SOSA - Sensor Open System Architecture for C4ISR Applications

If you haven’t heard about SOSA, you’re probably not the only one, but it’s big news for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems.

SOSA, or the Sensor Open System Architecture, is a collaboration between government and industry to establish guidelines for C4ISR systems. The United States is currently spearheading SOSA development, but the intention is to encourage the use of SOSA in both government and commercial markets across the world.

Using OpenVPX as its framework, SOSA will ensure improved SWaP-C optimisation, extensive reconfiguration options and rapid technology upgrades within a wide range of applications. The fundamental objective is to give designers maximum flexibility in the initial selection of subsystems that provide sensor data collection, processing, exploitation, communication, and related functions over the full life cycle of the C4ISR system.

Annapolis Micro Systems was an early adopter of the modular open standards model for COTS product development, and is a dedicated SOSA contributor and member.


The 3XBM from Annapolis is SOSA-aligned and VITA 65-compliant.

These boards provide either one Kintex® UltraScale™ XCKU115 or Virtex® UltraScale+™ XCVU5P/XCVU7P FPGA with up to 10 GB of DDR4 DRAM, providing up to 40 GB/s of DRAM bandwidth. WM3XBM - Find Out More

A WFMC+ mezzanine I/O site with stacking support is included, alongside an on-board Zynq Quad ARM CPU and 1Gb Ethernet Switch. High-bandwidth backplane connectivity is enabled by MULTIGIG RT3 interconnects, which deliver 100Gb per Fat Pipe. The new high-density RT3 boosts VPX backplane speeds to a remarkable 25 Gbaud, without sacrificing signal integrity.

For more information please contact the Sarsen Technology Engineering Team who can answer questions about SOSA, Annapolis and any of our other high performance embedded hardware.

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.

Cyber Security Technology - Who, Where, Why, When and How in the Southwest!

WHO is CyNam?

CyNam is a non-profit networking organisation for the UK's cyber security and technology

community in the South West of England.

WHERE are they based?

Up until quite recently, cyber hubs and technology investment groups have focused their activity around Bristol, Birmingham and Oxford, but Cheltenham has calibre for cyber technology, particularly within the areas of big data analysis and information security initiatives.

WHY was CyNam created?

The goal of CyNam, which launched in 2016, is to bring together industry innovators from local SME’s and start-ups to make full use of the strong cyber security community around Cheltenham.

WHEN can I get involved?

CyNam hosts regular cyber events once a quarter and they are attended by senior business leaders in the cyber field as well as young start-ups and entrepreneurs. Nigel Norman, MD - Sarsen Technology has attended some of these events and found them incredibly useful for networking as well as discussing new technology and developments in the cyber arena with other interested parties.

CyNam has been shortlisted for the 2019 Cyber Security Awards, as 'Not for Profit Team of the Year’. The awards are on 4th July and we wish CyNam the best of luck in their category!

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HOW do we support Cyber Security at Sarsen?

Sarsen Technology supports a wide variety of cyber security, intelligence, surveillance and secure communications projects across the UK. The applications we support must accommodate the strictest security measures as well as aggressive data bandwidths, and in most cases must reduce size, weight, and power (SWaP).

We work with some of the best manufacturers in the world to supply a select range of unique products including 19” rackmount systems and FPGA based hardware. The latest addition to our product line is REFLEX CES, whose designs and solutions for both evaluation and prototyping, are built using the latest FPGA technology solutions based on Intel FPGA or Xilinx FPGA, modified COTS, or full turnkey designs.

For a detailed review of your application please contact one of the engineering team to discuss your requirements - info@sarsen.net

Get to Know Alta Data Technologies - High Performance 1553 and ARINC Solutions

Since our inception in January 2000 we have partnered with many companies to provide exceptional services and technology, and to leverage the technical expertise of industry leaders in order to help our customers bring their own products to market. Alta Data is one of the latest additions to our product line.

Founded in 2007 Alta Data Technologies is committed to providing the best possible avionics products and service in the Aerospace industry. Their rugged MIL-STD-1553 hardware and ARINC interface modules & cards, powered by the AltaCore Protocol Engine, provide the most advanced product capabilities in the industry and are available for almost every form factor, including Ethernet modules.

Alta’s 1553 Products are Notice II and IV compliant, and the ARINC product line provides a software-selectable protocol interface for ARINC-429, 717, 419, 573 and 575.

Alta Data Products

The AltaAPI, AltaView and AltaRTVal software packages have been created to reduce integration and test efforts. Both the 1553 and ARINC cards include an Advanced Signal Capture of the Bus Waveform.

All products are designed and manufactured to the highest industry standards, including management processes certified to ISO 9001:2008, IPC Class 3 and ANSI S.20.20 certified manufacturing and innovative functional and JTAG testing methods. Alta also provides free, lifetime support and an industry-leading 5 year limited warranty with all of their cards.

Alta Data offers a huge selection of unique products. For a detailed review of your application please contact one of the engineering team to discuss your requirements.

Zero Packet Loss Processing for Government Security Applications

Government market sectors like cyber security, intelligence, surveillance and secure communications have become increasingly important in recent times. They also come with a unique set of challenges when it comes to protection from criminal activity taking place across the internet.

These types of applications have to support the strictest security measures as well as aggressive data bandwidths. We work with Netcope Technologies to provide programmable hardware accelerators that guarantee wire-speed traffic processing with zero packet loss on 100G, 40G and 10G Ethernet.

In combination with ready-to-use firmware, these accelerators provide both per-packet and stateful filtering, which is a basic element of lawful interception and data retention systems.

Together with support for multiple network technologies(100G, 40G, 10G and 25G Ethernet), this protects future investments when moving to higher speeds. Specifically, Netcope Session Filter (NSF) implements smart pre-processing of network traffic, based on keeping track of network flows directly in hardware.

NSF surpasses competing solutions due to its ability to dynamically adjust the level of traffic details transferred to software. Smart cooperation between intelligent software and powerful hardware allows implementation of reliable interception systems for the highest-speed networks, which is not possible with conventional solutions.

For more information about how Netcope and Sarsen can support your Law Enforcement, Cyber Security or Intelligence applications please get in touch - info@sarsen.net

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

Cyber Cheltenham - Meet Cyber Talent at CyNam 11th October 2018

CyNam, (Cyber Cheltenham) is a non-profit networking group based in the heart of the UK's cyber security and technology ecosystem in Gloucestershire.

Despite Cheltenham having an excellent pedigree for cyber technology, development networks and technology investment groups have focused their attention on Birmingham, Bristol and Oxford. CyNam is hoping to change this.

Find Out More - CyNam

The goal of CyNam is to bring together the best technology minds from local SME’s and Start-ups, to fully harness the rich cyber security ecosystem that flourishes around Cheltenham, the home of the National Technical Authority for Information Security, GCHQ.

 
CyNam 18.3 has now been confirmed for the evening of Thursday 11th October.

With a focus on The Evolving Role of the CISO the first confirmed speakers are Mark Schiller: Interim CISO at Heathrow Airports and Andrea Simmons: Previously CISO at HP Enterprise Security.

If you’ve never been to a CyNam meet up you can register your interest here.


Nigel Norman from Sarsen Technology will be there, and it’s a great opportunity to meet with a group of knowledgeable individuals, great companies, new exciting start-ups and exceptional Cyber talent.

If you'd like more information please get in touch - Contact Sarsen Technology

 

Absolute Quality! ISO 9001 at Sarsen Technology

A good quality process drives a company, and ideally, involves everyone in producing a quality service or product.

We've been working hard over the 12 months since our last audit to continue to develop and improve our quality processes, in order to provide the best possible service to our customers.

Following our very successful transition audit this week we are about to migrate to IS0 9001:2015 from our currently held IS0 9001:2008 accreditation.

ISO 9001 is a global standard that specifies the requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Companies like ours use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer requirements.

It oversees everything from process management to customer satisfaction to make sure the customer isn’t affected by any bad practices at their suppliers. Most of our customers simply can't work with suppliers who don’t hold a recognised quality certification, and so its very important that we maintain our ISO certified status.

One of our most fundamental quality goals is to boost customer satisfaction by planning for and  exceeding our customer's expectations, in terms of both service and technology offerings. By maintaining our proven and positive customer satisfaction levels we retain our customers project after project, because the happiest customers are definitely the most loyal.

For more information on our quality policies please contact Sarsen Technology - 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

BittWorks II Toolkit - Is it Even Necessary for my FPGA Development?

What is a Software Toolkit? 
Putting it simply, a software development toolkit is a set of tools that provides an interface between a hardware platform and a host system. Toolkits are critical if you want fast time to market. This is especially important for BittWare customers...

Why do I Need One?
BittWare has leveraged years of experience to provide a solid base for developers to make a start on their application, and the Toolkit has been an integral part of existing customer's success. They have been able to see first hand the value of the BittWorks tools, because they are so critical in getting projects up and running quickly. This software allows BittWare to properly support our customers.

More: BittWorks Toolkit

The BittWorks II Toolkit is a suite of development tools for BittWare’s FPGA-based hardware. The Toolkit includes drivers, libraries, utilities, and example projects for accessing, integrating, and developing applications for the BittWare board. Utilities and drivers connect the board to the host via PCIe, USB, Ethernet, or serial port, and provide easy access to the board’s system monitoring features and Flash programming.

Extensive libraries provide a consistent, intuitive API for integrating the board into the system and example projects illustrate data movement and provide a starting point for development. The Toolkit supports 64-bit Windows and Linux platforms and is tightly integrated with BittWare’s FPGA Development Kit (FDK), which provides FPGA board support IP and integration for BittWare’s FPGA-based boards.

The Nerdy Stuff
The BittWorks II datasheet is a great tool and clearly outlines what is provided and how it can help you get your application up and running quickly.

View Datasheet

Do I Need To Pay For It?
Well, yes. But BittWare doesn't currently charge for support (unlike some of the other board manufacturers in this market space) and this is only possible because of the development tools available. If a developer has the BittWorks Toolkit BittWare are able to provide the utilities they need to use the board as well as provide known working examples for the customers to leverage.

Toolkit licenses are handled per project/per location.  For a single project at one location there is a maximum of 3 licenses to be purchased. This means is that if there are 10 developers working on Project X you only need to buy 3 licenses.

Tell Me More...
If you'd like more information on how the BittWorks Toolkit and FDK can help speed up your development on both Intel (Altera) and Xilinx FPGA based hardware please get in touch with one of our specialists: info@sarsen.net

Latest Trenton Systems SBC Delivers Higher Performance with Expanded Data Storage and Media Capabilities

The TKL8255 is the latest single board computer to continue Trenton Systems' heritage of delivering the processing performance, dependability, and SBC longevity you count on to deliver stable computing hardware platforms.

Skylake-S processors provide modern security and performance

This new PICMG 1.3 single board computer is driven by your choice of a long-life Intel processor; developed under the Skylake code name, and features support for DDR4 system memory, native PCIe 3.0 links, USB 3.0, three video ports and an on-board M.2 connector for supporting a plug-in NVMe storage module.

TKL8255 single board computer features:

• Multi-core Skylake-S processors for reliable performance
• All-digital display interfaces for graphically-intensive applications
• On-board RAID supports a 6-drive SATA/600 storage array
• Full x4 PCIe M.2 Slot delivers max. bandwidth to PCIe SSDs
• 5-year product warranty maximises system ROI
• Intel® Xeon® E3-1200 v5 or Intel® Core­­ 6000 Processor Options
• 4 x DDR4-2133 Standard DIMMs
• 1 x M.2 Interface Driven by x4 PCIe 3.0 Link for NVMe Modules
• 3 x Video Interfaces (1, Display Port and 2, DVI-D Headers)
• On-Board HD-Audio Interface Header
• 4 x USB 3.0 and 6 - USB 2.0 Interface Ports
• 3 x Ethernet LANs
• Full-Length Aluminum Backer Plate
• Deployment risks lowered with 7+ Years SBC Availability

Video: TKL8255 Feature Set


In this short (2:20) video we will step you through some of the new SBC interfaces including the x4 PCIe 3.0, M.2 NVMe interface.

The NVMe memory technology continues to evolve, and coupled with the developments in the M.2 module format offers some interesting options for high-speed data storage in a PICMG 1.3 rackmount computer.

Engineering tests with the Trenton Systems TKL8255 single board computer deployed in a typical PICMG 1.3 system indicates that M.2/NVMe storage driven with x4 PCI Express link is roughly:

• 8x faster than traditional SATA HDDs and 
• 2x faster than traditional SATA SDDs.

For more information please take a look at the website - TKL8255 or contact Sarsen Technology to request a quote.

App Note: Dual Gigabit Ethernet support on Xilinx Zynq EVB

DAVE Embedded Systems has a whole library of interesting and useful application notes and white papers,  the latest of which centres around how to integrate a second Ethernet port on their Xilinx Zynq-based BORA EVB.

BORA EVB

BORA is a dual Cortex-A9 + FPGA CPU module based on the recent Xilinx "Zynq" XC7Z010 / XC7Z020 application processor. For evaluation purposes DAVE has designed a development kit, which includes the BORA EVB - a carrier board designed to host the BORA module. The aim of the app note is to describe how to integrate a second Ethernet port on the BORA EVB.

 Ethernet is becoming essential in many different business areas, thanks to the flexibility of Ethernet interfaces. Home automation applications use dual Ethernet where the multimedia data must be processed and transmitted through the building's networks for lighting control, IP video door, thermoregulation and safety. Industrial automation and factory-based systems have also adopted Ethernet where Industrial Process Control (IPC) is required; many motor drives within their inverters are used and all of them require control and supervision.

The availability of a second Ethernet port on the same product provides several of advantages. Dual Ethernet permits the handling of data exchange between different subnets.  The development of real-time industrial protocols in the last decade, like EtherCAT and AMP (Asymmetric Multi Processing) solutions, together with the availability of two Ethernet interfaces on the same SoC enables customers to have Real Time controllers, HMI supervision systems and data logging all on the same CPU.

Find out more by downloading the White Paper: Enabling dual Gigabit Ethernet support on Xilinx Zynq EVB.

Danville Introduces the New Snowbird™ Audio Processing Module

Danville Signal Processing are taking part in the 2016 NAMM event in Anaheim, California from 21st to 24th January. You can meet Dennis and the team on Booth 154, located in the lobby area.

If you do stop by the stand you will be among the first to see a demonstration of the brand new Snowbird™ Audio Module, a High-Performance Programmable DSP Hardware and Software Platform, designed to let you easily incorporate sophisticated audio DSP features into any product.

If you are interested in setting up a private meeting at NAMM please email Denis Labrecque at dlabrecque@danvillesignal.com

The Snowbird™ Digital Audio Processing Board is a stand-alone, high performance audio platform
designed to let you quickly and easily integrate sophisticated Audio DSP into a product. Featuring a powerful Analog Devices’ SHARC DSP, high quality I/O with an AKM stereo codec, and a custom software interface, the Snowbird™ Audio Module is the ideal platform for a variety of audio applications, including Guitar effects/Stomp Boxes, Amplifiers, Keyboards, Mixers, Eurotrack designs & more.

The Snowbird™  is for everyone - from experienced digital designers who want a flexible processing solution to analog experts that are considering a digital alternative.

You can use any of the pre- built audio functions - EQs, crossovers, mixers etc - or combine them with your own custom processing to create exactly what you need. The Snowbird Audio Module is also supported by a custom version of DSP Concepts’ Audio Weaver™ programming software. Audio Weaver is a powerful graphical design package that lets you create your signal processing chain by simply dragging and dropping highly optimised audio processing modules. Once the design is complete, the file can be saved and run stand-alone on the Snowbird Audio Module.

 

Danville Signal is targeting Spring 2016 for release. Please contact Sarsen Technology for more information.

How Technology has Changed Tennis - Wimbledon 2015

With two of the biggest matches of Wimbledon 2015 taking place this afternoon on Centre Court we wondered how technology has made a difference to the tournament over the last few years.

Jeff Parsons from The Mirror took a tour around the technology hub at Wimbledon, which is run by keen and tech-savvy tennis players. The theory, according to Sam Seddon, IBM's client executive for Wimbledon, is that it's easier to take a player and teach them the computer stuff than it is to take a computer and teach it about tennis.

Over the years the hub has evolved, and now houses some of the most cutting edge tech available. They use laptops rather than PCs because of the high end graphics cards and the portability; because the hub is only temporary everything has to be removed after the tournament has finished.

You can read his full report here - Wimbledon 2015: The technology behind the tennis at SW19

Want to read more?

New Media Co delves deep into the technology used across the sport, from the rackets to Hawk-Eye.

Wimbledon 2015 – Tennis Technology

Tennis has changed a lot as a sport in recent years, with changes in court surfaces, rackets, the introduction of hawk-eye and the retractable roof built on Wimbledon’s Centre Court in 2009. With Wimbledon starting, let’s have a look at how changing technology has affected the world of tennis.

Enjoy the tennis, we'll be cheering them on this afternoon, Pimms in hand!

General Standards - Frequently Asked Questions

General Standards Corporation develops and manufactures the highest-performance Analog I/O, Digital I/O and Serial I/O products based upon a variety of buses such as PMC, PCI, VME, PC/104 and cPCI.

Their extensive product line (currently over 70 different products) includes I/O boards, high speed links, cables,and software drivers, all designed to increase your system performance, improve your software integration, and maximise your development productivity.

As part of their ongoing commitment to customer satisfaction General Standards has put together answers to their most frequently asked technical support questions.

You can also visit the website, www.generalstandards.com, for the latest product brochures and upcoming product announcements.

If you'd like to see the technology in the flesh please visit us on Stand S4-453 at DSEI 2015, where we will be showcasing a number of General Standards products.

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

UPCOMING EVENTS!

Sarsen Technology takes part in various events throughout the year across a number of markets and technology sectors, sometimes as a visitor and quite often as an exhibitor. This is just a snapshot of our upcoming events, so if you would like more information please contact Laura Biddiscombe for details.

• June 9th - VentureFest, Bristol - A one-day event showcasing Bristol and Bath’s most innovative and enterprising companies and start-ups. This is a free event, however you will need a ticket.


• June 17th -  NMI Model Driven Engineering 2015 - As a member of NMI we get access to some great events. This one, held at Thales in Crawley, is mostly focussed on electronics and software domains, reflecting the interests of NMI members and guests.


• September 15th-18th - DSEI 2015 - DSEI brings together the entire defence and security industry to source the latest equipment and systems, develop international relationships, and generate new business opportunities. Sarsen Technology will be exhibiting within the UK Pavilion on stand S4-453, where you can see an exciting range of embedded technology from BittWare, Ecrin Systems, Extreme Engineering, General Standards and Tech Source.


• October 21st - 22nd - Embedded Design Show 2015 - Following last years' successful exhibition we are pleased to once again be taking part alongside the team from DAVE Embedded Systems. You can find us on Stand G32, where we will be showcasing the complete range of SoMs from DAVE Embedded Systems, based on FPGA technology, ARM Cortex-A architecture, Freescale and Texas Instruments processors and Xilinx SoC.

DAVE Embedded Systems is a Certified Member of Xilinx Alliance Program

Xilinx Alliance Program Members are qualified companies worldwide that have a proven track record of delivering products and services on Xilinx programmable platforms. Members have to demonstrate qualified expertise on the latest Xilinx devices and implementation techniques and consistently deliver high quality products and services on Xilinx programmable platforms.

DAVE Embedded Systems has been certified as a member of the Xilinx Alliance Program, following their success with the new Xilinx Zynq-based BORA and BORA Express modules.

Certified Members have invested in passing a comprehensive 320-point review of their technical, business, quality, and support processes and have committed engineers to passing the same rigorous training used by Xilinx Field Application Engineers worldwide. Certified Member engineers annually refresh Certification training to ensure they have updated expertise on the latest products and technologies from Xilinx.

For more information about DAVE Embedded Systems and the Xilinx Member Alliance Program please contact the Sarsen Team on 01672 511166, or email us with your question.

Friday Fun - The Sarsen Team Witnesses the Solar Eclipse

Author - Laura

Today was quite a special day. Not only have we witnessed a partial eclipse, but it took place on the Spring Equinox during a Supermoon. This is quite rare - the equinox will happen at the same time as a solar eclipse again in 2053 and 2072.

Here at Sarsen we work with exciting technology every day, from embedded systems used on the International Space Station to boards used in segmented mirror telescopes. I think we're quite comfortable with space-level wizardry.

So when we found out there was going to be an eclipse that would be visible here in Wiltshire, we put our best minds to the task of creating a device that would allow us to view the eclipse without damaging our eyesight...

Here's what we came up with...

I think we'll leave the manufacturing to these guys in future... Our Manufacturers

Enjoy your weekend!

7 Years at Sarsen Technology

Author - Laura Biddiscombe

This month marks the 7 year anniversary of my joining the Sarsen Technology team. It feels like only yesterday I was stood in the doorway in the pouring rain, waiting for the buzzer to open the door for my first interview. I'm sure it definitely feels like 7 years to Nigel sometimes!

I joined the team in 2008 as Sales Support for one of our previous product lines. You can read the Press Release here. I also had a fabulous *mug* head shot taken.
Later that year I moved into the role of Account Manager, looking after and developing some of our biggest accounts. It was during this time that I realised I was a bit of a geek, and that getting overly excited about 'Space Parts' wasn't exactly cool, but I couldn't (and still can't) help it. The first time I sold Space Qualified parts I actually printed out the quote and had it on the wall for a few months. Please don't judge me.

This nerdiness came to the fore the first year I visited DSEI - 2011. One of our boards was being used in a bomb disposal robotic vehicle that was on display at the show - kids at Christmas had nothing on my excitement level that day.

At the end of 2011 Nigel offered me the chance to move into the embedded side of the business, looking primarily at the VersaLogic PC/104 product line, and taking on some of the marketing activity day to day. This was a big change to component sales, but one I really enjoyed. I remember feeling completely out of my depth, but everyone was very patient with me and I'm still learning new things every day.

Having been at the same company for 7 years I've had the opportunity to work with some brilliant people, and have made some great connections all over the world. I've had the chance to travel, visit customers and be involved in incredible projects, including space applications (although I've learnt to disguise my excitement a little better these days).

I'm eager to start my 8th year at Sarsen Technology - this year is going to be an exciting one! We're taking part in DSEI 2015, and have a new member of staff taking on the United Electronic Industries product line, as well as new technology and products to introduce every single month. No two days are the same, and you never know what we'll be talking about tomorrow. 

If you'd like to know more about me or Sarsen Technology please get in touch - laurab@sarsen.net .

Intel Releases Xeon D Processor Family

Intel has just unveiled a new range of Xeon brand processors. The new processor family, known as Xeon D, are a series of system-on-chip server processors designed specifically for blade and high density server systems.

Intel rarely announce new integrated platforms, and the Xeon D has caused a bit of excitement in the industry. Hailed as the previously unoccupied middle ground between Xeon E3 and Atom SoCs, the Xeon D takes the best bits of both and slots neatly into the market for the low-end server market, prioritising efficiency and networking.
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Xeon D, also known as Broadwell-DE, combines up to eight high performance Broadwell desktop cores and the PCH onto a single die, reducing both down to 14 nm for power consumption/die area. Dual integrated 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports natively support XAUI/KX4/KR to further enhance I/O capabilities, while reducing SWaP-C concerns. 24 PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0 lanes, eight PCIe 2.0 lanes, six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, four USB 3.0 ports, and four USB 2.0 ports provide many options for system expansion, connectivity, and storage. In addition to multiple 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports, the Xeon® D employs a Non-Transparent Bridge for PCIe to enable advanced connectivity options for multiprocessor systems.
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Alongside the announcement from Intel, Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. (X-ES) has introduced the XPedite7670 3U OpenVPX™ REDI single board computer module and its 6U VPX companion, the XCalibur4640, both based on the Intel® Xeon® D (formerly Broadwell-DE) processor family.

The XPedite7670 is a high-performance, 3U OpenVPX™ REDI, single board computer with support for up to 8 GB of DDR3-1600 ECC SDRAM. The XCalibur4640 extends the XPedite7670's functionality to a 6U VPX form factor with expanded capabilities. System memory capacity increases to 16 GB of DDR3-1600 ECC SDRAM and local storage increases to 128 GB of SLC NAND flash.

For more information on these brand new boards please contact the Sarsen Technology team on 01672 511166, or send us an email.