Small, Light and Rugged: Qseven Enables New Battlefield Technologies
Man-Wearable System Achieves 40 Percent Power Reduction Shifting from Custom to Qseven
Platform
by Dan Demers, congatec and Michele Kasza, Connect Tech
As military electronics become more mobile and more complex, designs that combine form,
function and performance are in demand on today’s battlefield. Unique applications and
challenging tactical environments may complicate the design process, but the resulting systems
are invaluable to soldiers in the field. Today, man-portable systems go where the action is and
must perform flawlessly – managing high volumes of sensor data, sharing information in real
time, and performing complex computing tasks in extreme tactical environments. These
sophisticated, small form factor systems demand an optimal computing platform, ensuring
performance, meeting application needs, and handling the range of rugged requirements that
define military computing.
Computer-on-Modules (COMs) are playing a significant role in enabling these ultra-portable
innovations; by leveraging performance advantages of the latest Qseven standard, designers can
quickly develop high performance, lightweight systems that are highly customized to military
applications. These small platforms are driving big changes in the way military designs are
developed, fueling a shift to standardized technologies that not only deliver performance, but
also allow integrators to compete more aggressively for military contracts. Getting these
powerful systems out into the field quickly is essential. They provide soldiers with a new level of
situational awareness, allowing them to control robotic support from a safe distance, or enabling
real-time visual simulation and training long before they reach the front lines.
Qseven Sees Battlefield Action
Systems designed for field mobility must be sturdy, rugged, compact and lightweight. Further, a
design focus on power efficiency ensures these devices are well-suited to battery-powered
applications. Small size and low power consumption might once have defined a non-essential
device, but today these factors are vital to portable field computing as illustrated by Quantum
3D’s Thermite TL 2000, a ruggedized embedded computer system designed for man-portable
applications. This rugged computer system is a thin and lightweight device that provides
processing performance with extended battery life for man-wearable graphics and videointensive applications (Figure 1). This is particularly important for command, control,
communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) mission. In
addition, field-based training, mission planning, mission rehearsal, weapon system control,
maintenance, robotics and other mobile applications can be controlled from this advanced
portable device worn by individual soldiers or teams of soldiers, in the field or learning to make
tactical decisions in battlefield environments.
Quantum’s Thermite TL 2000 is a next generation product based on an earlier version of the
Thermite TL system. The previous Thermite system was developed as a full custom design;
however the Thermite TL 2000 jumped to the Qseven standard. “After our initial design of the
Thermite TL, customer feedback indicated a strong desire for a smaller form factor system with
significant horsepower and capabilities. It had to be sufficiently small, light and power-efficient
to be put into a man-worn environment. Thermite’s promise was in delivering rugged computing
performance in such a small size that it could be physically worn by soldiers, and still handle
demanding applications such as robotics or aircraft control,” said Pratish Shah, vice president of
sales and marketing, Quantum 3D. “We took a thorough look at how we could provide the
greatest value – focusing on ruggedizing the product and achieving a significant reduction in
power consumption – and concluded we could gain a strategic advantage by leveraging third
party capabilities along with existing standards.”
Quantum 3D determined that congatec’s Qseven module would provide the form, function and
performance required by customers (Figure 2). The Qseven embedded computer module is a
solution for virtually any low-power or ultra-mobile embedded PC application due to its compact
size, minimum power consumption and low cost.
Transitioning Designs from Custom to Qseven
Quantum 3D had several key criteria to address in transitioning Thermite TL to Thermite TL
2000. Thermite’s existing silicon option was reaching end of life, and there was an overall desire
to reduce size, weight, power and heat dissipation. First on the list was gaining CPU performance
as measured by a number of applications put forth by top customers. Specifically, it was essential
that the Thermite TL 2000 achieve a certain level of video frame rate and playback. Next up was
reducing power consumption by as much as 40 percent. Many end-user applications are batterypowered and an advantage goes to the device that can make its battery last as long as possible
while still achieving a high level of system performance.
And perhaps most importantly, these advancements had to be invisible – the form factor was
evolving but the physical case and external connectors had to remain 100 percent identical to the
earliest Thermite product generation. With a deployed solution like Thermite, existing customers
could only capitalize on the performance advancements of the TL 2000 if their systems could
maintain all mechanical form factors that had been specifically developed to the shape, size and
weight of the existing device.
Carrier Board Expertise Reduces Development Time
For Quantum 3D, Qseven COMs served as modular building blocks to support a much faster
design and development process. Qseven COMs are widely available in a well-developed
ecosystem, and simplify the customization process for embedded design. The COM’s related
carrier board holds the key to customized performance, containing all customization related to
the end-user application. For future product planning, upgrades are possible by switching out the
Qseven module; while customization must be adapted to any new silicon, it is an integration
process rather than costly and time consuming redevelopment.
Connect Tech had an off-the-shelf carrier board that came very close in offering the feature set
and size required for Quantum 3D’s Thermite TL 2000. Connect Tech was able to quickly
execute proof of concept using off-the-shelf hardware, and then determine the applicationspecific needs for the final board. Carrier boards work in conjunction with COMs, providing the
instant access to current embedded processors that are easily upgradable to accommodate future
generations. Connect Tech Qseven carrier boards address a variety of feature set requirements
and accordingly offer a variety of embedded processor options including Intel Atom, Freescale
i.MX51, TI OMAP and NVIDIA Tegra. Carrier boards are intentionally not tied to any specific
bus architecture, and offer Mini-PCIe and SIM-card expansion capability and designer’s choice
of Mini-PCIe peripherals, including WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth or storage. Customization can be
flexible and depends entirely on the goal of the system and the end-user application (Figure 3).
Investments in customization, such as defining the I/O mixture, continue as the life of the
product progresses; as Thermite TL 2000 upgrades to next generation processors, none of the
main hardware needs to be changed and the customization and feature-set simply moves forward
with the performance advancement.
Carrier board design requires experience in routing PCI Express, testing signal integrity and
mechanical stability for the range of high-speed interfaces. Further, mounting within the
enclosure demands knowledge of thermal management and heatsinking techniques, which are
essential to the small and confined physical space of this device. Once engaged in the custom
conversation, Connect Tech was able to provide Quantum 3D with mechanical samples in five
weeks; at week eight they provided functional, tested prototypes along with a customized and
improved thermal design solution.
Common connectors were not rugged enough for Thermite TL 2000’s requirements, so Connect
Tech developed a connector-free carrier board. Only the MXM connector, which connects the
Qseven COM to the carrier board itself is present in the design; the board simply uses an edge
connector to plug into Quantum 3D’s Thermite system.
Thermite TL 2000’s Standards-Based Future
As silicon architecture evolves to include new processors, the customization of the Thermite TL
2000 Qseven COM-carrier board combination remains intact from generation to generation.
Ruggedized elements, connectors and form factor are all unaffected, and customization can be
re-used with the modified COM without costly redesign.
Qseven COMs are a powerful tool in the military design challenge – meeting rugged
performance standards with all the ease of a pre-integrated system. Created to support smallsized, low-power, mobile and ultra-mobile applications, the Qseven module measures just 70 x
70 mm² and does not require an expensive board-to-board connector but rather an inexpensive,
yet reliable, 230 pin MXM edge connector known from mobile graphic cards. The thermal
design power (TDP) called out in the Qseven specification is limited to 12W, but even more
significant is the specified supply voltage at 5 volts, allowing a mobile device to run efficiently
on 2 lithium cells. Qseven supports no legacy I/O such as 32-bit PCI and IDE. Instead, it focuses
on current I/O such as PCI Express and digital display interfaces. Both the x86 and ARM
architectures are supported in the Qseven specification. This allows for a wide range of options
and scalability for designers of military-based computing platforms.
As Thermite TL 2000 moves to future product generations, military customers will undoubtedly
require continued improvements in processing and performance. “As customers begin to demand
even less power usage, we will examine different silicon architectures that are now available on
the Qseven standard,” said Shah. “Quantum 3D will continue to explore Intel’s faster
performance options as they become available, and also extend into ARM-based and other CPU
architectures that may enable new capabilities and features that were not previously possible.”
Partnerships Help Solve Design Challenges
By making the leap to Qseven, Quantum 3D was able to focus primarily on its core competency
of ruggedizing the Thermite TL 2000’s design. Low power and high performance was ensured
using an energy-efficient Intel Atom E680 processor; the device delivers up to 2GB of system
memory in a compact, rugged enclosure. Power efficient design includes dynamic power control
to manage power consumption and thermal dissipation. Thermite TL 2000’s modular
architecture is flexible, enabling military integrators to tailor systems for specific CPU
performance, video processing and 2D/3D graphics, networking, I/O, and data storage. I/O is
versatile with six USB ports, RS-232C, audio and video options, and 10/100 Ethernet ports for
high-speed signal processing. Depending on the end-user application, Thermite TL 2000 can
include up to 60GB of ruggedized solid state storage. Quantum designed Thermite TL 2000 for
rugged performance from the ground up; conduction cooled with no moving parts, validated to
MIL-STD-810G to ensure resistance to extreme temperature, vibration, shock and immersion,
and MIL-STD-461E to handle radiated emissions. MIL-SPEC chassis and connectors create the
proper construction for rugged, reliable performance.
In addition to keeping Quantum 3D’s focus on rugged design elements, the standards-based
Qseven platform allowed the company to deliver faster than competitors. “Qseven allowed us to
focus on Thermite TL 2000’s ruggedization, meeting the extreme specifications of our military
customers,” said Shah. “We concentrated our resources on validating performance in extreme
temperature ranges, under the effects of immersion and high altitude, and in conditions of shock
and vibration. Because we were able to move more quickly through this development process,
we were also able to tap into a few additional military programs and opportunities. Qseven
enabled us to not only deliver a rugged, high performance product but also be more responsive
and competitive in military design initiatives.”
Qseven Proves its Mettle in Military Design
Small size, rugged high performance, and low power consumption are hallmarks of portable,
military design. Technology here follows a very similar path to consumer electronics in that
devices are shrinking and becoming more and more sophisticated. Military applications take that
performance to the extreme with devices that demand longer battery life and the ability to handle
huge amounts of application data – and further factors in elements such as extreme heat, high
altitude, corrosive sea water, shock and vibration, or all of the above. Qseven COMs help
designers address these challenges, while speeding time to market, allowing developers to focus
on core competencies and providing a cost-effective upgrade path for long military deployments.
This is important for designers, as growth in ultra-portable military systems is a trend likely to
continue. A recent study from market research firm ASD Reports estimated a $2.77 billion
global market for man-portable military electronics in 2013. Even with looming cuts in defense
spending, long-term troop deployments have essentially served to validate the effectiveness and
necessity of these types of devices.
Designers developing military systems face some of the most significant demands in the realm of
embedded design. Whether the system is designed for ground vehicles, aircraft, shipboard
computing, or the broad range of man-portable applications, COMs act as modular building
blocks for rugged electronics. Offering a high performance, small form factor platform – with the
longevity provided by a flexible processor upgrade path and carrier board customization that can
endure through future product generations – Qseven COMs are an ideal option for rugged
military designs.
congatec, San Diego, CA. (858) 457-2600. [www.congatec.com]
Connect Tech, Guelph, Ont., Canada. (519) 836-1291. [www.connecttech.com]
Quantum 3D, San Jose, CA. (408) 600-2500. [www.quantum3d.com]