Articles
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To reach the level of performance requested by the latest military specifications, electronic warfare (EW) systems designers rely more and more on VPX high-performance embedded computing (HPEC) platforms. To handle the global IP traffic growth - predicted to reach 132 exabytes (EB) per month in 2018, according to Cisco's Visual Network Index - electronic systems must manage the data flow in and out of the semiconductor devices. Designers of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have developed devices offering high bandwidth and performance with very high-speed interfaces that can bring superior parallel processing power. This reality enables the design of high-performance hybrid HPEC systems that can be used for such demanding applications as ultrafast shape-recognition systems.
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Unmanned aircraft leverage PC/104, COM Express, and other small form factors
Unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) continue to shrink in size, as do their payloads, requiring system designers to leverage small-form-factor, embedded-computing standards like PC/104, COM Express, and others.
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Cool power sensation
Sensor platforms are proliferating around the edges of the network in both the civilian and the military spheres. For examples, think of the remote devices on buses, trucks, and oil rigs that are monitored via the Internet of Things (IoT) or the unmanned surveillance nodes in the network-centered warfare infrastructure. To be effective, these "edge" devices need to be as self-sufficient as possible, not just in processing capability but also in energy use.
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Next-gen tactical Ethernet switches
Ethernet technology is the common denominator for communications between networks and is a foundational building block of IP networks. This lingua franca of the networking world also has evolved to meet the needs of the tactical environment; it is found on tanks, ships, submarines, manned aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
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PC/104 a presence at Embedded World 2016
PC/104 had a strong showing at the recent Embedded World 2016 trade show in Nuremberg, Germany. Slick PC/104 demonstrations showed robust graphics processing, industrial Internet of Things (IoT) gateways, innovative Ethernet switches, ARM/FPGA combinations, and military/industrial control applications. At the board level, PC/104 modules are easily recognized for their general shape, corner mounting holes, and stackable bus connectors, but the trade show floor held more than just board-level PC/104: It was at work inside all sorts of enclosure formats - from cubelike configurations housing a stack of modules, to low-profile flat configurations using PC/104 cards as mezzanines, to ultracompact palm-sized systems.
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Unmanned aircraft leverage PC/104, COM Express, and other small form factors
While PC/104 has been around for decades it has never been healthier. Its main advantages - ruggedness, compact size, and modularity - have never been more in demand in the military electronics market, especially in unmanned systems.
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Shrinking automotive AI to smaller form factor for safety, autonomous driving
The automotive industry, just now entering the age of artificial intelligence (AI), is looking at the issues of vehicle safety and training for the future of autonomous vehicles. In this Q and A with Danny Shapiro, senior director of automotive at NVIDIA, he discusses how deep learning technology is being put to use in the pursuit of fully autonomous vehicles, which NVIDIA forecasts as perhaps closer than you might think.
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DoD budget request funds platforms that leverage small form factors
Regardless of which military trade show I attend or what military application is being discussed at a show, the common trend is that everything is getting smaller, whether it's GPS systems, avionics computers, unmanned aircraft system (UAV) payloads, etc. This trend bodes well for suppliers to the military of small-form-factor standards such as PC/104, COM Express, or SMARC.
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PC/104 and small form factors popular in defense electronics systems
Now as SWaP requirements become more prevalent in military electronics system designs, PC/104’s place in this market is more secure than ever.
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The advantages and disadvantages of using commodity ARM evaluation platforms in production
Most folks in the ARM embedded world are familiar with names like Raspberry PI, BeagleBone, Xplained, etc. These boards, as well as a whole host of others from various ARM board manufacturers, have enticing price points that lure us into considering th...
John McHale, Editorial Director
Stephen St. Amant, PC/104 Consortium President
Brandon Lewis, Technology Editor
John McHale, Editorial Director
