Military Aerospace

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W W W.MILAERO.COM
______________________
TH E M AG A Z I N E O F
TRENDS
T R A N S F O R M AT I O N I N
ELECTRONIC AND
O P TI CA L TEC H N O LOGY
U.S. and its

allies get
serious about
systems
AUGUST 20 0 6 VOL. 16, NO. 8 interoperability
JOHN KELLER
Aitech brings COTS to space Editor in Chief
It’s one thing to talk

BY JOHN MCHALE Traditionally the space market has had they have to pay so much for the product about electronic
CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Leaders at Aitech De- a “grow your own” approach, which can be and for testing. Aitech faces the same test- and electro-op-
fense Systems Inc. in Chatsworth, Calif., very costly because customers are buying ing cost, but because “we buy parts in bulk tic systems interoperability among
are bringing the economic strategy that parts in very low volumes, Patterson says. that amortizes the cost and we pass that the U.S. military, allied forces, ci-
changed military procurement to the Companies such as BAE Systems and Hon- savings on to our customer,” he explains. vilian law enforcement, and first
space market. eywell charge exorbitant amounts because Aitech’s radiation-tolerant, space-quali- responders. Actually doing some-
The commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) fied single-slot, 3U Compact (cPCI) single- thing about it is quite another.
initiative, launched by the U.S. Department board computer (SBC) is an example. The Recent international exercises
of Defense more than a decade ago, brought board provides an increase in performance involving U.S. and allied military
new economies of scale to the defense mar- of as much as five times and a cost reduc- forces, as well as police depart-
ket. Defense programs were directed to tion of as much as two times when ments and first responders, are fi-
buy commercial technology wherever compared to the point-driven, pur- nally getting the idea across that
and whenever possible—ensuring the lat- posed-based designs currently in use, military leaders are getting very
est technology at the best cost. Patterson says. serious about interoperability.
Yet certain harsh environments pre- Aitech engineers perform the space-qual- The notion of interoperability
cluded the use of commercial parts with- ification testing at Indiana State University in among radios, command-and-
out significant testing and qualification. The cost-saving Terre Haute, Ind., a NASA-certified facility, control (C2) systems, and data
The last frontier for COTS is space, says S950 3U board from Patterson says. The motto is “test what you networks has been a hot topic of
Doug Patterson, vice president of sales Aitech is flying aboard the fly and fly what you test,” he adds. discussion since at least 1983 dur-
and marketing for AiTech. International Space Station. Continued on page 13 ing the U.S. invasion of the Ca-
ribbean island of Grenada. U.S.
forces made news then when they
resorted to public telephones and
Purdue researchers look at Rockwell Collins AT&T calling cards to request
air support when their military
nanotechnology to reduce completes acquisition radios didn’t work with others in
computer-chip heating of Evans & Sutherland their task force.

After that well-publicized em-
BY JOHN MCHALE
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.—In the
heating problem through the
use of carbon nanotubes, which simulation business barrassment, interoperability was
on the lips of anyone in the U.S.
military and the commercial resemble tiny cylinders. They BY COURTNEY E. HOWARD a maker of visual simulation military who was even slightly
world, electronic system de- have created carpets of micro- CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa —Rockwell solutions for militar y and concerned about voice and data
signers want more and more scopic nanotubes to enhance Collins Inc. in Cedar Rap- commercial use that is based communications. Among the re-
processing performance out of the performance of heat sinks ids, Iowa, has acquired the in Salt Lake City. sults of these discussions were the
computer chips, yet heat from to help keep future chips from simulation assets of Evans & In the transaction, Rock- U.S. Single Channel Ground and
these super chips creates a lot overheating. Sutherland Computer Corp., well Collins gained Evans & Airborne Radio System, otherwise
of headaches for the engineers Researchers are trying to de- Sutherland’s simulation known as SINCGARS, and the fu-
tasked with keeping computer velop new types of thermal in- facilities in Salt Lake ture Joint Tactical Radio System.
boards cool. terface materials that move heat City, Orlando, Fla., and Despite technological progress
Researchers at Purdue Uni- more efficiently than conven- the United Kingdom in such as this, however, the terrorist
versity in West Lafayette, Ind., tional materials to meet cooling exchange for $71.5 mil- attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, painfully
are looking to mitigate the Continued on page 9 lion in cash. Rockwell demonstrated that federal and lo-
Collins also received cal authorities still had a long way
exclusive rights to the to go to achieve anything resem-
Evans & Sutherland bling across-the-board communi-
Click here to laser projector for sim-
ulation applications.
cations interoperability.
One of the most painful and
Roughly 200 of the frustrating lessons of 9/11 involved
access Rockwell Collins expanded the of-
ferings in its simulation and training 275 Evans & Sutherland officers of the New York Police De-
product line with technology such employees have joined partment who from helicopters
Supplement as the simulation above acquired the Rockwell Collins saw evidence of the imminent col-
from Evans & Sutherland. Continued on page 8 Continued on page 12
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CONTENTS NEWS
IN BRIEF
OPINION
PAGE 4
Boeing receives second production order for
Design considerations for
employing electronic slip rings in
mission-critical military systems
Combat Survivor Evader Locater program
PAGE 14 BY COURTNEY E. HOWARD The CSEL handheld survival radio is
ST. LOUIS—Boeing Integrated Defense Sys- designed to provide line-of-sight recov-
ELECTRO-OPTICS WATCH
tems in St. Louis won its second full-rate ery forces and joint search-and-rescue
Northrop Grumman readies laser-
production contract for the Combat Sur- teams with two-way, secure data com-
based anti-missile system for
operational deployment PAGE 16 vivor Evader Locater (CSEL) communica- munications. In fact, by using CSEL, res-
tions system. The second order calls for cue forces are able to authenticate and
L-3 Communications Cincinnati
Boeing to supply 2,645 CSEL units and communicate information with isolated
Electronics provides thermal
imagers for MK46 optical support equipment to the U.S. Air Force. personnel virtually anywhere the world.
sight system PAGE 16
PRODUCT INTELLIGENCE
Manufacturers of FPGA
programming tools struggle
Air Force looks to Mercury
to meet the new demands
of designers PAGE 20 to develop sensor processing
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Electronics designers
grapple with lead-free
for Predator UAV
BY JOHN KELLER (Airborne Reconnaissance Image Ex- Downed military pilots can use the
solder guidelines The Combat Survivor Evader Locater
European Union WEEE/RoHS CHELMSFORD, Mass.—Mercury Computer ploitation System) concept, in which air-
Systems Inc. in Chelmsford, Mass., won borne multisensor platforms use stored radio to contact rescue forces from
directives cause concern in almost anywhere in the world.
the military and aerospace a contract from the U.S. Air Force Re- sensor data for comparative purposes.
market as to the availability and search Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Pat- ARIES is a commercial-off-the-shelf
reliability of lead-free electronic terson Air Force Base, Ohio, to provide (COTS) adjunct processor to help move “Using communications satellites and
components. PAGE 24 computer hardware and services for the ground-based algorithms to the platform, global positioning technology, CSEL ra-
Continuous Look Attack Management adjacent to the sensor and with direct ac- dios will save lives by providing real-time
SPECIAL REPORT for Predator (CLAMP) Program. cess to original sensor data, so that im- encrypted information about the precise
The goal of CLAMP is to develop ad- age exploitation can occur in real time. location of isolated personnel such as
vanced sensor exploitation capabilities to As the Predator UAV flies and collects downed pilots,” says Michael Bates, Boe-
the long-endurance Predator unmanned data over a designated area for hours at a ing’s CSEL program manager.
aerial vehicle (UAV). time, the multilook, multisensor nature Bates notes that the new technology
CLAMP is the first U.S. Air Force of its mission can be fully exploited. could change the way combat search-and-
program to undertake Mercury’s ARIES Continued on page 4 Continued on page 4
New ship takes lead in

countermine and
anti-submarine warfare
The Navy’s Littoral Combat
Ship will use a broad
range of autonomous and
semiautonomous surface
and subsurface vehicles,
as well as advanced
networking communications,
to bring the nation’s anti-
submarine and countermine
warfare capabilities to bear
against terrorists as well as
conventional foes in dangerous
coastal waters. PAGE 28
PRODUCT APPLICATIONS
PAGE 37
________________
NEW PRODUCTS PAGE 39
FINISH LINE PAGE 42
www.milaero.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS August 2006 3
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NEWS
IN BRIEF
Boeing from page 3 vices program under contract with the Air tract could equate to the production of as
Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center many as 46,000 CSEL radios and a total
rescue missions are conducted, given that at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. contract value of roughly $250 million,
CSEL assists with the search portion. Boeing’s first full-rate production according to Boeing executives.
A multifunctional radio, the CSEL contract for the CSEL came last March The potential exists for the wide-
not only supplies geopositioning infor- from the U.S. Air Force. That $43.6 mil- spread use of CSEL in the armed forces. Smiths Detection receives
mation, but also ensures security via lion order called for Boeing to deliver Boeing representatives consider this sec- contract for chemical
communication and message encryp- 5,053 CSEL handheld radios to the joint ond FRP, received less than four months agent monitor units
tion techniques designed to prevent sig- services by October 2006. after the first contract, to be a nod of ap- Smiths Detection in Edgewood, Md.,
nals from being intercepted or decoded. If the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy proval from the Air Force warfighters won a delivery order for more than
Boeing developed the CSEL joint ser- elect to acquire these devices, the con- equipped with them. 2,000 Improved Chemical Agent
Monitor (ICAM) units. The contract
from the U.S. Department of De-
fense is worth $9.5 million. ICAM
is a handheld post-attack device that
provides a means of quickly locating
the presence of nerve- and blister-
agent contamination on personnel
and equipment in combat and home-
land defense missions. The soldier-
operated sensor is also used to con-
firm the absence of chemical threats
in high-risk situations. The ICAM is
based on the Chemical Agent Mon-
itor (CAM), developed by Smiths
Detection. More than 70,000 CAM’s
have been deployed worldwide in-
cluding to recent conflicts.
BAE Systems converts 20

F-4 jet fighters into target
drones for U.S. Air Force
BAE Systems in Mojave, Calif., will
provide the U.S. Air Force with 20
QF-4 full-scale aerial targets and asso-
ciated technical support. The QF-4 is
an F-4 Phantom aircraft modified for
remote-control operation. The targets
provide the Air Force with full-size
aircraft that permit aircrews to train in
highly realistic air-combat maneuver-
ing—including live weapons launch.
The contract is the second of five pos-
sible options exercised under an orig-
inal agreement in effect until 2013.
BAE Systems will perform the mod-
ification work at its facility in Mojave.
The production effort will be complet-
ed by July 2008. BAE Systems is the ex-
clusive provider of QF-4 drones to the
Air Force. Employees at the Mojave
facility recondition previously moth-
balled F-4s, run the aircraft through
flight tests, and deliver them to Tyn-
dall Air Force Base, Fla., where they
are further modified into full-scale
targets. The drones are then flown
from Defense Department test ranges
for use in development of new weap-
ons systems and to ensure that those
systems already deployed remain ca-
pable of neutralizing enemy aircraft.
The Air Force Headquarters Air Ar-
mament Center, Eglin Air Force Base,
Fla., is the contracting office.
_________________
Continued on page 10
4 August 2006 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.milaero.com
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Navy Burke–class destroyers enhance Views’ multi-image display capability pro-
vides personnel with a powerful ability to
view more information simultaneously.”
situational awareness with RGB system The QuadView four-window images
are distributed to 14 flat-panel displays as
BY JOHN MCHALE bility aboard ship. IVDDS upgrade is RGB Spectrum’s well as two large-screen projection units
ALAMEDA, Calif.—The U.S. Navy’s Arleigh The destroyers’ new Integrated Video QuadView multi-image display pro- located throughout the ship, including
Burke–class (DDG 51) guided-missile Data Distribution System (IVDDS) up- cessor. Using IVDDS, we can now in- the Pilot House, the Combat Information
destroyers are employing multi-image grade uses QuadView multi image dis- tegrate multiple visuals from a variety Center, the Officer’s Wardroom, and the
display processors to improve the situ- play processors from RGB Spectrum in of disparate sources, and distribute Commanding Officer’s cabin, displayed at
ational awareness communication capa- Alameda, Calif., to view real-time sen- and display them in real time to mul- 1280-by-1024-pixel resolution.
sor data and video imagery in multiple tiple locations throughout the ship.” The QuadView offers limitless display
locations throughout the ship. The QuadView processor is installed configurations to provide display flexibili-
“The feedback from commanding of- in the ship’s combat information center as ty, RGB officials say. Images can be any size,
ficers has been excellent,” says Michael part of the IVDDS. The processor receives from postage stamp to full screen, and po-
Prokosch, IVDDS Project Lead at the
Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port
Hueneme, Calif. “The system is able to
integrate and display more images to per-
High sonnel with exceptional image quality.
The QuadView–based system has met
Voltage our objective, significantly improving

shipboard situational awareness.”
The Burke-class destroyers primarily
MINIATURE are for detecting, tracking, and destroy-
DC-DC
CONVERTERS
ing enemy aircraft, surface ships, and
submarines, and have an expanded role
in striking land targets, Prokosch says. U.S. Navy’s Burke–class destroyers are improving situational awareness
“The Aegis Command and Decision with RGB Spectrum’s QuadView technology.
System receives data from ship and ex-
ternal sensors via satellite communica- feeds from Aegis close-in threat sensors, sitioned and moved anywhere on screen.
tions and provides command, control FLIR (forward-looking infrared), and live Each image can be zoomed and panned to
and threat assessment,” he contin- video from six cameras affixed at various focus on a particular area of interest. Func-
ues. “The latest Aegis, Baseline 7.1 and locations throughout the ship. tions are controlled using the QuadView’s
UNT
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A C od
0 S URF Std. M off-the-shelf) IVDDS to improve situ- of switched inputs, then each processor Preprogrammed display configurations
0 OLE
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Ove HRU-H ational awareness throughout the ship merges up to four of the incoming sourc- can be recalled at the push of a button.
T
and rather than just one or two locations es and outputs a combined image for each For more information visit www. ____
on the ship. A key component in the screen. Prokosch continues, “The Quad- rgb.com.
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NEWS
BAE Systems contracted to develop

next-generation wireless tactical networks
BY COURTNEY E. HOWARD Technologies in Burlington, Mass. to de- DARPA calls for BAE Systems to research, Each node in a MANET acts as a router
BURLINGTON, Mass.—The U.S. Defense Ad- velop next-generation wireless tactical design, develop, and evaluate a new pro- with which to forward traffic and form a
vanced Research Projects Agency (DAR- network protocols for the U.S. military. tocol stack for networks of autonomous network independent of any fixed infra-
PA) in Arlington, Va., awarded a contract The Control-Based Mobile Ad-hoc mobile communication devices, known as structure, and as an end-system; MANETs
to BAE Systems Advanced Information Network (CBMANET) contract issued by mobile ad-hoc networks or MANETs. historically have been considered to be low-
performance, although flexible, systems.
DARPA’s CBMANET is intended to
boost tactical network performance, in-
cluding improvements in throughput
and latency.
AT 22,241 MILES UP, “CBMANET will allow forward de-

ployed mobile units to stay networked
to each other and command posts de-
WHY TAKE THE RISK? spite connectivity variations due to ter-

rain and other factors,” notes Dr. Nils R.
Sandell Jr., BAE Systems’s vice president
R6 Space Level MOSFETs. Extremely Rugged. Highly Efficient. for advanced information technologies.
BAE Systems is working with the Cal-
ifornia Institute of Technology in Pasa-
dena, Calif.; Cornell University in Ithaca,
N.Y.; Massachusetts Institute of Technol-
ogy in Cambridge, Mass.; Pennsylvania
State University at University Park, Penn.;
University of Illinois in Urbana, Ill.; Uni-
versity of Massachusetts in Boston; and
Stow Research of Flanders, N.J.
Field demonstrations of the CBM-
ANET program are expected to take
place at the Fort Dix/Lakehurst Naval
Air Station in N.J.
Rockwell Collins from page 1

staff. Meanwhile, Evans & Sutherland has
retained ownership of its planetarium and
ITAR laser-projector businesses.
“Simulation and training offers a sig-
Part Number Voltage(V) RDS(on)(Ω) Package Style
FREE nificant growth opportunity for our com-
pany,” says Clay Jones, Rockwell Collins
IRHMS67160 100 0.011 Low Ohmic TO-254 chairman, president, and chief executive
IRHNJ67130 100 0.042 SMD-0.5 officer. “The acquisition of these assets
IRHYS67130CM 100 0.042 Low Ohmic TO-257 from Evans & Sutherland will further
enhance our simulation and training ca-
IRHNA67160 100 0.01 SMD-2
pabilities and provide more robust solu-
IRHNA67164 150 0.018 SMD-2 FEATURES tions for our customers.”
IRHMS67164 150 0.019 Low Ohmic TO-254 • Increases system efficiency by 2.5%* Rockwell Collins’ product line now
IRHNJ67134 150 0.088 SMD-0.5 • Reduces MOSFET power loss by 30%* encompasses simulation and train-
IRHMS67260 200 0.029 Low Ohmic TO-254 • Decreases in RDS(on) up to 40%*
ing solutions, including hardware and
soft ware, for military and commercial
IRHNA67260 200 0.028 SMD-2 • SEE Immunity to LET of 90MeV
customers who require realistic visual
IRHNJ67230 200 0.13 SMD-0.5 • TID Ratings at 100 and 300Krad (Si) imagery for simulation, training, engi-
IRHYS67230CM 200 0.13 Low Ohmic TO-257 • Low-ohmic and tab-less packages available neering, and other applications.
IRHMS67264 250 0.041 Low Ohmic TO-254 “The highly realistic images provided
by Evans & Sutherland’s hardware and
IRHNA67264 250 0.04 SMD-2
soft ware offerings, as well as the knowl-
*compared to existing technology edge and expertise of these employees,
RAD-Hard is a trademark of International Rectifier.
will further broaden and enhance Rock-
well Collins’ simulation and training of-
for more information call 1.800.919.7898 or visit us at ferings.” says Tony Syme, vice president
www.irf.com/hirel THE POWER MANAGEMENT LEADER of simulation and training solutions for
Rockwell Collins.
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Purdue from page 1 Findings related to the combination causes a rise of about 5 degrees or less. less than one nanometer to about 100
of carbon nanotubes and traditional in- It will be necessary to find more effi- nanometers. A nanometer is a billionth of
needs of future chips. The materials, which terface materials are detailed in a paper cient thermal interface materials in the a meter, or about the distance of 10 atoms
are sandwiched between silicon chips and by mechanical-engineering doctoral stu- future because as computer chips be- strung together, Purdue researchers say.
the metal heat sinks, fill gaps, and irregu- dent Jun Xu and Fisher that appears in come increasingly more compact, more The technology is ready for commer-
larities between the chip and metal surfac- the May issue of International Journal of circuitry will be patterned onto a smaller cialization and is being pursued by sev-
es to enhance heat flow between the two. Heat and Mass Transfer. area, producing additional heat, which eral corporate members of the cooling
Purdue researchers have made several As heat flows through convention- reduces the performance of computer research center, including Nanoconduc-
new thermal interface materials with car- al thermal interface materials, the tem- chips and can ultimately destroy the del- tion Inc., a start-up company in Sunny-
bon nanotubes, including a Velcro-like perature rises about 15 degrees Celsius, icate circuits, Fisher says. vale, Calif., which is a new member of
nanocarpet. The nanotube carpets also whereas the nanotube-array material The nanotubes range in diameter from the cooling center.
might have military and other commer-
cial applications for cooling power elec-
tronics that control the flow of electrical
power on aircraft, ships, and vehicles.
Cooling is such a huge issue that the
major chipmakers are hearing their cus-
tomer’s cries and introducing power-effi-
cient chips. Intel just started releasing chips
based on its Core Microarchitecture, which
claims to improve performance while re-
ducing wattage and heat. AMD is address-
ing the power and cooling needs with its
line of Multi-Core solutions.
“The bottom line is the performance
that we see with nanotubes is significantly
better than comparable state-of-the-
art commercial materials,” says Timo-
thy Fisher, an associate professor of me-
chanical engineering who is leading the
research. “Carbon nanotubes have excel-
lent heat-conduction properties, and our
ability to fabricate them in a controlled
manner has been instrumental in realiz-
ing this application.”
Funding the research is Purdue’s
Cooling Technologies Research Center,
supported by the National Science Foun-
dation, industry, and Purdue to help cor-
porations develop miniature-cooling
technologies for applications from elec-
tronics and computers to telecommuni-
cations and advanced aircraft.
Applications in power electronics are
being supported by the Air Force Re-
search Laboratory in association with
the Birck Nanotechnology Center at Pur-
due’s Discovery Park.
Recent findings have shown that
nanotube-based interfaces can con-
duct several times more heat than con-
ventional thermal interface materials at
the same temperatures. The nanocarpet,
called a “carbon-nanotube-array thermal
interface,” can be attached to the chip
and heat-sink surfaces.
“We say it’s like Velcro because it cre-
ates an interwoven mesh of fibers when
both sides of the interface are coated
with nanotubes,” Fisher says. “We don’t
mean that it creates a strong mechanical
bond, but the two pieces come togeth-
er in such a way that they facilitate heat
flow, becoming the thermal equivalent of
Velcro. In some cases, using a combina-
_________
tion of nanotube material and tradition-
al interface materials also shows a strong
synergistic effect.”
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NEWS
IN BRIEF $39.5 million for Multifunctional Infor-

mation Distribution System terminals
tant, digital data, and voice communi-
cations capability for the U.S. Navy, Air
tugal (11 percent), and Turkey (4.5 per-
cent) under the Foreign Military Sales
from the Space and Naval Warfare Sys- Force, Army, Marine Corps, and for (FMS) program, and to Germany (1 per-
from page 4 tems Command (SPAWAR) in San Di- U.S. defense partners. Delivery of the cent) through a Memorandum of Un-
ego. The order includes LVT(1) airborne Lot 7 units is expected to begin in June derstanding among the founding MIDS
ViaSat wins order in and LVT(2) ground-based Low Volume of next year and continue through the nations (Germany, Italy, Spain, France,
MIDS Tactical Network Terminals under the indefinite delivery/ first quarter of ViaSat’s fiscal year 2009. and the United States). “With these new
Terminal lot 7 award indefinite quantity contract awarded This delivery order combines purchas- orders from foreign military customers
ViaSat Inc. in Carlsbad, Calif., won a in January 2000. The MIDS-LVT pro- es for the United States and the first such as Turkey, Portugal, and Germany,
delivery order valued at approximately vides secure, high-capacity, jam-resis- order from the governments of Por- we expect to see a greater proportion of
FMS and direct commercial sales to for-
eign customers in the future,” says Paul
Baca vice president of Tactical Data
Links at ViaSat.
BAE Systems to
demonstrate precision-
guidance-kit technology
NetflightTM Aerospace Grade... for cannon artillery
The U.S. Army’s Project Manager,
Combat Ammunition Systems award-
ed BAE Systems in Minneapolis a
contract to participate in a competi-
tive technical development program
for the precision guidance kit for use
with Army cannon artillery ammuni-
tion. The guidance kit is a low-cost sys-
tem that will improve the accuracy of
conventional 105 and 155 mm artillery
projectiles. The BAE Systems–led team,
which includes the company’s Bofors
Netflight™ Optical Fiber 10/100/1000 Base T Ethernet unit, Rockwell Collins, and L3 Com-
munications BT Fuze Products Divi-
sion, received the award after success-
fully completing an internally funded
project to demonstrate a two-direc-
tional precision-guidance-kit solution
referred to as the BAE Systems Course
Correcting Fuze (CCF). In 2005, BAE
Systems conducted a successful firing-
to-impact, gun-fired demonstration of
the CCF system, marking the first time
a two-directional precision guidance
kit had been successfully demonstrat-
USB DVI-1 ed in a gun-fired environment by either
government or industry. The contract
Connecting COTS Technology to award also includes priced options for
follow-on system development and
the Avionics World. demonstration and initial production
phases. To date, BAE Systems has test-
Tensolite’s Netflight™ family of aerospace grade databus products support ed more than 100 CCF fuzes in labora-
standard and specialty protocols with a series of flight ready interconnect tory and gun-fi red environments cul-
solutions in both copper and optical fiber.All of our Netflight™ cables and minating in the 2005 demonstration
molded strain reliefs use non PVC materials which exceed the FAR where BAE Systems fired M795 rounds
requirements for flammability while achieving the superior hi-speed equipped with its CCF from both the
performance required for the latest applications. Whether you are talking Future Combat Systems Non-Line-Of-
Fibre Channel, Ethernet, USB, IEEE 1394, LVDS, DVI or others,Tensolite can Sight Cannon System Demonstrator
provide a standard or custom solution to meet your needs. and an M109A5 at the Army’s Yuma
Proving Ground. Analysis from the
Tel: 1 (800) 458-9960 demonstrations confirmed the projec-
tiles equipped with the two-directional
Fax: 1 (904) 829-3447
CCF solution achieved a precision er-
Tensolite.com ror of significantly less than 50 meters,
which was three times more accurate
than the control rounds.
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SEARCH
{RESCUE}
See what you’ve been missing.

The world’s first commercially-available 4K projectors, Sony’s SXRD™ lineup displays more than four times the pixels of high
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© 2006 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Features and specifications are subject to change without notice. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.
Sony, SXRD and the SXRD logo are trademarks of Sony. The New Way of Business is a service mark of Sony. Projected images simulated.
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NEWS
Trends from page 1 Stuttgart, Germany; U.S. Northern Com- communications (BMC3) systems. work, and to use the Extensible Markup
mand in Colorado Springs, Colo.; U.S. One part of Hanscom’s portion of Language (XML) to translate data from
lapse of the Twin Towers, but were unable Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahl- CWID involved interoperability between one system to the next, Anderson explains.
use their radios to warn the city’s firefight- gren, Va.; U.S. Space and Naval Warfare U.S. and European air-tasking orders, Tests were successful, and will be delivered
ers inside the buildings. Systems Command in San Diego; and at which are long directives that involve air in the next upgrades, he says.
Most of us are aware of the numbers Air Force Electronic Systems Center at targets, refueling, munitions, and coop- Another evaluation involved the Ray-
of first responders who were killed: 343 Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. eration among different air forces. theon Distributed Common Ground Sys-
New York firefighters and paramedics; Different military commands use the Formerly done laboriously by hand, tem (DCGS), which provides physical and
23 city police officers; 37 New York Port CWID exercise in pursuit of their own these air-tasking orders are now done electronic distribution of intelligence, sur-
Authority police officers. A total of 2,819 goals. The U.S. Northern Command, for with computers and data networks—but veillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data.
died in New York that day. example, uses CWID to evaluate emerging more work is needed. One core problem The system offers continuous on-demand
Now what if something even worse technologies for first responders—particu- addressed during the exercise involved intelligence brokering to enable U.S. and
happens in the future, which involves the larly for communications interoperability— the Command and Control Information coalition forces to alter and adapt their
militaries, firefighters, police, and first re- which could be used in future federal di- System of the Northern European Com- courses of military operations.
sponders of several countries? Will these sasters similar to Hurricane Katrina. mand, which encompasses Denmark, With previous multimachine systems
officials be able to communicate with one Interoperability demonstrations and Norway, and Northern Germany. this process could take hours or even
another? Maybe not today, but those who evaluations at Hanscom Air Force Base “We have an interoperability issue, in days. Today the system can do the same
participated earlier this summer in the revolved around coalition command and that we could not accept the U.S. infor- job in minutes or even seconds.
Coalition Warrior Interoperability Dem- control among U.S. and European mil- mation format,” explains Maj. Esben An- “We’re testing a portal we created for
onstration (CWID) at sites throughout the itary forces—particularly concerning derson, commander of the 615 Combat users to access the same DCGS informa-
world are working toward that goal. multilevel security technologies for joint Communications Squadron of the Dan- tion over a Web browser so you can have
The CWID is an annual exercise in- air operations centers. ish air force. “Now we have reformatted one machine that can do multiple func-
volving interoperability trials of systems “We’re here to find out what works, our data so we can accept U.S. formats tions and scan data to see who has what
and technologies that U.S. and allied mil- what doesn’t and what we should invest and export them in NATO formats.” assets available,” explains Charles Magras,
itary commanders consider to be essential in,” says U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Anderson and his colleagues were at lead system engineer for the DCGS inte-
for future operations. Pagoni, who oversaw CWID demonstra- Hanscom to put the reformatted system gration support contract at General Dy-
The CWID demonstrations ran over tions at Hanscom. In these evaluations, through its paces and to determine wheth- namics Advanced Information Systems.
the classified Combined Federated Battle representatives from U.S. and European er the new system worked well enough It is real-world experiments like the
Laboratories Network and the DISN LES military forces were eying new technol- with U.S. computers and software. CWID that can help make systems inter-
unclassified network. CWID sites were at ogies for possible inclusion in allied bat- Part of the challenge was to place a So- operability a reality, rather than just talk-
U.S. European Command headquarters in tle management/command, control, and laris-based system onto a Windows net- ing points and view graphs.
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NEWS THE ORIGINAL

Aitech from page 1 low-Earth orbit (LEO), high-Earth or- PUSH-PULL
Testing prices have also increased
bit (HEO), and deep-space applications.
These include redundant mission com-
CONNECTORS
due to the impending restriction of haz- puters, fl ight guidance and navigation
ardous substances (RoHS) legislation. computers, as well as command and
The legislation prohibits the sale of new data-handling computers. It is currently
electronic equipment containing cer- in use on the International Space Sta-
tain hazardous substances; manufac- tion, Patterson notes.
turers are to substitute heavy metals The board combines a high-per-
(lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexava- formance, low-power PowerPC 750FX
lent chromium) and brominated flame processor with a silicon-on-insula-
retardants (polybrominated biphenyls tor (SOI) processor for reduced pow-
or polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in er consumption—typically less than 12
all electrical and electronic equipment watts—as well as for increased proces-
brought to market after July 1, 2006. sor speed and radiation tolerance. Its
Patterson says his team tests for tin custom metal frame provides rigidity
content to ensure that there is never and shock resistance, as well as an ar-
more than 97 percent tin in any product, ray of stiffeners to support rugged PCI
because at more than 97 percent whis- mezzanine cards (PMCs).
kering can occur. The same economy of The S950 is rad-tolerant with a min-
scale applies to tin testing as to radia- imum board-level total ionization dose
tion testing—“because we test large vol- (TID) of 20 kilorad (Si). Flight units with
umes of products and make them avail- higher TID tolerance are available upon
able off-the-shelf, our customer gets a request. In addition, the board is latch-
price break,” he explains up immune with a high linear energy
Tin whiskers are electroconductive transfer (LET) of 37 MeV*cm2/mg and
filaments that resemble microscopic features a low single-event-upset (SEU)
hairs and grow out of pure tin via a crys- rate of less than one upset per 25 years
talline metallurgical phenomenon. The in operation at International Space Sta-
cause of tin whiskers is not completely tion (ISS) orbit.
understood, but stresses—like thermal The S950 features a 33 MHz, 32-bit in-
cycling—encourage their growth. ternal PCI bus that supports single and
No one knows what causes it, and burst transfers, and provides the inter-
even if they did, it would still occur, so connection to peripheral I/O, enabling
it has to be tested for because it causes fast access between the PCI devices and
parts to fail in space, he adds. the host processor. The board’s external
While Aitech’s approach is business 33 MHz, 32-bit cPCI bus interface is im-
related, it also helps that many parts that plemented on a rad-tolerant FPGA for
Aitech uses, such as field-programmable local processor access to cPCI resources.
gate arrays (FPGAs), are inherently rad- The board can be configured as a single-
hard, Patterson says. Many parts claim to slot system controller, supporting as
be space-ready but flunk testing, he adds. much as seven additional cPCI boards,
Aitech’s rad-tolerant, conduction- or as a standard cPCI board in any other
cooled S950 is designed for manned cPCI bus slot. LEMO Connectors
and robotic space vehicles in harsh For more information on Aitech visit
space radiation environments found in www.rugged.com.
Offer a Unique
Combination of Benefits:
● Quality products for any application
Predator UAV from page 3 computers; high-capacity, compact stor-
age devices; and sensor-exploitation al- ● Reliability where quality, safety and
“The ability to store, retrieve, and gorithms. This convergence will enable ruggedness are essential
process sensor data over a long period the automation of battlefield information ● Custom design to fit customer
of time will enable warfighters to detect processing, which in turn will reduce
specific needs
changes in tactical conditions,” says Bri- analysts’ workload and accelerate sen-
an Hoerl, vice president of worldwide sor-to-shooter information flow. The de- ● Cable assembly for value
sales for the defense business at Mercury. ployment of ARIES will facilitate best-of- added services
“This will allow them to pinpoint attacks breed algorithms and is consistent with ● Global support with extended
or avoid dangerous situations, which will the key tenets of network-centric warfare customer service and product
greatly enhance the potential for saving in turning airborne platforms into infor- specialists worldwide
time and lives.” mation servers.
In addition, CLAMP will combine Mercury experts plan to upgrade two
other selected technologies in a systemat- MP-510 multiprocessor systems previ-
ic approach to enable the Predator UAV to ously purchased by the AFRL, and to LEMO USA, Inc.
fulfill its Hunter-Killer role with improved assist in the performance optimization 800-444-5366
reliability and reduced collateral damage. of key applications to be tested by the email: info@lemousa.com
ARIES represents the convergence of CLAMP program. For more informa-
www.LEMO.com
three rapidly evolving technologies: low- tion contact Mercury online at www. ____
power, lightweight, high-performance mc.com/aries.
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OPINION
Design considerations for employing electronic
slip rings in mission-critical military systems
BY RICHARD SCHULTZ AND KEN MCCUE
In today’s high-performance defense their design to minimize the effects of vendors and design and assemble the the center core is allowed to rotate.
weapons systems, systems designers are cross-talk or interference between signal integrated assembly. One example of a slip ring is the
integrating high-power laser and mi- paths—even though these circuits are more common “drum” rotor design
crowave energy that have unprecedent- physically narrower than power circuits Operating environment and cost (see figure). The rotor is typically the
ed speed and accuracy. These weapons For low-speed, low-current applica- The environment in which the slip ring inner portion of the slip ring while the
systems search out targets such as ene- tions, a gold-on-gold wiper/ring com- must operate has an influence on the stator, the stationary portion, is the
my synthetic-aperture-array (SAR) ra- bination can be employed. This combi- slip-ring design in many ways. Rota- outer portion. The slip ring has a silver
dar systems or forward-looking-infra- nation produces the smallest packaging tional speed, temperature, pressure, graphite composite brush on a silver-
red (FLIR) systems, and can jam enemy configurations. humidity, shock, vibration, and expo- surfaced ring, which is typically used
weapons such as missiles by disrupting For relatively high-speed and high- sure to corrosive materials influence for power transmission. The same con-
their radar sensors or infrared seekers. amperage needs, composite silver the bearing selection, exterior materi- struction method is used for signal cir-
Because the microwave or laser trans- graphite brushes and silver-surfaced al selection, flange mounts, and even cuits. For these applications, general-
mitters used in these systems are rapidly rings often are necessary. ly a gold-on-gold wiper/ring
moving often faster than 360 degrees in These assemblies normal- combination is appropriate.
“Drum” rotor design
rotation, slip ring technology is among ly require large package sizes Either method provides low
Dual bearings
the few solutions designers can find to such as those used in an en- dynamic resistance, mini-
eliminate cabling that would otherwise closed power slip ring. Using mizing circuit noise into the
be twisted and tangled. either method, most slip ring 5 milliohm range.
A slip ring is an electromechanical circuits exhibit changes in dy- Rotor Dual bearings are used in
Leadwires
device that allows the transmission of namic contact resistance of a one-piece housing of alu-
power and electrical signals from a sta- approximately 5 milliohms. minum construction for sta-
tionary to a rotating structure. A slip Silver graphite bility and accuracy of bearing
composite
ring can be used in any electromechan- Mechanical packaging brush run-out. A cover can provide
ical system that requires unrestrained, The packaging considerations Dual bearings
either dust or environmental
intermittent, or continuous rotation in designing a slip ring often sealing.
while transmitting power, analog, and are not so straight forward as To eliminate misalign-
RF signals and data. the electrical requirements. ment between the slip-ring
Leadwires
Still, while the primary goal of the Many slip-ring designs re- One-piece housing Cover bearings and t he system
slip ring is to transmit the electrical sig- quire cabling and other rotat- of aluminum construction bearings, it is never advis-
nals, the physical dimensions, operating ing or nonrotating hardware able for t he customer to
environment, rotating speeds, and eco- to pass through the slip ring. hard mount to both the ro-
nomic constraints often affect the type These requirements often dictate the cabling choices. Lightweight alumi- tor and stator of the slip ring. Electro-
of packaging that must be employed. unit’s inner diameter dimensions. Sig- num housings are often used to house Miniatures can design-in f langes,
In many high-performance defense nal Thru Bore–type slip rings allow the the slip ring, although when warrant- mounting holes, or taps and slots in
applications, the slip ring is often cus- cabling to pass through the slip ring. ed, stainless steel construction may be the rotor and/or stator to achieve suc-
tom engineered to meet a customer’s Other designs, such as those in necessary. cessful mounting results.
specific requirements related to electri- wich aerodynamics or radar avoidance The electrical, mechanical and op- The type, gage, and length of lead-
cal specifications; mechanical packag- (stealth) are critical, require a slip ring erating requirements all drive the cost wires should be specified. Connector-
ing; operating environment; and cost to be extremely small in diameter, or of the slip ring. By drawing from a ization is an available option and the
constraints. of very low height. In other cases, such broad array of slip-ring design tech- leadwire exit pattern can be chosen to
as in confined environments like main nologies, novel electromechanical match the interface requirements.
Electrical specifications battle tanks or submarines, the space packaging concepts and employing a
Since slip rings transmit power, analog, available for the slip ring is limited. state-of-the art vertically integrated Richard Schultz has worked in the slip-
RF signals, and data through a rotating This can require the slip-ring compo- manufacturing operation, a slip-ring ring industry for more than 40 years and
member, the number of circuits, types nents to be provided as individual, un- manufacturer can design and manu- is currently director of engineering at Elec-
of signals, and the electrical noise im- housed components. facture a cost-effective solution opti- tro-Miniatures Corp. in Moonachie, N.J. He
munity requirements of the system play Another option is to integrate the mized to its customer’s performance holds a B.S. degree from Kean University in
an important role in determining the slip-ring components with a motor, requirements. Union, N.J.
physical design constraints of the slip- position sensor, or connectorized in
ring design. an integrated package. This can elim- How a slip ring works Ken McCue has worked in the slip-ring in-
High-power circuits that power a inate the packaging space and cost of A slip ring is a rotary coupling used to dustry for the last 17 years, as director of
laser or microwave transmitter, for ex- a variety of devices. Increasingly, sys- transfer electric current from a station- quality for 15 years and currently as director
ample, require large conductive paths tems integrators are shift ing their re- ary unit to a rotating unit. This is ac- of programs for Electro-Miniatures Corp. He
and broad spacing between the paths quirements to these integrated pack- complished by either holding the center formerly was an engineer for Kearfott Guid-
to increase dielectric strength. Analog ages, which enable them to outsource core stationary while the brushes and ance and Navigation Corp., and holds is BS
and data circuits that sense position and the complete servo system rather than housing rotate around it, or holding the in mechanical engineering from the College
control modulation also require care in source components from numerous brushes and housing stationary while of New Jersey in Ewing N.J.
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RFID TECHNOLOGY
AND THE DEPARTMENT
OF DEFENSE
Friday, August 25, 2:00 PM (Eastern)
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) requires its suppliers
to use radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on shipments
to the military. This mandate is part of a broad plan for RFID
tracking at all packaging levels and on high-value assets. The
goal is to reduce stocks and improve forecasting through total
asset visibility.
This webcast will answer many of the industry’s outstanding

questions on RFID technology:
• RFID technologies available

• Who needs to use it
• What shipments require RFID technology
• Nuances of the DOD policy
• Success stories and lessons already learned
Featuring RFID Experts:

Steve Roemerman, Chief Executive Officer
Lone Star Aerospace Inc.
Mr. Roemerman has 25 years of strategy, operations, and tech-
nology experience in the defense and telecommunications
industries in startups, turn-arounds, and Fortune 50 environ-
ments, including as CEO of Crosspan Network Technologies,
which focused on the development of wireless hardware.
John Volpi, Chief Technology Officer

Lone Star Aerospace Inc.
Mr. Volpi is a physicist with more than 30 years experience in
technology product development and management in defense
and telecommunications. He has deep wireless technology
domain expertise, having developed systems ranging from the
VHF band through infrared spectrum. His experience pre-dates
the first US cellular systems, and includes radio-telephones,
ship-to-shore communications, and GPS.
Lone Star Aerospace provides expert consultation in concept

development, product development, testing, and deployment
of RFID and related technologies.
To register or view any archived event 24/7 visit:
http://www.milaero.com/webcasts
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Jenoptik offers new
L-3 Communications Cincinnati Electronics provides infrared camera module
For express visualization or measure-
thermal imagers for MK46 optical sight system ment of heat distribution patterns, Jen-
optik Laser Optik Systeme GmbH in
NORTHAMPTON, Mass.—Officials of the Jena, Germany, is offering camera mod-
Kollmorgen Corp. Electro-Optical seg- ules for infrared spectral operation. The
ment in Northampton, Mass., needed IR-TCM 320 registers two-dimension-
thermal imagers for the MK46 Optical al heat distributions in real time with a
Sight System (OSS) on the U.S. Navy’s resolution of 320 by 240 pixels. Temper-
Ticonderoga-class guided-missile atures between –40 and 2 degrees Cel-
cruisers. sius can be visualized as thermographs
They found their solution from the
L-3 Communications Cincinnati Elec-
tronics (L-3 CE) subsidiary of L-3 Com-
munications Corp. in Mason, Ohio.
Kollmorgen awarded L-3 a con-
tract to upgrade the existing system,
which includes the L-3 CE NightCon-
queror 640 thermal imager. L-3 CE has
been providing OSS thermal imagers to
Kollmorgen since 2002.
First installed aboard a U.S. Navy Ar- L-3 Communications will provide the thermal imagers for the MK46 Optical with 90 mK resolution. Standard inter-
leigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Sight System on the U.S. Navy’s Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers. faces such as IEEE 1394 Firewire, S-/C-
in 1992, Kollmorgen’s MK46 sight system Video or RS232 are available for integra-
is the industry standard for electro-optical midwave imager on the existing fleet. The provide for special missions and ensures tion of the compact module into a broad
tracking and fire-control systems. sensor being supplied under these con- the system can be maintained as current diversity of OEM applications. Among
The system includes a daylight high- tracts consists of a folded optical dual state-of-the-art, L-3 officials say. the available options are: image analy-
resolution three-chip color camera, a 3-to- field of view telescope, the infrared sen- In 1997, the U.S. Navy and Kollmor- sis software, remote camera control and
5-micron thermal imager, an eye-safe laser sor, cooler, drive electronics and all nec- gen began a series of upgrades to provide a choice of objective lenses with different
rangefinder and stabilization accuracy to essary hardware/cables to interface the operators with more capabilities, includ- focal lengths. A dedicated Software De-
30 microradians. In addition, the system electronics to the weapons director. ing a new eye-safe laser rangefinder, a velopment Kit (SDK) allows for flexible
features built-in-test capability. The MK46 Optical Sighting System color television camera and utilization integration of the IR-TCM 320 into spe-
Deliveries continue for L-3 CE’s Night- MOD 0 is installed on all Burke-class of the standard UYQ-70 Console. cific custom-application software. Appli-
Conqueror IR thermal imaging sensors destroyers as part of the MK 34 Gun For more information contact L-3 cations of the module include industrial
being installed on the Burke-class de- System. The modular design allows the Communications Cincinnati Electronics process control and process automation,
stroyers as a replacement for the original system to be configured or upgraded to online at www.cinele.com. furnace monitoring, or security installa-
tions. For more information contact Jen-
optik online at www.jenoptik-los.com
Northrop Grumman readies laser-based anti-missile
Boeing-led team tracks and
system for operational deployment targets simulated missile in
BY JOHN KELLER
Airborne Laser ground test
REDONDO BEACH, Calif.—Engineers at the The Boeing Co. Integrated Defense Sys-
Northrop Grumman Corp. Directed En- tems segment in St. Louis, with industry
ergy Systems segment in Redondo Beach, teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense
Calif., are readying mobile high-power Agency, conducted an Airborne Laser
laser technology for deployment in the (ABL) ground test on June 6, demon-
U.S. and abroad against short-range bal- strating the weapon’s ability to track and
listic missiles, short- and long-range rock- target a ballistic missile. During the test
ets, artillery shells, mortars, unmanned at Boeing facilities in Wichita, Kan., the
aerial vehicles, and cruise missiles. ABL, which operates aboard a modified
The Skyguard laser defense system Boeing 747-400F aircraft, located a sim-
is based on technology that Northrop ulated boosting ballistic missile target
Grumman experts developed for the created by a target simulator. After using
Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) simulated returns from a surrogate tar-
test bed, the Mobile THEL prototype, get illuminator laser to track the target,
and its predecessors, which Northrop the Airborne Laser used simulated re-
Grumman developed for the U.S. Army turns from a surrogate beacon illumina-
and the Israel Ministry of Defence. tor laser to compensate for atmospheric
The Tactical High Energy Laser was turbulence that ABL’s high-energy laser
designed with a high-energy, deuterium would encounter in its path to a target.
fluoride chemical laser to protect against The equipment used in the test is part
attack by short-range ballistic missiles This artist’s rendering shows the Skyguard laser weapon as it destroys of the beam control/fire control sys-
Continued on page 18 incoming ballistic missiles, artillery shells, and mortar rounds. Continued on page 18
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When all you do is military computing,

you’d better be the best.
Our business is rugged computing for military applications. It’s all we’ve ever done. It’s our only business.
So if our future depends only on what we do today, and what we’ve always done, we’d better make sure
that we do it better than anyone else. And we think we do. We were among the very first to seize the COTS
opportunity. We wrote the book on rugged. We pretty much invented long term program support, help-
ing our customers manage their way through the challenges of deploying systems over multiple decades.
And as well as being leaders in COTS, leaders in rugged and leaders in customer support, we’re also lead-
ers in technology: we were, after all, first to market with a family of 3U VPX products. We’re also leaders
in our ability to help you deliver a more complete solution - from sensors, data acquisition and video
tracking through our unique AXIS-enabled multiprocessing capabilities to advanced graphics and
communications solutions.
Being the best. It’s about helping our customers be the best.
So why aren’t you working with Radstone?

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OR CALL TOLL FREE
www.radstone.com 800 368-2738
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Nothrop from page 16 ployed forces, a large military instal- pany officials say. tars and artillery projectiles, in very
lation, a large civilian population, or During testing, for example, the system realistic attack scenarios, and under sim-
and similar airborne threats. industrial area, Northrop Grumman of- shot down 25 Katyusha rockets, which were ulated operational conditions such as
Skyguard has higher power and a ficials say. One Skyguard system is capa- developed in the former Soviet Union, and surprise attacks and mixed threats.”
larger beam than its predecessors. Like ble of generating a protective shield of are in wide use in the Middle East. In 2004 The THEL prototype used fire-con-
earlier prototype systems from Northrop about six miles in diameter. the Mobile THEL system shot down sever- trol radar to establish trajectory informa-
Grumman, Skyguard is a multimission, “We believe that no other weapon al mortar rounds in actual mortar-threat tion about incoming rockets, and handed
soldier-operated, compact and trans- of any kind, or any system being devel- scenarios. The THEL prototype intercept- off targeting information to the pointer-
portable laser weapon system designed oped today, can offer the kind of protec- ed and destroyed single mortar rounds and tracker subsystem (PTS), which included
for field deployment and operations. tion we’ve proven Skyguard can provide,” salvos of mortars. a beam director. The PTS tracks the tar-
One Skyguard system can defend de- says Alexis Livanos, president, Northrop “The THEL test bed has demonstrat- get optically, then begins a fine tracking
Grumman Space Technology. “Skyguard ed unequivocally that lasers can engage process for THEL’s beam director, which
offers the earliest possible implementation and destroy rocket, artillery, and mor- places the high-energy laser on target.
of an operational laser weapon system for tar threats in flight,” says Mike McVey, The laser’s energy heats the target,
defense against a wide range of threats.” vice president of Northrop Grumman’s which causes its warhead to explode. Like
In use at the Army’s White Sands Directed Energy Systems. the THEL test bed, Skyguard is a modu-
Missile Range, N.M., since it was devel- “This test bed has been remarkably lar and flexible system that will support fu-
oped between 1996 and 2000, the THEL successful,” McVey says. “To date, it has ture spiral developments and can accom-
test bed has shown that laser weapons shot down dozens of live threats, includ- modate improved laser and beam-control
can protect troops on the ground, coming long- and short-range rockets, mor- technologies as they become available.
tem, designed and integrated by Lock- test is scheduled for 2008. Boeing is the plications. For this award, DRS will pro-
heed Martin, and the battle-manage- prime contractor for ABL. duce Light Thermal Weapon Sights and
ment system developed by Boeing. “The Thermal Imaging Modules (TIMs), which
memory made smarter Airborne Laser team is working tire- will utilize the company’s uncooled infra-
for real world challenges lessly to reach its first 2006 Knowledge DRS Technologies red technology. Work for this contract will
Point, in which the two actual illumi- receives Army contract be accomplished by the company’s DRS
nators will be installed, integrated and for next-generation Sensors & Targeting Systems–Optron-
ground-tested in the ABL aircraft,” says thermal weapon sights ics Division in Palm Bay and Melbourne,
Pat Shanahan, vice president and gen- The U.S. Army’s Communications-Elec- Fla., and Infrared Technologies Division
eral manager of Boeing Missile Defense tronics Command (CECOM) in Fort in Dallas, Texas, and Irvine, Calif. Using
Systems. The high-energy laser, which Monmouth, N.J., acting on behalf of Pro- advanced microbolometer-based infrared
achieved lethal power and run-times in gram Executive Office Soldier awarded technology, the DRS family of light, me-
a ground laboratory in December 2005, DRS Technologies, in Parsippany, N.J., a dium, and heavy TWS will provide U.S.
is currently being refurbished and will $14 million order to produce next-gener- Army soldiers and armament crews with
be installed in the ABL aircraft in 2007; ation lightweight Thermal Weapon Sights greater range of threat detection and wid-
the program’s first missile shoot-down (TWS II) for U.S. Army ground force ap- er field of view at a reduced cost.
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Manufacturers of FPGA programming tools
struggle to meet the new demands of designers
BY JOHN KELLER Inc. in Upper Saddle River, N.J. are working at making that goal a reality— ideas about changes they most need for
The latest field-programmable gate arrays “That goal is working at higher lev- eventually. Until that happens, Hosking programming and development tools.
(FPGAs) for military and aerospace appli- els of abstraction in terms of signal pro- recommends several areas in which FPGA “The three biggest challenges for FPGA
cations are larger and more complex than cessing or control task for implementing tools vendors might better serve engineers designers are timing closure, coding ef-
they have ever been before, which is put- FPGA functions. This is the dream and at Pentek and other FPGA implementers. ficiency, and verification,” says Dennis
ting increasing pressure on vendors of the vision that all the tool companies are “One issue constantly bugging us is Smetana, product development manag-
FPGA programming tools that bring out promising.” changes in the revision levels of the de- er for the CHAMP-FX product at Curtiss
all the performance that these devices were Pentek is an advanced signal-pro- velopment tools for FPGA design, such Wright Controls Embedded Computing
designed to offer. cessing company that specializes in soft- as the Xilinx ISE tools,” Hosking says. in Leesburg, Va.
No matter the kinds of advanced in- ware-defined radio for military and other “What happens is every time they come “There is a need to be able to design in
novations that FPGA tools manufactures government applications. Company en- up with a new revision, our IP cores and a hierarchical fashion, not only at an RTL
come up with, systems designers and gineers are implementing complex signal design kits and libraries may no longer level, but also to be able to preserve place-
FPGA programmers always want more— processing and RF algorithms in FPGAs work, or may not work the same way. If I ment and routing information once a
better code efficiency, higher levels of ab- for a growing number of applications. completed a project a year ago and got the block is completed,” Smetana says. “Tools
straction, better debugging, and ever Systems designers, Hosking says, “want FPGA working perfectly, I may recompile are starting to come out to address this is-
more tightly integrated tool suites. to, say, take a C program and convert it it on my new version of the tools and get sue providing more advanced floor plan-
“The overall trend that people want to into highly efficient FPGA code, and in a errors, things that don’t work anymore, ning capabilities, and I see an increased
see is better efficiency and performance couple of hours be off and running.” or different optimization techniques, and focus in this area. This is also key to the
from working at higher levels,” explains That goal, Hosking points out, has yet that causes problems.” more efficient use of reuse-IP which is re-
Rodger Hosking, vice president of Pentek to be achieved, yet FPGA tool companies Other FPGA implementers also have quired for quicker time to market.”£
FIELD-PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY (FPGA) DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT TOOLS,

AND SELECTED THIRD-PARTY FPGA DESIGN SUPPORT
Tool name Kind of tool Devices supported Host environments Key features Comments
ACTEL CORP; Mountain View, Calif.; 650-318-4200; www.actel.com

Libero IDE Integrated FPGA All currently released Actel Windows, Solaris, Linux Project and design flow management; schematic and Combines tools from EDA vendors
development devices including the Fusion HDL design capability; combining of schematic and Magma Design Automation, Mentor
package AFS600, ARM-enabled Fusion VHDL or schematic and Verilog design flows; SmartGen Graphics, SynaptiCAD, and Synplicity
M7AFS600, and ARM-enabled “correct by design” library of configurable logic, with custom tools from Actel
M7A3P/E memory, and new Fusion smart analog, mixed signal,
and digital peripherals; VHDL/Verilog synthesis; physical
implementation, floorplanning, physical constraints;
and SmartTime environment for timing constraint
management and analysis
Designer Physical All Actel FPGA devices Windows, Solaris, Linux Compatible with Actel LiberoIDE, Magma PALACE Physical Enables plug and play of EDA tools
implementation Synthesisk, and VHDL and Verilog simulation libraries; from Synplicity, Mentor Graphics,
software tool suite Support for Verilog/VHDL/EDIF/VITAL/SDF/SDC; MultiView Synopsys, Cadence, Magma Design
Navigator for cross-probing; timing-driven place-and- Automation, and many others
route; SmartTime Static timing constraints entry and
analysis; and real-time debugging software
Silicon Sculptor II Single device All Actel packages Windows 98, 2000, XP Universal Actel socket adapters; uses the same Volume programming services
programmer software as the Silicon Sculptor I; security fuse can be available
for the PC programmed to secure the devices; allows self-test to test
its own hardware; and STAPL support for ProASIC and
ProASICPLUS devices available in Windows software
ALDEC INC.; Henderson, Nev.; 702-990-4400; www.aldec.com

Active-HDL Integrated FPGA families from Windows NT/2000/XP Design entry; high-performance simulator; debugging; co- Tool employs hardware description
environment for different vendors simulation; automated testbench generation; design data languages and C/C++ solutions
digital IC design management; FPGA vendor support; coverage and profiler
metrics; documentation; legacy design support
ALTERA CORP; San Jose, Calif.; 408-544-7000; www.altera.com

Quartus II System on a Stratix II FPGAs; Stratix Windows XP Professional x64 TimeQuest timing analyzer; Project Manager Interface; Timing analysis tool with
programmable FPGAs; Stratix II GX FPGAs; (using 32-bit); Red Hat Linux SystemVerilog support; Enhanced I/O pin planner; comprehensive native support for
chip tool Stratix GX FPGAs ; Cyclone Enterprise 4.0 Expanded board-level design support; LogicLock the industry-standard Synopsys
II FPGAs; Cyclone FPGAs; enhancement; and SignalTap II logic analyzer Design Constraints (SDC)-based
HardCopy Structured ASICs; timing format
MAX II CPLDs; APEX II FPGAs;
APEX 20K FPGAs; Mercury
FPGAs; FLEX 10KE, FLEX 10K,
FLEX 10KA FPGAs; ACEX 1K
FPGAs; MAX 7000B, MAX
7000AE, MAX 7000S & MAX
3000A CPLDs
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ALTIUM LTD.; Frenchs Forest, Australia; 011-61-2-9975-7710; www.altium.com

Altium Designer Unified electronic FPGAs from Altera, Xilinx Windows XP Mixed schematic/VHDL and Verilog design synthesis; Live Built-in VHDL/Verilog synthesis and
product Lattice Semiconductor, connection fo soft devices such as virtual instruments allows use of external synthesis
development and Actel and processors running inside an FPGA; Pre-synthesized engines such as XST, Altera, and
system FPGA-ready peripheral libraries; Pre-synthesized FPGA- Synplicity, as well as a a VHDL
ready processor cores; wrappers for Alteral Nios II, Xilinx functional simulation engine and
MicroBlaze, and PowerPC 405 implemented through support for transparent interfacing to
Virtex-II Pro ModelSim and Active-HDL
ANNAPOLIS MICRO SYSTEMS INC.; Annapolis, Md.; 410-841-2514; www.annapmicro.com

CoreFire FPGA application Xilinx Virtex II Ppro; Virtex II; Windows NT; Windows 2000 Works from high-level data flow concept; GUI design Includes more than 1,000
builder Virtex E; and Virtex FPGAs antry and debug tools; drag-and-drop high- and low- parameterized cores
level modules; intelligent toolds and modules to handle
synchronization, mangae clocks, and guarantee correct
control by design; support for conversion between data
types; Java files and host code to run and debug FPGAs
ATMEL CORP.; San Jose, Calif.; 408-441-0311; www.atmel.com

Integrated Place-and-route Atmel AT40K/AT40KAL and Windows 98/2000; Windows Design Flow Bar provides pushbutton access to all steps Combines indistry-standard software
Development tool that can work AT6000-series FPGAs NT; Sun Solaris/SunOS Unix in the design flow, including opening schematic entry for design entry, synthesis, and
System (IDS) with other synthesis and synthesis tools, and automatically generating files simulation with Atmel proprietary
tool environments simulations. The HDL Planner tool is for VHDL and Verilog software for component generation,
design entry, while the Macro Generation creates standard automatic placement and routing,
components with optimized layout and performance timing analysis, and bitstream
generation
CELOXICA LTD.; Abingdon, England; 011-44-1235-863656; www.celoxica.com

Aldec ActiveHDL Unified environment Device independent NA Combines Celoxica DK (v3.1 or later) with Aldec Active- Mixed HDL and C environment in
and DK design suite for developing HDL (PE-DL v6.1 or later); supports VHDL, Verilog, C/C++, which developers using C can specify
designs with VHDL, Handel-C; includes Active-HDL graphical design entry the output format of their C-synthesis
Verilog and C and RTL simulation; invokes DK from Active-HDL Design (VHDL, Verilog or EDIF), set the top-
Flow Manager; flow chart and direct interface access level unit for C-synthesis, and set the
to Handel-C; Active-HDL common kernel simulation family, device, and speed grade of the
environment that integrates simulation solution for C, target silicon
Handel-C, VHDL, Verilog, and EDIF; generates FPGA logic
output for all Celoxica DK FPGA families
Agility Compiler Behavioral design Device independent NA Pure SystemC with no proprietary constraints or FPGA design and ASIC/SoC
and synthesis for annotations; automatically generates IEEE RTL VHDL and prototyping
SystemC Verilog; automatically generates FPGA netlists including
Stratix II and Virtex 4; synthesis support for several clock
domains; synthesis support for several blocks and no size
limitations
IMPULSE ACCELERATED TECHNOLOGIES; Kirkland, Wash; 425-605-9543; www.impulsec.com

CoDeveloper C language Universal tool, as well as NA Advanced C-to-FPGA synthesis and optimization; support Tool enables users to design in Cusing
development system CoDeveloper for Altera and for VHDL and Verilog synthesis targets; desktop simulation standard C development tools and
for coarse grained Xilinx FPGAs using standard C environments including Visual Studio, methods; analyze applications to
programmable GCC and other C development environments; CoDeveloper create accelerated hardware/software
hardware targets Version 2 Application Manager and Application Monitor; systems; partition algorithms into
CoBuilder C-to-hardware compiler and HDL code software and hardware processes;
generator; Stage Master parallel code optimizer; Graphical simulate and verify using traditional
optimization and analysis tools (CoDeveloper Pro Tools); debuggers as well as parallel and
cycle-accurate source-level debugger (CoDeveloper cycle-accurate tools; optimize
Pro Tools); online documentation and examples; direct the design using interactive and
support for Xilinx- and Altera-based FPGA platforms automated tools; generate hardware
including synthesizable HDL and
hardware/software interfaces
LATTICE SEMICONDUCTOR CORP.; Hillsboro, Ore.; 503-268-8000; www.latticesemi.com

ispLEVER 5.0 Design environment All Lattice digital devices Windows 2000/XP; Solaris Includes tools for design entry, HDL synthesis, Includes ispVM for device
and 6.0 2.8; Red Hat Linux Enterprise implementation, simulation and analysis, device programming and PAC-Designer for
Version 3 programming, and in-system logic analysis design of ispClock and ispPAC devices
ispVM System Device All Lattice intelligent signal Windows, Linux, Solaris Supports non-Lattice device programming; support for Software can generate VME files
programming tool processing (ISP) devices IEEE 1532 programming standard; automatically Convert supporting both ispJTAG and non-
that for ISP devices Existing .dld and .wch files; specify I/O states during Lattice JTAG files which are compliant
using JEDEC and programming; override device programming operations; to the IEEE 1149.1 standard
Bitstream files program entire chain or selected device(s); USERCODE/
generated by Lattice UES editor; user accessible comment field; board
Semiconductor and diagnostics option; selectable cable, port, chain file, scan,
other design tools and display options
ORCAstra PC-based graphical All LatticeSC, LatticeSCM Windows XP, Windows 2000, Graphical user interface; set/re-set control bits in FPGA/ The GUI can also be used to display
user interface that FPGAs, LatticeXP and Lattice Windows NT 4.x, Windows 98 FPSC registers; read FPGA/FPSC registers; single-channel system status information in real time.
enables a user FPSC devices, including or multi-channel data-entry modes available; text status Use of the ORCAstra software does
to configure the the ORT82G5, ORT42G5, window; save & re-use configurations; macro feature not interfere with the programming of
operational mode ORSO82G5, ORSO42G5, allows user to cycle through several configurations the FPGA
of a FPGA or FPSC ORLI10G and ORT8850 automatically; optional USB, parallel, or serial connection
by programming to the device/board
control bits in the
on-chip registers
Continued on page 22
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MAGMA DESIGN AUTOMATION; Santa Clara, Calif.; 408-565-7500; www.magma-da.com

Blast FPGA Automated RTL- FPGA architectures from Actel, Windows, Linux, Solaris Unified timing model for detailed device and interconnect FPGA architecture-specific synthesis
to-FPGA physical Altera, and Xilinx modeling and consistent model throughout physical and concurrent analysis in one tool
synthesis solution synthesis; FPGA-specific mapping and placement
technology with timing-driven optimizations,
restructuring, rewiring, and automated limited buffer
insertions; ASIC-strength synthesis technology wotj
standard VHDL/Verilog coding style and SDC support, on-
the-fly datapath synthesis with architecture switching, and
embedded static timing analysis and views
MENTOR GRAPHICS CORP.; Wilsonville, Ore.; 503-685-7000; www.mentor.com

HDL Designer For design Any PLD, FPGA, Platform Unix; Solaris; Windows RTL reuse and code quality assessment with scoring; Tool works with any language: VHDL,
creation, synthesis, FPGA, Structured ASIC, ASIC NT/2000/XP; Redhat and SuSE multi-lingual text design tools; advanced state machine Verilog, SystemVerilog, C/C++, PSL,
and verification Prototypes, ASICs, and SOCs Linux design; hybrid text-based design; HDL-centric block-based as well as with any flow. The tool is
processes of from Actel, Altera, Atmel, design; team design & data management integrated with leading simulation,
ASIC and FPGA ChipExpress, Lattice, Xilinx, emulation and formal solutions, and is
designs in a team plus any ASIC foundry integrated with commercial synthesis
environment and place-and-route environments
ModelSim SE Device simulation Device independent Windows 98/ME/2000/XP; Enhanced GUI; common debug environment; updated GUI makes it easy to view and access
tool Linux; AIX; HP-UX; Solaris performance profiler; Verilog 2001 support; SystemVerilog powerful capabilities; ModelSim
support; integrated coverage metrics; SystemC support provides instance-based coverage
results for supported metric types,
including statement, branch, condition,
and expression coverage
Precision Synthesis RTL and physical Device independent; supports Windows, Linux, and Solaris Integrates RTL synthesis with physical optimization Helps select the right FPGA technology
synthesis major FPGA vendor-generated flows; support for Verilog 2001 and VHDL; FPGA vendor- for each project
environment cores independent technology integrates with vendor place-
and-route tools; Modular Design Flow enables reuse
of physically implemented components; “what if” and
incremental timing analysis; automated physical synthesis;
placement and timing debug editor
PENTEK INC.; Upper Saddle River, N.J.; 201-818-5900; www.pentek.com

AllianceCORE Radar Performs radar Xilinx Virtex-II Pro and Virtex-II NA 155 MHz maximum clock with Virtex-II Pro FPGA; High- Using pulse compression enables
Pulse Compressor pulse compression resolution block floating-point calculation; Wide range of designers to improve range resolution
by performing block sizes and data resolutions; Capable of operating on for a radar system
matched filtering 64 to 16384 data sample; Complex block floating-point
using a Fast output- 16, 20, or 24-bit integer plus 6-bit exponent;
Convolution Matched filter reference may be entered in time or
Processing (FCP) frequency domain; Includes Matlab Pulse Compression
algorithm Utility
PROVER TECHNOLOGY AB; Stockholm, Sweden; 011-46-8-617-68-00; www.prover.com

Prover eCheck Logic equivalence Device independent Windows, Linux, Solaris Consumes as little as 600 megabytes per million gates; Mixed language support for VHDL,
checker for FPGA, divide-and-conquer mapping engine with a combination Verilog, EDIF 2.0, and Synopsys
ASIC, and SoC flows of state point name, state point function, and design Liberty. Enables users to detect,
structure to map primary inputs, outputs, registers, diagnose, and eliminate logic errors in
latches, bufif primitives, and FSMs; debugging engine; FPGA prototyping, military, medical,
automatically pinpoints coding constructs that may lead to and embedded systems, and in
simulation mismatches retargeting
QUICKLOGIC CORP.; Sunnyvale, Calif.; 408-990-4000; www.quicklogic.com

QuickWorks Comprehensive QuickLogic FPGAs Windows, Sun Solaris, and Linux Tools for schematic and HDL-base design entry, HDL Includes integrated schematic and
design environment language editors and tutorials, logic synthesis, place and HDL-based design entry, HDL language
route, timing analysis, and simulation support editors and tutorials, logic synthesis
support from Mentor Graphics,
automatic place and route, static
timing analysis, Verilog and VHDL
functional, and timing simulation
support from Aldec Inc. and 3rd party
interfaces
SYMPHONY EDA; Beaverton, Ore.; 408-333-9199; www.symphonyeda.com

VHDL Simili VHDL development Device independent Windows and Linux Fast VHDL compiler and simulator assembled into an Compiler/simulator can be used with
system ntegrated development environment and waveform or without the graphical user interface
interface (as batch tools)
SYNAPTICAD INC.; Blacksburg, Va.; 540-953-3390; www.syncad.com

SimuTAG Real time Xilinx Spartan-II family, Windows NT 4.0; Solaris Supports a variety of Xilinx devices that support INTEST Find logic and synthesis errors by
verification system Spartan-IIE, Virtex, Virtex E, instruction in JTAG; supports VHDL and Verilog simulators comparing FPGA functional results
for FPGAs Virtex-II, Virtex-II Pro FPGAs, with a PLI interface like VeriLogger Pro; enables cycle- against RTL model simulation results,
and Xilinx 9500, 9500XL, accurate design simulation; exports vectors from simulator and validate real time FPGA results
9500XV CPLDs to the BSD cells of the device and imports the data from using Verilog and VHDL test benches
the BSD cells of the device back to the simulator to
facilitate visual analysis; captures several seconds of real
time data
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SYNOPSYS INC.; Mountain View, Calif.; 650-584-5000; www.synopsys.com

Design Compiler FPGA synthesis Device independent Sun Solaris, Redhat Linux Advanced core synthesis technology; design compiler Compatible with Synopsys tools
FPGA tool for ASIC compatibility; advanced compile methodologies; including Design Compiler; Formality;
prototyping using automatic gated clock transformation; decoupled FPGA DesignWare; PrimeTime; LEDA; VCS;
high-end FPGAs libraries; multi-FPGA guided partitioning; hierarchy VERA; Module Compiler; HSPICE
management; advanced design manipulation; SDC
support; STAMP model support; support for complex
clocking; FPGA Vision GUI
SYNPLICITY INC.; Sunnyvale, Calif.; 408-215-6000; www.synplicity.com

Synplify Pro FPGA synthesis Device independent Windows, Linux, SunOS The Synplify product takes Verilog and VHDL Hardware Synplify is a high-performance,
solution Description Languages as input and outputs an optimized sophisticated logic synthesis engine
netlist in most popular FPGA vendor formats that uses proprietary behavior
extracting synthesis technology to
deliver FPGA and CPLD designs
Identify RTL Probes and debugs Device independent Windows, Linux, SunOS Enables the user to navigate the design graphically and Identify software is closely integrated
Debugger an FPGA design mark signals directly in RTL as probes or sample triggers. with synthesis and routing tools for a
directly in the After synthesis, the user views the results in the RTL seamless development environment
source Register source code or in waveform
Transfer Language
(RTL)
Synplify Premier Adds graph-based Device independent Windows, Linux, SunOS Graph-based physical synthesis improves timing closure Synplify Premier finds functional
physical synthesis by means of a single-pass physical synthesis flow for 90- errors in FPGA designs by providing
and real-time nanometer FPGAs, in which re-existing wires, switches, simulator-like visibility into operating
simulator-like and placement sites used for routing an FPGA can be FPGA hardware with integrated
visibility into represented as a detailed routing resource graph; the debugging software that enables
operating FPGA notion of distance then changes to a measure of delay and designers to annotate signals and
devices availability of wires conditions they want to monitor
directly in their RTL code.
THE MATHWORKS; Natick, Mass.; 508-647-7000; www.mathworks.com

MATLAB High-level language Device independent Linux; Linux x86-64; Mac OS X; High-level language for technical computing; development For applications such as signal and
and interactive Solaris; Windows; Windows x64 environment for managing code, files, and data; image processing, communications,
environment interactive tools for iterative exploration, design, and control design, test and measurement,
problem solving; mathematical functions for linear financial modeling and analysis, and
algebra, statistics, Fourier analysis, filtering, optimization, computational biology
and numerical integration; 2-D and 3-D graphics functions
for visualizing data; tools for building custom graphical
user interfaces; functions for integrating MATLAB based
algorithms with external applications and languages, such
as C, C++, Fortran, Java, COM, and Microsoft Excel
Simulink Multidomain Device independent Linux; Linux x86-64; Mac OS X; Libraries of predefined blocks; graphical editor for Simulink detects and pinpoints
simulation and Solaris; Windows; Windows x64 assembling and managing intuitive block diagrams; excessive zero-crossing events to
model-based design management of complex designs by segmenting models specific blocks to help diagnose and fix
into hierarchies of design components; Model Explorer performance problems
to navigate, create, configure, and search all signals,
parameters, and properties of a model; interfaces with
other simulation programs and incorporates hand-
written code, including MATLAB algorithms; option to
run fixed- or variable-step simulations of time-varying
systems interactively or through batch simulation;
functions for interactively defining inputs and viewing
outputs to evaluate model behavior; graphical debugger
to examine simulation results and diagnose unexpected
behavior in a design; access to MATLAB for analyzing and
visualizing data, developing graphical user interfaces, and
creating model data and parameters; model analysis and
diagnostics tools to ensure model consistency and identify
modeling errors
XILINX INC.; San Jose, Calif.; 408-559-7778; www.xilinx.com

ISE Foundation Logic design Xilinx Spartan-3E; Spartan- Microsoft Windows 2000 and Support for the Virtex-4 family FPGA; Xilinx Fmax Built-in tools and wizards also make
environment 3; Spartan-IIE; Spartan-II; XP Professional; Sun Solaris Technology; support for multi-processor workstations; I/O assignment, power analysis,
CoolRunner-II; CoolRunner 2.8/5.8, 2.9/5.9; Red Hat ease-of-use and a wide range of supported platforms timing-driven design closure, and HDL
XPLA3; XC9500; Virtex-4 Enterprise Linux 3 (32 or 64 bit) simulation quick and intuitive
FX; Virtex-4 LX; Virtex-4 SX;
Virtex-II Pro; Virtex-II; Virtex-
E; Virtex
ModelSim XE Hardware Xilinx Spartan-3E; Spartan- Windows 2000 Professional; Supports designs with as many as 2 million system gates Enables the user to verify the
description 3; Spartan-IIE; Spartan-II; Windows XP Professional within ISE MXE-III; supports simulation for Xilinx devices functional and timing models of a
language (HDL) CoolRunner-II; CoolRunner including Virtex-4, Spartan-3, CoolRunner-II; enhanced design and HDL source code
simulation XPLA3; XC9500; Virtex-4 GUIs for easy access and fast debugging; Verilog 2001
environment FX; Virtex-4 LX; Virtex-4 SX; support; seamless integration with ISE delivers
Virtex-II Pro; Virtex-II; Virtex-
E; Virtex
Embedded Integrated Xilinx Virtex-E; Spartan-3; Windows 2000 SP2, SP3, SP4, Platform Studio Integrated Development Environment; Tool suite, documentation, and IP for
Development Kit software solution Spartan-3E; Spartan-IIE; XP SP1, SP2 Professional; Solaris Platform Studio Software Development Kit (SDK); designing Xilinx platform FPGAs with
(EDK) for designing Spartan-II; Virtex-4 FX; Virtex- 2.8/5.8, 2.9/5.9; Linux Red Hat Embedded Systems Compiler and Debugger Tools; embedded PowerPC hard processor
embedded 4 LX; Virtex-4 SX; Virtex-4; Enterprise 3.0 Board Support Package Generation; Processor IP library; cores and/or MicroBlaze soft
processing systems Virtex-II Pro; Virtex-II MicroBlaze soft processor core license processor cores
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TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Electronics designers space Corp. in El Segundo, Calif., de-

bated with NASA leaders about wheth-
er NASA should launch the space shuttle
grapple with lead-free

Discovery STS-121. Aerospace Corp. ex-
ecutives fear that tin whiskers on the
shuttle’s flight-control-system (FCS) avi-
onics boxes will fall onto circuit boards,
solder guidelines which would create a failure of the orbit-

er’s electrical components and the sub-
sequent loss of crew and shuttle. NASA
launched STS-121 on July 4.
The European Union WEEE/RoHS directives cause concern Tin tactics

In moving to lead-free electronics, compo-
in the military and aerospace market as to the availability nent manufacturers must abandon their
use of a tin-lead finish on the component
and reliability of lead-free electronic components. legs, designed to ease the process of solder-
ing parts onto the board. Gold, silver, zinc,
and other metals can grow whiskers, but
BY COURTNEY E. HOWARD tin is perhaps the most susceptible.
“Certain lead-free finishes are very
T
he European Union (EU) has is- tal Processing in the United Kingdom. brittle and intolerant of extreme temper- prone to tin-whisker growth,” MacCaig
sued two directives that will have “Even for those countries where there is ature changes, which are common in mil- says. “The exact reasons for that are be-
a significant inf luence on the no lead-free legislation and no require- itary and aerospace environments. coming better known, but the phenom-
global military and aerospace market. ment to manufacture lead free, while it’s “If you take the lead out, you increase enon of tin whiskers is still something of
First, the EU Restriction of Hazard- not directly applicable to them, it is go- the risk of that solder joint failing due a mystery.”
ous Substances (RoHS) in electrical and ing to affect them. The electronic com- to the expansion and contraction of the
electronic equipment directive (Directive ponents they need to purchase to make parts it is connecting together,” MacCaig
2002/95/EC of the European Parliament their products are moving to a lead-free says. “That is certainly one of the chal-
and of the Council), which took effect finish. All the evidence at the moment lenges of moving to lead-free solder—
July 1, prohibits the sale of new electron- certainly suggests that that’s the way the working out exactly what substances and
ic equipment containing certain hazard- world is going, and that we will be seeing what processes to use to make sure we
ous substances, including lead, cadmi- lead-free solder everywhere.” can get the sort of reliability that we’re
um, mercury, hexavalent chromium, used to from a lead-based solder.”
polybrominated biphenyls, and polybro- Getting the lead out The use of lead-free solder further
minated diphenylethers in the EU. The biggest, although not the only, influ- calls into question the reliability of the
Second, and expected to take effect ence of the RoHS legislation for the elec- overall printed circuit board and its
NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

on January 1, is the EU Waste Electrical tronics industry is the requirement to re- components, not just the solder joints.
and Electronic Equipment (WEEE; Di- duce significantly—nearly to zero—the The move to lead-free products affects
rective 2002/96/EC) policy, which calls amount of lead in products, including the whole manufacturing process, says
for organizations to take responsibility component finishes and solder. Lead has Doug Patterson, vice president of world-
for recovering and recycling products been used in solder, which is predomi- wide sales and marketing at board man-
containing hazardous materials at the nantly made of tin, for several decades ufacturer AiTech Defense Systems Inc. in
end of their useful lives. with good reason. For starters, the addi- Chatsworth, Calif.
The EU is not alone in its environmen- tion of lead makes solder softer and more “Lead-free solders require higher pro-
tal legislation with regard to the manufac- pliable, which is of particular benefit to cessing temperatures, which stress the Many manufacturers, contractors,
ture and recycle of electronics; it is a glob- military and aerospace applications. board during manufacture quite a bit subcontractors, and systems inte-
al trend. Japan, one of the world’s leading “Electronic components and the circuit more,” remarks Patterson. “Military cus- grators are refusing to use pure-tin
devices due to the risk of develop-
producers of electronic components and board that they are soldered to expand and tomers care about and won’t accept the
ing tin whiskers, known to cause
printed circuit boards, has been aggres- contract at different rates as they heat and higher temperature, which puts great- system failures.
sive in its efforts to remove lead from its cool,” MacCaig explains. “The solder joint er stresses on the boards’ components.
manufacturing processes and is expected connecting them has to be able to accom- Some of our customers are saying, ‘We Tin whiskers represent a crystalline
to institute lead-free legislation this year. modate those items expanding and con- will not accept anything but tin-lead.’” metallurgical phenomenon by which
China is following suit. In the U.S., mean- tracting at different rates—it has to link Another effect of moving to lead-free tin grows tiny electroconductive fila-
while, California legislature approved SB- and move without fracturing so that, over solder and components—tin whiskers— ments that resemble microscopic hairs.
20, with a compliance deadline of January lots of thermal cycles, the joint stays intact is garnering much attention among de- The cause of tin whiskers is not com-
2007 that prohibits the sale of electronic and doesn’t break.” fense and aerospace systems designers, pletely understood, even after decades of
products in the state that do not meet EU A primary concern in moving away and rightly so. Tin whiskers have caused study, yet experts do know that thermal
RoHS standards. from leaded solder is compromising the documented failures to various satellites, or compressive stresses encourage their
“The component industry is mov- integrity of the solder joint, which is of radars, and missiles, including the Gal- growth. Able to carry a current, whiskers
ing all of its parts slowly but surely to be keen concern to military systems design- axy-3 satellite, F-15 jet fighter radar, and are known to cause shorts in high-volt-
lead-free,” recognizes Andy MacCaig, ers where reliability is paramount. A lead- Patriot missile. age circuits and intermittent failures in
operations director for Radstone Digi- free solder joint is likely to be far more More recently, officials of the Aero- low-power ones.
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TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
“For the better part of 60 years, we’ve tist to figure out that they’re not going to says. “We also keep the products around is still required to qualify these solder
known in the electronics industry that tin maintain two separate product lines with for much longer. You get rid of your cell replacements for the mil-aero environ-
whiskers are a natural phenomenon of two separate lead frames to support both; phone about every two years; we don’t get ment; yet they are learning more each
pure tin, especially when it’s put under me- it’s economics. They’ll obsolete an entire rid of our weapons systems and replace day, Anderson says.
chanical stress,” Patterson says. “You build product and offer you the replacement them every two years. They can last 20,
the lead frame, grow the device, attach the product, which is the same die but on a 40, even 60 years in service. Those things Compliance and pure-tin testing
die, cover it with epoxy, and then you bend different lead frame. If that lead frame is set our systems apart from the commer- The EU RoHS directive does not require
the leads and cut it; that puts mechanical pure-tin, we can’t use it and we have to cial arena.” manufacturers to include specific ver-
stresses throughout the lead frame. Those redesign the product to provide the same The longevity of products, and the need biage or a certain label or logo on prod-
mechanical stresses cause tin whiskers, or level of functionality—there are costs as- to repair them periodically, lends to an- uct assemblies or packaging. The as-
molecules of tin, to grow off the device in sociated with that, and nobody wants to other area of concern—the combination, sumption is made, therefore, that any
any different direction, sometimes so thick feel those costs passed on.” whether consciously or unknowingly, of product entering the European market is
you can’t even see through it—it’s a forest. tin-lead and lead-free products. RoHS compliant. U.S. customers, howev-
If one grows off, it’s so small you can’t see Kicking and screaming “Some of the materials being used as re- er, prefer to know precisely what materi-
it, except under high magnification, and it The end users in military, space, and placements are not at all compatible with als are incorporated in each product.
can short the device. commercial aviation environments are tin-lead,” Anderson says. “For example, if “Some component manufacturers
“People have put pure-tin, wire-wrapped likewise concerned, not only about the you get bismuth in a tin-lead solder joint, have switched to pure-tin lead frames,
connectors in their desk drawer and, when cost and availability of products but also it becomes very brittle. There are configu- and they have not marked their pack-
they pull them out a couple months later, their safety and reliability. ration-control issues with how you do re- aging as having switched,” Patterson
they are a forest of whiskers—stuff you “Components are becoming an avail- pairs, what components you replace, and mentions. “It’s a complicated and se-
can’t even see through,” Patterson contin- ability issue because manufacturers are what solders you’re using in the repair rious issue. A whole industr y has
ues. “And they are strong; you could whack shifting to lead-free to meet the needs of methodology. It’s causing quite a concern, popped up around testing components
that thing on the table and those fibers stay their major customers—the major semi- on their content.”
right where they are.” conductor market, including cell phones, “The quality of the information
telecommunications, and computers,” that we get from component sup-
Obsolescence concerns says Vance Anderson, chief of the Mi- pliers is variable,” MacCaig admits.
“A lot of non-European organizations, I croelectronics Design Branch of the “Some give us more info than we
think, have taken the view initially that DOD’s Defense Microelectronics Activi- could possibly want and allow us
this is a piece of EU legislation; they’re ty (DMEA) in Sacramento, Calif. “Most to confirm that they really are sup-
not based in the EU, therefore, they don’t manufacturers are not going to maintain plying us product that is compliant
need to worry about it,” MacCaig points a dual-process line for leaded and lead- and that we can use. We have man-
out. “On the one hand, if you’re not sell- free components.” ufacturers at the other extreme that
ing products into the European market, WEEE/RoHS and similar legislation give us very little data and do not
then the EU directive isn’t applicable to are forcing changes tell us when they move from a lead-
you. An American company manufac- on the U.S. Depart- ed to a lead-free finish on products.
turing in America, selling to American ment of Defense and People need to be careful to make
customers has no obligation to be com- related industries, sure that what they’re buying is what
pliant with the European regulations.” even though no U.S. they think they’re buying. We’re having
MacCaig admits, however, that the is- restriction on these to work very hard to do just that.” To that
sue at hand is far more complicated. materials exists. Be- end, Radstone has purchased equipment
Military and aerospace systems de- yond the parts avail- for incoming product inspection to ana-
signers have become increasingly reliability issues, mili- lyze whether they are compliant with the
ant on commercial-off-the-shelf com- tary and aerospace ROHS regulations.
ponents, given their low cost and ready personnel are con- “We already know of lead-free parts in
availability. Commercial component cerned about the ef- our supply system, even though our con-
manufacturers, interested in taking ad- fects of mixing lead- tracts specify that they should not be sup-
vantage of the global market, are dedi- free and traditional plied that way,” Anderson says. “There
cated to the production of RoHS-com- tin-lead in systems. could be problems in repair and manufac-
pliant, and therefore lead-free, products “We have a few is- turing because of that. You have to man-
and production processes. Most are un- sues with lead-free,” Radstone uses the Fischer ED-XRF Fluorescence Spec- age your parts and your processes. If you
likely to run two product streams— Anderson says. “One trometer to determine whether incoming components do nothing, you’ll be fighting fire drills and
one lead-free for the European market that everybody likes are lead-free and RoHS-compliant. dealing with problems. You really have to
and one that’s still leaded for and mil- to talk about is tin know what is going into a system.”
itary, aerospace, and defense applica- whiskers, when you have less than roughly especially if you keep in mind the military
tions. Even if some companies continue 3 percent lead in the finish on the compo- is one of the few industries that still repairs Options and offerings
to support a non-RoHS-compliant prod- nent, which cause failures due to shorts circuit cards. Most of the high-reliability With the EU RoHS directive in effect,
uct line, the concern is that the compo- and other problems.” programs, the space programs in NASA, the industry has a finite list of options.
nents will cease to be COTS products by The DMEA has tested lead-free as- for example, are absolutely demanding that The first option is to continue using lead-
definition and will suffer from higher semblies, to which most commercial we still use traditional tin-lead solder.” ed solder. Some companies have elected
prices and reduced availability. manufacturing processes are moving. Its Still, Anderson and others at the to buy all the parts they can while they
“As we start developing new products, results show that they do not perform as DMEA are running several test pro- are still available to complete their pro-
we start hitting component obsolescence well as traditional tin-lead systems in a grams to evaluate new lead-free solders duction requirements.
issues,” Patterson says. “WEEE/RoHS military environment, and they may not in the military environment. While the “We can take a part from a manufac-
has caused some semiconductor vendors survive the accompanying extreme envi- manufacturers are performing tests on turer that is supplied to us lead-free, and
to obsolete entire product lines. If they’re ronments and long product cycles. and qualifying solders, they do not test refinish it ourselves to allow us to contin-
selling a million chips a day to the telecom “We use our systems at a much high- according to the temperature extremes ue to solder it with a leaded solder,” Mac-
industry and selling 100 chips a day to the er temperature range, both hot and cold, and the product-life durations necessary Caig says, offering up another choice, al-
military, it doesn’t take a rocket scien- than the commercial industry,” Anderson for military use. A great deal of testing though it adds extra process steps, extra
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TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
time, and extra cost to the product. Work in progress have with tin-lead solder,” acknowledg- able, supportable systems, how exactly
“The third option is to move to lead- In the meantime, much of the industry es Anderson. “There is no single solu- we’re going to do that is still yet to be
free product, but even that isn’t as easy as wonders if the WEEE/RoHS legislation tion—a solution that a satellite applica- determined.”
it sounds,” MacCaig continues. “We can’t and others like it will have a negative ef- tion takes is going to be different than “It’s a very hard time for a lot of peo-
necessarily get all the parts lead-free for fect on the industry as a whole, and wheth- that of a commercial radio. The truth is ple because we don’t know how this issue
some of the products we currently have er the bodies implementing such policies I’ve been hoping that somebody invents is going to settle out, and when,” Patter-
in production. We have this slight conun- fully understand the ramifications and im- the perfect lead-free replacement solder– son says. “That’s what people are search-
drum where we cannot always get the parts plications that they have worldwide. but unfortunately, it just hasn’t been in- ing for—answers.
lead-free to build a lead-free board, but we “Fundamentally, I don’t have a problem vented yet. There are advantages and dis- “The bottom line is we are not go-
also cannot get all the parts leaded to build with this lead-free issue; in the long run, advantages to all of them. The keys are to ing to ship unreliable products out to the
a leaded board. Still, we are able to refinish it’s probably a good idea,” notes Patter- become educated on the issue, to have a field, out the troops—period,” Patterson
an unleaded part to be leaded, and go the son. “But setting an unrealistic timetable controlled transition plan in place, and insists. “No ifs. No ands. No buts, and it’s
other way as well, if needed.” for the world to convert from a technology to know how it affects your system. Look not just us. There’s no cost-effective solu-
Some viable options for replacing tin- that has been in place for 60 or 70 years and at the safety, reliability, and mission re- tion out there yet today, but there will be.
lead solder exist today, and the industry in expecting the industry to react in a year’s quirements of your system and ensure Hang in there. We’re all in this together,
general continues to work on alloys of tin— time is patently unrealistic and totally un- that these changes don’t attack them. and we’re busy working on the solution
including palladium, gold, and nickel—to reasonable.” We’re going to continue to build reli- together.”
keep pure-tin content down below 97 per- Doubtless, the changeover to lead-free
cent to prevent whiskers from forming. solder and component finishes in the mili-
“Unfortunately, all those packages are tary and aerospace markets will take time. RESOURCES
really expensive now,” Patterson says. A wealth of suppliers to the electronics in- AiTech: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center:
“Palladium is roughly $1,000 a gram. dustry, even major entities and European www.rugged.com http://nepp.nasa.gov/whisker/background/
The market usage and demand is very businesses, are struggling with the transi- Best Manufacturing Practices: index.htm
______
low. The whole precious-metals industry tion. Some, unable to make the leap, have www.bmpcoe.org Radstone Digital Processing:
has just absolutely exploded over the past requested exemptions www.radstone.com/home/rad_digital-
_____________________
Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA):
four years in terms of inflation, making it On the user side, Anderson admits that processing.aspx
_________
www.dmea.osd.mil
even more difficult. Even so, this market everyone is in the process of learning about U.K. Department of Trade and Industry:
will settle down, the requirements will new tin-lead solder replacements. “We still Europa, Gateway to the European Union:
www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/ www.dti.gov.uk
settle down, the solution will be found, have a long way to go before we catch up
waste/weee_index.htm
_____________ University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced
and life will go on.” to the 60 or so years of experience that we
Live Cycle Engineering (CALCE) Electronic
Products and Systems Center:
www.calce.umd.edu/lead-free
Radstone advances reliability of
lead-free products, processes
More often than not, a discussion about ues. “It’s about validating our lead-free
lead-free products and processes in processes, and making sure we have
the electronics industry will turn to the the qualification data available to prove
phenomena of tin whiskers. Lead-free
products suffer an increased risk of tin
that a product is reliable.”
Radstone takes umbrage with man- Setting the Standard
whiskers over tin-lead solutions. Never-
theless, it is possible to produce lead-
ufacturers who test their products at
room temperature, evaluating before for Technical Quality
free products that have no bigger risk of
developing tin whiskers than their lead-
and after a temperature cycle. Un-
der those circumstances, the test re- in Electronics
ed counterparts, says Andy MacCaig, sults might not reveal solder-joint frac-
operations director for Radstone Digi- tures that cause a product to fail only
The Electronics Business Group produces a
tal Processing in Towcester, England. when it’s at an elevated temperature.
wide range of electronic components,
Radstone Digital Processing has been As a result, Anderson and other Rad-
cable assemblies, EMI and EMP shielded
working on safe and efficient lead-free stone personnel make a point of testing
cables, wiring harnesses, custom braiding,
options for more than 18 months. the product the entire time that it being
power distribution systems, lighting, radio
“I think a lot of people assume that temperature cycled.
mounts, circuit card/board assemblies with
lead-free and tin whiskers are directly The first board samples that the Rad-
assured quality and performance built in.
linked, and a lead-free product must be stone team temperature-cycled with a
With over 40 years of manufacturing
more susceptible to tin whiskers,” Mac- lead-free process, roughly 18 months
experience, nationwide facilities, a highly
Caig says. “That’s not necessarily true, ago, withstood only 10 thermal cycles
skilled labor force and an escape proof
if the right steps have been taken to from –40 to +85 Centigrade before sol-
guarantee…the Electronics Business Group
mitigate that risk. We work closely with der joints fractured—not nearly the lev-
is prepared to meet your needs.
our suppliers, from the start of a de- el of reliability required. Company rep-
sign process all the way through to the resentatives worked with various solder
manufacturing process, to make sure manufacturers on the exact composi-
the risk of tin whiskers is as small as tion of the solder paste and on the sol- Electronics Business Group
we can make it, and certainly no great- dering profile.
U.S. Department of Justice
er than a leaded product. “It’s really about optimizing the mix
Federal Prison Industries, Inc.
“The thing that’s important to us of materials that make up that lead-free
and to our customers is that we can solder alloy,” Anderson says. “We now www.unicor.gov/electronics/mil
electronicssales@central.unicor.gov
demonstrate that we have the required have a process that can withstand well
level of reliability of those products in over 1000 thermal cycles and still be
mil-aero applications,” MacCaig contin- reliable.”
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SPECIAL REPORT
New ship takes lead

in countermine and
anti-submarine warfare
The Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship will
T he U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a shallow-draft,
fast, and maneuverable warship specially designed for dan-
gerous coastal and harbor operations, will be a showcase of some
of the most modern integrated systems for anti-submarine warfare
use a broad range of autonomous and (ASW) and countermine operations when the first ship of the class
takes to the seas in 2008.
The LCS will be able to deploy a wide variety of sensors for anti-
semiautonomous surface and subsurface submarine and countermine warfare from several flying, floating, and
submersible manned and unmanned vehicles, as well as use conven-
vehicles, as well as advanced networking tional submarine- and minehunting systems to keep sensitive coast-
lines open for U.S. military operations.
The new ship has a helicopter deck and hangar capable of
communications, to bring the nation’s accommodating as many as two MH-60R/S helicopters, as
well as a tactical unmanned air vehicle (UAV), and will
anti-submarine and countermine warfare be able to launch and recover its aircraft in condi-
tions as severe as 27-knot wind gusts and
waves nearly 10 feet high.
capabilities to bear against terrorists as well continued on page 30
as conventional foes in dangerous coastal waters.

By John Keller
This artist’s rendering

demonstrates how the
Raytheon AN/ASQ-235
Airborne Mine Neutraliza-
tion System will function
against tethered and
bottom-placed mines. A
shaped charge destroys
or neutralizes the mine.
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OUR ELECTRONIC WARFARE SYSTEMS HELP PILOTS SUCCEED AND SURVIVE.

Thousands of rotary and fixed wing pilots rely on our advanced situational awareness, threat
warning and ECM suites. Our EW team digs deep, not just to meet the specs, but to find
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ITT INDUSTRIES, ITT LOGO BLOCKS AND ENGINEERED FOR LIFE ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF ITT INDUSTRIES, INC. ©2006 • PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE
To learn more about our EW systems, go to itt.com/EW
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SPECIAL REPORT
The MH-60S and MH-60R helicop- launch and recover manned and un- and 50, with accommodation
ters from the Lockheed Martin Corp. manned surface vessels and unmanned for as many as 75 ship and
Systems Integration division in Owe- underwater vehicles (UUVs) in 21-knot special-mission crew.
go, N.Y., are based on the Sikorsky Air-winds and waves as high as five feet. To put it in perspective,
craft Corp. UH-60 helicopter airframe. Two ships are under contract to two the LCS is roughly the size
The S model is fitted with systems opti-separate contractor teams—the Lock- of a Navy frigate, which has
mized for countermine warfare, and the heed Martin Corp. LCS team in Balti- a crew of about 200. Yet the
R model is optimized for locating, track-
more, which is designing a high-speed LCS has a crew complement
ing, and attacking enemy submarines. semiplaning monohull vessel, and the as small as that of a Coast
In addition, the LCS will be able to General Dynamics Bath Ironworks LCS Guard patrol vessel. To make
team in Bath, Maine, up for its relatively small crew
which is designing a size, the LCS will use a high
high-speed trimaran degree of system autonomy
with a slender stabi- as it seeks to keep the oceans
lized monohull. clear of hostile submarines
Although the de- and anti-shipping mines.
signs of the two com- Perhaps the most impor-
The AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Sonar
panies will look strik- tant mission of the LCS is de- system from Raytheon Co. will deploy from one
ingly different, they tecting and destroying enemy of the MH-60R helicopters aboard the Littoral
both are to meet the mines designed to damage or Combat Ship.
same set of Navy re- destroy military and com-
quirements, which in- mercial shipping with floating, moored, veillance and Battle Management Sys-
volve autonomous sys- or bottom-placed munitions. tems segment in Melbourne, Fla.
tems as one of the chief Northrop Grumman is designing and
enablers of the LCS. Airborne Laser Mine building the ALMDS under terms of a
This new breed of Detection System $124.5 million Navy contract awarded in
The first Littoral Combat Ship USS Freedom (LCS 1)
warship may have one The first countermine system aboard the September 2005.
is under construction by Lockheed Martin Corp. at
Marinette Marine Co. in Marinette, Wis. The LCS will of the smallest crews LCS is called the AN/AES-1 Airborne Called the first new technology to be
have a wide variety of manned and unmanned sys- of any surface combat- Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS), applied to mine hunting since the advent
tems for detecting and defeating hostile submarines ant. The LCS will have which is under contract to the Northrop of sonar, the ALMDS uses a laser-based
and anti-ship mines. a crew of between 15 Grumman Corp. Airborne Ground Sur- technology mounted to an MH-60S heli-
_____________________________________________
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SPECIAL REPORT
copter called light detection and ranging, Irvine, Calif., is building an environ- from EDO Defense Systems in North product director at EDO. “It is designed
or LIDAR, to detect, classify, and local- mental control system chiller to provide Amityville, N.Y. The system is towed to approach the minefield from the edg-
ize floating and near-surface moored sea a constant supply of regulated-tempera- from an MH-60S helicopter that de- es, then cut in, and detonate the mines
mines using a blue-green laser. ture fluid to the system. ploys from the LCS. outside the risk envelope of the towed
By using lasers to detect mines, rather Once other systems find hostile mines, system itself.”
than towed sonar systems, Navy leaders Organic Airborne and the OASIS system is designed to trigger OASIS is particularly useful in mud-
expect to speed the process of finding and Surface Influence Sweep the mines at a safe distance by emitting dy or cluttered water where other kinds
destroying mines. The laser-based system Another component of the LCS’s coun- an electromagnetic and acoustic signa- of sensors and minesweeping systems
does not require the launch and recovery ter-mine warfare capability is the AN/ ture. “It fuses the mine by making the might not work effectively. This capabil-
of specialized minehunting systems. ALQ-220 Organic Airborne and Sur- mine think there is a ship nearby,” ex- ity is of critical importance coastal wa-
Areté Associates in Arlington, Va., is face Influence Sweep (OASIS) system plains Vince Gac, undersea warfare ters, straits, choke points, and whenever
providing Northrop Grumman with the
LIDAR sensor for the ALMDS system.
Meanwhile, Meggitt Western Design in
The Battlespace Prep Autonomous

Underwater Vehicle (BPAUV) coun-
termine reconnaissance system
from Bluefin Robotics Corp., shown
above deploying from a surface
ship, uses a side-scan sonar system
©Brian R. Wolff iipinet.com, all rights reserved

to detect and map anti-ship mines.
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there is little time for minehunting op- making turns. The towed body mea-
erations. sures its tow depth and its height above
OASIS has six major components: the the bottom, and uses this data to find the
towed body, the magnetic influence sub- best depth for minesweeping. The tow
system, the acoustic influence subsystem, cable distributes power, and communi-
the control/monitoring and power sub- cates with the aircraft.
system, the common console OASIS soft- “Internally we have the towed body
ware, and the tow cable interface. that flies itself in a bottom-following
The towed body is hydrodynamical- mode where we use a transducer to hug
ly stable in all control modes while be- the bottom,” Gac says. “We take power
ing towed in a straight course and while from the helo, and send it down to dif-
The Raytheon AN/AQS-20 Mine-
hunting Sonar System, shown above,
is the primary minehunting sensor
Intersil Military and Space ICs system for the MH-60S helicopter,
as well as the AN/WLD-1 Remote
Minehunting System, an unmanned
High Performance Analog
diesel submarine.
ferent transformers in the system. Elec-
tricity flows from the two electrodes, and
makes a magnetic field in the water.
“We generate an acoustic signature
Launched from with a cavitating impeller on each side
Kennedy Space Center
on September 5, 1977. of the craft,” Gac continues. In the future
possibly may look at a superconducting
type system, or toward a solenoid-type
Closest approach to
Jupiter on March 5, 1979. sweep with superconducting elements to
generate a larger field.”
Flies by Saturn on Minehunting Sonar System

November 12, 1980. Another weapon in the LCS arsenal
against enemy mines is the AN/AQS-
Voyager 1 passes Pioneer 10 20 Minehunting Sonar System, a towed
to become the most distant body for single-pass detection and clas-
man-made object in space. sification of volume and bottom mines
from Raytheon Integrated Defense Sys-
tems in Portsmouth, R.I.
Voyager 1 enters the Solar System’s Final The AQS-20 uses imaging sonars,
Frontier as it enters interstellar space in signal processing, and computer algo-
December of 2005. In January of 2006, the
Voyager program celebrates 10,000 days rithms to localize mine-like objects and
of successful operation. alert the system operator with a visual
image and a contact data list, Raytheon
officials say.
The system, which can be towed by
MH-53E and MH-60S helicopters, sur-
Intersil would like to salute Voyager 1 on becoming the first man-made object to leave the face vessels, and the unmanned AN/
heliosphere. Our chips, still working as well as the day they left earth, have had a WLD-1 Remote Minehunting System,
wonderful and even longer ride than we ever imagined. is 10.5 feet long, 15.5 inches in diame-
ter, and weighs 975 pounds. It has com-
mon hardware, soft ware, and interfac-
Intersil Space and Radiation For more than 40 years, Intersil has applied es, as well as common integrated logistic
Hardened Products Include: unique design and process capabilities to support and operational configurations,
Power Management produce integrated circuits capable of handling Raytheon officials say.
the temperature and radiation extremes of space
Amplifiers and Buffers At the heart of the AQS-20’s mine-
and other harsh environments. Now, we’ll get to
Converters see how well they perform in interstellar space.
hunting capabilities are a combination of
sidescan, forward-looking, and gap-filler
Switch/MUXes When failure is not an option, demand an IC you sonar sensors, and an electro-optic iden-
Memory, SRAMs / PROMs can count on. Intersil offers a complete line of tification (EOID) capability that yields
Microprocessors ICs specifically designed for and guaranteed to
high-definition images of bottom mines
consistently operate in the space environment,
Peripherals using streak-tube imaging LIDAR, other-
including our STAR*Power™ radiation
Data Acquisition hardened power management family. No other wise known as STIL technology, from
Linear Regulators supplier can match our full space-level For more information about Intersil Military Raytheon partner Areté Associates Opti-
screening, QMV V-Level design testing, or our and Space ICs, go to www.intersil.com cal Engineering in Tucson, Ariz., says Lou
proven flight record. Varrichione, director of maritime sensor
systems at Raytheon Integrated Defense
Intersil – An industry leader in Switching Regulators and Amplifiers. Systems.
©2005 Intersil Americas Inc. All rights reserved. The following are trademarks or services marks owned by Intersil Corporation
The system sends sonar and imaging
or one of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the USA and/or other countries: Intersil (and design) and i (and design).
data up its fiber-optic tow cable to the
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SPECIAL REPORT
operator console located either aboard Anti-submarine warfare and countermine systems involved with the Littoral Combat Ship
the host helicopter or by wireless data System Mission Description Contractor Location
links to operators aboard nearby surface COUNTERMINE WARFARE SYSTEMS
vessels. The operator’s station has a high-
AN/AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Mine-detection Uses laser radar to detect floating or Northrop Grumman Melbourne, Fla.
speed data recorder to store mission in- Detection System (ALMDS) system subsurface mines Corp. Airborne Ground
formation for later analysis. Surveillance and Battle
Management Systems
Airborne Mine Neutralization System AN/ALQ-220 Organic Airborne Mine detection and Towed body to provide rapid response EDO Defense Systems North Amityville,
Once the LCS systems detect mines, and Surface Influence Sweep destruction sweeping capability against bottom and N.Y.
(OASIS) moored acoustic and magnetic or combination
Navy commanders need a way to de- acoustic/magnetic influence mines.
stroy the mines or render them harmless. AN/AQS-20 Minehunting Mine detection Towed body for single-pass detection and Raytheon Integrated Portsmouth, R.I.
That is where the AN/ASQ-235 Airborne Sonar System system classification for volume and bottom mines Defense Systems
Mine Neutralization System (AMNS) AN/ASQ-235 Airborne Mine Location and Deployed from the MH-60 helicopter, the Raytheon Integrated Portsmouth, R.I.
from Raytheon Integrated Defense Sys- Neutralization System (AMNS) destruction of anti- AMNS main vehicle locates mines, and one of Defense Systems
tems in Portsmouth, R.I., comes in. shipping mines its four attached vehicles destroy the mines
with shaped charges
Deployed and towed from the MH-
60S helicopter, the ASQ-235 takes data AN/AWS-2 Rapid Airborne Destroys floating, Using coordinates from the ALMDS, the Northrop Grumman Melbourne, Fla.
Mine Clearance System near-surface, and RAMICS fires special 20 mm projectiles to Corp. Integrated
from other countermine sensors, pin- (RAMICS) shallow-bottom sea destroy mines in water as deep as 300 feet Systems Airborne
points the locations of the mines, and mines Ground Surveillance
then destroys them with one of the four and Battle Management
(AGS & BM) Systems
expendable munitions attached to the
ASQ-235 vehicle. AN/WLD-1 Remote Location and Semi-autonomous, semi-submersible vehicle Lockheed Martin Syracuse, N.Y., and
Minehunting System (RMS) destruction of mines that locates and classifies sea mines Undersea Systems Riviera Beach, Fla.
In efforts to control costs and facili-
tate maintenance and upgrades, Raythe- Battlespace Prep Autonomous Countermine Autonomous underwater vehicle that covertly Bluefin Robotics Corp. Cambridge, Mass.
Underwater Vehicle (BPAUV) reconnaissance gathers bathymetry and bottom classifications
on designers use the same vehicle form for battlespace preparation
factor for the ASQ-235 Airborne Mine
Neutralization System as they did with table continued on page 34
the AQS-20 Minehunting Sonar System. for undersea sensor systems at Raytheon tralizer vehicle, what has a shaped charge neutralize the mine.”
The ASQ-235 “has four tethered neutral- Integrated Defense Systems. in its nose,” Normington continues. “It The anti-mine system consists of a
izers on optical fiber,” explains James “The vehicle does a pass, detects and swims up and puts its nose against the control console and a launching mecha-
Normington, senior program manager classifies any mines, and deploys a neu- mine and detonates itself to destroy or nism for its four unmanned underwater
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Anti-submarine warfare and countermine systems involved with the Littoral Combat Ship continued on the target. The stabilized gun usually
System Mission Description Contractor Location fires a burst of between 20 and 50 projec-
OTHER SYSTEMS
tiles, which have a shape and speed to pro-
duce a cavitation envelope in which the
Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) High-speed surface Maneuverable, shallow-draft warship Lockheed Martin and Baltimore, Md. and
combatant designed for operating in shallow coastal General Dynamics Bath, Me. projectile rides at very low drag.
waters and harbors The ASQ-235 projectile strikes the
Theater UnderSea Warfare Maritime situational Command and control system for theater-level Lockheed Martin San Diego mine at a velocity sufficient to penetrate
(TUSW) program awareness system anti-submarine warfare Orincon Defense the mine and release a reactive materi-
Spartan Unmanned Surface Autonomous rigid- Long-duration surveillance, anti-submarine, General Dynamics Westminster, Md. al into the explosive to detonate and de-
Vehicle hull inflatable boat and countermine warfare Robotic Systems stroy it.
(RHIB) sensor
platform
Battlespace Prep Autonomous
ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE SYSTEMS
Underwater Vehicle
Advanced Deployable System Rapidly deployable Communications to link the ADS system to Harris Corp. Government Melbourne, Fla. The helicopter is not the only platform
(ADS) LCS communications submarine the Littoral Combat Ship. ADS is a deployable Communications
surveillance system underwater sensor array to detect enemy Systems Division from which the LCS can deploy weapons
submarines and other threats. to find and destroy hostile mines. One
AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Submarine detection Advanced helicopter-based dipping sonar Raytheon Integrated Portsmouth, R.I. of the most important countermine sys-
Frequency Sonar (ALFS) and classification Defense Systems tems aboard the ship is the Battlespace
Sea Talon (future system) Detection and Uses Remote Minehunting System vehicle Lockheed Martin Syracuse, N.Y., and Prep Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
location of hostile fitted with anti-submarine-warfare equipment Undersea Systems Riviera Beach, Fla. (BPAUV) countermine reconnaissance
submarines system from Bluefin Robotics Corp. in
Cambridge, Mass.
vehicles, which are tethered to the pri- the only way the LCS can destroy anti- The AWS-2 system takes coordinates This autonomous underwater vehicle,
mary ASQ-235 vehicle with fiber-optic shipping mines. Another system on the from the Northrop Grumman AN/ which the LCS lowers into the water by
cable and equipped with video and so- LCS’s MH-60S helicopter is the AN/ AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Detection crane, covertly gathers bathymetry to
nar sensors to detect and pinpoint anti- AWS-2 Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System and fires special 20 mm projec- map the ocean bottom near shore to de-
shipping mines. System (RAMICS) from the Northrop tiles to destroy mines quickly in water tect physical changes that might indi-
Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems as deep as 300 feet. cate the presence of hostile anti-shipping
Rapid Airborne Mine Airborne Ground Surveillance and The mine coordinates pass to the mines. The BPUAV can operate not only
Clearance System Battle Management Systems segment AWS-2 controller, which automatically di- from the LCS, but also from small vessels
The ASQ-235 system, however, is not in Melbourne, Fla. rects and holds a stabilized rapid-fire gun the size of launches or fishing boats.
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“The primary mission is to do surveys diesel-powered submarine with a snorkel localize targets in the water so other sys- The system has an onboard camera,
and collect side-scan sonar data of what and antenna mast that always sticks out of tems can come back and destroy them which helps the vehicle navigate and avoid
is on the bottom,” explains Christopher the water. “It is a small snorkeling diesel later or so Navy commanders can switch obstacles, according to Navy require-
Wallsmith, chief knowledge officer at Blue- submarine,” says John Brandes, the sys- alter their missions to avoid minefields. ments. Eventually Lockheed Martin engi-
fin Robotics. The fully autonomous robot tem’s chief engineer at Lockheed Martin. The AN/WLD-1 system can operate neers plan to improve the system’s ability
submarine can operate completely on its “With the mast up it has over-the-horizon for the better part of a day, and is sched- to avoid obstacles on its own with addi-
own or with the help of an operator when and line-of-sight radio communications, uled for deployment in summer 2007 tional sensors and sensor processing.
the vehicle is on the surface, using the Irid- and continuous Global Positioning Sys- aboard Arleigh Burke–class guided mis- Its primary sensor is the Raytheon AN/
ium satellite communications system. tem positioning. It doesn’t break the con- sile destroyers hull numbers 91 through AQS-20 Minehunting Sonar System (see
“It comes to the surface to get a Global nection to the surface.” 96, says Tish Rourke, the system’s pro- above), which the AN/WLD-1 tows be-
Positioning System fix to improve its The system’s mission is to detect and gram manager at Lockheed Martin. hind it at variable depths to locate mines.
navigational efficiency, and to report to
the operator,” Wallsmith says. It has a va-
riety of dead-reckoning systems, an in-
ertial measurement unit, and a Doppler
velocity sonar sensor log to measure its
speed over the bottom. It also collects en-
vironmental information.
Extreme performance
The BPAUV has a side-scan sonar sys-
tem that projects sound out to the sides
of the vehicle, Wallsmith explains. “It de-
across the board.
tects anything up to 150 meters along ei-
NEW! TP32™ (Intel Pentium-M based SBC)
ther side of the vehicle. When the oper-
ator comes back and looks at that data, 2.0 GHz Intel® Pentium-M® processor
4GB DDRII-400 SDRAM
it looks like visual imagery and he can VME interface
scroll through it on his screen. There are Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
patterns of bright spots and shadows that Two Ultra320 SCSI ports
Up to four PMC slots
the operators are trained to look for.” XMC support on optional PMC carrier card
The current version of the LCS does Four USB and four serial ports
Solaris™ 10, Linux and Windows support
not process the BPAUV data while it is PS/2 keyboard and mouse port
underway, Wallsmith says. “It will just Up to 30G shock
gather all the data there and bring it back
to the mother ship and the operator goes NEW! TA64™
through the data and manually picks ob- (AMD Turion 64 Mobil-based SBC)
jects out, or he can use automated detec- Low Power, AMD® Turion™ 64 Mobile CPU
tion software.” Single/2-slot VME configurations
The BPAUV is designed for deploy- Up to 4GB ECC DDR memory
VME interface
ments as long as 15 hours on power from Four PMC slots, two USB ports
lithium polymer batteries, which are envi- PS/2 keyboard and mouse port
Compatible with USPIIe-USB™ SBCs
ronmentally enclosed and rechargeable. 64-bit Solaris 10, Windows®
Although the BPAUV is designed and Linux support When the highest performance
Up to 30G shock
to survey the ocean environs, the ve- is critical to your mission,
hicle could be adapted for anti-subma- turn to Themis SBCs.
NEW! TPPC64™ (IBM PowerPC
rine warfare-related missions, Wallsmith 970FX-based SBC)
says. For example, the vehicle could tow In mission critical applications, there’s no substitute for high
performance. Themis single board computers have proven
an acoustic sonar array behind it, or set- 6U VME64 engine with up to two IBM® 1.8 GHz
PowerPC® 970FX CPUs themselves time and again in the most demanding applications
tle on the bottom of the ocean in low- Up to 4GB of DDR400 SDRAM and operating environments.
power mode and wait for a sound to Universe II VME64x interface
Two Gigabit Ethernet ports The Themis family of single board computers includes 64-bit
trigger its sensor systems. All ASW ap- Six USB ports AMD, Intel and IBM PowerPC processors in addition to our
plications for the BPAUV are in proto- Two serial ports leading UltraSPARC products on VME and Compact PCI.
type development, he says. Support for Linux™ OS So we can support applications in Solaris, Windows, Linux
Up to 30G shock and UNIX®.
The BPAUV weighs 800 pounds, is
122 inches long, 21 inches wide, uses All Themis products offer maximum configuration flexibility
lithium polymer batteries and has an op- and life cycle support for your technology refresh cycle
process, reducing your Total Cost of Ownership.
erational speed of three knots.
So when mission success depends on higher performance,
Remote Minehunting System you can rely on Themis. Across the board.
One of the most innovative minehunt- www.themis.com (510) 252-0870
ing systems in the LCS arsenal is the AN/
WLD-1 Remote Minehunting System
(RMS)—a 23-foot-long semiautonomous,
semisubmersible vehicle that locates and
classifies sea mines. The system’s manu-
facturer is the Lockheed Martin Undersea
Systems division in Riviera Beach, Fla. Transformational.
The AN/WLD-1, which can function
© 2006. Themis Computer, Themis, Themis logo, TP32, TA64 and TPPC64 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Themis Computer.
under control of a human operator or All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
completely on its own, essentially is a small
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“We have worked with Raytheon to into the water, that energy will bounce itime situation awareness is the critical
do some slight modifications to integrate off the submarine. You can have passive technology that will enable autonomous
the AQS-20 within the system,” Brandes arrays that pick up that energy. If they SUVs for Navy missions.
says. “We are using that sensor package, know the size, time, and location of the Teaming with General Dynamics on
the variable-depth sonar, or an electro- original ping, they can work to figure out the Spartan unmanned RHIB project are
optical identification device (EOID) to what the contacts are and can work as a Navatek Ltd. in Honolulu; Micro-Analysis
perform minehunting operations.” team to geolocate the contact.” and Design Inc. in Boulder, Colo.; Signal
Stability in rough seas is a prime re- More research into multivehicle au- Systems Corp. in Severna Park, Md.; In-
quirement of the AN/WLD-1 to keep the tonomy will be necessary to bring this ternational Logistics Systems Inc. in Glen
towed AQS-20 operating at peak effec- concept to fruition, Brandes says. “Build- Rock, Pa.; and Chesapeake Sciences Corp.
tiveness, Brandes says. “To operate near ing a multivehicle, autonomous-vehicle- in Millersville, Md.
the surface of the ocean and maintain a control technology path going forward is This artist’s composite image shows
the future Littoral Combat Ship leav-
stable platform through various sea states a key enabler for this system, so that ve- Advanced Deployable System
ing San Francisco Bay on its way to
is a challenge,” he explains. “The control hicles can autonomously work together The LCS will be able to lay down an anti- a deployment. The first ship of the
system, feedback, and specially designed or one operator can control more than submarine underwater sonar array called class will take to the seas in 2008.
fins give the vehicle a great deal of control, one vehicle.” the Advanced Deployable System (ADS),
so that it is as stable as a 200-foot ship.” which uses distributed passive acous- ing system from the Harris Corp. Gov-
Although the AN/WLD-1 and its Spartan Unmanned Surface Vehicle tic bottom-mounted arrays wirelessly ernment Communications Division in
towed AQS-20 is designed for sea surveil- In addition to submersible unmanned ve- linked to an analysis and reporting sys- Melbourne, Fla. Harris Partner Spectrum
lance and countermine operations, Navy hicles, the LCS will be able to deploy an tem to provide continuous acoustic cov- Signal Processing Inc. in Burnaby, British
and Lockheed Martin experts envision unmanned surface vehicle (USV) called erage over large areas of the ocean. Columbia, is providing signal processing
future versions designed for anti-subma- Spartan, an autonomous rigid-hull in- The ADS is designed specifically to products and services for use in both ship
rine warfare. The Sea Talon research pro- flatable-boat (RHIB) sensor platform for detect and track modern diesel electric borne and buoy components of the ADS.
gram is a step toward that goal. long-duration surveillance, anti-subma- and nuclear submarines, as well as track The ship-borne radio platform will
“The concept is you take out the AQS- rine, and countermine warfare. Build- surface ships and detect sea mine laying. use Spectrum’s HCDR-1000 High Chan-
20 and put on sensors more conducive ing the Spartan platform are engineers Building the ADS is the Lockheed Mar- nel Density Receiver VME-based plat-
to finding submarines,” Brandes says. at General Dynamics Robotic Systems in tin Corp. Maritime Systems and Sensors form, which will link to several commu-
More importantly, the Sea Talon pro- Westminster, Md. division in Manassas, Va. nications buoys and pass data back to a
gram seeks to demonstrate autonomous Spartan will utilize towed sonar ar- The ADS consists of four major subsys- central data-processing station.
vehicles working as a team able to detect rays, dipping sonar sensors, and acoustic tems: analysis and reporting system, sen-
and locate hostile submarines, which sources as payloads to carry out its anti- sor, tactical interface, and installation sup- Airborne Low Frequency Sonar
Brandes calls “a multistatic, or bistatic submarine warfare mission. port. This variant of the ADS will deploy Rounding out the LCS array of anti-
approach to anti-submarine warfare.” “The USV command-and-control from the LCS deck. The system will have submarine warfare equipment is the
This concept seeks to place sonar computing hardware and sensors le- a series of passive, bottom-fixed, battery- AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency
emitters and receivers on separate ve- verage our autonomous mobility and powered hydrophones connected to an an- Sonar (ALFS) helicopter-based dipping
hicles. “Look at how surface ships hunt tactical behavior technologies and the chored buoy and linked to a processing sta- sonar system from Raytheon Integrated
for submarines with a ping and return,” field-proven systems,” says Scott Myers, tion aboard the LCS. Defense Systems in Portsmouth, R.I. The
Brandes explains. “Now we’ve found that president of General Dynamics Robotic Linking ADS data to the LCS is a ship- AQS-22 dipping sonar will deploy from
if you can put a broadband large ping Systems. “Sensor-driven automated mar- and buoy-borne radio and data-process- the MH-60R helicopter aboard the LCS.
The AQS-22 is designed to detect and
classify hostile submarines at greater rang-
es than currently deployed dipping sonar
&INDINGæITæTOUGHæTOæDELIVERæELECTRONICSæOFæ systems, and can reach depths near 2,500
IMPECCABLEæQUALITYæINæCOMPRESSEDæTIMEæ feet while deployed from the helicopter on
-ILITARYPRECISIONAT FRAMESæATæREALISTICæCOSTS a hardened coaxial cable tether.
Raytheon teams on the AQS-22 with
#ALLæINæTHEæLOW VOLUMEæHIGH MIXæSPECIALISTS
THESPEEDOFCOMMERCE ATæ*ABILænæAæLEADERæINæ%LECTRONICSæ-ANUFAC
TURINGæ3ERVICESæ7EREæALREADYæPROVIDINGæ
Thales Underwater Systems in Brest and
Sophia, France. Thales manufactures the
MILITARYæQUALITYæCOMMERCIALæVELOCITYæANDæ system’s hydrophone stave arms, as well
COMPETITIVEæPRICINGæTOæSOMEæOFæTHEæBIGGESTæ as the active transducer system.
NAMESæINæDEFENSEæANDæAEROSPACE The sonar system has seven weapon-
æ
replaceable assemblies: the acoustic proces-
#HECKæOUTæOURæREPUTATIONæFORæDEVELOPINGæ
sor equipment, sonar transmitter/receiver,
MANUFACTURINGæANDæSUPPORTINGæCOMPLEXæ
PRODUCTSænæFROMæPHASED ARRAYæRADARæSYSTEMSæ reeling machine interface unit, reeling ma-
TOæELECTRONICæmæIGHTæINSTRUMENTATION chine control unit, reeling machine, reel
æ and cable, and the transducer assembly.
4OæDISCOVERæHOWæWEæCANæDELIVERæFORæYOUæGIVEæ The hydrophone staves use beam form-
USæAæCALLæATæ æ/RæVISITæUSæATæ ing and signal processing to detect the pres-
WWWJABILCOM$AND!
______________
ence of submarines and to determine the
submarine’s location, range, and bearing.
Key components of the AQS-22’s
signal-processing system are f ield
programmable gate arrays, as well as
single-board processors from Cur-
tiss-Wright Embedded Computing in
0RODUCING¬9OUR¬4ECHNOLOGY¬ Ottawa, says Lawrence Epstein, direc-
/N¬9OUR¬4ERMS¬*UST¬)N¬4IME tor of engineering at Raytheon Inte-
grated Defense Systems.
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over the course of the multiyear program. Stephen Glaser, vice president of sales
PORTABLE ILLUMINATION “The systems we are developing for the for Icuiti’s Tactical Display Group. “eMa-
U.S. Air Force chooses U.S. Navy and Missile Defense Agency con- gin’s OLED microdisplays meet our sys-
Cyberlux Corp. security tinue to benefit from our move to open ar- tem needs for power efficiency and per-
lighting solution for field use chitecture, which opens the door for inno- formance, and they deliver high resolution
The U.S. Air Force has placed a field use vative technologies from small businesses for critical communications.”
system order with Cyberlux Corporation, like VMETRO,” says Orlando Carvalho, vice The microdisplays’ high-resolution,
maker of LED lighting solutions based president and general manager of Lockheed brightness, speed, and power efficiency
in Research Triangle Park, N.C., for its Martin’s business in Moorestown, N.J. ensure their suitability for a broad range
WatchDog portable covert illumination The Aegis Weapon System is a front- of defense and security applications. The
system. line naval surface defense system and is devices emit light in all directions, sup-
The Air Mobility Battlelab submitted the foundation for Aegis BMD, the prima- porting a range of pupil movement great-
the field order, valued at $15,112 on the ry component of the sea-based element of er than traditional LCDs, and are capable
GSA contract, for the WatchDog sys- the U.S. ballistic missile defense System. of working without failing or flickering for
tem, intended for field deployment and The Aegis BMD weapon system inte- extended periods in harsh and high-vibra-
use within various USAF commands. In grates the SPY-1 radar, the MK 41 vertical tion environments. For more information,
fact, the solid-state LED security-lighting launching system, the SM-3 missile and visit www.emagin.com.
system was developed by Cyberlux in military assets, such as an airplane, on the weapon system’s command and con-
cooperation with the Air Mobility Battle- the ground and illuminates the surround- trol system. When integrated with the U.S. ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES
lab for the USAF. ing boundary. ballistic missile defense System, the Aegis Northrop Grumman contracts
WatchDog provides security lighting, The portable lighting system weighs BMD Weapon System receives cues from LaBarge to produce electronic
using a choice of visible light or covert less than 50 pounds, including batteries, and provides cueing information to other assemblies for radar jammer
infrared light compatible with night-vision and can be deployed quickly. BMDS elements. Officials of the Northrop Grumman Corp.
goggles (NVGs). The solution creates a For more information, visit www.
____ The Aegis Weapon System is on 80 Defensive Systems Division in Rolling
300-by-300-foot “lightless” zone around cyberlux.com. ships around the globe with more than 25 Meadows, Ill., selected LaBarge Inc. in St.
additional ships planned or under contract. Louis to produce circuit-card assemblies
In addition to the U.S., Aegis is the mari- for one of Northrop Grumman’s latest proj-
COMPUTERS course to external shock and vibration iso- time weapon system of choice for Japan, ects: designing the AN/ALQ-135 internally
Medav selects Themis lation,” says William E. Kehret, president of South Korea, Norway, Spain and Austra- mounted radar countermeasures system
Computer’s Slice server for Themis Computer. For more information, lia. For more information contact VMETRO for the F-15K fighter aircraft.
submarine software-defined visit www.themis.com. online at www.vmetro.com. The AN/ALQ-135 radar jammer system
radio communications system automatically can detect and jam enemy
Medav GmbH in Uttenreuth, Germany, DATA STORAGE MICRODISPLAYS radar signals, including those employed
ended its search for a server on which to Lockheed Martin awards Icuiti chooses eMagin OLEDs by short-range surface-to-air missiles,
run its signal- and data-processing soft- data recording systems for Tac-Eye production antiaircraft artillery, and airborne threats,
ware with Slice technology from Themis contract to VMETRO Icuiti in Rochester, N.Y., sought out organ- as examples.
Computer in Fremont, Calif. Designers at the Lockheed Martin Corp. ic light-emitting diode (OLED) microdisplay The new system will combine with a ra-
Medav is incorporating Themis Slice Missiles and Space segment in Moore- technology for the production of its Tac- dar, warning receiver, and chaff/flare dis-
servers into a submarine communications stown, N.J., needed data recording sys- Eye display system for defense applications. penser in the aircraft’s tactical electron-
intelligence system. The Slice subrack is tems to support their work with the Aegis Company experts found the necessary ic warfare system to detect, identify, and
integrated into 19-inch bays alongside Me- ballistic missile defense (Aegis BMD) technology at eMagin Corporation of Bellev- counter enemy threats.
dav equipment, including tuners and soft- weapon system. ue, Wash., which they chose to provide the Production on this contract, which is
ware, in the application. The new com- They found their solution from the Vor- Icuiti with thousands of microdisplays. valued at $1.7 million, is expected to be-
munication system takes advantage of tex VME Open Data Recording platform Tac-Eye, designed for the U.S. military gin early this summer at LaBarge’s Tulsa,
the Themis Slice switched computing ar- from VMETRO Inc. in Houston. with partial funding from the Air Force Re- Okla., facility. For more information, visit
chitecture, including liquid-cooled servers VMETRO is supplying Lockheed Mar- search Lab Human Effectiveness Director- www.labarge.com.
and solid-state storage units, designed for tin with data recorders based on VORTEX ate in Mesa, Ariz., and the U.S. Special Op-
high-density and high-performance, mis- VME technology, which includes play- erations Command (USSOCOM) at MacDill VIDEO CAPTURE
sion-critical computing. back of the recorded data over 10-giga- Air Force Base, Fla., was developed over General Atomics Aeronautical
Themis Slice, available in air- and liq- bit Ethernet. Lockheed Martin will use the three years. Systems issues UAV video
uid-cooled versions, boasts a scalable, VMETRO data recorders in instrumenta- The Tac-Eye system, able to mount on processing contract to Mediaware
open, and modular design to speed and tion and test equipment for the Aegis BMD a helmet or goggles, combines ultra-low- General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.
simplify technology upgrades and extend signal processor (BSP). power electronics with eMagin’s OLED mi- (GA-ASI), a manufacturer of unmanned air-
the system’s usable life. Its processor-in- The Aegis BSP is in development and crodisplays and a lithium battery capable of craft and surveillance and radar imaging
dependent architecture ensures seamless will be installed in Aegis BMD ships be- providing as much as six hours of opera- systems based in Washington, has elected
support of SPARC and x86 architectures; ginning in 2010. It provides an advanced tion. The eMagin high-contrast SVGA OLED to arm the ground control station (GCS) of
Solaris, Windows, and Linux operating sys- discrimination capability to defeat more- display features 800-by-600-pixel resolution, its Predator UAV with video exploitation ca-
tems; and third-party network servers, stor- complex ballistic missile threats. The Aegis brightness controls, Icuiti’s Quantum Op- pabilities.
age systems, and switches. BSP has performed well in 10 at-sea tests tics, and the ability to display images from a To do so, GA-ASI entered into an agree-
“By disaggregating commercial com- over the last year. wearable computer, laptop, thermal imager, ment with Mediaware, maker of enhanced
puting resources and housing the units VMETRO’s Applications Group will de- or vehicle-mounted computer system. digital video capture and exploitation sys-
in blind-mating (pluggable) rack slice velop application-specific software for the “Designing and building the Tac-Eye tems for the defense and broadcast sec-
modules, the Themis Slice architecture record and playback requirements. This system led us to evaluate every compo- tors, located in Canberra, Australia.
achieves high compute densities with ther- initial contract is valued at approximately nent and material to ensure optimal per- GA-ASI has subcontracted Mediaware
mal and kinetic management, without re- $600,000 with additional systems expected formance under extreme conditions,” says to help engineer, develop, and integrate
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video and data dissemination enhance- SENSORS three different speed and temperature and communicates the rotational speed
ments, including improved video and Woodward selects Unison’s sensors for the U.S. Army T700-GE-701D of the engine core. Moreover, another
metadata capture and exploitation. sensors for turbine engine turbine engine fuel-metering unit (FMU). Unison sensor continuously measures
The Predator will take advantage of Me- fuel-metering unit The FMU takes advantage of Unison inlet air temperature.
diaware’s software, which combines aircraft Woodward in Rockford, Ill., is in the process sensors designed to measure fuel tem- “Unison’s sensors provide us with the
positional information and sensor video into of upgrading the GE T700 engine series perature in the fuel delivery system, while ability to monitor the fuel control sys-
a single Internet-compliant MPEG-2 digital with new fuel controls and a Full Authority also withstanding fuel pressure at elevat- tem and engine performance on some
video stream able to be exported from the Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system. ed temperatures. of the military’s key aircraft,” says John
GCS in real time. For more information, visit The company has contracted Unison Also integrated into the FMU is a dual- Foti, T700-GE-701D FMU development
www.mediaware.com. Industries of Jacksonville, Fla., to provide channel speed sensor that determines program manager at Woodward. “The
information they deliver will help us re-
duce the cost of maintaining these en-
gines and ensure their long-term reliabil-
ity and safety in combat.”
Unison’s sensor technology will support
the high-altitude, high-performance military
aircraft powered by the T700-GE-701D en-
gine. The GE T700 engine series current-
ly powers 21 types of rotary and fixed-wing
aircraft, including the Apache, Black Hawk,
and Marine Super Cobra helicopters.
Unison will manufacture sensors for
Woodward at its Jacksonville, Fla., and
Norwich, N.Y., facilities.
For more information, visit www.uni-
_______
_____________.
sonindustries.com
SOFTWARE MIDDLEWARE
Force Technology selects RTI
middleware for world’s first
four-ship tug simulator system
Force Technology in Brondby, Denmark,
_______ required a communications middleware
solution for its newest multiship marine-
tug simulator system.
The Force Technology design team,
having evaluated several DDS imple-
______ mentations, opted to employ the RTI
data distribution service (DDS), formerly
NDDS, from Real-Time Innovations (RTI)
of Santa Clara, Calif., in its latest full-mis-
sion trainer application.
Force Technology’s newest offering
is the first system to provide a compre-
hensive environment for training tugboat
captains in maneuvering large vessels
using multiple tugs into restricted spac-
es. The RTI DDS will be used to intercon-
nect all dynamic elements in the simula-
tor seamlessly and cohesively.
“One of the key enabling technologies
now emerging in the design of distribut-
ed simulator systems is real-time mid-
dleware,” says Peter Justesen, head of
simulation and information technologies
at Force Technology. “The publish-sub-
scribe paradigm of DDS enables sys-
tems to share data without having to cre-
ate unique interfaces for each system.
It frees our developers from needing to
know the internal operation of each sub-
______________________
system in order to retrieve its data.”
The system provides a COTS-based
development environment that greatly sim-
plifies system maintenance and the intro-
duction of upgraded hardware in the oper-
ational systems. For more information, visit
www.rti.com.
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NEW PRODUCTS
» RF AND MICROWAVE strip inside a figure dial made of traffic according to end system, » CONNECTORS
Radiation-hardened proprietary lightguide material. The virtual links, and ports; enables New connectors available
high-speed PWM controller illumination of the lightguide figure intuitive “visual filtering” by simply in a panel-mount format
Aeroflex Plainview in Plainview, N.Y., dial makes viewing of the indicating clicking on selected objects; and The new 25-mil-pitch connectors
is offering a radiation-hardened pulse characters easier in all ambient right-clicking on selections brings up from Omnetics connector Corp. in
width modulation (PWM) controller. a context menu for functions such Minneapolis are available in a new
The PWM5032 high-speed, low- as monitoring and logging. The tool’s panel-mount format for use on front
power controller, developed in configuration windows provide drag- panels of plug-in instruments. As
partnership with Johns Hopkins and-drop facility for building data circuit size decreases and circuit
University/Applied Physics Lab and sets and AFDX message structures; density increases, plug-ins are
the Technology Applications Group drag-and-drop facility for building demanding higher lead counts to
for the Mars Technology program, filter equations and triggers; and handle all the signals being routed
is for at the military and commercial intuitive panel for building filter into the instruments. Circuit current
satellites. The PWMs were designed elements. Monitoring provides AFDX
using radiation-hardness techniques port, virtual link (VL), and raw frame
to ensure the product can withstand views; flexible and complex triggering
more than one megarad of total- light conditions, from a dark room operation; simplified multiwindow
dose radiation, provides features to to sunlight. These figure dials are displays; and frame statistics. For
implement DC-DC fixed frequency available with illuminated indicator more information contact Condor
current, or voltage mode control lines, dots, and in customized Engineering online at
schemes with a minimal external versions. Standard LED colors are www.condoreng.com.
parts count. Internally implemented super-red, yellow, orange, green,
low-power dissipation circuits include blue and white. Mixtures of colors and voltages are lower, allowing
under-voltage lockout, a precision are available as a special order, as » SOFTWARE DESIGN TOOLS smaller-wire-gauge and fine-pitch
voltage reference for accuracy at are colored lightguide figure dials. Ada integrated development connectors to handle the job. The
the error amp input, sleep and The lighting sets (lightguide figure environment Panel-Mount Nano line of connectors
enable control pins, a “power good” dial and flexible LED strip) are AdaCore has introduced a new pass tests specified for Micro-Ds
indicator, logic to ensure latched designed for use with standard Elma version of its GNAT Programming as well as the new Mil 32139
operation, selectable duty cycle knobs in the 20 to 30 mm sizes in Studio (GPS) software development specifications for Nano Connectors.
control, and a dual totem pole output several styles. Standard lightguide environment for the Ada Pin-count standard ranges from nine
stage designed to source of sink figure dial marking is available off programming language. The positions through to 65 positions.
high peak current. Its feature set the shelf, and customer-specific new version delivers improved Wired plugs with jackscrews
and drive capability can be applied marking is available. All marking usability and more powerful source complete interconnections. For more
to PWM implemented motor drive is done on the underside of the navigation. It is available on the latest information contact Omnetics online
control designs. The PWM5032 dial so there are no problems with 64 bit GNU/Linux-based platforms, at www.omentics.com.
is available in a 24-pin hermetic character deterioration over time. including those from SGI, HP and
ceramic Gull lead package, MIL-PRF- Additionally, the lighting sets can Intel. Improvements include a more
38534 screening up to Class K. A be used in conjunction with other user-friendly location view, enhanced » BOARD PRODUCTS
Standard Microcircuit Drawing (SMD) manufacturer’s knobs. For more tool tips, code completion, and new High-Speed A-D I/O card
number will be available at the end information contact Elma online at project editing capabilities. Human- with four high-performance
of this year. Prototypes are available www.elma.com. interface improvements include wideband A-Ds
now with production units in first better layout of graphical information BittWare Inc. in Concord, N.H., is
quarter of 2007. The PWM5032-S, and the ability to export using the offering the Tetra-PMC+ Analog-
Class K, screened product is $550 » AVIONICS Scalable Vector Graphics format. to-Digital (A-D) I/O card. The Tetra-
in lots of 100. Contact the company Condor Engineering GPS offers features such as multi- PMC+ (TRPM) board features four
for die availability and pricing. For announces updated AFDX language support (including Ada, high-performance wideband A-Ds
more information contact Aeroflex test and analysis tool C, and C++) and is available on a running as fast as 105 MHz, and an
Plainview online at www.aerofl
__________ ex. Condor Engineering, a GE Fanuc wide range of host environments Altera Cyclone II field programmable
com/RadHard. company in Santa Barbara, Calif., for native and cross-development, gate array (FPGA) providing A-D
is updating its Windows-based, including UNIX, Windows, and GNU/ control, data distribution, and
Avionics Full Duplex Switched Linux. A unified visual interface, front-end processing capabilities.
» COMPONENTS Ethernet (AFDX)/ARINC 664 bus identical across all platforms, BittWare’s TRPM board is a high-
Expanded line of analyzer tool. Condor’s BusTools/ serves as a control panel to access speed analog input board that
illuminated knob figure dials AFDX brings improved levels of tools from AdaCore’s GNAT Pro provides data capture for four 14-
Elma Electric Inc. in Fremont, power and ease of use to monitoring, Ada development environment as bit A-D channels running at up
Calif., is offering an expanded line test, analysis, and simulation of well as from third parties, easing to 105 MHz, streaming this data
of illuminated knob figure dials for AFDX network nodes and switches. development and maintenance. directly to an Altera Cyclone II
viewing indicator characters, even BusTools/AFDX can run from any As a result, GPS is particularly reconfigurable FPGA. The Cyclone
in darkness. The knob figure dials standard network interface card suited for large, complex systems II provides control over the A-Ds
are now available in a wide selection (NIC) or with Condor’s AFDX NIC, requiring tool-chain integration, ease and handles the distribution of the
of size and styles. This product the only interface on the market of use, user customization, and high-speed converted data while
range is to illuminate the figure dial today that can support full AFDX code navigation/analysis. For more also providing configurable pre-
under a knob. Illumination comes bandwidth. The tool’s auto-discovery information contact AdaCore online processing of this data, enabling
from SMD LEDs on a flexible PCB window automatically organizes at www.adacore.com digital filtering, decimation, and
To submit new products for consideration, contact John Keller by e-mail at jkeller@pennwell.com, or by post at 98 Spit Brook Road, Nashua, N.H. 03062. Please include a high-resolution color photo.
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PRODUCT & LITERATURE SHOWCASE
____________
$ATA3TORAGE4ECHNOLOGY¬
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For full line of rugged, rack mount, portableand custom systems, please contact:
IBI SYSTEMS, INC.

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10401 Roselle Street, Suite 400, San Diego, CA 92121
PH: 858-332-0700, FX: 858-332-0709,
E-MAIL: sales@spacemicro.com
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___________
Radiation Hardened Products and Services—Products: Proton100k Satellite Computer, Proton 200k Satellite
Computer, Hardened Core microprocessor protection IC, Rad hard Level shifter IC, Microwave modules
for space, Rad hard high data rate ECC chip, Reconfigurable Microwave array IC, Encryption technology.
Services: Radiation testing, System radiation design analysis
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ADVERTISERS INDEX
ADVERTISER PAGE ADVERTISER PAGE ADVERTISER PAGE ADVERTISER PAGE
AEROFLEX COLORADO SPRINGS ..............34 GENERAL DYNAMICS..................................43 L-3 ELECTRODYNAMICS.............................34 SPACE MICRO, INC. .....................................40
AGC CHEMICALS AMERICAS, INC.............18 IBI SYSTEMS, INC. .......................................40 LEMO USA.....................................................13 SPECTRUM CONTROL.................................33
AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES ...........................6A INTERNATIONAL ELECTRONIC M-SYSTEMS .................................................18 SPIE ...............................................................38
GROUP PUBLISHER RON MASTRO
TEL (603) 891-9323 • ronm@pennwell.com AP LABS ..........................................................9 RESEARCH CORP. ....................................6 MILITARY & AEROSPACE TEMPO...........................................................30
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JOHN KELLER BEHLMAN ELECTRONICS, INC ..................12 INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER.........................8 ELECTRONICS WEBCASTS...................15 TENSOLITE....................................................10
TEL (603) 891-9117 • FAX (603) 891-9146 CRYSTAL GROUP INC ..................................30 INTERSIL CORPORATION............................32 M.S. KENNEDY CORP. .................................12 TESTMART..................................................14A
jkeller@pennwell.com CURTISS-WRIGHT CONTROLS, E.C. .........25 ISOTHERMAL SYSTEMS MTC................................................................19 TEWS TECHNOLOGY......................................6
EXECUTIVE EDITOR JOHN MCHALE DATA DEVICE CORPORATION.......................1 RESEARCH, INC. ......................................3 PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL .........................40 THEMIS COMPUTER ....................................35
TEL (603) 891-9119 • FAX (603) 891-9146
jmchale@pennwell.com DRS TECHNOLOGIES ...................................31 ITT ..................................................................29 PICO ELECTRONICS, INC. .............................6 UNICOR..........................................................27
SENIOR EDITOR COURTNEY E. HOWARD ELMA ELECTRONICS ...................................38 JABIL CIRCUIT, INC......................................36 RADSTONE ...................................................17 UNITED ELECTRONIC INDUSTRIES ...........33
TEL (603) 891-9301 • FAX (603) 891-9146 FISCHER CONNECTORS................................4 LASERS & PHOTONICS RGB SPECTRUM...........................................40 VICOR CORP. ...................................................5
courtney@pennwell.com
GE FANUC .....................................................44 MARKETPLACE SEMINAR ......................7 SONY ............................................................. 11
MANAGING EDITOR CAROL SETTINO
MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS ©2006 (ISSN-1046-9079) is published monthly by PennWell Corp.,1421 S. Sheridan, Tulsa, OK 74112. Periodicals postage paid at Tulsa, OK 74101 and additional mailing offices. Editorial offices are located at 98 Spit Brook Road,
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WESTERN BUREAU J. R. WILSON
TEL (702) 434-3903 • FAX (702) 920-8068
jrwilson@pennwell.com digital down conversion (DDC). capacitor with a state-of-the-art management circuitry to prevent
ADVERTISING SALES
The data can be transferred to the flexible circuit in which individual chip adverse power conditions from
EASTERN/MIDWESTERN REGION/ base board over the PMC interface capacitors are surface mounted on disabling the router. LED status
EASTERN CANADA PHIL DAVIS by the Cyclone II. When attached a pad adjacent to the feed-through indicators for power, network, and
PennWell Publishing
106 Kenton Court, Simpsonville, SC 29681 to one of BittWare’s hybrid signal contact. Since the feed-through serial connections, as well as a
TEL (864) 288-2290 • Cell (630) 248-5525 processing boards, it supports contacts are not soldered directly to console port and manual reset
FAX (864) 284-9934 • phild@pennwell.com
BittWare’s PMC+ extensions, the capacitor, thermal stress points switch are located on the front
WESTERN REGION/
WESTERN CANADA JAY MENDELSON which includes the four link ports that influence performance in thermal panel. The rear panel includes a
201 San Antonio Circle, Suite 205 Mountain View, CA 94040 directly connected to the Cyclone shock and vibration has been virtually series of IP67 hardened Ethernet
TEL (650) 941-5020 • FAX (650) 941-5120
jaym@pennwell.com II FPGA. The board clocking can eliminated. The result is a robust filter
DIGITAL MEDIA SALES BOB COLLOPY either be from the external clock connector with superior mechanical
TEL (603) 891-9424 • FAX (603) 579-9030
CELL (603) 860-3923 • bobc@pennwell.com or the on-board oscillator and is performance and improved reliability.
PRODUCT & LITERATURE SHOWCASE, user-configurable. BittWare offers In addition, because the flex is
VENDOR LISTINGS, REPRINTS MAUREEN CHRISTENSON
TEL (603) 891-9423 • FAX (603) 891-9146 software development tools that lighter in weight, a connector weight
maureenc@pennwell.com allow designers to easily develop reduction of as much as 15 percent
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
DEBORAH S. RODRIQUEZ
application code and integrate the is achieved for the MIL-DTL-38999
TEL (603) 891-9482 • deborahr@pennwell.com Tetra-PMC+ into their systems. For configurations. For more information
AD TRAFFIC MANAGER CHRISTINE WARD user-configured preprocessing, contact ITT Cannon online at
christinew@pennwell.com
PRODUCTION MANAGER BARBARA ANN BURGESS Altera provides a complete suite of www.ittcannon.com.
ILLUSTRATOR CHRIS HIPP development tools for the Cyclone
ART DIRECTOR MEG FUSCHETTI II. BittWare also offers a Tetra
CIRCULATION MANAGER JAYNE SEARS-RENFER
TEL (603) 891-9266 • JayneSR@pennwell.com
developer’s kit for the Cyclone II that » DATA BUSES AND NETWORKING
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES includes the source for the A-Ds and Cisco-based mobile IP and serial connectors. For more
TEL (847) 559-7500 • FAX (847) 291-4816 the link ports. For more information network router for military information contact Parvus online at
LIST RENTAL BOB DROMGOOLE
TEL (603) 891-9128 • FAX (603) 891-934 contact BittWare online at and rail transit applications www.parvus.com.
bobd@pennwell.com www.bittware.com. Parvus Corp. in Salt Lake City is
MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS SHOW introducing the DuraMAR mobile
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION GROUP
CONFERENCE SHOW MANAGER ALLISON FOSTER
Internet protocol (IP) router for » SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS
TEL (918) 831-9443
allisonf@pennwell.com
» CONNECTORS harsh mobile environments in Tightly integrated
Chip-on-flex filter connector military and rail transit applications. advanced RTOS and
DIRECTOR REGISTRATION KIMBERLY BELLAMY
TEL (888) 299-8016 •FAX (918) 831-9161 withstands thermal DuraMAR is a commercial-off-the- secure networking protocols
EXHIBIT SALES MAUREEN CHRISTENSON shock and vibration shelf (COTS) solution that leverages Express Logic Inc. in San Diego and
TEL (603) 891-9423 • maureenc@pennwell.com
The ITT Industries Electronic Cisco Systems’ industry standard Interpeak Inc. in Leesburg, Va., have
Components segment in Santa IOS software and mobile access integrated Express Logic’s ThreadX
Ana, Calif., is offering the Cannon router (MAR) technology to enable real-time operating system (RTOS)
CORPORATE OFFICERS Chip on Flex (CoF) filter technology military systems integrators to and Interpeak’s TCP/IP stacks,
CHAIRMAN FRANK T. LAUINGER that reduces stress from thermal explore a wide range of new in- which enables ThreadX customers
PRESIDENT AND CEO ROBERT F. BIOLCHINI shock and vibration while protecting vehicle networking applications, to incorporate Interpeak’s advanced
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER MARK WILMOTH sensitive electronics in a lightweight from wireless Internet access to security and networking applications
VICE PRESIDENT INTERNET SERVICES TOM CINTORINO
TEL (603) 579-9002 • FAX (603) 579-9030 package. In the MIL-DTL-38999 voice over IP (VoIP) to streaming into their high-performance and
tomc@pennwell.com configurations, the CoF connectors video surveillance and smart small-footprint embedded devices.
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY DIVISION have passed MIL-STD and MIL-DTL vehicle diagnostics/maintenance. Interpeak’s dual-mode IPv4/IPv6
VICE PRESIDENT AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
GLORIA S. ADAMS Series III testing for thermal shock, Designed to global industry IPNET and IPLITE stacks are now
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHING DIRECTOR random vibration, humidity, and high standards for vehicle/military- integrated with the ThreadX RTOS.
CHRISTINE SHAW altitude. The filter connectors are for grade electronics, the DuraMAR In addition to Interpeak’s TCP/IP
Tel (603) 891-9178 • Fax (603) 891-0574
ATD PUBLISHING SERVICES DEPARTMENTS
high-reliability military, aerospace, integrates a robust power supply networking stacks, ThreadX users
98 Spit Brook Road, Nashua, NH 03062-5737 and industrial applications, including and hardened enclosure isolated can select from a suite of networking
TEL (603) 891-0123 • Fax: (603) 891-0514 integrated avionics, radio, and against voltage spikes, transients security products such as IPsec,
ATD PRODUCTION DIRECTOR MARI RODRIGUEZ
navigation systems, fire-control and harsh environmental stresses IKEv1/v2, SSL, SSH, firewall,
Founded in 1910, PennWell Corporation is an information company
with 32 magazines serving business and industry worldwide. devices, electronic countermeasures, (shock, vibe, humidity, temperature and SNMPv2/v3 to enable their
Corporate offices: 1421 South Sheridan Road, Tulsa, OK 74112,
Telephone: (918) 835-3161; FAX (918) 831- 9497; satellite communications, and data extremes, EMI/EMC) experienced embedded applications. For more
Web address: http://www.pennwell.com. transmitters. The Cannon CoF onboard trains, aircraft, and other information, contact Interpeak online
design replaces the internal and vehicles. The unit’s power supply at www.interpeak.com, or Express
traditional ceramic planar-array block also incorporates intelligent power- Logic at www.expresslogic.com.
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FINISH LINE
VME growth outpaces 2005 projections in military COTS market Electronic-component
The market for commercial-off-the-shelf the previous projections for 2005. (VITA 41) and VPX (VITA 46) stan- orders flat in June;
(COTS) VME slot cards reached $408.7
million in 2005 for the North Ameri-
There are two primary reasons for
the larger-than-projected 2005 ship-
dards for switch-fabric implementation
make the architecture much more com-
12-month average
can and European markets combined, ments of COTS VME slot cards, accord- petitive from a technology standpoint, continues slow rise
according to analysts at Venture Devel- ing to VDC analysts. which makes an upgrade to CompactP- Electronic-component orders were flat
opment Corp. (VDC) in Natick, Mass. First, military budgets have been in- CI or other architecture less attractive be- in June, while the index showing the av-
This compares to $354.1 million, creasing since 2003. This is especially true cause the advantages over VME are less. erage for the past 12 months continued
which was forecast for 2005 in the sec- in developing European nations and the This is not to say that the VME archi- its steady rise, according to the monthly
ond edition of VDC’s market demand United States, which accounts for 47 per- tecture is completely safe from compet- report compiled by the Electronic Com-
analysis released in 2004 and based on cent of worldwide spending on defense. ing architectures and the inroads these ponents, Assemblies & Materials Asso-
The continued wars in architectures are making into the COTS ciation (ECA) in Arlington, Va.
2006 COTS slot-card shipments and Iraq and Afghanistan have market and military and aerospace ap- “Energy prices, world tensions, lack
projections by bus architecture ($ millions) not only been a major factor plications, which in the past has been of consumer confidence, and the typi-
North America Europe in forcing increased defense predominately a VME market. cal summer lull have conspired to cre-
VME 303.8 100.2 spending, but they have also CompactPCI, in particular, poses a ate some hesitancy among manufactur-
CompactPCI 69.9 43.4 prolonged the implementa- large risk for VME as many military ap- ers,” says ECA President Bob Willis
Other slot architectures 37.9 14.9 tion of VME slot cards in plications are using CompactPCI, espe- “That hesitancy is reflected in the four-
some military systems. cially new projects. to-five-week index. The good news is that
year 2003 data. This represents 5.9 per- Many systems may be switching to a VME is projected to be the slowest the 12-month average is up about nine
cent of additional dollar volume of VME newer architecture such as CompactPCI growing architecture as the others make points over last year. Corporate spending
slot card shipments to North America or down the road ATCA. However, the major inroads into the military embed- will be the key over the second half, but I
for military and aerospace applications, upgrades away from VME are delayed ded COTS market. The category “Other expect the index to remain positive.”
compared to the projections made for until the conflicts are over because the Architectures” includes PCI, ATCA, The ECA, a sector of the Electron-
2005 from the 2003 data. militaries are weary of making changes/ ISA, PCI-ISA, and other legacy archi- ic Industries Alliance (EIA), represents
The European market experienced upgrades to equipment that is being used tectures and has a large CAGR largely manufacturers and producers of pas-
an increase of 37.4 percent of addition- routinely in battle situations. due to projected demand for ATCA and sive and active electronic components,
al dollar volume shipments from the The second reason is the continuing MicroTCA (although these are highly component arrays and assemblies, and
projections made from 2003 data. The versatility of VME technology, which speculative in the MIL COTS market). materials and support services. It rep-
North American and European markets continues to reinvent itself, VDC analysts For more information contact VDC on- resents more than 1,300 companies.
combined increased 15.4 percent over say. The current development of the VXS line at www.vdc-corp.com. For more information, contact the ECA
online at www.ec-central.org.
VDC analysts say RFID industry activity is on the rise Symbol and NCR Corp. in Dayton,
Ohio, signed a reseller agreement that
The surge of corporate and financial ac- vendor to go public. Now that Alien has ing the health and wellness of the RFID entitles NCR to resell Symbol’s port-
tivity within the radio frequency identi- put a stake in the ground, how will the market, RFID suppliers, and RFID in- folio of enterprise mobility products,
fication (RFID) industry is a signal that company’s IPO impact the industry and vestment prospects. which consists mainly of RFID read-
the investment community believes that influence the investment community? Another VDC staffer sees Alien’s ers and tags.
the potential of RFID will become a In some ways, an Alien IPO might be maneuver as a positive sign for the in- As a provider of end-to-end, global
near-to-mid-term reality, reports market considered a natural event for an RFID dustry, yet points out that the IPO has RFID solutions, NCR’s TransitionWorks
researcher Venture Development Corp. industry finally gaining some momen- already initiated a new round of intel- portfolio of RFID solutions includes
(VDC) in Natick, Mass. tum. In other ways, an Alien IPO could lectual property squabbles. Moreover, thoughtware, hardware, tags, services
During last May alone, there have look a bit like 1999, when hundreds of Alien has never been profitable, the and software. Symbol’s enterprise mobil-
been numerous announcements from companies went public despite proven VDC staffer says. The company’s losses, ity solutions are comprised of advanced
RFID vendors including Alien Tech- demand for their offerings or a predict- in fact, have doubled over last year. data capture products, mobile comput-
nology Inc. in Morgan Hill, Calif.; Savi able cash flow. VDC analysts say they In another industry development, ma- ers, wireless infrastructure, services, and
jor defense contractor Lockheed Martin EPC-compliant RFID products.
Corp. of Bethesda, Md., has acquired The partnership is expected to be
An Alien IPO will offer perhaps the most Savi, which is to become a wholly owned beneficial to both companies as well as
accurate bellwether yet for tracking the subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, managed
by Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems
the end user community in a number of
ways several says, VDC analysts say.
health and wellness of the RFID market. & Solutions business unit. First, the partnership will help both
VDC analysts say there is great syn- companies retain strong positions in
Technology Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif.; believe there are cases to be made for ergy between the two companies and say the retail market. Second, the compa-
and Symbol Technologies Inc. of Holts- and against investing in this offering. they believe this relationship will gener- nies will be able to provide a more com-
ville, N.Y., VDC officials say. One VDC staffer says he believes the ate benefits such as giving Savi access to plete solution for their RFID customers.
Alien Technologies, an RFID in- strongest argument in favor of the IPO Lockheed Martin’s GPS/satellite, sense/ In addition, NCR’s deep industry and
lay, tag, and reader manufacturer, filed is not for the potential return on Alien respond capabilities and command and deployment experience will be com-
its S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Ex- shares, but for the benefits the IPO will control algorithms in support of ad- plemented with Symbol’s high-perfor-
change Commission (SEC) in anticipa- offer to the rest of the industry and the vanced feature supply chain solutions, mance enterprise mobility solutions.
tion of the public offering of its stock. investing public. while helping Lockheed Martin provide For more information contact
With the announcement, Alien has be- An Alien IPO will offer perhaps the RFID technology to its customers. VDC online at www.vdc-corp.com/
come the first true “pure-play” RFID most accurate bellwether yet for track- Also of note in the RFID business, aidc/rfid.asp.
_________
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Contents Zoom In Zoom Out For navigation instructions please click here Search Issue Next Page

U.S. and its

Aitech brings COTS to space Editor in Chief

It’s one thing to talk

computer-chip heating of Evans & Sutherland their task force.

You Can Take It With You!

USB 1553/429 Avionics Device

New ship takes lead in

NEW PRODUCTS PAGE 39

FINISH LINE PAGE 42

www.milaero.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS August 2006 3

BAE Systems converts 20

4 August 2006 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.milaero.com

Voltage our objective, significantly improving

C COTS I/O Solutions for: Y SECOND COUNTS

• Now Regulated and Dual CAN Bus

HIGH POWER ARD RETAINERS

6 August 2006 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.milaero.com

DATE! January 22, 2007

Exclusive Diamond Sponsor:

Produced by: Held in conjunction with:

BAE Systems contracted to develop

AT 22,241 MILES UP, “CBMANET will allow forward de-

WHY TAKE THE RISK? spite connectivity variations due to ter-

Rockwell Collins from page 1

8 August 2006 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.milaero.com

www.milaero.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS August 2006 9

IN BRIEF $39.5 million for Multifunctional Infor-

10 August 2006 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.milaero.com

See what you’ve been missing.

Visit www.sony.com/SXRDvisualization for more information on Sony’s 4K

Behlman COTS Power Products

Behlman Electronics Inc.

12 August 2006 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.milaero.com

NEWS THE ORIGINAL

www.milaero.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS August 2006 13

14 August 2006 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.milaero.com

This webcast will answer many of the industry’s outstanding

• RFID technologies available

Featuring RFID Experts:

John Volpi, Chief Technology Officer

Lone Star Aerospace provides expert consultation in concept

To register or view any archived event 24/7 visit:

16 August 2006 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.milaero.com

When all you do is military computing,

So why aren’t you working with Radstone?

www.radstone.com 800 368-2738

18 August 2006 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.milaero.com

Hynes Convention Center • Boston, MA

Save the Dates!

The Military Technologies Conference details the hottest and most

FIELD-PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY (FPGA) DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT TOOLS,

ACTEL CORP; Mountain View, Calif.; 650-318-4200; www.actel.com

ALDEC INC.; Henderson, Nev.; 702-990-4400; www.aldec.com

ALTERA CORP; San Jose, Calif.; 408-544-7000; www.altera.com

20 August 2006 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.milaero.com

ALTIUM LTD.; Frenchs Forest, Australia; 011-61-2-9975-7710; www.altium.com

ANNAPOLIS MICRO SYSTEMS INC.; Annapolis, Md.; 410-841-2514; www.annapmicro.com

ATMEL CORP.; San Jose, Calif.; 408-441-0311; www.atmel.com

CELOXICA LTD.; Abingdon, England; 011-44-1235-863656; www.celoxica.com

IMPULSE ACCELERATED TECHNOLOGIES; Kirkland, Wash; 425-605-9543; www.impulsec.com

LATTICE SEMICONDUCTOR CORP.; Hillsboro, Ore.; 503-268-8000; www.latticesemi.com

www.milaero.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS August 2006 21