Interoperability of 3U VPX FPGA and SBC modules provides a high performance, rugged platform for FPGA applications

Leesburg, VA –May 11, 2009 — Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, a leading designer and manufacturer of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) VME, VPX, VXS, and CompactPCI products for the aerospace and defense (A&D) market has announced a flexible, multi-card 3U VPX solution for rugged deployed embedded FPGA processing applications. With the interoperability of its 3U VPX FPE320 FPGA processor card, 3U VPX VPX3-450 FPGA processor and 3U VPX VPX3-127 single board computer (SBC) running Wind River’s VxWorks, Curtiss-Wright Controls delivers an unmatched level of flexibility for addressing high-performance 3U VPX systems applications.

“Space, weight and power (SWaP) requirements are driving customers to use the largest FPGAs in their systems, while still needing general purpose processing and I/O.  The FPE320/VPX3-450/VPX3-127 platform provides both in a rugged 3U form factor,” said Lynn Patterson, vice president and general manager of Modular Solutions, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing.

Using this solution, system integrators can now utilize the largest Xilinx® Virtex®-5 FPGAs currently available in a small form factor embedded system powered with a high performance Power Architecture general purpose processor.  The FPE320 supports Virtex-5 LXT, SXT, or FXT devices. With its onboard FMC expansion site (FPGA Mezzanine Card: ANSI/VITA 57) the FPE320 supports optimized FPGA I/O using Curtiss-Wright’s broad range of FMC ADC51x series cards to bring in high speed I/O such as analog to digital converters (ADCs). The VPX3-450 FPGA processor combines the computing power of a Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA with the high-performance floating-point capabilities of the Freescale MPC8640D dual-core Power Architecture™ processor. The VPX3-127 features a Freescale MPC8640D processor and can be expanded via its onboard PMC/XMC expansion site. The VPX3-127 uses PCI Express to connect to the FPE320 and/or to the VX.  All three boards are available in a combined development chassis that includes FPE320 and/or VPX3-450 cards and a VPX3-127 card.

The FPE320 is a 3U VPX FPGA processor board that incorporates the largest Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGAs available with an FMC mezzanine site. Providing a large amount of resources in a small, rugged form factor, the FPE320 is the ideal FPGA platform for 3U systems that need to acquire analog and other high-speed I/O or need a large FPGA processor.

FPE320 Features:

• Xilinx Virtex-5 3U VPX processor card with FMC Site
• Supports Xilinx Virtex-5 SX240T, LX220T/LX330T, and FX200T FPGAs
• FMC (VITA 57) mezzanine site for I/O
• DDR2 SDRAM and QDRII SRAM memory resources
• Four x4 high-speed serial interconnects to the backplane for PCI Express, Aurora or Serial RapidIO
• Additional low-speed I/Os to the backplane
• FusionXF Development Kit for HDL development
• VxWorks 6.x and Linux Support
• 3U VPX with .8″ Pitch
• Air and conduction cooled options

About the VPX3-450 FPGA Processor Card

The VPX3-450 is a 3U VPX FPGA processor board that incorporates the largest Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGAs available with an on-board PMC/XMC mezzanine site. With large DDR2 SDRAM and fast QDR-II+ SRAM blocks, and several on-board and off-board high-speed serial links, the VXP3-450 FPGA node provide a balanced mix of processing capabilities with memory, inter-FPGA, and off-board bandwidths.

VPX3-450 Features:

• Powerful general-purpose single board computer with Freescale MPD8640D
• Dual Freescale Power Architecture cores up to 1.0 GHz
• Up to 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM controlled by dual 64-bit controllers
• Full complement of I/O capability (Ethernet, serial, USB 2.0, PCI Express, TTL and differential discretes.)
• VPX format with two 4-lane PCI Express fabric ports or one 4-lane PCI Express port and one 4-lane SRIO port
• VxWorks 6.x BSP, Driver Suite supporting Workbench 2.x IDE, and Curtiss-Wright Wind River Linux GPP LE
• Continuum Software Architecture (CSA) firmware providing a comprehensive suite of system debug, exerciser, and update functions, BIT, and non-volatile memory sanitization function
• Designed for military harsh-environment applications, both air- and conduction-cooled

The FPE320, VPX3-450, and VPX3-127 are available for development systems in 8 weeks ARO. All of these boards are available in both commercial and rugged versions.

Pricing for the FPE320 starts at $19.950. Pricing for the VPX3-450 starts at $12,500. Pricing for the VPX3-127 starts at $6,744.

For editorial information regarding Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing Multi Computing products or services, contact John Wranovics, Director of Media Relations, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Tel: (925) 640-6402; email. jwranovics@curtisswright.com. Web site: www.cwcembedded.com.

Inquiries: Please forward all Sales and reader service inquiries to Jerri-Lynne Charbonneau, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Tel: (613) 254-5112; Fax: (613) 599-7777; e-mail: sales@cwcembedded.com.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing

Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing is the industry’s most comprehensive and experienced single source for embedded solutions, ranging from Processing, Subsystems, Data Communication, DSP, and Video & Graphics to the most advanced board level components and fully integrated custom systems. The Embedded Computing group serves the defense, aerospace, commercial and industrial markets and is part of Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc. For more information about Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing visit www.cwcembedded.com.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Curtiss-Wright Controls is the motion control segment of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW). With manufacturing facilities around the world, Curtiss-Wright Controls is a leading technology-based organization providing niche motion control products, subsystems and services internationally for the aerospace and defense markets. For more information, visit www.cwcontrols.com.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 4:53 pm and is filed under News.