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

Sarsen Technology Manufacturer Profile - Tech Source, Inc.

Established in 1987, Tech Source has been a pioneer in high performance computer graphics hardware solutions for 25 years.

The company has evolved over the years, now serving several markets that include Air Traffic Control/Management (ATC/ATM), avionics, military and embedded systems with several COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) and custom products.
The product range includes graphics, imaging and video capture boards, H.264 encoders and high compression video recorders.

From designing graphics processing units (GPUs) and high compression encoders to FPGA targeted special graphics/imaging algorithms the company has a broad range of knowledge and offers product customizations and new product delivery in a matter of months.

Tech Source XMC and PMC graphics products can be used with most Single Board Computers (SBCs) in various form factors such as VME, CPCI, and ATCA that are most often found in military and defense applications.

The Tech Source Condor series of embedded products for Mil/Aero applications consists of high performance COTS XMC or VPX form factor graphics and video solutions. Air or rugged conduction cooled variants offer Open GL/3D, H.264, video windowing plus GPGPU capabilities. Linux, Windows and RTOS drivers are supported. A key product is the Condor 3000x which is based on the AMD Radeon 6760 GPU and offers exceptional performance with immersive desktop-level 3D graphics and outstanding multimedia features.

For more information on Tech Source or any of our other manufacturers please give us a call on +44 1672 511166, or email us.

www.sarsen.net

VersaLogic launches BRAND NEW family of Embedded Single Board Computers

Roughly the size of a credit card and less than one inch thick, the Falcon is the industry’s smallest, lightest weight, and lowest power x86 rugged, embedded computer. 

The new Falcon EPU release from VersaLogic means we are talking to people about all kids of applications, including Mil-Aero, Medical, Security, R&D and Robotics. It’s a really compact board, (weighing under 40g) so it’s also a brilliant solution for use in for portable applications and unmanned systems where Size, Weight and Power consumption (SWaP) are critical design elements. 

It’s the first in a new family of VersaLogic Embedded Processing Units. EPUs combine processor, memory, video, and numerous system interfaces into an extremely compact embedded computer. 

Standard on-board features include up to 2 GB soldered-on RAM and a microSD socket. The standard Type 10 pin-out provides SDVO, LVDS, GbE, SATA, seven USB ports, three x1 PCIe lanes, two COM interfaces, HD audio, LPC, SDIO, GPIO, SMBus, and I2C to the baseboard. VersaLogic also offer an auxiliary board-to-board connector providing two additional COM interfaces, two GPIO lines, and one CAN interface. The Falcon is compatible with most x86 operating systems including Windows, Windows Embedded, Linux, and VxWorks. 

In a departure from their well-established high reliability PC/104 based product line, VersaLogic have applied the same strict quality and manufacturing practices to the PICMG Com Express form factor. Plus, offering a 5+ year availability guarantee and a 2 year warranty as standard on board level products you know your project is in safe hands. 

VersaLogic offer a 45 day evaluation scheme where you can 'try before you buy'. Evals are limited to single quantities of a specific product (including memory and development peripherals) and an evaluation survey needs to be completed before the product can be returned. 

If you would like more information on this exciting new product, or if you'd like to get your name on the list for an evaluation board please give us a call on +44 1672 511166, or email us - info@sarsen.net .

Busy Little Beavers..... Embedded Applications keeping the Sarsen Team busy...

Now everyone is back in the office, and we are back to full capacity after the summer holidays, it’s time to start thinking about the next few months, and look at the projects that will be keeping us busy until Christmas and beyond! (Only 126 days to go!)

 

Our main focus is the High Speed Financial Trading market. BittWare’s Altera Stratix V FPGA PCIe hardware is optimised for this industry. With multiple lanes of 10GigE straight to the FPGA, and PCI Express Gen 2, combined with on-board memory and optional TOE, as well as additional built-in support for 40 GigE and PCIe Gen3, the financial industry has taken notice!

The new Falcon EPU release from VersaLogic means we are talking to people about all kids of applications, including Mil-Aero, Medical, Security, R&D and Robotics. It’s a really compact board, (around the size of a credit card, and weighing 40g) so it’s also a brilliant solution for use in for portable applications and unmanned systems where Size, Weight and Power consumption (SWaP) are critical design elements.

X-ES customers are also keeping us busy with enquiries, in particular about the XPm2020 and XPedite7470 boards. The 7470 is a high-performance, low-power, 3U VPX-REDI, single board computer based on the 2nd generation Intel® Core™i7 processor or 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processor and Intel QM67 chipset. The XPm2020 is a VITA 62-compliant 3U VPX power supply that takes in a MIL-STD-704 28V-DC input voltage and provides up to 300W on 3.3V, 5V, and ±12V at up to 90% efficiency. Both are available now.

Show and Tell….

We love talking about our products, and we have loads of sample boards we can show you, so If you would like one of our sales team to visit you onsite, to discuss how the products we sell can work in your applications, please give us a call on +44 1672 511166 to arrange a meeting.

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! Brand New Board from VersaLogic

Is it a Bird?

Is it a Plane?

No!

FALCON

(VL-EPU-2610-E***) 

A brand new

complete embedded computer from

VersaLogic!

The new 'Falcon' Embedded Processing Unit (EPU) combines processor, memory, video, and system I/O into an extremely compact embedded computer. Despite its diminutive size it packs a lot into a tiny space.

The Falcon is around the size of a credit card (a mere 55 mm x 84 mm), and only 22mm thick, making it a great choice for a range of applications, including Mil-Aero, Medical, Security, R&D and Robotics; industries that are always looking for smaller, lighter and lower power embedded systems, that still offer exceptional high reliability and long term availability.

Tipping the scales at under 115g, which is about the same as a smartphone, it’s also a seriously good solution for use in for portable applications and unmanned systems where Size, Weight and Power consumption (SWaP) are critical design elements.

The Falcon is VERY rugged - designed to withstand extreme temperature (-40º to +85ºC), it also meets MIL-STD-202G specifications for shock and vibration. Soldered-on RAM and latching SATA, Ethernet, power, and main I/O connectors provide additional ruggedisation for use in the corners of the world where us mere mortals will never venture......

The spec sheet reads like an engineer's wish list -

• Industrial Temperature Operation - -40º to +85ºC operation for harsh environments.
• Fanless Operation - No moving parts for CPU cooling.
• Wide Input Voltage Range - Accepts 8 to 17 volts (12V typ.).
• High Performance Video - Graphics core supports MPEG-4/H.264 and MPEG-2 encoding and decoding.
• Network - Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) with remote boot support.
• RAM - Up to 2Gb soldered-on DDR2 RAM.
• SATA - Supports SATA hard drives and mSATA flash storage options.
• Mini PCIe Card Socket - Supports Wi-Fi modems , GPS, MIL-STD-1553, Ethernet, Solid State storage and other plug in devices.
• Device I/O - Four serial ports, four USB ports, Intel Hi-Def Audio

Check out the Falcon datasheet here for a complete run down of spec and capabilities!

The Falcon will be available from stock starting in September of 2012. 

We are anticipating a lot of demand for this board, so register your interest now by contacting us at info@sarsen.net or visit www.sarsen.net for more information.

In safe hands....

It’s been a funny old week for the folks at Sarsen Technology.

Car troubles, email issues and ‘ghost’ phone calls have made us think about how much technology we use every day, and how much it can affect us when said technology doesn’t work exactly how it should.

Fortunately, we represent 10 manufacturers who know how important it is that their products are reliable, and perform exactly how they should when you need them to.

Trenton Systems,  GA, offer an impressive 5 year warranty on all of their Embedded Motherboards, PICMG® 1.3 System Host Boards, PICMG® 1.3 backplanes and PICMG® AMC.0 (AdvancedMC) products. Trenton products are used in a wide variety of applications, such as industrial automation, military & aerospace, medical, telecom, professional video & graphics and data storage, and they have developed what is arguably the most reliable array of products in the field, moving them to the forefront of industrial PC-compatible equipment suppliers.

Trenton board and system products are built tough to survive and thrive in demanding industrial computing environments, and they offer "designed to meet" rugged system solutions as well as mil-certified products to standards such as MIL-STD-810.

If you would like more information on the Trenton Systems range, or any of our other manufacturers, please give us a call on +44 1672 511166, or drop us an email with your requirement to info@sarsen.net

Have a great weekend!