Increased power density and the ability to generate portable power are two goals for electronic equipment designers striving to meet the needs of modern agile forces.

Modern agile warfighters require electronic tools that pack a great deal of power into small, lightweight packages. Whether they’re for fixed installations or portable use, these electronic devices must use power efficiently. After all, a source of power is often uncertain in harsh environments. Electronic-component and subsystem suppliers have responded to these demands by developing a variety of electronic solutions with impressive computing and power density for the modern battlefield.

Many computing solutions are designed into modular formats, such as VME and VPX. According to Peter Cavill, general manager for military and aerospace products at GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, “The trends in military embedded computing are clear to see: more processing power with greater emphasis on communications in smaller, lighter packages that consume less power and dissipate less heat—and that are rugged enough to be capable of being deployed in the harshest environments. That’s why we see the VPX architecture as being so significant—because it delivers in all these areas while building on the extensive legacy of VME expertise and applications.” Cavill adds, “We’re seeing increased emphasis in military computing on the ability to capture information from a wide range of sources, such as radar, sonar, and video, and the ability to turn analog data into digital data.” In addition, he notes, “Network-centric warfare has at its heart the principle that it is data and information—not weaponry—that is the key to success.”

One of the latest developments from GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms (www.gefanucembedded.com) is the ICS-1556B four-channel, 400-MHz, 14-bit analog-to-digital-converter (ADC) PMC module (see Figure 1). Suitable for signal-intelligence (SIGINT) and software-defined-radio (SDR) applications, its high sampling rate and high resolution help to reduce the amount of additional hardware needed in many very-high-frequency (VHF) and some ultra-high-frequency (UHF) radio designs. The ICS-1556B includes an on-board Xilinx Virtex-5 SX95T field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to allow users to develop their own front-end signal-processing functionality and execute it at high speed on the board, thereby maximizing overall system-level performance. The FPGA works with four 14-bit ADCs and a 64-bit/133-MHz PCI-X interface to provide wideband digital-downconversion (DDC) and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) capabilities.

Single-board computers (SBCs) provide an architecture that meets military needs for large processing power in a small space. Earlier this year, Themis Computer (www.themis.com) introduced a VMEbus SBC using a Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor. Based on a 45-nm semiconductor process, the energy-efficient Xeon processors make the firm’s XV1 SBCs ideal for embedded, storage, and communications systems as well as a wide range of commercial and military applications. The SBC is based on a Quad-Core Xeon L5408 processor clocked at 2.13 GHz along with an Intel 5100 chipset.

As explained by William Kehret, president of Themis Computer, “Themis’ XV1, utilizing Intel’s new Quad-Core technology, brings server-class performance to this power-sensitive segment of the x86 VMEbus market.” The base XV1 configuration includes 2 GBytes of DDRII memory and is expandable to 8 GBytes of DDRII memory. The SBC features three Gigabit Ethernet ports, two SATA II ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and two XMC/PMC slots. The board includes VITA 41 dual-Gigabit Ethernet to support modern highly networked environments.

Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing (www.cwcembedded.com) offers a line of VPX-based SBCs. The VPX3-1252 is based on the low-voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor SP9300 (see Figure 2). This small-form-factor 3U SBC is designed for harsh-environment air- and conduction-cooled aerospace and defense applications. The dual cores clock at 2.26 GHz. With a wide complement of on-board I/O, PCI Express fabric, and XMC expansion, the VPX3-1252 satisfies the most demanding fielded applications from unmanned aerial and ground vehicles, tactical aircraft, and armored vehicles to rugged naval systems. Occupying a single, standard 3U 0.8-in. slot, the board may be used for upgrading existing CompactPCI systems in the same footprint. It is available with as much as 4 GBytes of DDR2 SDRAM.

In contrast, the CPCI6200 CompactPCI SBC from Emerson Network Power is equipped with the Freescale MPC8572 PowerQUICC III dual-core processor for server-class performance in defense and aerospace applications. The dual-core processor enables both asymmetric and symmetric multiprocessing. The SBC includes as much as 4 GBytes of dual-channel DDR3 memory and 512 MBytes of nonvolatile MRAM. The computer module provides four Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, two serial ports, and two USB 2.0 ports. At less than 29 W, the SBC’s power requirements make it ideal for thermally constrained environments.

In addition to high-density computing power, security also is an issue for many military-electronic systems. Themis Computer recently announced that its RES-22DCX and RES-32DCX servers were successfully tested for NATO TEMPEST certification without the use of an external enclosure. Themis’ Rugged Enterprise Server (RES) 2RU and 3RU systems were selected for use in a surveillance program that requires TEMPEST Zone 2 certification. As a result of the successful testing and certification for compromising-emanations (CE) conformity, these servers are qualified for use within Facility Zone 2 deployments by the Federal Office for Information Security.

For high-speed connections, ConnectTech (www.connecttech.com) offers the Xtreme/104 serial card for embedded applications. It is available with four or eight jumper-selectable asynchronous RS-232 or RS-422/485 ports, a number of cabling options, and support for various operating systems. It includes quad UARTs for generous data buffering capabilities for each port. Each port can be configured independently for electrical interface, baud rate, parity, data, and stop bits. The serial card supports data-transfer speeds from 50 bits/s to 460.8 kbits/s.

Radisys Corp. (www.radisys.com) targets power efficiency through the use of a pair of E5500 series quad-core Intel Xeon processors in its Procelerant RMS420-5520DT server platform. It supports as many as three high-power co-processors, such as GP-GPU cards, which can accelerate the processing of algorithms for image or signal processing by a factor of 10X to 30X more than the server alone. The server is well suited for parallel-processing applications. It can be populated with as many as eight disk drives and offers an optional on-board RAID controller. The platform is only 20 in. deep and fits into a 4U enclosure.

In terms of compact computing, Tri-M (www.tri-m.com) has developed the VSX104+ 300-MHz computing PC/104-plus module with a Vortex86SX system-on-a-chip (SoC) with dual 10/100 local-area-network (LAN) ports. It includes four serial and two USB 2.0 ports as well as Type 1 CompactFlash and microSD memory. It has on-board DDR2 random-access memory (RAM) and extended-temperature operation.

Performance Technologies (www.pi.com) announced that its IPnexus MicroTCA systems now support an AdvancedMC option with the Intel EP80579 SoC integrated processor. The firm’s AMC123 x86 Intel-based module combines high-performance compute capabilities with low power consumption in support of aerospace and defense communications.

The HDC3 signaling controller from ADAX (www.adax.com) is ideal as a signaling gateway or media gateway controller in simulation and monitoring applications. It provides eight software-selectable trunks of full E1, T1, or J1 signaling per card and support for as many as 128 channels of one or a combination of frame relay, HDLC, X.25, and LAPB/D/F/V5 protocols. It is dynamically configurable per port and per channel protocol assignment. The controller is designed to operate in master, slave, or independent clocking mode.

Of course, most robust military computing systems rely on advanced real-time operating-system (RTOS) software to orchestrate multiple-function operations. In aviation applications, commercial solutions can often be adapted to demanding applications. For example, the LynxOS-178 RTOS from LynuxWorks (www.lnxw.com) was recently selected by Avidyne as the embedded RTOS for its next-generation Entegra Release 9 Integrated Flight Deck. The use of such commercially available OSs enables manufacturers of DO-178B systems to get to market faster and with lower overall costs and risks associated with certifying FAA safety-critical flight systems. The Entegra Release 9 flight-deck systems include dual, triple, or quad integrated flight displays (IFDs) for general aviation and light business aircraft.

With many military program managers seeking cost savings, numerous companies are offering ruggedized versions of existing products for applications in harsh environments. For example, Elma Electronic (www.elma.com) recently added an all-metal-body version of its E27 series encoders (see Figure 3). It is designed for applications in which bushing strength, panel-nut-tightening torque, and side-impact resistance are of primary importance. The new version matches the dimensions of the standard encoders, allowing it to be a drop-in replacement for applications requiring an upgrade. The E27 line of encoders features vertical orientation, an integrated push button with 6 N-cm torque, a metal threaded bushing, and an internal O-ring seal meeting IP65 requirements for water ingress.

In some systems, cost savings also are achieved through the use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) power supplies. For example, Elma Electronic recently announced a six-slot MicroTCA chassis in desktop and rack-mount formats called the EcoBox. Fully compatible with MicroTCA specifications, it cuts costs by using a standard 300-W ATX power supply instead of a MicroTCA power module. The active backplane management includes +3.3 VDC, in-rush current control, and over-current protection. This approach reduces the costs of having intelligence on each individual field-replaceable unit (FRU), such as cooling units and power modules. In another part of the company, Elma Bustronic Corp. (www.bustronic.com) announced a six-slot AdvancedTCA backplane in a mesh topology with MicroTCA connectors to minimize space. The six-slot ATCA backplane features an 18-layer controlled-impedance stripline design and connectors for SHMC, power entry, sense, I2C bus, IPMB, ring, and fan trays.

Earlier this year, Medis Technologies Ltd. (www.medistechnologies.com) completed tests of its fuel-cell technology in comparison to the advanced battery technologies currently used in portable military-electronic systems. The firm’s fuel-cell technology was tested over a broad range of temperatures and environments. It was found to achieve power density of better than 400 Wh/kg or more than double the capabilities of the lithium-ion technology used by the military in tactical radios.

John Blyler is the Editorial Director of Extension Media, which publishes Chip Design and Embedded Intel magazine, plus over 36 EECatalog Resource Catalogs in vertical market areas. He has co-authored several books on technology (Wiley and Elsevier). John has over 23 years systems engineering hardware-software experience in the electronics industry. He remains an affiliate professor in Systems Engineering at Portland State University.