Pre-Integrated Subsystems Step Up to Meet Demanding Requirements - COTS Journal
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Pre-Integrated Subsystems Step Up to Meet
Demanding Requirements
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While modularity and SWaP remain critical factors, pre-integrated system designs are moving
closer to end-applciations needs.
MIKE SOUTHWORTH, PARVUS
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http://www.cotsjournalonline.com/articles/view/101955
13/02/2015
Pre-Integrated Subsystems Step Up to Meet Demanding Requirements - COTS Journal
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• Figure 1 - Military tilt-rotary aircrafts bene...
• Figure 2 - New designs of pre-integrated subsy...
• Figure 3 - The operating system used in pre-in...
• Figure 4 - The DuraCOR 810 includes up to six ...
Advances made in embedded computing technology continue to push pre-integrated subsystems further into
demanding applications where only the most durable, powerful systems will suffice. These COTS-based systems
continue to gain traction within the government especially since Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in 2009 called
on the military to forget the “exquisite” platform and instead seek the “80-percent solution”—equipment that’s
affordable and can be fielded quickly and in large quantities. The movement within the military to focus on price and
capability over ideal, envelope-pushing systems has led to the design of sophisticated pre-integrated subsystems to
meet the military’s stringent requirements.
The ability for customers to tailor their device with specific I/O has proven to be a key motivator for the rapid adoption
of pre-integrated subsystems. Parvus has noticed an increase of customers migrating away from sole source,
proprietary rugged computing technology as long-term lifecycle support is questionable and upgrades may have to
be requalified and retrofitted to the system—a lengthy and expensive process.
Modularity Spurs Increased Adoption
The modularity of some pre-integrated subsystems provides superior longevity and flexibility as components can be
upgraded in the future without a complete system redesign—an especially attractive feature to organizations faced
with tightening budgets. To date, more than 100 COTS-based vendors produce products based on modular PC/104
standards. With this broad base of PC/104-compatible options, modularity for pre-integrated subsystems is optimal.
As an example, one manufacturer of a military tilt-rotary aircraft (Figure 1) specifies the multicore version of the
DuraCOR pre-integrated subsystem with COTS PC104+ modules supporting MIL-STD-1553 avionics bus interfaces
and MPEG video encoding. The prime contractor leverages the unit to provide platform mission processing, among
other capabilities. In a recent quick-reaction capability (QRC) demonstration for the U.S. Government, the DuraCOR
unit was repurposed to link with a stand-alone Ethernet switch subsystem to expand the aircraft’s situational
awareness capabilities by sharing and receiving real-time video feeds with ground commanders. To further reduce
size, weight and power (SWaP), the customer is looking at also integrating the Ethernet switch (also based on
PC104 architecture) into an open card slot within the DuraCOR computer housing, eliminating the need for separate
computer/switch boxes. As this customer demonstrates, the flexibility of pre-integrated subsystems allows this
computing platform to perform a variety of functions for various applications.
Figure 1
Military tilt-rotary aircrafts benefit from the flexible platform of pre-integrated
subsystems.
Debating Power vs. Performance
In today’s military platforms, reducing a system’s size, weight and power (SWaP) is critical for operational life and
budgetary constraints. The number of electronic payloads within the military’s combat vehicles has increased
significantly, and designers of pre-integrated subsystems must include greater embedded processing power while
trying to mitigate large power consumption. Plus, the growing need for mobility eliminates the option to increase the
footprint to make room for more power or more performance.
As a result, multicore processing technology is experiencing a significant boost in deployment within pre-integrated
subsystems. While previous multiprocessing solutions involved one or more physical chips, which doubled he
amount of board space consumed or more, the introduction of multiple processing cores in a single chip allows
operating systems and applications to leverage increased computing power. It also has provided access to additional
computing resources without noticeably increasing the size or weight of the system. For demanding applications,
mobile Core 2 Duo or Core i7 processors, as examples, provide attractive solutions. While presenting a challenge to
manage the 10-55 watts of thermal design power (TDP) of these processors, they offer a level of performance that
pushes the boundaries of traditional rugged computing required by new applications.
http://www.cotsjournalonline.com/articles/view/101955
13/02/2015
Pre-Integrated Subsystems Step Up to Meet Demanding Requirements - COTS Journal
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With the high level of performance offered by multicore processors, high power requirements become an issue. Lowpower options such as Intel’s new Atom processor family inject more possibilities for rugged stand-alone boxes. This
low-power processor has a thermal design power (TDP) specification in the 0.6-2.5 watt range and scales to 1.8
GHz speeds depending on customer need. By comparison, today’s mainstream mobile Core 2 Duo processors have
a TDP in the 17-35 watt range. New multicore Atom-based single board computers (SBCs) are also entering the
scene, which promises the best of both scenarios with lower power consumption than the Core 2 Duo yet better
performance metrics compared to legacy single core Atom processors. Atom-based solutions, however, don’t
typically support the PCI Express Graphics (PEG) bus for certain graphics-intensive applications.
Need for Prompt, Fresh Designs
To bridge the divide between power vs. performance, suppliers of pre-integrated subsystems are engineering
solutions that offer some middle ground. For its part, Parvus is designing new Intel-based pre-integrated subsystems
that provide greater performance while still maintaining power efficiency. To support the military’s escalating
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) efforts, which include compute-intensive applications such as
sonar, radar, SIGINT and UAV control systems (Figure 2), these new subsystems will include PCI Express
capabilities to support higher speed add-on cards for graphics, SATA, video and other removable media.
Figure 2
New designs of pre-integrated subsystems must consider the CPU-intensive
applications required by UAV control systems.
As with any computing system designed for the military, new products continue to focus on minimizing size and
weight. Some traditional limitations for pre-integrated subsystems have been providing a COTS design that supports
the right number of cards, enough connector interfaces and sufficient thermal and shock/vibration ruggedization—all
while being optimized to meet military customer requirements.
Taking a cue from the “Lego-like” stacking architecture of PC/104, the mechanical design for Parvus’ next-generation
subsystems aims to overcome these hurdles and maximize flexibility of a rugged COTS subsystem. The approach
incorporates a modular rugged enclosure with building block chassis segments that have pre-integrated card sets,
along with MIL connector interfaces and optimized thermal management devices. Depending on customer
requirements, a particular functional card set can be configured for stand-alone use—for instance as a computer,
router, or Ethernet switch—or attached to each other and consolidated within a single, compact mechanical solution.
Compared to the traditional approach of working around a fixed-sized box with a pre-defined number of open card
slots, this modular approach provides greater flexibility, superior technology reuse and provisions for mechanical
adaptations.
Application Engineering Fills the Void
The ability for customers to optimize COTS subsystems is a key motivator for the further adoption of this technology
as it reduces costs and speeds time to deployment as compared to custom designs. However, many companies are
facing human resource constraints or aggressive project schedules that restrict their engineering groups from
modifying products in-house. Application engineering groups at Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) fill this
void by assisting system integrators with application-optimized, turnkey solutions that reduce development time while
increasing customer interface and feedback, ultimately lowering the costs of modifications and the risk associated
with third-party subsystem integration.
Subsystem integration services, also called application engineering, are becoming increasingly popular as
customers witness the cost benefits of leveraging qualified COTS subsystem platforms. Application engineering
teams quickly become experts at understanding requirements and proposing the most rugged yet cost-effective
approach to meet their program’s functional and environmental requirements. Common requests of Parvus
application engineers include the integration of application-specific boards, loading of custom operating systems,
upgrading of memory/mass storage devices, and handling mechanical, connector or interface customizations.
Application engineers provide accessibility between design engineers and customers to ensure their integrated
subsystem will meet user demands and provide the best deployment possible. Since these engineers often serve as
the technical point of contact when optimizing systems, communication between the manufacturer’s resources and
the customer is greatly improved. This communication not only ensures that customers’ expectations are being met,
but also provides valuable market trend information to the teams developing the next-generation products.
Customizing OS for Mil Applications
Among the many variables that comprise pre-integrated subsystems is the Operating System (OS). The open
architecture of pre-integrated systems is hugely beneficial to military customers as they can choose the OS that
works best for a particular application (Figure 3). Military customers have a diverse set of OS preferences varying
from “roll your own Linux” to commercial Windows OS depending on the customer’s unique application and
requirements.
http://www.cotsjournalonline.com/articles/view/101955
13/02/2015
Pre-Integrated Subsystems Step Up to Meet Demanding Requirements - COTS Journal
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Figure 3
The operating system used in pre-integrated subsystems is dictated by the
application’s requirements. Vehicle needs are very different than aircraft needs for
example. Pre-integrated subsystems are designed to accommodate the many
varieties of operating systems currently available.
Real Time Operating Systems (RTOSs) are proving to be particularly popular among aerospace programs that
demand application-specific tasks be executed reliably, consistently and predictably. This is especially true in terms
of flight software and complying with avionics certification standards such as DO-178B and its follow-on standard DO
-178C. The ability of an RTOS to boot up within nanoseconds and respond quickly to events is proving critical to milaero applications where each second can translate into saved lives.
The influx of multicore processors in pre-integrated subsystems has also spurred RTOS offerings to include
technologies and capabilities to take advantage of the performance gains of multicores. For example, Wind River’s
VxWorks 653 now supports multicore architectures that will allow the addition of more applications to a single
platform.
To maximize the performance of pre-integrated subsystems, the OS needs to be optimized to contain just the
functionalities required by the application without any unnecessary features. As added complexities of an OS can
consume valuable CPU bandwidth—and incur extra costs—military contractors need to be cognizant of how an OS
can affect overall performance. OS optimization services can be rendered by application engineering teams to create
an OS image size based on the feature sets the customer requires.
Tough Requirements Push Innovation
An example product that’s part of this pre-integrated systems trend is the DuraCOR 810 (Figure 4) rugged computer
offered by Parvus. It includes up to six spare slots and a large spare DTL-38999 expansion connector conveniently
routed to an internal breakout board and headers. This allows for application-specific PC/104(+) cards to be
integrated without having to make external mechanical changes. For this reason, customers are not only interested
in these rugged boxes as stand-alone computers, but also as an upgradeable computing platform.
Figure 4
The DuraCOR 810 includes up to six spare PC/104(+) slots and a large spare DTL38999 expansion connector conveniently routed to an internal breakout board and
headers.
Military applications present engineers of pre-integrated subsystems with some of the most intense design
challenges in the COTS world. Not only do modern military customers demand that pre-integrated subsystems
withstand extreme conditions, but they must reduce SWaP—all without sacrificing performance. As the military
http://www.cotsjournalonline.com/articles/view/101955
13/02/2015
Pre-Integrated Subsystems Step Up to Meet Demanding Requirements - COTS Journal
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continues to push the limits of computing system requirements, pre-integrated subsystems will continue to evolve to
endure the toughest conditions.
Parvus
Salt Lake City, UT.
(801) 483-1533.
[www.parvus.com].
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