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

New 3U VPX Rugged Video Capture Board from EIZO Rugged

EIZO Rugged Solutions has released the Condor GR4 3U VPX 3G-SDI capture board, an ultra-high performance rugged graphics/capture board with four 3G-SDI inputs and outputs.

• The MIL-STD-810G Condor GR4 3U VPX card is a single slot, SWaP-conscious card for ultra-high performance rugged ISR applications

The new graphics module is based on the NVIDIA® Quadro® P5000 and P3000 graphics processing units (GPUs) with 2,048 or 1,280 CUDA cores respectively and up to 6.4 TFLOPs shader performance.

Condor GR4 3U VPX Datasheet

The Condor GR4 is a single slot, SWaP-conscious card designed for today’s rugged Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) applications such as avionics, manned and unmanned video streaming and security/surveillance.

Selwyn L. Henriques, president and CEO of EIZO Rugged Solutions, commented, “The Condor GR4 3U VPX card is the perfect solution for today’s ISR market that is transitioning to 3G-SDI. Our ISR customers typically have 3-4 sensors per gimbal and have been demanding a single slot, SWaP-conscious card that does everything – ingest information from the sensors, output this high definition data over 3G-SDI, process it using the GPU and then encode each stream using the onboard H.265/H.264 encoder.

The Condor GR4 3U VPX offers four 3G-SDI inputs and four 3G-SDI outputs and a DisplayPort output. With NVIDIA GPUDirect™ Direct Memory Access (DMA) support, the captured video data is transferred directly into GPU memory for processing or display, both resulting in extremely low latency. The MIL-STD-810G compliant card supports PCI Express 3.0 (up to 8 lanes) and is available in conduction-cooled and air-cooled variants.

Read Full Press Release

For more information on the Condor GR4 3U VPX card or any other product from EIZO Rugged Solutions, please contact the Sarsen Technology team - info@sarsen.net

Extreme Engineering Releases 3U VPX Xilinx Kintex UltraScale FPGA Module

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) introduces the XPedite2570, a rugged FPGA processing module with a high-speed optical front-end interface. Equipped with an integrated Xilinx Kintex® UltraScale™ FPGA, the XPedite2570 optimises both cost and performance for high-bandwidth embedded computing applications.

XPedite2570 Datasheet

Xilinx Kintex® UltraScale™ FPGA Delivers Great Performance Without Great Cost
The XPedite2570 is a high-performance, conduction-cooled 3U VPX FPGA processing module based on the Xilinx Kintex® UltraScale™ XCKU115 FPGA.

The Xilinx Kintex® UltraScale™ family of FPGAs provides the best price/performance/watt at 20nm, as well as the highest signal processing bandwidth for a mid-range device.

Ideal for programs that need to optimise both cost and capability, the Kintex® UltraScale™ XCKU115 packs over 1.4 M system logic cells, 5,520 DSP slices, and 75.9 Mb of block RAM into a cost-effective package. It also provides a straightforward upgrade path for legacy systems, offering up to 40% power savings compared to the previous generation of FPGAs.


Optimised for High-Bandwidth Applications
The XPedite2570 is a reconfigurable FPGA resource designed to meet the demands of high-bandwidth applications such as packet processing, signal processing, and DSP-intensive applications. It features 12 rugged, protocol-independent fiber optic transceivers operating at up to 10.3125 Gb/s, along with 8 GB of DDR4 ECC SDRAM in two independent channels capable of up to 38 GB/s aggregate bandwidth. The XPedite2570 has several options for high-performance backplane I/O, including a x8 Gen3 PCI Express interface, dual GTH transceivers with a maximum data rate of 16.375 Gb/s, and up to 44 LVDS transceivers for user I/O.

X-ES’ board support package for the XPedite2570 includes an FPGA Development Kit for Xilinx Vivado complete with a reference design, IP Integrator IP blocks, HDL, test benches, and Linux drivers, so developers can jump right into application development without having to work through hardware integration issues.

Build a Rugged COTS System with Compatible X-ES Products
For lower development costs and faster deployment, pair the XPedite2570 with a 3U VPX single board computer (SBC) and install them together in the XPand6215, a Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) rugged system designed to meet the rigorous standards of MIL-STD-704F and MIL-STD-461. The XPand6215 can support several embedded single board computers from the XPedite767x product line, such as the XPedite7670. This family of high-performance SBCs is based on the Intel® Xeon® D processor, which provides up to 16 Xeon®-class cores in a single, power-efficient System-on-Chip (SoC) package.

More about Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES)

New Concept Modular Computer Could Change The Way You Design Embedded Systems

myOPALE™ from ECRIN Systems offers disruptive technology designed to multiply the capabilities of your next embedded computers in a much smaller foot print, thanks to PCI Express® over Cable interconnectivity, and standard 5.25’’ building blocks with mini-SAS HD connectors.

For three decades, Industrial PC’s have tended to use one of two types of architectures from the Eighties: ATX/miniITX motherboard, or PICMG® passive backplane. In both cases, the CPU board and its I/O cards were physically and mechanically linked through a PCI Express PCB.

The myOPALE Concept was born from four simple concepts:

• - Break the mechanical link between the CPU and I/O cards, using PCI Express Over Cable interconnection;
• - Design with building blocks based on a standard 5.25’’ form factor;
• - Use widely deployed inter-connectivity standards from SNIA/SFF Technology Affiliate, encompassing cables, connectors, form factor sizes and housing dimensions;
• - Integrated thermal solution at building blocks level.

For more details, including datasheet and technical specs, please visit the myOpale page on our website or contact one of our engineers to discuss your application.

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

BittWare Announces SmartNIC Shell for Building FPGA-powered 100G NICs

SmartNIC Shell Supports DPDK, Xilinx SDNet, P4 Programming, User Customisations, and Timestamping

BittWare has announced SmartNIC Shell, a suite of IP modules for building 100G network interface controllers (NICs) using FPGAs for hardware packet processing.

Users can fully customise Shell components, including a Match/Action pipeline with features including Xilinx SDNet support and the P4 network programming language. For host application interaction the Arkville DPDK IP is integrated for kernel bypass. SmartNIC Shell allows teams to avoid the time-consuming process of building core NIC functions into an FPGA, allowing them to focus resources on their own application.

Read more - Full Press Release

“We built the SmartNIC Shell because we noticed that many of our customers spend half their development time creating a networking shell,” said Craig Lund, Vice-President Network Products, BittWare. “All of that development time should be going into their own product’s unique value instead.”


SmartNIC Shell Top Features

Quickly Build 100G NICs	Focus your attention on your unique application, instead of re-inventing a NIC.
Match/Action Pipeline	Standardised kernel bypass for host interaction over PCIe. SmartNIC Shell provides DPDK offload to interact with host applications.
TimeServo Timestamping	Precision time stamping including 1588-compatible clock adjustments. Uses TimeServo IP from Atomic Rules
Xilinx UltraScale+ FPGA	Large, powerful FPGAs with ample room for user IP. Selection of BittWare boards including traditional low-profile NIC size (XUPPL4) to 3/4-length boards with additional logic and memory options (XUPP3R).

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

VersaLogic Announces ARM Based Embedded Computer Family

VersaLogic announced a brand new line of production-ready, ARM-based embedded computers at Embedded World 2018.

The Tetra is the first in the family, and provides a power-efficient, quad-core Single Board Computer (SBC) featuring a quad-core i.MX6 Cortex®-A9 32-bit processor. The board typically consumes about 4W of power when operating (not idle). It is ready for off-the-shelf deployment into demanding industrial applications requiring rugged, long-life, power-efficient, industrial temperature rated (-40° to +85°C) solutions.

VersaLogic Tetra Datasheet

Unlike many ARM-based "modules," VersaLogic's new line of ARM-based EPC (Embedded Processing Card) products are complete board-level computers. They do not require carrier cards, companion boards, connector break-out boards, or other add-ons to function.

For ease of mounting, and future upgrades, VersaLogic's ARM products are designed around the size and mounting points of COM Express products. Unlike proprietary-format ARM products, VersaLogic ARM boards provide a standard mounting pattern allowing for simplified upgrading in the future.

The Tetra matches the COM Express Basic footprint (125 x 95 mm) and offers a variety of I/O options for rugged, industrial applications. All three quad-core Tetra models feature a wide (8 to 17-volt) power input, making it ideal for 12-volt automotive applications.

More information

Many applications that require lower power or lower heat dissipation still need very high levels of reliability. VersaLogic's 10+ year formal life-extension program ensures long production cycles free from expensive changes and upgrades that come from short, disposable life cycles.

On-board I/O
A variety of on-board I/O includes a Gigabit Ethernet port with network boot capability, HDMI and LVDS video outputs, and two USB 2.0 Ports. Serial I/O (RS-232) and a SATA II interface or mSATA, support high-capacity rotating or solid-state drives.

CAN Bus, I2C and SPI are also included along with a 6-axis e-compass, and MIPI camera input. The on-board Mini PCIe socket provides flexible expansion using plug-in Wi-Fi modems, GPS receivers, Ethernet, FireWire, and other mini cards.

Industrial Toughness
Designed and tested for Industrial temperature (-40° to +85°C ) operation, VersaLogic's rugged Tetra meets MIL-STD 202G specifications to withstand high impact and vibration. It is engineered and validated to excel in unforgiving environments. Each component is carefully selected to ensure reliable operation in the field. With decades of embedded design experience, VersaLogic understands how to design in quality and reliability. U.S.-based technical support includes comprehensive assistance during project development.

Availability
The Tetra, part number VL-EPC-2700, is available from stock. Contact info@sarsen.net for more information.