Reconfiguring an FPGA’s logic during a mission without affecting the entirety of the system has traditionally been a difficult task that greatly affects the continued operation of an application. The hardware and firmware architecture of the Mercury Systems Ensemble IOM-300 series of fiber-optic I/O modules makes this reconfiguration possible, working with and insulating the underlying system software from any disruption. These modules offer unprecedented amounts of I/O processing power and configuration versatility – all within a low Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) open systems architecture XMC package that is both rugged and secure.
The Ensemble IOM-300 series feature two FPGAs for streaming sFPDP, Ethernet, and other wideband protocols. The primary Altera Stratix V FPGA, a highly customizable processing resource for low-latency signal processing, hosts Mercury’s next-generation Protocol Offload Engine Technology (POET), while the configuration FPGA enables in-mission, real-time FPGA image refreshes. Each of the module’s 12 channels can be programmed for data distribution, with or without user customization, via the primary FPGA device.
