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.

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

Article - The Bus Too Tough To Die!

 

MilesTek has offered complete connectivity solutions since 1981, and since then their customers have come to expect more than just top quality products. MilesTek provides answers that help customers solve their installation or project questions, as well as writing and sharing useful articles, white papers and industry news. 

The latest article from the Mil/Aero component experts at MilesTek is an in-depth look at the MIL-STD-1553 bus.

Considering how long it's been in service, the MIL-STD-1553B bus has survived remarkably well, despite other, more advanced solutions having gained wide acceptance in the last few years.

However, the fact remains that the maximum data rate of 1Mb/s is orders of magnitude too slow for today’s data-intensive systems, therefore on paper logic dictates that it will soon fade away. That may be a logical assumption, but it’s likely to prove wrong, for several reasons.

 The most obvious is that MIL-STD-1553B continues to fly on at least 30,000 aircraft, as well as on commercial and military ships, and is widely used in industrial and ……

To continue reading this article which was originally published in Aerospace & Defense Technology please click here.

Trenton Cryptographic Systems Now Include the Latest IBM Hardware Security Module (HSM)

Latest News from Trenton Systems

U.S. Built Rugged Computers Now Support The Latest PCI Express Cryptographic Co-Processor

Trenton Systems announced that IBM® has approved four of their rugged computers for use with the IBM® 4767-002 PCIe Cryptographic Co-Processor Hardware Security Module (HSM). 

One of these systems is the TCS4504 - an IBM® approved x86 architecture 4U, 19" rackmount server in a lightweight rugged aluminium chassis. The TCS4504 features a dual-processor system host board, PCIe backplane and the IBM® 4767-002 PCIe Cryptographic Coprocessor (Hardware Security Module (HSM)). The TCS4504, like all Trenton Systems products, is designed and integrated in the USA. With 7+ years of product availability this system allows confident long-term data protection and user accountability, with lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

See how these two new Trenton Cryptographic Systems (TCS) merge the crypto coprocessor with a dual-processor SBC

The 2U, TCS2504 and the 4U, TCS4504 combine Trenton's HEP8225 HDEC Series processor board and its dual, Intel® Xeon® processors with the IBM® 4767-002 PCIe Cryptographic Coprocessor Hardware Security Module (HSM). These systems protect the privacy and confidentiality of data in a variety of business, government and military computing applications. 

The Trenton Systems Cryptographic System TCS2504 is an IBM® approved x86 architecture 2U, 19"rackmount server featuring a dual-processor system host board, butterfly form-factor PCIe backplane and the IBM® 4767-002 PCIe Cryptographic Coprocessor (Hardware Security Module (HSM)). Combining the Trenton Systems HEP8225 HDEC Series System Host Board and its dual, Intel® Xeon® E5-2600 v4 series processors with the HDB8227 backplane and IBM® 4767-002 PCIe Cryptographic Coprocessor Hardware Security Module (HSM),  the TCS2504 represents a powerful and versatile building block for secure applications.

Rugged Cryptographic Systems Technical Challenges Using PCI Express

Correctly routing PCIe signal traces is a design challenge that few companies can handle well, and taking short cuts in single board computer and backplane designs which utilise the PCI Express interface will always result in suboptimal system performance particularly in rugged cyrptographic systems.
Read more


For more information on Trenton Systems in the UK please contact Sarsen Technology on +1672 511166 or send us an email: info@sarsen.net

VersaLogic Releases 'Raven' - Embedded SFF Computer based on Intel Bay Trail Processor

The team at VersaLogic has just announced the release of the Raven - a compact and rugged embedded x86 computer built around the Intel Bay Trail processor.

See Raven datasheet (pdf)

This is VersaLogic's fourth product released in the Embedded Processing Unit (EPU) format. EPU's combine processor, memory, video, and system I/O into an extremely compact full function embedded computer.

The Raven, equipped with an Intel Atom 38xx processor, is designed to withstand extreme temperature, impact, and vibration. It has been engineered and tested to meet the military and medical industries' evolving requirements to develop smaller, lighter, and lower power embedded systems while adhering to stringent regulatory standards.

Available in single-, dual-, and quad-core versions, the Raven provides great performance and I/O features, moderate power consumption (6 to 8W typical depending on model), and a compact package. The Raven provides compatibility with a broad range of standard x86 application development tools for reduced development time.

Features

• Wide Range Voltage Input
  Accepts 8 to 30 volts DC with OVP, reverse polarity protection, and RF noise filtering.
• High-performance Video
  Integrated Intel Gen 7 graphics core supports DirectX 11, OpenGL 4, and H.264, MPEG-2 encoding/decoding. Mini DisplayPort and LVDS video outputs. LVDS backlight control.
• Network
  Dual Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) with remote boot support.
• SATA
  3 Gb/s SATA port supports bootable SATA hard drive.
• Mini PCIe Card Sockets
  Dual full-sized sockets. Supports A/D, Wi-Fi modems, GPS, MIL-STD-1553, Ethernet, flash data storage with auto-detect mSATA flash storage support, and other mini PCIe modules.
• MicroSD Socket
  Supports removable microSD card solid-state drives.
• Industrial I/O
  One USB 3.0 port and four USB 2.0 ports support keyboard, mouse, and other devices. Four RS-232/422/485 serial ports, three 8254 timer/counters, and I2C support.
• Analog + Digital I/O
  On-board data acquisition support. Eight multi-range analog inputs and eight 3.3V digital I/O lines.
• SPI Interface
  Supports SPI and SPX devices, including low cost analog and digital modules.
• Intel Atom "Bay Trail" Processor
  Up to 1.9 GHz clock rate. Quad-, dual-, or single-core options. Low power consumption.
• Fanless Operation
  No moving parts required for CPU cooling in most configurations.
• Trusted Platform Module
  On-board TPM security chip can lock out unauthorised hardware and software.
• RAM
  Up to 4 GB soldered-down DDR3L RAM.
• FLASH
  Up to 8 GB of on-board eMMC flash storage.
• Industrial Temperature Operation
  -40° to +85°C operation for harsh environments
• MIL-STD-202G
  Qualified for high shock/vibration environments.
• Software Support
  Compatible with a variety of popular x86 operating systems including Windows, Windows Embedded, Linux, and VxWorks.

The Raven is a newly released product. It may be available in limited quantities. Please contact Sarsen for more details.

Sarsen Technology Now Representing MilesTek in the UK

About MilesTek

www.milestek.com

Since 1981 Milestek has grown to become a global distributor delivering complete connectivity solutions and custom cable assemblies to over 60,000 customers. Milestek offers quality products, in stock for short delivery timescales, and quick turnaround on your custom requirements.

Headquartered in Denton, Texas, the professional sales and technical team supports the rep network to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction to avionics designers, broadcast and DS3/telecom industries, government and military users and industrial networking companies.

Sarsen Technology supplies and supports the full range of Milestek products and solutions, including MIL-STD-1553B cables and adapters, data bus couplers, bus and stub cables, coaxial-RF cable assemblies and triaxial connectors, cables and cable assemblies.

Coaxial, Military and Industrial Networking Solutions, Telemetry Solutions
MilesTek is a global provider for a vast range of connectivity products, patch cords and panels; connectors and adapters; coaxial, twinaxial, and Triaxial cable assemblies, as well as custom cable assemblies and complete harness assemblies for industrial and Military. These products service the industrial, Military and government markets.

Military Avionics and MIL-STD-1553B Solutions
MilesTek has delivered connectivity products and solutions to the avionics industry worldwide for over twenty-five years. Our product offering, used primarily in military R&D and production applications, consists of a complete line of bus couplers, custom harnesses and assemblies, connectors and connector termination systems and a broad range of related accessories.

Extreme Engineering Unveils New Website

Shield your eyes! It's so bright and shiny you might need sunglasses!

Extreme Engineering (X-ES) has just unveiled their new website, and it looks amazing.

With a fresh, intuitive layout and a new advanced filtering system it's easier than ever to find the exact product to fit your application.

About X-ES
As a leader in the design, manufacture, and support of embedded computing solutions for compute-intensive military, communications, commercial, and industrial applications, X-ES provides a product portfolio of commercial-grade to fully rugged boards and systems, including Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) products and fully-custom solutions.

FIPS 140-2 and Common Criteria Certified Router Featuring Cisco IOS Technology

Author - Laura

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) is commited to providing high quality, cost-effective hardware and software solutions for the embedded systems market. Alongside their extensive range of high-performance single board computers (SBCs) and rugged, extended temperature systems X-ES provides a range of rugged routers running Cisco™ IOS® IP routing software.

Designed to meet the needs of the most demanding and Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) constrained mobile and embedded networking applications each router supports four routed, high-speed Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, enabling the routers to serve as an aggregation point for on-demand network connectivity in mobile or fixed deployments. The X-ES routers extend the Cisco enterprise infrastructure beyond the reach of traditional fixed-network infrastructure for military, oil and gas, mining, smart grid, heavy construction, transportation, homeland security, public safety, and disaster recovery applications.

• XPedite5205 Embedded Services Router (ESR) - a PMC/XMC-based router
• XPand6004 - a rugged packaged router in a Small Form Factor (SFF) enclosure
• Cisco 5940 - a 3U CompactPCI router

On September 10th, 2014 the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cryptographic Module Validation Program issued Certificate #2242 for the X-ES XPedite5205 XMC/PMC Cisco IOS® Embedded Services Router (ESR). The XPedite5205 has been validated to FIPS 140-2 Overall Level 1 by an NVLAP-accredited Cryptographic Module Testing (CMT) laboratory. Additionally, this ESR has been validated to Roles, Services, and Authentication Level 2, and Design Assurance Level 3.

On November 17th, 2014 the National Information Assurance Partnership issued the Common Criteria Certificate for the XPedite5205 XMC/PMC Cisco IOS® Embedded Services Router (ESR) for completion of the evaluation in accordance with the Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation Scheme (CCEVS). The XPedite5205 satisfies the Assurance Activities criteria as defined within the Common Criteria (CC) Protection Profile for Network Devices, Version 1.1 and Protection Profile for Network Devices VPN Gateway Extended Package, Version 1.1.

For more information please contact Sarsen Technology on +44 1672 511166 or send us an email with your enquiry - info@sarsen.net

Hello and Goodbye - A new Sales Engineer for Sarsen Technology

Author - Laura Biddiscombe

Today is a sad day.

We are saying “adiós y buena suerte” to Alberto, who is leaving us for a new life in California with his wife, Cristina.

We’ve all really enjoyed working with Alberto (who, even after all this time, hasn’t succumbed to a nickname), and the team is sad to see him go. I will particularly miss having to explain who’s who in any British TV program since time began.

Alberto bought culture to the Sarsen office, as well as an abundance of enthusiasm and generosity, especially when it comes to turrón and polvorónes.We will miss you!!



 
But all is not lost.
As one door closes another one opens. We’d like to welcome Tony Seal to the Sarsen gang. Tony is taking over from Alberto, and will be providing engineering and technical support, primarily for United Electronics Industries solutions, to key accounts in the military, instrumentation, transportation and aerospace sectors.

Good luck to both Tony and Alberto as they start their new adventures. I’m not sure who needs it most….!

Extreme Environments Demand Extreme Engineering Solutions - Rugged SBCs and Systems from X-ES

Author: Laura Biddiscombe

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) is a leader in designing advanced, embedded computing products for the harsh environments seen in military and industrial applications.

They utilise best-in-class design, test, and manufacturing practices to develop products that deliver reliable operation in the extremes of temperature, shock, vibration, and environment.

Three levels of ruggedization are available for X-ES products, supporting commercial, extended temperature, and conduction-cooled applications. Products may be air-cooled or conduction-cooled depending on the end application. These levels allow our customers to tailor a solution to their application by selecting the range that best suits their needs for thermal, vibration, shock and performance.

Standard Air-Cooled - Level 1
Operating Temperature	0 to +55°C ambient, 300 LFM, per MIL-STD-810F 501.4 Procedure II and Method 502.4 Procedure II
Storage Temperature	-40 to +85°C ambient †
Vibration	0.002 g²/Hz, 1 hour per axis from 5 to 2000 Hz
Shock	20 g, 11 ms sawtooth, per MIL-STD-810F Method 516.5 Procedure I
Humidity	0% to 95% non-condensing, per MIL-STD-810F Method 507.4
Rugged Air-Cooled - Level 3
Operating Temperature	-40 to +70°C, 600 LFM, per MIL-STD-810F 501.4 Procedure II and Method 502.4 Procedure II
Storage Temperature	-55 to +105°C, per MIL-STD-810F Method 501.4 Procedure I and Method 502.4 Procedure I †
Vibration	0.04 g²/Hz (maximum), 1 hour per axis from 5 to 2000 Hz ‡
Shock	30 g, 11 ms sawtooth, per MIL-STD-810F Method 516.5 Procedure I
Humidity	0% to 95% non-condensing, per MIL-STD-810F Method 507.4
Conduction-Cooled - Level 5
Operating Temperature	-40 to +85°C board rail surface temperature, per MIL-STD-810F Method 501.4 Procedure II and Method 502.4 Procedure II
Storage Temperature	-55 to +105°C, per MIL-STD-810F Method 501.4 Procedure I and Method 502.4 Procedure I †
Vibration	0.1 g²/Hz (maximum), 1 hour per axis from 5 to 2000 Hz ‡
Shock	40 g, 11 ms sawtooth, per MIL-STD-810F Method 516.5 Procedure I
Humidity	0% to 95% non-condensing, per MIL-STD-810F Method 507.4

If an application does not fall into one of these three ruggedization levels, X-ES offers extended temperature, humidity, and vibration screening services. Many military designs, for example, have a -55ºC operational requirement. In the case where screening alone is not practical, X-ES has experience with heater tapes and other alternative solutions. Optional features, such as conformal coating, are available.

Contact the Sarsen Technology Technical Team for more information about available options.

Rugged Rackmount 1U LCD Touchscreen Monitor and Keyboard Tray

Author: Laura Biddiscombe

Rugged computers are a necessity when you need both performance and reliability in harsh environments. This is one of the reasons why Trenton Systems has retained in-house electronic, mechanical and system BIOS engineering expertise to create board-level products and integrated computer systems designed for challenging environments.

Every military computer they integrate provides the performance, space-savings, flexibility and long-term system configuration stability necessary for airborne, shipboard, undersea and ground vehicle deployment, or applications located within command and control centres.

The TKM1503 rackmount LCD touchscreen monitor from Trenton Systems features a rugged NEMA 4 sealed 17″ LCD display with a resistive touchscreen. The aluminium 1U rackmount LCD touchscreen monitor and keyboard tray provide a backlit NEMA 4X keyboard for Mil-Spec touchscreen LCD touchscreen monitor applications. The rugged 1U monitor / keyboard tray saves rackmount component mounting space, fitting inside 19″ racks with depth dimensions from 17″ to 36″.

More about NEMA definitions

The TKM1503′s clamshell enclosure design allows additional rackmount component placement to maximise the use of limited mounting space. The sealed 17″ LCD display with resistive LCD touchscreen supports SXGA screen resolutions and over 16 million monitor colors.

Key features of the TKM1503 rackmount LCD touchscreen monitor include:

• Mil-COTS rackmount LCD touchscreen monitor & sealed keyboard
• Shallow 17″ (43.18cm) depth is ideal for transit case applications
• Watertight NEMA 4 optically bonded 17″ LCD touchscreen monitor
• Sealed 17″ LCD display with resistive touchscreen supports SXGA resolutions
• Includes NEMA 4X backlit keyboard with built-in mouse
• Integrated keyboard and mouse simplifies hardware mounting and cable routing
• Fits inside 19″ racks with depth dimensions from 17″ to 36″ (43.2cm – 91.4cm)
• Rugged, yet lightweight all-aluminium 1U rackmount enclosure design

The TKM1503 rackmount LCD touchscreen monitor is compatible with all of Trenton's rackmount computers, and is supported by Trenton’s unsurpassed US-based technical support, including their industry-leading 5 year warranty.

For more information please contact the team at Sarsen Technology on +44 1672 511166, or send us an email with your request.

ZNYX Networks comes to the UK

The Sarsen Team are playing host to ZNYX Networks this week, with Ali Irani, Director of Sales, and Dave Parkinson, VP of Engineering are making the journey from Fremont, CA all the way to Marlborough UK.

The ZNYX / Sarsen relationship is a newly-established one, so this week will be spent in a mixture of in-house training and customer visits.

ZNYX products are ideally suited to serve several markets where high availability, ruggedisation and open-standards are valued –

Telecoms – The ZNYX OpenArchitect® switch management environment allows your team to develop network management integrated with application provisioning utilising Linux open-source, industry standard APIs.

Military – The AdvancedTCA form factor provides defense integrators with a scalable, ruggedized, mission critical platform based on open-standards. ZNYX also provides value-added services such as conformal coating and RTV application to meet customer's needs.

Aerospace – Ethernet switch platforms from ZNYX are ideal for integration into compact, lightweight solutions to power solutions from In-flight internet, In-flight entertainment, to backbone network connectivity for non-flight critical data systems.

We’ll be learning a lot this week, so if you’d like some more information or have any questions about technology from ZNYX now is definitely the time to ask!

Get in touch by phone - +44 1672 511166 or by email – info@sarsen.net

It's the Final Countdown...

Its the final week of the Dream Marketing Defence & Aerospace Roadshow, and we've had a great start at BAE Systems, Airbus and Rolls Royce in Bristol.

The vehicle has just opened it's doors at L3 Comms in Tewkesbury, and Tim is on site ready to speak to visitors about all the lovely hardware we're displaying, including embedded modules from Extreme Engineering based on the 4th Generation Intel Core i7 ‘Haswell’ processor. There are a variety of form factors and technologies, ranging from XMC graphics cards to embedded FPGA board-level solutions from some of our franchised product lines:

• BittWare – Industry leading COTS signal processing boards and systems based on the latest FPGA technology from Altera
• Dave – Small form factor rugged embedded CPU modules, Computer-On-Modules and systems based on ARM and PowerPC architectures
• Ecrin Systems – Mil-COTS systems designed around building blocks from Open Standard form factors including PICMG 1.3 and ATX
• Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) - High-performance single board computers (SBCs), telecom modules, serial I/O and test fixtures
• General Standards – High Performance Analog I/O, Digital I/O and Serial I/O Bus Interface Solutions
• Tech Source - XMC rugged graphics, video capture and video streaming products for avionics, military and Air Traffic Control
• Trenton Systems – Rugged rackmount computer systems for military and aerospace, high performance video & graphics and data storage applications

Robbie will be at Agusta Westland tomorrow from 9.30 to 2pm for the penultimate day of the Roadshow. For more information please contact the Sarsen office - info@sarsen.net

The Sarsen Technology diary is filling up nicely for September 2013...

September is going to be a busy month for Sarsen....

We’re taking part in the Dream Marketing Defence and Aerospace Roadshow, which is a 3 week travelling exhibition visiting some of the UK’s biggest design and manufacturing facilities, giving us the opportunity to demonstrate a variety of leading edge technologies directly to the engineers and developers (who don't always manage to visit more traditional trade shows!).

But before all that excitement, we have the small matter of a little show in London. You may have

heard of it….

The DSEI exhibition is the world’s largest defence and security event, bringing together the entire industry to introduce the latest equipment and systems, develop international relationships, and generate new business opportunities.

We are going to be joining Elie Gasnier, V.P. Sales and Marketing, on the Ecrin Systems stand – N7-468. Ecrin will be showcasing the small form factor MIL-STD-810 ‘ONYX’ embedded computer, a fanless system driven by an Intel Core i7 processor. Compact and rugged, the ONYX is an ideal choice for space constrained applications and harsh environmental conditions.

Rugged ONYX Embedded Computer from Ecrin Systems

We are also going to be joining the Alterateam on stand S6-300, where we’ll be supporting some exciting Stratix V BittWare hardware. Altera will be running a live demo on the new
EW & Radar Development System, which, as its name suggests, is a development and testing platform designed specifically for electronic warfare and radar applications. The EW and Radar Dev System is a single-slot OpenVPX system including a BittWare Stratix V FPGA-based 6U VPX board, with a rear transition module for easy I/O access.

EW & Radar Development System from BittWare

If you’re going to be at DSEI from 10-13 September 2013 why not get in touch and arrange a meeting with the team, or pop by stand S6-300 or N7-468 for an informal chat.

Military Simulator Technology from UEI

When someone says “Simulator” most people immediately think “Flight Simulator”.

However, simulators are now also used to train ‘drivers’ on fire trucks, tanks, military ground vehicles and even conventional and nuclear power plants. Military trainers in particular are basing much of their driver training on very complex and realistic simulators.

The simulator can provide a realistic experience of driving a tank, personnel carrier, or MRAP in a convoy at night while under attack. These are very real conditions that are very difficult to train for in actual vehicles. The combination of small footprint and real-time update speed make the United Electronic Industries (UEI) RACKtangle an ideal ground vehicle simulator solution.

Interestingly, UEI’s wide selection of I/O capabilities is often more critical in ground simulators than flight. In addition to the standard analog and digital I/O, most military ground simulators also require a combination of serial, CAN, ARINC-429 and/or MIL-STD-1553. UEI offer support for all these functions through their range of boards and chassis.

The UEI RACKtangle I/O chassis has been selected by FlightSafety International as the computer-based I/O hardware for future flight simulators. The UEI system provides the interface between the controlling computers and the simulator’s various systems including Avionics Instrument Control (AIC), Control Loading and Motion (CLM) and Flight Deck I/O (FDK). In PowerDNA mode the system can be almost arbitrarily large - UEI have been used on military aircraft flight simulators requiring greater than 7000 I/O points!!

For more information on how UEI can work in your simulator application, please give us a call on +44 1672 511166, or drop us an email with your requirements.

Countdown to DSEi 2013. And Christmas.

90 days until Christmas.
   ...142 days until Valentine's Day.
      ...... 350 days until DSEi 2013!!


 
Yes indeed! 
Its time to get our thinking caps on again, and come up with some ideas on how to make our week more successful than ever before.

DSEi 2011 was a great exhibition for Sarsen Technology; we spoke to loads of new people about our broad range of embedded hardware, and came away with lots of follow up to do, with new opportunities and projects to investigate. It was also a great way for us to show off our new branding..

This time, with our new logos and colour scheme in place, it will be even more focussed on the products, with more demonstration units than ever before, and plenty of experts on hand from our manufacturers to help us answer any questions you might have. We'll be showcasing single board computers, FPGA technology, digital signal processing, data acquisition and high-speed data recording COTS technology, as well as integrated rugged ATR chassis systems and industrial 19" rackmount embedded computing systems.


This year our manufacturers have released many new products, with even more scheduled for production before Christmas. DSEi is a great opportunity to come and see all the new designs and technologies from the defence and security industry's brightest bods. 

Last year we ran a competition to win an iPad.... Who knows what you could win at DSEi 2013!?

 

Meet the Sarsen Team!!

A recurring thought when working with our partners round the globe is that it would be great to be able to put a face to a name, especially when you’re speaking to the same people every day.

So, by popular request, here is our guide to the main players at Sarsen Technology, in no particular order….

Colleen Jameson – Colleen is our Office Administrator. She manages the day to day administration for the sales team to ensure things run smoothly, as well as all the business admin that goes on behind the scenes. She is first point of contact for our manufacturers and organises all of the events and exhibitions we attend. She is also organising our Christmas party this year, which is probably the most important job she will have to do in 2012!

Tim Norris
Twitter - @embedded_tim
Tim is one of our UK account managers. His role is to engage with a set of key accounts and to understand their technical requirements in terms of embedded hardware. Tim has been working with Sarsen Technology for 6 years and has experience providing solutions on the complete range of products.

Lynn Scholefield – Lynn is our ‘numbers lady’. She is very popular with the team because she arranges payment of salaries. She also has to channel her inner terrier to chase up the overdue invoices and hound customers for payment! Lynn juggles cash flows and foreign currency requirements, and analyses the many pages of data that summarises how the company is doing financially.


Robbie Burns 
Twitter - @Robbie_Sarsen

Robbie is one of our UK account managers, and is responsible for some of our largest customers. Robbie works remotely, spending a lot of time on the road meeting with existing and potential customers, and attending local industry events including WEAF.  Also answers to Vic.

 

Laura Jeffs
Twitter - @laura_sarsen

Laura is both the newest member of the team, and one of the longest serving.  Laura was promoted to Product Manager in December 2011, having represented another service for Sarsen previously. Laura is the liaison for United Electronic Industries and VersaLogic Corp, and coordinates the marketing activity and sales support for these manufacturers.

Nigel Norman
Twitter - @nigel_sarsen

Nigel is the captain of the Sarsen ship. Nigel started Sarsen Technology in 2000, and the company has grown significantly in the last 12 years. He has lived in the Marlborough area for 15 years and enjoys developing the business, working with his colleagues at Sarsen, sailing, music festivals with his teenage kids (when the sun is shining), football and playing cricket for the village team.

There are lots of other people who help Sarsen stay a well oiled machine, but these are the people you will speak to day to day at the Sarsen Technology office in Marlborough, Wiltshire.

We're a nice bunch - give us a call on +44 1672 511166 and we'll tell you all about our products and services.

Sarsen Technology Sponsors MAE 2012 - Military, Defence & Aerospace Electronics Technical Conference & Exhibition

Sarsen Technology is one of the sponsors of MAE 2012 - Military, Defence & Aerospace Electronics Technical Conference & Exhibition. MAE has established itself as the UK's only dedicated event on embedded computing and integrated electronics for military, defence and aerospace applications.

Produced by engineers for engineers, the industry's premier one-day technology forum is focused on the design and development of military, defence and aerospace electronic systems. The conference is built around a day of technical seminars which have been carefully selected by our independent judging panel of experts to inform and educate engineering professionals on the key topics in this challenging environment, helping them to make more informed decisions for their current and future design projects.

Jeff Milrod of BittWare will be presenting a paper called "Floating Point Co-processing for FPGAs Reduces Power Consumption while Increasing Productivity" at 2.40pm. Bob Senko of Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) will be presenting at a workshop focussed on VPX & COM Express technologies for demanding military & areospace applications. VPX systems are revolutionising rugged COTS applications and delivering extreme performance in extreme environments. As a proven supplier of rugged VPX and OpenVPX components and systems, X-ES has the experience to deliver VPX to your most demanding applications. The aim of the workshop is to detail the system design considerations for efficient military airborne and land vehicle projects using VPX and COM Express technologies.

This event will be held on 22 May 2012 at the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre, Reading.

Link to the MAE 2012 - Military, Defence & Aerospace Electronics Technical Conference & Exhibition web site: MAE 2012

May 2011 News Bytes Newsletter

The May 2011 edition of our News Bytes newsletter is available today and will feature:

• Extreme Engineering Solutions Intel® Core™i7 Processor-Based 3U Air-Cooled CompactPCI Express Module


• General Standards Wide-Range 24-Bit, 16-Channel, 105KSPS Analog Input Module


• BittWare Anemone Co-Processor for FPGAs: A New Approach to Floating Point DSP


• Trenton Technology PICMG 1.3 System Host Board with Intel Xeon E3-1200 Sandy Bridge CPU


• New product catalogues from D-TA Systems and General Standards


• Military Embedded Systems interview with Dipak Roy of D-TA Systems


• Extreme Engineering Solutions Built-In Test Software

You can sign up for a copy of our News Bytes newsletter via our web site www.sarsen.net

MAE2010 - Sarsen Technology to exhibit

Sarsen Technology will be exhibiting at MAE2010 on Tuesday 30 November in Reading, Berkshire, UK. MAE is the industry's premier one-day technology forum focused on the design and development of military, defence and aerospace electronic systems. Dwight Justice of Trenton Technology will be presenting a paper entitled "High Density Computing Systems In Surveillance and Communications Applications" at the MAE2010 conference. Please visit MAE2010 for full details or call us on +44 1672 511166.