is a fully buffered, multisync interface controller feeding both analog and digital up to UXGA resolution (that?s 1,600 x 1,200) over DVI, dual VGA, composite video, S-Video, and Component Video. It too handles standard 4:3 and widescreen 16:9. Both controllers feature remote management via RS-232.

We've said it for years: Conduction-cooled 3U CompactPCI is an ideal form factor for small spaces, especially for military retrofits. Rugged supplier Aitech completely agrees. Their E192 modular enclosure is lightweight (relatively speaking), sports a removable and modular PSU, and is completely sealed for harsh mechanical, chemical, or EMI environments.

The box houses a two-slot backplane for ANSI/IEEE 30.1-2002 conduction-cooled 3U CompactPCI and PMC modules. The conduction-cooled cold plate chassis design can dissipate over 50 W at 71 ?C while maintaining a maximum 14 ?C at the card edge. The MIL-STD-704 PSU provides 28 V, and other options are available. A backplane transition module supports custom front panel connections, typically for circular MIL-C-38999 connectors.

As cell phones proliferate across the civilian world, they?ve also found their way onto the battlefield. Not that they?re standard DoD-issued items; rather, military personnel often find that mobile phones present a convenient way to communicate non-classified information in urban settings and interface to POTS lines. But surprise! The military has the same problem as the rest of us: poor reception and spotty coverage. The High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) femtocell software reference design from Continuous Computing and picoChip aims to change that. A femto (10E-15) cell is basically a miniature cell phone tower/repeater/infrastructure station that drastically improves cell phone reception in spotty areas. Depending upon whom you believe, the market for low-cost, consumer, in-home femtocells may reach $850 million by 2011 (reference: Unstrung Insider). That?s a lot of COTS hardware, so you know it?s low cost.

Combining Continuous Computing?s Trillium Femtocell protocol software with picoChip?s PC8208 software and PC202 picoArray SoC, the reference design seeks to reduce project risk and complexity, while improving time-to-market. The design works with 3G/4G protocols at HSPA data rates, and the ARM-based PC202 maintains a low-memory footprint while supporting a multicore DSP fabric for running picoChip?s PC8208 baseband code. Collectively, the design includes Trillium SIP and UMTS Generic Access Network (GAN) core network interface options, and is compliant to 3GPP specifications through Release 7. The reference design provides RF interface, data processing, and application processing support and can service voice, video, and high-speed wireless (cell-based) data. We don?t know about you, but we want one in our office.

As FPGAs trounce the world of DSP designs, having more of them ? with more I/O and more memory ? is ?more better.? Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing?s CHAMP-FX2 ? the latest incarnation of the company?s venerable CHAMP DSP series ? uses two Xilinx Virtex-5 LXT FPGAs to provide true heterogeneous processing. A ?lowly? Freescale 8641D PowerPC processor handles general purpose processing, as well as DSP algorithms in its own right. Collectively, these three nodes are mounted on a 6U VPX board that affords more I/O capabilities than Bill Gates has copies of Windows. Well, maybe not that many, but a lot.

Each FPGA node is swimming in memory: up to 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM (4.4 GBps peak), and up to 32 MB QDR-II+ SRAM (8.8 GBps peak). Additionally, nodes are interconnected in various ways: four-lane RocketIO LVDS; four-lane high-speed serial links to the backplane, XMC site, and one optionally to the front panel; and 18 pairs of discrete LVDS to the VPX-equipped backplane in case you want to roll your own. And the 8641D dual core is no slouch, either. It can run up to 1.33 GHz, has up to 1 GB of DDR2 SDRAM with ECC, and 512 MB of flash plus 128 KB of NVRAM. There?s Ethernet (2), serial (2), and an onboard Serial RapidIO switch spidering lines all over the board and out to the VPX backplane. There?s more, but we?re out of room. Check it out at the Curtiss-Wright website.

Whether on the battlefield, at the depot, the supply dump, or in the ordnance magazine, explosion potential is deadly serious business. That?s why the Ruffneck Zone 1 Explosion Proof Computer from Computer Dynamics (a GE Fanuc company) might be the way to go for peace of mind. Equipped with an Intel Pentium M 1.6 GHz single board computer inside, the box is designed in compliance with Europe?s ATEX (from the French: ATmospheres EXplosibles). Zone 1 compliance defines an area where the chance of explosion can exist for short periods of time, but an explosive atmosphere won?t accumulate for more than a total of 1,000 hours within a 12-month period. The system is also certified for a UL HAZLOC (hazardous location) environment.

The direct sunlight readable 15" (diagonal) LCD is impact resistant, supports bare- and gloved-hand operation, and includes software dimming for darker environments. The SBC supports 2 GB of DDRAM, a 40 GB HDD, optional CompactFlash SDD, and Ethernet or Wi-Fi. There?s a watchdog timer, and the Ruffneck runs Windows XP. Designed to operate over -40 ?C to +60 ?C with optional heaters, the NEMA4 enclosure can be hosed down for HAZMAT operations. The Ruffneck weighs only 45 pounds plus the yoke or arm mount. With this computer, you won?t be blown away. That?s a good thing.

With Intel driving its processors well down into deep, deep submicron (45 nm) territory, multicore CPUs now run faster while sipping less power. Add to this the huge economic benefits of consumer volumes, and then small form factor boards like the MI935 from IBASE make good sense in many quasi-rugged military applications. The Mini-ITX form factor SBC supports Intel?s Core 2 Quad/Core 2 Duo/Celeron 400 Sequence processors (Conroe-L) and Intel?s latest Q35 Express chipset with a full 1,333 MHz FSB.

With notebook computer-sized dimensions of 6.7" x 6.7" (170 x 170 mm), the SBC has two DDR2 DIMM slots and can support up to 4 GB of DRAM. There are also a 10/100BASE-T Ethernet port, integrated VGA, 8x USB 2.0, 2x SATA II, 1x eSATA, and 2x COM ports. Optional I/O includes a 1x PCIe GbE, a second VGA via PCIe (x16), and four more COM ports. With a company focus on industrial PC products, the MI935 might be a good choice for full-featured but small-sized PC-based military systems.

Military programs are acutely concerned with data and software security, especially when it comes to sanitizing disks used in actual missions. And the same thing applies to desktop computers from the Pentagon or to any forwardly deployed operations center. But on the flip side, sometimes it?s necessary to replicate a disk?s entire content for back-up purposes, or for use in parallel missions or platforms. While not designed with the DoD/MoD/DND in mind, Aleratec?s HDD Cruiser might be just the product you?re looking for.

The desktop unit can simultaneously sanitize up to four 3.5" HDDs without requiring any connection to a PC or network (2.5" drives require an adapter). Disks can be wiped using NSA-approved algorithms such as the seven-pass ?DoD Wipe,? or a simple one- or three-pass erase can also be performed. Once temporarily installed in a tray, the drives are mechanically locked during operation to prevent tampering or interruption. The aluminum trays are also designed to conduct heat away from drives during extended operations, and the built-in 10 ultra-quiet fans also keep temperatures down. Finally, the Cruiser can replicate one drive?s contents to the other three simultaneously.

Recently selected by rugged shoebox supplier Parvus in a U.S. Navy aircraft upgrade program, the DDC BU-65578Cx PC/104-Plus 1553 card is ideal for fitting 1553 into tight spaces. Based upon DDC?s own Extended Enhanced Mini-ACE (E2MA) 1553 chipset ? the offspring of an industry standard ? the card can bring up to four dual-redundant 1553 channels to bear in legacy systems. With 2 MB of parity memory per channel and BIT, robust transmissions and data transfer are assured.

But interestingly, MIL-STD-1553 is rarely found alone. It?s often accompanied by myriad other legacy and proprietary connectivity schemes, especially in system upgrades. For this reason, the PC/104-Plus card also includes five user-programmable digital I/O channels, an IRIG-B time code input, an external time-tag clock input, and a 48-bit/1 microsecond time stamp capability. As expected, a -40 ?C to +85 ?C temperature version is available.

Disk drives are so inexpensive these days ? under $1 per GB ? that we?re saving everything instead of deleting it. But in deployed platforms and systems, where collecting and storing the data is the whole point, it?s not enough just to have beaucoup storage. One needs assurances of reliable data storage. That?s the point behind Phoenix International?s RPC12 SAS/SATA II 3U RAID system: ruggedness, reliability, portability. Housing up to 12 HDDs in carriers, the 3U (5.25") system has redundancy and ruggedness built in everywhere you look.

Capable of withstanding 60 g shock at 2 ms, operating over 5 ?C to 60 ?C (even more with sealed drives), and up to 40,000 feet with sealed HDDs, this baby?s in it for the long ride. It accommodates RAID 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, 50, NRAID, and JBOD as well as dual hot-swap PSUs and cooling fans. Host interfaces include 2 or 4 Gbps Fibre Channel, serial attached SCSI, or iSCSI. Input voltage ranges from 40 to 440 Hz, and from 90 to 240 VAC. As for software, the unit interfaces to Windows, Linux, and Unix and includes a management GUI and failover software.

Ethernet is as ubiquitous on the modern battlefield as disposable batteries. All manner of equipment, be it ground-, ship-, or air-based relies on 10, 100, or 1000 Mbps Ethernet ports. So Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing decided to bring 1 and 10GbE to the up-and-coming VME VPX form factor. The company?s VPX6-685 FireBlade II resides on a 6U VPX module and is specifically designed for networking in extremely harsh environments. With switching and routing capabilities, plus VITA 48 REDI two-level maintenance options, this board is ready to travel.

The heart of the board includes 12, 20, or 24 1GbE interfaces capable of autonegotiating 10/100/1000 speeds. The board can also support 4x 10GbE ports as part of a blazing-fast backbone configuration. Current versions of the board offer front-panel optical ports (1000BASE-SX), while future versions will route fiber over one of the VPX connectors. There?s IPv4/v6 support, wirespeed routing, enhanced security, BIT, and a whole host (no pun) of management interfaces, protocols, and software from CLI and Telnet to SNMP and NAT.

Looked closely at a circuit board lately? Designers have to contend with more voltages than a drawer filled with old cell phone chargers. And myriad voltages mean DC/DC converters galore, consuming power and precious real estate. RECOM Power Laboratory claims a breakthrough in high power and diminutive size. The company?s RP-15xxxxSA series boasts 15 W in an incredible 1" x 1" (25.4 x 25.4 mm) package at only 0.39" (10 mm) height. This compares with competing devices measuring 1" x 2" ? saving a cool square inch of board space.

The converter is galvanically isolated, operates at up to 87 percent efficiency, and can withstand an ambient temp of 60 ?C without needing special cooling. That?s an impressive power density of 2.3 W/cm3. Outputs are set at 3.3 V, 5 V, 12 V, and 15 V, while inputs include: 9-18 V, 9-36 V, 18-36 V, 18-75 V, and 36-75 V. The case is a six-sided, nickel-coated copper material, and vacuum potting on the bottom assures high shock and vibration tolerance.

How often do you think about the screws, washers, or standoffs in an embedded system? Yeah, me neither. But you might put a little more thought into the electrical connectors ? but just barely. The thing is, it?s those connectors that take much of the abuse in deployed electronics, especially if the system must withstand MIL-STD-810 or MIL-STD-1344. ITT Cannon?s Chip on Flex filter connector is designed to meet MIL-STD-1344 testing, boasting 1,000 thermal shock cycles from -55 ?C to +125 ?C.

Compared to ceramic planar array block capacitors used in conventional filter connectors, the MIL-DTL-38999 style chip-on-flex technology mounts individual chip caps on a pad adjacent to each feed through contact. This eliminates stress points, increasing connector life from a mere 50 cycles to 20 times that. The connector handles voltages from 200 Vdc to 120 VAC rms at 400 Hz. Current ratings range from 5 A, 7.5 A, and 15 A, depending upon wire gauge.

So OK, the title?s a bit silly but seeks to illustrate what you knew was inevitable: two dual-core Intel CPUs on the same board. In this case, the SVME-1900 from Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing boasts two independent ultra-low voltage 1.67 GHz Intel Core Duo processors. This air-cooled 6U VME SBC also boasts dual PMC expansion sites with front panel I/O.

Other specs for this board include 2 GB of DDR2 SDRAM with ECC, 2 GB of USB user flash formatted as two individual USB drives, and the Intel E7520 Memory Controller Hub (MCH)/6300ESB I/O Controller Hub (ICH). For I/O, there are two 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 12 serial ports (4 RS-232; 8 RS-422), 2 SATA ports, and ... wait for it, 12 digital I/O lines. As always, CWCEC?s products are available in a variety of ruggedization levels, and the company?s Guardian Select life cycle maintenance services are darned near essential for military and long-life programs.

Well, things will be ?all better? when JTRS is widely deployed. Joint service radios will interoperate, there?ll be more bandwidth, and IP-based networks will rule the battlefield. But until then ? the Sealevel Systems ACC-188 USB synchronous interface adapter allows a USB-equipped laptop (aren?t they all?) to interface with a variety of legacy military radios. Boasting high throughput, the adapter allows war fighters to transmit and receive data such as GPS maps, images, coordinates, and even IM-type communications. Handy for the soldier updating his MySpace page.

The adapter is compatible with the following radios: Harris PRC-117 and PRC-150, Motorola LST-5, Raytheon PSC-5D and ARC-231, Rockwell Collins ARC-210, and Thales PRC-148. Additionally, the adapter can be used by most digital radios that have a synchronous serial port. Sealevel?s included PDA-184 software product provides a GUI to manage the data transfer, protocols, and interface with the appropriate radio at the other end of the cable. We witnessed this product at the recent AFCEA conference in San Diego, and its simple elegance looks very compelling. [Full disclosure: Sealevel provided editors with a promotional gift as part of the product launch.]

Intrusion and perimeter detection are essential for homeland security (such as border patrol), autonomous military RECON scouting, or securing a forward bivouac area. But the trouble with many sensors is they are either power hungry, not easily networked, or both. GreenPeak Technologies claims to have solved these problems ? and more ? with their Lime CM-08 module. The tiny 5 cm2 (< 1 square inch) device functions as a stand-alone communications system with transceiver, antenna, and low-power mesh network software onboard.

The wireless transceiver and sensor interface allow users to connect appropriate sensors such as photocells, vibration detectors, infrared, or other devices. But the unit also doesn?t require an external battery, relying instead on external solar, electromagnetic, or piezo-electric transducers for power. The onboard software carefully adapts the available power to the device?s consumption. Finally, built-in mesh technology enables designers to create extended wireless IEEE 802.15.4 open-standard, self-healing, and self-forming low-cost networks based upon the ZigBee Alliance. Future versions hope to shrink the CM-08 module down to chip size.

The beauty of PCI Express is not only its speed, but how this desktop technology is becoming ubiquitous and inexpensive. With its low overhead and efficient protocol, PCIe might make a better way to link host computers together than simply using Ethernet. Even better ? PCIe supports cable connections up to tens of meters long. One Stop Systems, a provider of industrial-strength communications and computing products, is banking on PCIe as a replacement for Ethernet (or InfiniBand) in ultra-high performance host computers. The company?s SuperSwitch family allows communications via PCIe between two, five, or eight compute nodes.

Comprising a PCIe x4 Express Card or a PCIe card, x4 cables, and a switch, the SuperSwitch family includes everything needed to connect host machines. The ExpressNet software manages the interfaces, handles the protocols, and keeps the 10 Gbps connections humming. Switches come in a variety of form factors, including CompactPCI, mezzanines, or 1U sizes. The 1U SuperSwitch 3 has eight ports and can scream along at an astounding 40 Gbps. Ethernet can?t even come close.

Despite the acronym soup, the Time-Triggered Protocol specified by DO-254 and DO-178B Level A safety-critical systems no longer requires an ASIC to run. Instead, TTTech Computertechnik is making available its TTP controller IP (Intellectual Property), which can be synthesized into Altera Cyclone II or III FPGAs. The significance is not only the elimination of an ASIC in-system, but adding the protocol to a low-cost FPGA leaves additional gates free to replace other in-system functions.

Altera?s Cyclone FPGAs can operate over -40 ?C to +125 ?C (Tjunction), making them an ideal solution for extended temperature civilian and military applications. In fact, TTTech says the TTP will be deployed in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A380, as well as being used in the Lockheed Martin F-16. The TTP controller IP comes as a synthesizable netlist for Altera?s Cyclone FPGAs, or even in Altera?s HardCopy II structured ASICs.

BittWare was once known as an exclusive Analog Devices SHARC supplier. In fact, the company was a leading supplier of SHARC boards and routinely ?beat up? on PowerPC designs. No more. Over the past 18 months, the company developed their so-called hybrid architecture to combine the best of both worlds: SHARC or CPU plus Altera FPGA. Their latest product is one we overlooked earlier this year, though it did appear in the April issue of this magazine under New Products: the GT-6U-VME (GTV6) VITA 41 VXS board. Combining twin Stratix II GX FPGAs, two ADSP-TS201S TigerSHARCs, and 3 GB of DDR2 SDRAM, the conduction-cooled board is designed to marry reconfigurability with the SHARC?s legendary flow-through DSP architecture.

Targeting radar, sonar, unmanned vehicles, and SDR, flexibility with speed are the core tenets of this board. It supports 5 GBps of simultaneous external I/O and 14.4 GFLOPS of floating point math capability. As well, it?s fully programmable ? owing to the SHARC?s flexibility and the infinite reconfigurability of those FPGAs. BittWare?s ATLANTiS software framework marries the components nicely, handling I/O routing and interprocessor/FPGA communication and loading. A custom bridge chip supports 32-bit, 66 MHz PCI and GbE. Tundra?s Tsi148 then bolts PCI to VME.

The rugged, industrial, and military markets are too compelling to ignore. Large, specialty off-shore suppliers like Portwell have set up North American design offices to take advantage of the U.S. market while bringing their considerable technical leverage to bear. Case in point: American Portwell?s ECX-style small form factor SBC called the PEB-2736. Using Intel?s own ECX size and Intel?s brand-new Atom processor Z500 series, the 146 mm x 105 mm ?3.5-inch? board is an ideal platform for an embedded PC. The 45 nm Intel CPU and chipset consume a mere 5 W while supporting a 533 MHz FSB. There is a single 200-pin SODIMM socket for up to 1 GB of DDR-2 SDRAM, along with a CF socket for NV storage.

Other I/O is as you?d expect from a PC: dual graphics via a 24-bit LVDS connector for a display fed from Intel?s SFF Integrated Graphics chipset plus an SDVO connector, two USB ports, one RS-232, and a handful of GPIO and SDIO from onboard connectors. There?s also a PCIe x1 connector for a user-supplied daughtercard ? handy for many defense systems, which always have proprietary interfaces. Besides these ?internal? I/O connections, rear panel I/O includes four more USB ports, 5.1 channel audio, and another RS-232 serial port. While the normal operating temperature for the PEB-2736 is 0 to 60 ?C, extended temperature versions are available that operate from -40 ?C to +85 ?C. And since this is a PC, you can run Windows, XPe, Linux, and myriad other OS choices on this small form factor board.

For the past several years, I?ve noticed a proliferation of rack-mount equipment strapped down or shock-isolated in the back of Humvees. The reason is that the go-anywhere vehicle often serves as the platform for comms gear or other special-purpose electronic systems. But 4U-sized servers and drawer-sized boxes consume way too much space. The 1U MicroTCA MTC5070 from Performance Technologies seeks to change that with an innovative design meant to house six single AdvancedMC modules horizontally, not vertically. Flow-through cooling and internal baffles, complete with two sets of push-pull fans, allow 40 W per slot, a 300 W PSU, and a slim 1U height that?s perfect for managed vehicle-mount installations.

Each of the six slots supports PCIe and Ethernet switching, and there is SATA/SAS slot-to-slot connectivity. An integrated dual 10/100/1000 GbE switch provides inter-box communications, while onboard MicroTCA carrier and shelf managers provide PICMG-style management, IMPI, and remote diagnostics. Performance Technologies offers numerous AdvancedMC cards (such as x86 or PowerPC processor nodes), storage, and video cards. The company?s NexusWare Linux distribution meets Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) 4.0 requirements. The MTC5070 1U MicroTCA platform can run off of AC or DC power.

Sure, just about any COTS module can be made to work over an extended temperature: Add fans to cool it and even heaters to warm it. But in many industrial and defense applications, moving parts mean reduced reliability. That?s why Sundance Multiprocessor Technology removed the fan and standard heat sink on their flagship ADC and DAC module called the SMT370. Instead, a custom-made anodized aluminum heat sink and Faraday cage were added. In a zero airflow environment, the module is rated to 40 ?C ambient. Pretty impressive.

Of course, this is partially accomplished with industrial-temperature components. Now dubbed the SMT370-I, there are twin 14-bit ADCs clocked at 105 MHz, along with a pair of 16-bit DACs clocked up to 400 MHz with interpolation. Preprocessing and data manipulation are facilitated via the onboard Xilinx Virtex-II FPGA, and Sundance has partnered with 3L Diamond FPGA to offer cores and other software-configured functions. Two Sundance High-Speed Bus connectors and two 20 MBps comm ports complement user-defined pins used for external connectors. As with all the company?s modules, the SMT370 is supported with firmware and development tools from vendors including TI, Xilinx, and The MathWorks.

In an era of falling NAND flash ROM prices, many of us carry around over 1 GB of data on our keychains. So why is 8 Mb ? a mere fraction of that amount ? something to get excited about? The answer is simple: When data is written to these SRAMs and a tiny glitch such as a power spike or other anomaly occurs, the data is safe and secure. In defense systems, such a power interruption cannot be tolerated else lives might be lost. Previously, small amounts of serial EEPROMs or battery-backed SRAMs were used to prevent critical data loss, but they were either slow, required CPU intervention of an unforeseen event, or had that nasty battery to maintain.

Simtek?s STK14EE8 and STK14EE16 nvSRAMs are available in x8 or x16 widths and use a captured charge to maintain data integrity. Read access is as fast as 25 ns with a 45 ns R/W cycle time. Unlike flash, they feature unlimited endurance, and data is automatically recalled from buried nonvolatile store when the power returns; no CPU is required. Data retention exceeds 20 years, they are powered from a standard 3.0 VDC supply, and, of course, they?re available in industrial temperatures from -40 ?C to +85 ?C. These fast, reliable nvSRAMs are available in svelte 44-pin/54-pin (x8/x16) TSOPII or 48-pin BGA packages. Future versions of the family will be denser and might have security features such as scrubbing.

By now you?re no doubt aware that VPX is the next stop on VME?s roadmap; however, it?s not backward compatible with either VME or VXS cards. Instead, it requires a split backplane to bridge the various signals and pins to each board type. The wily folks at Extreme Engineering had a brainstorm: Why not use the same split backplane approach to preserve a 3U CompactPCI investment when designing in new VPX boards? Enter the XTend4010 3U hybrid (aka ?split?) backplane that supports four VPX slots, three CompactPCI slots, a GbE slot, and a fabric/bridge slot.

To complete the system swap, designers can add the XChange3010 to bridge from PCIe to parallel PCI, plus the XChange3011 that adds 16 redundant GbE ports to map into the VPX slots as an alternate control/data plane mechanism. The 3011 offers optional front panel connectivity, and the 3010 includes a PrPMC/PMC slot just in case you want additional I/O or onboard processing. All told, this is a pretty handy setup to maintain a legacy 3U CompactPCI investment while adding next-gen VPX functionality.

Rugged Small Form Factor (SFF) boards are all the rage. That?s because many commercial and civilian systems ? think digital cameras, cell phones, and portable navigation devices ? need to withstand the occasional tumble to the pavement. But what?s highly unusual about the XM50 SFF from MEN Micro is that a) it?s available in an optional fully boxed conduction-cooled wrapper; and b) it?ll soon be available from other vendors as an open standard via ANSI-VITA 59 (RSE, Rugged System-On-Module Express). These two items are enough to warrant a closer look at this 1.5 GHz PowerQUICC III MPC8548-based SBC.

Designed for communications applications, the module is similar to a PICMG-sized COM board at 95 mm x 125 mm. The little ?ears? shown are used to conduct PWB heat away to a fully boxed billet frame (not shown) that also acts as 100 percent ESM protection. Dissipating only 12 W and operating over -40 ?C to +85 ?C, the board is also coated for humidity protection and all components are soldered for shock and vibration tolerance. There?s up to 2 GB of DDR2 SDRAM with ECC, nonvolatile SRAM and Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), six USB ports, three 1 GbE ports, three SATA ports, and a x1/2/4/8 lane PCIe link. As with all COM-style boards, a base carrier adds more functionality and breakout connections. We are very keen on the prospects for this board in rugged applications. Besides that, the fact that it?ll soon be a non-VME but interoperable VITA standard bodes well for other vendors to start building their own versions.

GMS has a reputation for building boards that set the standard for a plethora of features, hence the term ?Swiss army knife.? If we could show you both a photo and the block diagram for their latest CompactPCI SBC, you?d see what we mean. This 3U conduction-cooled CompactPCI board is able to cool a 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU with 4 MB of L2, up to 4 GB of 667 MHz DDR-2 SDRAM, and 64 GB of SATA SSD (via flash). With all these hot components, the board dissipates only 40 W, which makes the Pinnacle (CC70x) board tops in terms of features+power+size.

Designed to crank out dual video graphics via DVI or RGB (including the military favorite sync-on-green), the board also mates to an optional second-slot Multi-Media Module that adds two more video ports using the NVIDIA Quadro FX supporting 2,048 x 1,536 pixel resolution at 85 Hz, audio, and other goodies. The Pinnacle itself has so many ports we can?t list them all here. Here are a few just to whet your appetite: dual 1 GbE with TOE, four USB, two serial, four SATA with RAID, and a Special Applications Module interface that adds more I/O than a circa 1930s ATT telephone switchboard. Both air- and conduction-cooled versions operate over -40 ?C to +85 ?C and even include heaters and health monitoring to assure operation at temperature extremes.

Since the introduction of their GateFlow family of IP libraries for FPGAs some years ago, DSP expert Pentek has built its product line around front-end signals acquisition products and FPGAs. Their latest PMC module called the Model 7151 (Pentek is nothing if not devoid of fanfare in their nomenclature) is a variation on the company?s tried-and-true theme. They take the fastest and highest-resolution A/Ds they can find ? in this case from a vendor who won?t allow their name revealed! ? bolt them to a mux, and flow signals into the biggest and baddest Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA they can find. In this case, the 7151 has some unique characteristics that make it ideal for ?simultaneously capturing hundreds of signals spanning a wide range of modulation types, signal bandwidths, and antenna sources.?

Pentek told us this translates to: locating, triangulating, and even listening in on insurgents? GSM cell phone calls. Of course, other SIGINT applications arise, too. The card?s four 200 MHz 16-bit A/Ds feed an FPGA DDC IP core that breaks up into four banks of 64 DDC channels, a total of 256. Each channel is independently controllable, has a 31-bit tuning frequency setting from DC to fs/2, and can be decimated from 128 to 1,024 in steps of 64. For example, at a 200 MHz sampling rate, the available output bandwidths range from 156 KHz to 1.25 MHz. At the front end, the A/Ds can handle up to 100 MHz bandwidths, a 37 percent increase over previous Pentek modules. In summary, this card is ideal for mating to different antennas and is used to search out a variety of signals. For convenience, the Model 7651 is a PCI (desktop) version for lab setups. [Editor?s note: Pentek recently told us that they were expanding their PMCs into the data recorder market ? a natural extension for the 7151.]

VMETRO would like you to know that they?re serious about the VPX military business. And also that their product line was unaffected by the recent buyout of P.A. Semi by Apple Computer Corporation. In fact, VMETRO feels so confident in their selection of Freescale?s PowerPCs instead of P.A. Semi?s that their Hybrid Processing Engine HPE640 uses dual, dual-core MPC8641D CPUs. The 6U VPX board also includes twin Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGAs (either SX95T or LX155T platform devices), the company?s CoSine IP library optimized for signal processing and data movement, and FusionIPC drivers.

Designed with rugged applications in mind, the air- or conduction-cooled LRU includes myriad options for front panel and rear I/O. There?s 2 GB of DDR-2 for each CPU, as well as PCIe and Ethernet linking the processors together. Each FPGA has two banks of directly connected QDR2 SRAM and four banks of DDR2 SDRAM. PCI Express also connects to the VPX connectors and FPGAs, while the FPGAs can also be routed to an optional FMC (VITA 57) FPGA mezzanine module, all in the name of fire hose processing. If you?re getting the idea that just about everything on the HPE640 can be routed to just about everything ? that?s correct. VMETRO was the first COTS vendor to introduce FMC modules, and they are rapidly expanding their portfolio of VPX boards, backplanes, and systems.

Originally designed for digital cameras, 4G cellular infrastructure, and headsets, JPEG2000 is a more efficient algorithm that offers offers superior compression and resolution within the same memory footprint. 4DSP?s JPEG2000 Hardware CODEC FPGA Accelerator is a PMC module designed to take advantage of JPEG2000?s compression rate. Based upon two ADV212 devices and a low-cost Xilinx Spartan-3AN FPGA (visible on the mezzanine module in photo), the platform can grab and compress up to 140 Mpixels/s from two independent cameras.

The board can either encode the video frames prior to or after applying an advanced video/imaging algorithm. The base PMC?s Virtex-4 or -5 devices can perform real-time pre- or post-image processing on raw data, or can be programmed to correct affects such as brightness and barrel distortion or enhance images. For defense applications, savvy designers could probably load up edge-detection, motion-detection, or smoke/haze filtering algorithms. For superior digital image compression, JPEG2000 implemented on 4DSP?s CODEC Accelerator is a clear winner.