Join EIZO Rugged Solutions at AUSA NOW 2020!

EIZO Rugged will be exhibiting at the AUSA NOW 2020 Virtual Conference, from 13-16 October.  While a virtual event may not replace the full experience of the in-person AUSA Annual Meeting, it will serve to maintain strong connections with senior Army leaders and messages, with industry partners and with AUSA members around the globe. AUSA is planning for a forum that allows reach beyond the 33,000-plus people that were expected in Washington, D.C., this year.

About EIZO Rugged

EIZO Rugged Solutions offers a wide range of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic hardware products targeted at video capture, processing, display, compression, streaming, recording, video format conversion, GPGPU computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and data archival.

The graphics and video products are based on their own GPU technology as well as that from NVIDIA and AMD. All of EIZO’s rugged products, including displays, are developed in-house to ensure complete control of product quality as well as extended product life cycles.

Since 1987, EIZO Rugged has committed to providing premier products to markets including defense, avionics, aerospace, ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), and ATC/ATM (air traffic control/management).

Many of their products are currently deployed on several very large programs, both domestically and internationally. Whether it be a rugged monitor, customised graphics card, or a box level solution, EIZO Rugged has a great ruggedised solution for your project!

Register your attendance HERE. 

Accelerate your 5G and NFV Workloads with Intel PAC and Netcope P4

Did you know, Netcope P4 supports Intel® FPGA PAC N3000?

Netcope P4 compiles the packet processing program written in open-standard P4 language into 100 Gbps FPGA firmware, allowing unprecedented flexibility and rapid development of high-speed network applications.

Netcope P4 Flyer 

It offers a revolutionary way for programmable network adapters to be easily programmed using P4 language without expert knowledge of hardware architecture, which can significantly save money when hiring dedicated firmware designers. It also shortens time-to-market, avoiding lengthy firmware development cycles.

Using the Arria 10 FPGA, now in mass production, Intel® FPGA PAC N3000 is the platform of choice for the acceleration of many bandwidth and latency-sensitive virtualised network applications, such as vRAN, vEPC, vBNG and others. Netcope P4 brings the possibilities for this card to a whole new level. Instead of tedious and error-prone HDL coding, the card can be programmed in the open-standard P4 language.

Netcope P4 is now specifically optimised to take advantage of the N3000 unique features, offering large capacities of lookups in off-chip DDR memories and achieving line-rate packet processing with low latency and resource utilization. With Netcope P4 and N3000, your fully custom 100 Gbps packet processor built with COTS hardware is just hours away.

Sarsen Technology is Netcope's UK partner. For more information on P4 or FPGA acceleration please contact us.

Watch Video - Intel® FPGA PAC N3000

DSEI 2019 - What to See on Stand N7-268

DSEI 2019 - 10-13 September 2019

Sarsen Technology will be exhibiting in the dedicated Security Zone at DSEI 2019, showcasing the some of the worlds highest-performance computing hardware supported by a number of software options.

Our fastest growing market sector is niche computing systems for government and defence security applications, and the products we supply can be used in a wide range of security sectors, from UAVs and electronic countermeasures to surveillance cameras, secure storage and deep packet inspection.

This year we are highlighting technology from a number of our manufacturing partners. Here's a sneak peek at what you might see at the show...

Manufacturer	Overview	Image	Key Product
EIZO Rugged Solutions	The Condor XMC/VPX video capture products offer high resolution video capture, both in raw and H.264 formats. AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, including the new Quadro P2000 Pascal architecture, supporting OpenCL and CUDA are available for GPGPU applications.		NVP2102xX NVIDIA Quadro Pascal P2000 (GP107) XMC Graphics & GPGPU Card More Info
VersaLogic	VersaLogic's embedded computers are designed for the most demanding applications. From ultra small (credit card size) to industry-standard PC/104- and EBX-sized boards, their x86 compatible computers are used whenever reliability counts. They thrive in the harshest environments including temperature extremes (-40° to +85°C), shock, vibration, and humidity.		Grizzly Embedded Server Unit with Intel Server-Class Processor  More Info
DAVE Embedded Systems	DAVE Embedded Systems provides solutions based on CPU modules and System On Module (SoM) featuring the latest technologies including Multi-Core ARM Cortex, PowerPC and X86 based on NXP and Texas Instruments. Their products are typically used in demanding industrial markets such as medical and automotive.		MITO NXP i.MX8M Dual/Quad Core CPU Module More Info
Annapolis Micro Systems	Considered the leader in reconfigurable computing systems, Annapolis designs and manufactures embedded Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) systems and products for digital signal processing and high performance embedded computing for the military and commercial markets.		GM60 COTS FMC + Mezzanine card with Xilinx Zynq RFSoC More Info

We will also have hardware on the stand from REFLEX CES, X-ES, ECRIN Systems and Alta Data.

To arrange a meeting please get in touch, otherwise Nigel, Christos and Stuart will be on the stand all week if you have time to stop by.

Stand N7-268, DSEI 2019.

Supporting Military FPGA Requirements in the UK

Sarsen Technology provides a wide range of rugged COTS boards and system solutions to the leading European Defense manufacturers. We have a long track record of supporting mission critical systems for land, sea & air, and we understand the importance of both process control and long-term support.

Our military customers require rugged solutions that are designed for harsh environmental conditions such as heat or cold, altitude, humidity, shock and vibration. Often the solutions we supply must be able to fit into space-constrained platforms and we can offer custom systems to suit. Also key is fast time to market, low risk, flexibility and long product life cycle. Many of the products we supply and support have industry-leading product life cycles and warranties as standard.

Our product lines include:

• MIL-STD-1553 Hardware
• Rugged VPX and COM Express Boards
• Cyber security boards and technology
• 19” Rackmount Systems
• FPGA boards based on Xilinx and Intel, including rugged Xilinx Zynq boards.

We have recently joined forces with REFLEX CES to provide their high-speed FPGA based solutions to customers in the UK and Ireland.

COMXpress Stratix® 10 SoC

REFLEX CES' designs are based around FPGA boards and firmware development, CPU and embedded software/OS, Analog and RF portions, as well as mechanical parts and custom chassis.
This combination of high performance deliverables results in rugged systems designed for harsh environmental constraints including ESD, temperature, humidity, shock and vibration. These FPGA based solutions can be combined with x86 CPU architecture or similar inside a turnkey form factor.

For more information please contact one of our engineers to discuss your requirements.

Brand New Small Form Factor (SFF) System Features 10 Gb/s Optical Links for High-Bandwidth Embedded Computing

The latest 3U VPX embedded system from Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) sets a new standard for high-bandwidth data acquisition and signal processing in harsh environments.

With multiple high-speed optical links, an Intel® Xeon® D-1500 processor, and a Xilinx Kintex® UltraScale™ FPGA, the XPand6215 offers uncompromising performance and reliability in a SWaP-optimised two-slot system.

High-Speed, Fibre Optic Communications
The XPand6215 is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) rugged chassis hosting two conduction-cooled 3U VPX modules. One slot contains the XPedite2570, a reconfigurable fibre-optic I/O module based on the Xilinx Kintex® UltraScale™ family of FPGAs.

The XPedite2570 supplies 12 protocol-independent optical transceivers operating at up to 10.3125 Gb/s, along with 8 GB of DDR4 ECC SDRAM in two channels capable of up to 38 GB/s aggregate bandwidth. The transceivers utilise 50/125 μm multi-mode fibre with MT connectors and are qualified over the full -40°C to +85°C industrial temperature range for reliable performance in extreme environments.

These optical links are paired with a user-programmable Xilinx Kintex® UltraScale™ FPGA, which provides a blend of performance and cost-effectiveness that is ideal for packet processing and DSP-intensive processing in embedded applications.

Unparalleled, Multi-Core Processing Power
The other slot of the XPand6215 contains the XPedite7670, a 3U VPX Single Board Computer based on the Intel® Xeon® D-1500 family of processors (formerly Broadwell-DE). Available with up to 16 Xeon®-class cores in a single, power-efficient System-on-Chip (SoC) package, this processor puts the XPand6215 in the upper echelon of embedded system performance. Xeon® D processors with up to 12 cores offer native extended temperature support with an operating temperature range of -40⁰C to +85⁰C.

The XPedite7670 also provides up to 16 GB of DDR4-2133 ECC SDRAM, while an XPort3305 10 Gigabit Ethernet XMC module installed on the XPedite7670 provides a rugged 10GBASE-SR Ethernet port.

Industry-Leading Functional Density in a Small Form Factor (SFF) Enclosure
The XPand6215 makes the most of every pound and square inch, packing maximum functionality into a streamlined two-slot design. Its integrated 28 VDC power supply eliminates the need for an additional power supply slot. It also includes a memory bay for a removable 2.5 in. solid-state drive (SSD), adding the option for up to 1 TB of storage. Fully loaded, the system weighs approximately 4kg, making it ideal for cutting-edge military and industrial applications that require small, lightweight solutions.

Qualified to the MIL-STD-461E/F, MIL-STD-810, and MIL-STD-704F standards, the XPand6215 has passed a battery of tests to ensure reliable operation in even the most challenging environments.

The XPand6200 Series of rugged, embedded systems are available in a diverse range of configurations, making them uniquely-suited to a variety of processing-intensive applications.

Please contact Sarsen Technology to discuss your requirements.

Long-Life COTS Solutions for Mission-Critical Land, Sea, and Air Applications

With literally hundreds of years of experience between them, VersaLogic's engineers know all about building dependable, high reliability embedded computers for mission critical applications. Some of today's most sophisticated and high profile military equipment has been designed around a rugged embedded computer from VersaLogic.

VersaLogic - Find Out More

A leading supplier of Helmet Mounted Displays (HMDs) for military aerospace applications is using a VersaLogic single board computer (SBC) for video processing and control functions in their latest helmet design.

The new display system is a powerful video processing solution and at the time it was the world’s only full-colour, helmet-mounted cueing system. The system provides for rapid target recognition and easy hand-off to sensors and weapons systems.

To enhance vibration protection, VersaLogic installed latching connectors, replaced jumpers with zero-ohm resistors, and applied conformal coating to a number of key components.

VersaLogic's product life cycle management and its market leading product longevity guarantee provided the customer with reduced inventory costs and ensured future product availability.


VersaLogic Technology Benefits

• Rugged board-level COTs computing solutions
• Extensive life cycle support - guaranteed 5-year off-the-shelf availability and formal programs for 10+ year extensions
• IoT Ready embedded CPU and processing modules
• Award winning customer support – awarded “Five Star” (highest) rating by the world’s largest defense contractor
• Ultra-high reliability COTS – industry leading manufacturing quality and screening programs
• Industry leading 5-year warranty
• Modified COTs in quantities as low as 100 units

Whether your embedded application needs a standard off-the-shelf product, or if it needs a little tweak to include some customisation, the knowledgeable engineering team at Sarsen Technology works closely with VersaLogic to fully support even the most demanding specifications.

Speak to one of our engineers to discuss your requirements.
T: +44 1672 511166
E: info@sarsen.net

Obsolescence Management for Rugged, Embedded Computers

We are fortunate to work with a lot of really great companies across the entire globe, and Extreme Engineering is one of the best.

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) is a world leader in the design, manufacture, and support of embedded computing solutions for compute-intensive military, communications, commercial, and industrial applications, provides a product portfolio of commercial-grade to fully ruggedised boards and systems.

The X-ES product line features the very latest in Xilinx FPGA, ARM Cortex, Intel i7 technology and NXP PowerPC processors. SBCs from X-ES are available in a number of form factors - 3U and 6U rugged VPX boards, XMC, VME, CompactPCI and 6U LRM.

See more - XES Products

Their specialty is custom services, from modified COTS to full-scale custom designs, getting you the technology you need in the shortest possible time frame. All of X-ES' products are backed by the best possible customer support, from both X-ES and their global distribution network, and they are committed to providing full life cycle support for their products.

To provide customers with information, flexibility, and control over the products they depend on, X-ES offers three configuration and obsolescence management options.

Level 1 - Change Notice	Level 2 - Change Control	Level 3 - Life Cycle Control
All customers have access to a complimentary Change Notice. Any time a Major (Class I) Engineering Change Order (ECO) occurs, X-ES will issue a Product Change Notification (PCN) and then post it to the X-ES online customer information resource, SupportNet. To be automatically notified of such changes, customers may also subscribe to email notifications of updates to SupportNet.	For customers who need to closely manage changes to their product’s design, X-ES offers Change Control. Under this upgraded configuration management option, designated customer contacts will receive notification for all Major (Class I) ECOs. They then have the option to accept or reject those changes.	Life Cycle Control includes configuration and obsolescence management, ideal for customers with long project lifecycles. Along with the Change Control configuration management offered in Level 2, X-ES proactively monitors obsolescence notification sources and issues an obsolescence notification form to designated customer contacts. Life Cycle Control provides options to lengthen the life of projects as products age and their components reach End-of-Life (EOL). When an obsolescence notification is issued, X-ES provides an impact assessment, along with details for last-time buys of components, substitute components, and product replacements/ re-designs as appropriate, thus ensuring product availability for several years to come.

For more information please contact Sarsen to discuss your application with one of our engineers.

What is an Embedded Processing Unit (EPU) ?

Embedded Processing Unit

Definition - Fully assembled and tested x86 embedded computer based on COM Express form factor.

The EPU concept is based on the flexibility of a 2-board set forming a complete embedded computer product. When you combine two completely separate CPU and I/O modules, tightly sandwiched together, the final product provide a huge range of advantages and a much smaller footprint than equivalent single board computers.

VersaLogic's family of rugged EPU products are designed around the COM Express form factor, and are delivered as fully assembled and tested units (including heat plate).



What's Inside

 

EPUs offer a long list of advantages over other embedded computer board products, including:

• Fast time-to-market 
• Smaller footprint 
•  -40° to +85°C operation 
• Fully tested 
• Available off-the-shelf!

There is also often the added complication of designing a custom carrier card for COM Express modules. EPUs eliminate the effort needed to design with high speed signals, validate the I/O circuits to make sure they work properly, create testing methods for the finished units, etc. The expertise required to create software drivers, BIOS customisation, and API code for the on-board I/O is also removed for easy integration.

EPU modules are almost obsolescence proof. The industry standard form factor means it's really easy to migrate to an EPU with a newer CPU module, but keep your existing I/O configuration and connectors for drop-in compatibility. This is combined with VersaLogic's standard 5-year availability guarantee and Product Life Extension programs for almost completely future-proof technology solutions.

Have a look at the EPU Product Overview to find out more.

If you think one of VersaLogic's rugged, off-the-shelf EPU embedded computer models might be a good fit for your application please give one of our experienced engineers to discuss your requirements.

T: 01672 511166
E: info@sarsen.net  

1553 Tutorial - Alta Data Technologies

Alta Data Technologies LLC (Alta) is a company dedicated to providing the best possible MIL-STD-1553 and ARINC-429/717 COTS communications products and service in the Aerospace Industry.





Find out more - Alta Data

Alta has designed a full line of PCI, PCI Express (PCIe) interface cards for almost any computer backplane. They also supply their own innovative real-time Ethernet connectivity devices.

Alta is the only COTS supplier to test 1553 card designs to SAE AS4111 Protocol Validation Tests, and they manufacture their products to the highest IPC-610 Class 3 standards using processes managed by an ISO9001 quality management system. All of this is backed up by their 5 year limited warranty – one of the best in the industry. Alta is fully supported in the UK by Sarsen Technology.

MIL-STD-1553

MIL-STD-1553 has had a long, popular life – and will continue to be supported for decades to come in new and legacy applications. Alta engineers and managers have been in the avionics industry since the early 1980’s and have worked on nearly every major avionics program.

They have put together a MIL-STD-1553 tutorial, designed to complement the referenced MIL HDBK 1553A Notice II (3572 downloads) document, which provides an excellent detailed review of the 1553 standard (MIL-HDBK-1553A Section 20 provides a summary of MIL-STD-1553B Notice 2).  Commercially available chip-sets and interface cards (like Alta’s) “off load” the protocol processing (protocol engine) so the engineer’s primary concern is design/integration of application software and cabling issues.

You can download the tutorial by clicking here. If you have any questions please get in touch with the Sarsen team - info@sarsen.net

Embedded World 2018 - Highlights from Nuremberg

From 27 February until the end of the day tomorrow the focus is once again on all things embedded.

The embedded technology community has joined together at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre to shine a spotlight exclusively on the latest trends in the sector, with more than 1,000 exhibitors presenting state-of-the-art covering all aspects of embedded systems.

This year Mike Blee from Sarsen Technology is joining representatives from ECRIN Systems, VersaLogic and DAVE Embedded Systems to showcase all the latest and greatest innovations from these market leading companies.

ECRIN Systems www.ecrin.com	Hall 2 - Stand 449	This is the first time ECRIN Systems has exhibited at Embedded World. The new µONYX SWaP-C rugged system, based on the Intel Core i7 Skylake SoC will be on display, alongside their VPX COTS Boards, Mil-COTS and rugged systems. Embedded World will also be the first time visitors can see the brand new myOPALE modular system. myOPALE provides a simple solution for applications that need more I/O boards than can be fitted in a standard Industrial PC based on backplane PCB.
VersaLogic www.versalogic.com	Hall 3 - Stand 259	VersaLogic Corporation is the trusted name in embedded computer products. Featuring 5 to 10 year availability, -40 to +85° C operating temperature, MIL-STD 202G shock and vibration testing, and outstanding US-based support, VersaLogic products are ideal for critical applications that value ruggedness, reliability and long life. VersaLogic will be officially introducing their newest embedded computer product line at Embedded World. Built around ARM processors for low power, lower performance requirements using the COM Express form factor (95x125 mm), the EPC line offers designed in reliability and is validated to withstand extreme temperatures and high-impact/vibrations. The first board in the EPC family is the rugged Tetra (VL-EPC-2700)
DAVE Embedded Systems www.dave.eu	Hall 4 - Stand 481	DAVE Embedded Systems is a well-established Italian company, focussed on the design of highly complex miniaturised embedded electronic systems. This year DAVE Embedded Systems is celebrating their 20th anniversary, so join them at embedded world 2018 where they will be showcasing their past and present solutions with a new booth design. Their latest technology successes includes the Xilinx Zynq-based BORA SoM and their new range of single board computers.

Embedded World 2018 Photos:

DAVE Embedded - Hall 4 Stand 481

ECRIN Systems - Hall 2 Stand 449

Mike Blee from Sarsen Technology supporting DAVE

Embedded World 2017

Date: 14-16 March 2017
Location: Nuremberg, Germany
Visit: www.embedded-world.de

Whether your business is IT security for electronic systems, distributed intelligence, the Internet of Things or e-mobility and energy efficiency – the Embedded World Trade Fair in Nuremberg enables you to experience the whole world of embedded systems.

Over 930 exhibitors and numerous speakers from 42 countries will be presenting on a diverse selection of topics, ranging from construction elements through modules and full systems, operating systems, hard and software to services. The show is likely to welcome more than 30,000 trade visitors and approximately 1,700 conference participants from 73 countries.

Christos Flouris from Sarsen Technology will be at the show on 15th March, and will be supporting VersaLogic and DAVE Embedded Systems on their respective stands. Selwyn Henriques from EIZO Rugged Solutions will also be there throughout the show, and will be available to discuss your embedded video and graphics requirements.

DAVE Embedded Systems - Hall 4 - Stand 481: ARM Cortex, PowerPC and FPGA based embedded solutions for the future of industrial IoT.
VersaLogic - Hall 3 - Stand 259: State-of-the-art x86 COTS embedded computers based on PC/104 architecture.

If you'd like to meet with Christos, Selwyn or anyone from VersaLogic or DAVE Embedded Systems please get in touch to secure a time.

info@sarsen.net
+44 1672 511166

Alta Data Technologies Announces the Appointment of Sarsen Technology Ltd as its Distributor in the UK and Ireland

Sarsen Technology is very excited to announce that they have been selected to represent Alta Data in the UK and Ireland.

Based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, Alta Data specialises in commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products for MIL-STD-1553 and ARINC avionics network systems. Alta Data offers industry leading technology to provide 1553 and ARINC connectivity for almost any standard computer platform and Ethernet based networks.

See all Alta Data Products

Nigel Norman, Managing Director of Sarsen Technology Limited says, “Providing high-performance embedded computing platforms for avionics applications to the leading UK OEMs is key to our business strategy, and the Sarsen Technology team is passionate about providing the best possible technology for mission critical applications in the mil-aero market. Alta Data’s extensive range of MIL-STD-1553, EBR and ARINC interface cards are the perfect addition to our product line and will further enable us to supply powerful COTS solutions for the most demanding environments”.

Harry Wild, VP of Sales at Alta Data says, “Alta is delighted to have the Sarsen Technology team represent the Alta products. It is a privilege to work with such a talented group of experienced professionals as Sarsen Technology. Sarsen’s product offerings compliment the Alta Product line and help to bring the customer a single point contact for test and embedded products in the UK marketspace.”

Alta has experienced rapid growth from its 2007 start to become one of the leading providers in the industry – all backed with a market-leading 5 year limited warranty.

For more information about the new relationship and how it could benefit your avionics and networking applications please contact Sarsen Technology on +44 1672 511166, or email info@sarsen.net.

Rugged Multi Mission Computer Manufacturer Expands the Family

Here at Sarsen Technology we work with 13 different manufacturers, giving us the ability to provide our customers with a complete solution for almost any embedded requirement. We chose to work with Ecrin Systems, based in France, because they offer rugged, integrated COTS building blocks from Open Standard form factors like PICMG 1.3, achieving the best system performance at reduced cost and shortest time to market.

Founded in 1976, Ecrin Systems designs and manufactures COTS, Mil-COTS and rugged systems for military/aerospace customers, OEMs, system integrators and application providers in a number of domains.

Their leading product, ONYX, is based on leading edge multi-core Intel® Core™ i7 3rd and 4th Gen processors. Pre-Qualified MIL-STD-810/461/1275/DO-160 and in a lightweight, conduction cooled chassis the ONYX is an ideal choice for space constrained applications and harsh environmental conditions.

Ecrin has recently expanded the ONYX product family, and now offers 4 versions for different types of application.

ONYX:
Generic version with one discrete GPGPU MXC site (AMD E8860), one PMC and one miniPCIe mezzanines for I/O and wireless extensions. Suitable for any type of mission in Air (manned/ unmanned Aircraft, Helicopter, UAS, EW), Ground (Ground Vehicle, Radar, ELINT/SIGINT, EW) and Sea (ships and submarines, UUS, drone, Sonar, EW)

ONYX-HD:
For situation awareness with HD-SDI digital inputs/outputs, RS170 Analog inputs, metadata extraction.

ONYX-Datalink:
For Tactical Data link system, IP communication, data concentrator with 2x PMC/XMC, 2x miniPCIe and full spec. USB 3.0

µONYX:
Designed for applications with strict Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) requirements. Compare ONYX previous versions, we reduce the volume by two (3 litres), weight by two (<3kg) and power by two (<40W)

For more information please contact Sarsen Technology - info@sarsen.net or give us a call - 01672 511166

Rugged, conduction cooled XMC Graphics card with two 3G-SDI video outputs and 3G-SDI video capture based on AMD E8860 GPU

New XMC Video Capture Card from EIZO Rugged Solutions

Following their rebranding in April, EIZO Rugged Solutions has announced a new member of the high performance Condor video capture card product family.

The Condor product line offers high performance COTS XMC or VPX form factor graphics and video solutions for millitary /avionics and aerospace markets. Air or rugged conduction cooled variants offer Open GL/3D, H.264, video windowing plus GPGPU capabilities. Linux, Windows and RTOS drivers are supported.

Condor 4107xX XMC Video Capture Card

 Based on the AMD Embedded Radeon E8860 GPU the Condor 4107xX is the latest rugged, conduction cooled addition to the Condor line. The XMC format Condor 4107xX has been designed for seamless integration with VPX single board computers, and offers two 3G-SDI video outputs and 3G-SDI video capture. The board supports video inputs and outputs on the rear XMC I/O connector (Pn6 VITA 46.9, x12d+x8d+24s), and can capture two simultaneous 3G-SDI, HD-SDI or SD-SDI video inputs. The board captures the incoming video data and sends it over PCIe to the host machine as raw data with low latency.

Condor 4107xX is available in various ruggedisation levels, and has been specifically designed to withstand environments with high temperature, shock or vibration (MIL-STD-810g). This makes the board an ideal consideration for defense, command and control, training and simulation, surveillance and radar display environments.

Main Features

• XMC Form Factor
• Rugged XMC Graphics Card with Video Capture
• AMD Embedded Radeon™ E8860 GPU
• 2GB GDDR5 Memory
• 640 Shader Processor, 608/38 GFLOPs Single/Double Precision Performance
• Two 3G-SDI, HD-SDI or SD-SDI Video Outputs
• Two 3G-SDI, HD-SDI or SD-SDI Video Inputs
• DisplayPort, VGA, STANAG 3350 and RGB Sync-on-green Video Outputs
• OpenGL 4.2, DirectX® 11.1, Shader 5.0
• OpenCL™ 1.2, DirectCompute 11 (GPGPU Computing)
• Rugged - MIL-STD-810g Vibration, Shock, Humidity and Temperature as needed
• Rear XMC I/O (VITA 46.9)
• Conduction Cooled
• Comprehensive Customer Support
• Long Term Product Availability
• Windows/Linux (provided by default)
• Real-time Operating System (RTOS) support including VxWorks & Integrity (optional)

For more information on the new board, or any of the products in the Condor line please get in touch with the Sarsen Technology engineering team on +44 1672 511166, or send us an email - info@sarsen.net

The McHale Report Roundtable - Border Security, COTS tech and VPX systems

Each month the McHale Report hosts an online roundtable featuring experts from the defense electronics industry.

This month the report discusses the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) event and the European defense electronics market with exhibitors from the show.

Taking part this month are:
Joe Held - Director of International Sales, Omnetics Corp.
Nigel Norman - CEO - Sarsen Technology Ltd, and
Nigel Forrester - Technical Marketing Manager - Concurrent Technologies.


MCHALE REPORT: The Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) show was held this month in London. What trends regarding military designs and applications did you see emerging at the event?

HELD: We saw a continued movement towards threat detection (i.e. – advanced radar) and soldier worn electronics (communication, vision systems).

NORMAN: The biggest trend we are seeing this quarter is engineers at leading military and aerospace OEMs looking to make use of large FPGA devices in their new designs. The downside is that there is a shortage of competent VHDL & Verilog designers at many of these OEMs. This is an opportunity for specialist FPGA consulting design houses and for the implementation of initiatives such as OpenCL development for FPGA. The other continuing trend is the re-engineering of legacy CompactPC and VME systems to VPX and custom COM Express-based designs.

FORRESTER: DSEI is a wide-ranging show with military products from thermal underwear to complete battleships, but we didn’t pick up on a specific trend this time. There did appear to be more unmanned devices on display confirming a continued focus in this area. As an exhibitor we perhaps saw what we were looking for, the improved acceptance of COTS-based electronics products many of which used Intel processor technology.


See what the panelists think about the following questions by reading the full article on mil-embedded.com

McHALE REPORT: What are the hot application areas in the European military market such as unmanned systems, radar, avionics, etc.?
McHALE REPORT: How would you describe the defense electronics market in Europe -- growing, declining, or just flat? Why?
McHALE REPORT: How would you describe the demand for commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products in Europe? What standards or products are hot?

BittWare partners with Tamba Networks to provide ethernet MAC+PCS IP cores

BittWare, the provider of Altera-based FPGA COTS boards, has entered into a Value-Added Reseller (VAR) agreement with Tamba Networks, a developer of low-latency, high-speed Intellectual Property (IP) cores for networking and financial applications.

The Tamba Networks 1 to 400 Gigabit Universal Ethernet IP Core is a low latency and gate count solution which enables a 10 GigE "FIFO+MAC+PCS" of approximately 25 ns in an Altera Stratix V FPGA. This decreases the round-trip delay wire-to-wire. By narrowing their focus to the ethernet MAC and PCS - designing their own soft PCS core as opposed to the typical solution which uses the hard PCS core - Tamba Networks has optimised the design of both, bringing an extremely efficient solution to market and saving many nanoseconds of latency in the process.

“Many of our customers are looking for the lowest possible latency,” stated Ron Huizen, Vice President of Systems & Solutions at BittWare. “Therefore, we are always seeking out industry-leading technology that can help. Tamba’s MAC+PCS IP cores enable us to provide our customers with unprecedented wire-to-application ethernet latency.”

The Tamba Networks IP cores are available today on all of BittWare’s PCIe-based Altera Stratix V family of boards which include the following:
S5PE-DS Dual Altera Stratix V GX/GS PCIe Board with Quad QSFP+, DDR3, QDRII+, and RLDRAM3
S5PH-Q Altera Stratix V GX/GS Half-Length PCIe Board with Dual QSFP+/SFP+, DDR3, and QDRII+
S5PE-F Altera Stratix V GX/GS PCI Board with VITA 57 FMC Site
S5PE Altera Stratix V GX/GS PCI Board with Dual QSFP+

For more information please contact Sarsen Technology on +44 1672 511166 or email the team - info@sarsen.net

BittWare's 6U VPX Channelizer System Receives Primetime Choices Award

BittWare's 6U VPX Channelizer System is a serious bit of kit.

Featuring the powerful BittWare S5-6U-VPX (S56X) FPGA COTS board and with complete software support, the system is supplied tested and configured meaning the development time is seriously reduced - perfect for time-critical applications.
The system functions as a complete development and testing platform, ideally suited to a wide variety of applications, including satellite communications, radar, and electronic warfare.

You might have seen the 6U VPX Channelizer System on the web recently - it has been all over the news after it was chosen as a Primetime Choices product by the editors of VITA Technologies.

A Word from BittWare
“We are very pleased that VITA Technologies has recognized BittWare’s Channelizer System as a Primetime Choice Product,” stated Darren Taylor, BittWare Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing. “BittWare’s goal is to make life easier for our customers. Our Channelizer System does just that, giving our customers access to two Altera Stratix V FPGAs, an ARM Corex-A8 control processor, ADC, DAC, and a 6U VPX rear transition module for access to VPX I/O. All of this is fully integrated with superior software tools for a very seamless design process.”

Lets Get Technical
The single slot 2U VPX system features BittWare’s S5-6U-VPX (S56X) FPGA COTS board, which utilises high-density Altera Stratix V GX or GS FPGAs and two VITA 57 FMCs (FPGA Mezzanine Cards) with direct data connections to the on-board FPGAs.

An ARM Cortex-A8 handles the control plane, and an S56X rear transition module is included to provide rear panel I/O access, including 8 QSFP connectors for high-speed serial access, along with SFP, PCIe, GigE, SATA, JTAG, and LVDS.

With complete software support including BittWare’s ATLANTiS FrameWork, which enables reconfigurable data routing, the development system allows users to design and debug in a flexible environment. Hardware-in-the-loop support for Simulink provides an additional layer of flexibility, allowing rapid control prototyping and other real-time testing.

How Do I Get One of Those??
The 6U VPX Channelizer System (VRDP-CH) is available now. For more information please contact the Sarsen Technology team on +44 1672 511166, or send us an email - info@sarsen.net

OpenCL support for even more Altera Stratix V variants on BittWare's S5-PCIe-HQ PCIe board...

The Open Computing Language (OpenCL™) programming model is supported on Altera’s Stratix® V FPGA architecture and BittWare’s Stratix V FPGA COTS hardware, providing an incredibly powerful solution for system acceleration.

BittWare is a member of Altera’s Preferred Board Partner Program for OpenCL.

The S5-PCIe-HQ (S5PH-Q) Altera Stratix® V half-length PCIe COTS board is optimised for the most current Altera device architectures and design software, and is supported by Altera’s SDK for OpenCL. The Altera® SDK for OpenCL provides a design environment enabling users to easily implement OpenCL applications on Altera’s FPGAs.

BittWare announced at SuperComputing 2013 (Nov) that OpenCL support has now been expanded to additional Stratix V variants on their S5-PCIe-HQ (S5PH-Q) PCI Express board. FPGA options now include GSMD5, GSED8, GXEA7 and GXEAB devices.

What Are the Benefits of OpenCL for FPGAs? 

• Faster time-to-market using the OpenCL C-based parallel programming language as opposed to low-level hardware description language (HDL). 
• Quick design exploration by working at a higher level of design abstraction. 
• Easy design re-use by re-targeting existing OpenCL C code to current and future FPGAs.
• Faster design completion by generating an FPGA implementation of OpenCL C code in a single step, bypassing the manual timing closure efforts and implementation of communication interfaces between the FPGA, host, and external memories. 
• Increased performance by offloading performance-intensive functions from the host processor to the FPGA. 
• Significantly lower power by using the Altera SDK for OpenCL which generates only the logic needed to deliver. 

BittWare’s OpenCL Developer’s Bundle provides the tools necessary to begin developing applications for the Altera Stratix V using OpenCL, including the S5PH-Q board, a breakout board, the Altera Quartus II software, the Altera SDK for OpenCL, and the Altera USB Byte Blaster for downloading configuration and program data to the Stratix V FPGA.

The Open CL Developers Bundle is available at a special introductory price. For more information please contact the Sarsen Team on +44 1672 511166, or email us - info@sarsen.net

Extreme Engineering VPX VITA 62 Power Supplies

In today’s defense electronics environment, open standards are becoming increasingly critical to engineers to help them deal with the reality of regular and frequent technology upgrades.

The VPX (VITA 46) standard was developed in support of ruggedized, deployed applications and is the technology of choice for military applications where Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) are an issue. VPX supports both 3U and 6U form factors, provides a large amount of high-speed I/O to the backplane, and enables the use of modules that require up to 200 watts of power.

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) has expertise in designing and delivering high-quality, efficient, clean power modules. Their VPX COTS power modules are designed to meet the rigors of high performance, deployed military applications. X-ES has been actively involved in the development of the VPX and OpenVPX standardisation efforts, and was one of the first companies to develop VPX products. They have been shipping VPX products since 2006.

The latest power module from X-ES is the XPm2220, which opens the door to reducing the total SWaP, cost, and complexity of VPX-based systems by providing a number of distinctive capabilities, including industry-leading output power and efficiency. It also provides direct support for a wide input voltage range, and fits within a single 0.8-inch or 1-inch pitch 3U VPX slot.

The XPm2220 takes in a MIL-STD-704 or MIL-STD-1275 28 VDC input voltage and provides up to 300W on 3.3V, 5V, and ±12V at up to 90% efficiency. The XPm2220 also provides on-card MIL-STD-461 EMI filtering and MIL-STD-1275 transient suppression.

For more information please contact the team at Sarsen Technology on +44 1672 511166, or drop us an email – info@sarsen.net

It's the spookiest day of the year....

It’s officially the spookiest day of the year, and here at Sarsen we’ve had a bit of fun to mark the festivities!

A spooky edition of Sarsen's News Bytes was also issued today, if you're not on the mailing list you can sign up here. With no tricks, but plenty of treats, News Bytes features the latest product information, industry news and technical papers from our 12 franchised product lines.

We're off home to put on our fancy dress costumes, have a Happy Halloween!