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First Public Display of VPX/VPX-REDI Processing Power Highlights 4 Channel/2.5GBs Bandwidth
LONG BEACH, CA – Bus and Board Conference – January 15, 2007 – Launching what it describes as “the new era of VPX computing,” Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing presented the first public demonstration of an embedded system based on the new high-bandwidth VPX (VITA 46) open architecture bus standard at the Bus and Board Conference, Long Beach, CA on January 14, 2007. A high performance successor to the long popular VMEbus bus architecture, VPX, and its complement, VPX-REDI (VITA 48), were designed to address emerging serial switched fabric, high bandwidth defense and aerospace applications that exceed the capabilities of the earlier bus standard.
“Customers need the previously unattainable bandwidth that VPX delivers to keep up with the ever increasing amount of data generated in today’s network-centric battlefield,” said Lynn Patterson, Vice President and General Manager of Modular Solutions, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing. “Applications such as electronic warfare (EW) and radar processing have pushed beyond the limits of VME. New VPX-based systems built with products from leading embedded vendors such as Curtiss-Wright’s CHAMP-AV6 DSP engine take COTS board and subsystem performance to entirely new levels. We’re proud to be the first to publicly demonstrate the awesome bandwidth and distributed processing capabilities of what promises to be the leading open architecture bus standard for the 21st Century.”
Curtiss-Wright’s landmark demonstration comprised a system using several of its groundbreaking new 6U form factor VPX boards. The system featured a VPX6-185 single board computer (SBC) and two CHAMP-AV6 digital signal processor (DSP) VPX boards operating in a mesh Serial RapidIO (SRIO) network. Each board in the mesh is connected to each of the others by a bi-directional x4 SRIO connection, with each link providing up to 2.5 Gbytes/sec of bi-directional bandwidth. An application running on the system enabled viewers of the demonstration to choose the number of processors participating in simultaneous streaming transfers between the boards. This application is representative of common signal processing algorithms associated with radar processing which are often limited by data movement in traditional systems. The demonstration was able to show transfer rates approaching 2.5 Gbytes/s, the theoretical limits of the links.
About VPX and VPX-REDI
The new VPX (VITA 46) standard and VPX-REDI (VITA 48) standards were collaboratively developed by Curtiss-Wright, prime military integrators and other COTS industry leaders, to provide military and aerospace system integrators with a more capable module standard that allows for better exploitation of new technologies while enabling more cost-effective end systems. The VPX standards provide the next generation of performance and rugged packaging for 6U and 3U form factor embedded computing with unprecedented backplane I/O connectivity, greatly improved thermal management, built-in ESD protection and support for LRM (line replaceable module)-level in-the-field repair and replacement. These new bus standards, available in conduction-cooled and air-cooled form factors, dramatically increase the total amount of data bandwidth compared to the earlier VME64x bus architecture.
VPX and VPX-REDI both enable new high-speed serial interconnects with a form factor and feature set specifically designed to meet demanding military and aerospace applications. Their innovative use of a new connector type, Tyco’s 7-row, wafer-style MultiGig RT2, enables boards based on these new standards to support data rates up to 6.25Gbits/sec. This makes VPX an ideal architecture for serial switched fabrics such as PCI Express and SRIO. These new serial switched fabrics are quickly moving into mil/aero platforms and their subsystems, providing superior connectivity and data movement.
For more information on these new standards please visit www.vita.com. For more information on Curtiss-Wright’s VPX and VPX-REDI products please visit www.cwcembedded.com.
The CHAMP-AV6
Curtiss-Wright’s CHAMP-AV6 is the industry’s first DSP engine built in compliance with the new VPX and VPX-REDI bus standards. Based on the PowerPC 8641, Freescale’s latest Altivec-enabled processor, the CHAMP-AV6 natively supports the Serial RapidIO (SRIO) serial switched fabric architecture to deliver a significant increase in interprocessor communication bandwidth, unobtainable with legacy VME64x-based cards. For example, the new high-speed connector used in VPX/VPX-REDI designs enables the CHAMP-AV6 to communicate at up to 10GB/s with other cards such as Curtiss-Wright’s VPX6-185 single board computer, and custom sensor I/O cards that are common in signal processing systems.
The VPX6-185
Curtiss-Wright’s VPX6-185 is the industry’s first single board computer built in compliance with the new VPX and VPX-REDI bus standards. The 185 combines the performance and advanced I/O capabilities of the Freescale 8641 processor with an extensive I/O complement to provide a highly capable processing platform for a wide range of embedded military/aerospace applications. The VPX6-185’s integral high-speed backplane and PMC/XMC connectivity allows for multi-GB/sec data flows from board-to-board through the backplane interface, from backplane to PMC/XMC site, and between PMX/XMC sites supporting the acquisition, processing, and distribution of sensor data such as video, radar, and sonar data. A rich I/O complement including four gigabit Ethernet ports and options for multi-function RS-232/422/485 serial ports, MIL-STD-1553, SCSI, Serial ATA, and TTL and differential discretes provides connectivity integration with other system elements without using up PMC/XMC sites.
For editorial information regarding Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing products or services, contact John Wranovics, Public Relations Director, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Tel: (925) 640-6402; email. [email protected]. Web site: www.cwcembedded.com.
Inquiries: Please forward all Sales and reader service inquiries to Jerri-Lynne Charbonneau, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Tel: (613) 254-5112; Fax: (613) 599-7777; e-mail: [email protected].
About Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing
Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing is the industry’s most comprehensive and experienced single source for embedded solutions, ranging from Processing, Subsystems, Data Communication, DSP, and Video & Graphics to the most advanced board level components and fully integrated custom systems. The Embedded Computing group serves the defense, aerospace, commercial and industrial markets and is part of Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc. For more information about Curtiss-Wright visit www.cwcembedded.com.
About Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc.
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Curtiss-Wright Controls is the motion control segment of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW). With manufacturing facilities around the world, Curtiss-Wright Controls is a leading technology-based organization providing niche motion control products, subsystems and services internationally for the aerospace and defense markets. For more information, visit www.cwcontrols.com.
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: a reduction in anticipated orders; an economic downturn; changes in the competitive marketplace and/or customer requirements; an inability to perform customer contracts at anticipated cost levels; a change in government spending; and other factors that generally affect the business of aerospace, defense contracting, marine electronics and industrial companies. Please refer to the current SEC filings for Curtiss-Wright Corporation under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 as amended for further information.