DO-178C Compliant Drivers for Rugged XMC and VPX Graphics Cards

DO-178B, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification was developed by the commercial avionics industry to create software guidelines for avionics software developers. Although ‘officially’ just that, a guideline, it quickly became a formal standard for developing avionics software systems.

Since its establishment there have been a number of iterations of the guideline. The first version of the document, DO-178, covered the basic avionics software lifecycle. Version two - DO-178A - added avionics software criticality level details and put emphasis on software component testing to measure and maintain quality. DO-178B expanded the avionics software quality requirements with continuous quality monitoring and testing in real-world conditions. At a relatively short 100 pages, DO-178B became the 'go-to' standard for a wide range of developers, making it quite broad in nature and requiring in-depth understanding of intent.

But it wasn't just necessary for flight products. DO-178B had a number of additional benefits, including higher reliability and consistency, greater re-usability, verifiable software quality, much lower lifecycle and maintenance costs, faster hardware integration and greater portability.

DO-178B was created to match the stringent development practices and technologies of its day, but it makes very little allowance for the latest development technologies, including formal methods, Model-Based Development (MBD), and the use of object-oriented technologies.

The DO-178C standard recognises this and was specifically written to help bring the certification of avionics software in line with these 21st-century technologies. DO-178C retains the core information from DO-178B, and updates it where necessary to consider the need for developers to begin testing, or verifying, early in the process. The single most significant aspect of DO-178C is the addition of three technology-specific legs under the “core document” inherited from DO-178B.

Tech Source provides rugged XMC and VPX graphics cards that are available with DO-178C compliant drivers for use in safety critial environments.

The Condor 4000 XMC Series products are leading edge XMC form factor, rugged graphics/video cards for use in applications that require very high-end rugged graphics and computational power.

Based on AMD’s Embedded Radeon™ E8860 discrete GPU, the Condor 4000 XMC Series products offer the highest level graphical and GPGPU performance available for the embedded and rugged market. Its built-in video decoder enables dual HD decoding of H.264, VC-1. MPEG4 and MPEG2 compressed video stream.

Based on AMD’s Radeon™ E8860 GPU, the Condor 4000 3U VPX Series offers ultra high graphics and GPGPU performance for defense (military), avionics and other rugged markets. The 3U VPX form factor allows for operation at full power (45W) because the 3U VPX form factor allows for improved cooling.  This board comes complete with VPX-REDI covers. 

 For more information please contact Sarsen Technology on +44 1672 511166 or send us an email.

DAVE Embedded Systems Now ISO 13485 Certified for Medical Applications

Author: Laura Biddiscombe

We are pleased to share some exciting news with you - DAVE Embedded Systems has just been certified ISO 13485.

ISO 13485 2003 is the quality management standard for medical devices which specifies requirements for a quality management system where an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to provide medical devices and related services that consistently meet both customer requirements and regulatory requirements applicable to medical devices and related services.

The ISO 13485 standard was developed to facilitate harmonized medical device regulatory requirements for quality management systems. In Europe, ISO 13485 (or EN ISO 13485) is seen as the standard for the medical device industry. Based on the ISO 9001 standard, ISO 13485 was first introduced in Europe in 1996. Although ISO 13485 certification is voluntary, achieving it allows you to meet the quality system requirements of various medical directives with much less difficulty.

Download the DAVE Embedded Systems ISO 13485 declaration in PDF format - DOWNLOAD

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The DIVA  is a CPU module based on the Texas Instruments "Sitara" AM335x Cortex-A8 application processor. It is built with SO-DIMM 204 pin form factor and it offers lots of graphics, processing, peripherals and industrial interface options, allowing customer to implement cost-effective designs.

• ARM Cortex-A8 architecture @ up to 720 MHz
• NEON Multimedia Coprocessor and PowerVR® SGX Graphics Engine
• Dual Programmable Real-Time Unit and Industrial Communication Subsystem
• Crypto Hardware Accelerator
• Interfaces including Dual CAN and Ethernet

Download DIVA Datasheet 
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ISO 9001 - Exactly What it Says in the Manual...

As part of our commitment to quality and service Sarsen Technology became ISO certified way back in the early ‘00s.

This is an ongoing responsibility that we take very seriously, so much so that we choose to be independently audited twice every year to keep our processes in tip-top shape. And ISO 9001 is more than just a certificate. It is an internationally recognised standard, accepted in over 100 countries, and more importantly by our customers, many of whom wouldn’t work with us if we didn’t have it.

Old school thinking said that ISO 9001 certification was designed for large organisations, but it is also hugely important for SMEs like Sarsen Technology, helping us to develop efficient quality management systems that save time and money, improve efficiency and ultimately improve customer relationships.

Although our Quality Manual is a hefty tome, it allows us to implement ISO 9001 in a straightforward, easily managed way. We are all clear about what we need to do and how; we don't have to spend time 'making things up' or 'finding things out' – it’s all there. You might say we’re like a well-oiled machine!

Our latest audit takes place on Tuesday, and we’re looking forward to being able to support our customers for another year with ISO9001 certified quality and service.

If you have any questions about our quality processes or ISO 9001 please get in touch – info@sarsen.net.

Have a great weekend!