Curtiss-Wright Introduces its First Fully Integrated Deployable Rugged Avionics System
Press ReleaseOctober 23, 2019
AUSA 2019, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington D.C. (Booth 2209) - October 14, 2019 - Curtiss-Wright's Defense Solutions division, a trusted leading supplier of rugged safety-certifiable solutions, today introduced its first fully integrated deployable avionics system. The SPIRIT Hawk Avionics Computing Platform, the newest member of Curtiss-Wright's SPIRIT family of rugged avionics systems, is a fully integrated high-performance COTS-based solution that leverages trusted, field-proven DO-254/DO-178 safety-certifiable modules to reduce development time, balance cost, and mitigate project risk. The ready-to-deploy system's base configuration features Curtiss-Wright hardware building blocks, including the V3-152 single board computer (SBC), V3-719 graphics and video capture module, and V3-611 I/O module. SPIRIT Hawk is configured in a fully rugged ½ ATR short enclosure with four 3U OpenVPX™ slots and a power supply slot. This innovative solution is ideal for reducing program time and cost while mitigating integration risk for critical applications such as mission computers, UAV ground stations, DVE systems, flight control computers, and display computers on manned and unmanned fixed wing and rotary aircraft.
"Avionics system developers seek a compelling balance of risk reduction and program acceleration," said Lynn Bamford, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Defense and Power. "Our new pre-integrated SPIRIT Hawk avionics platform leverages Curtiss-Wright's trusted safety-certifiable embedded computing modules to deliver a fully capable, readily deployable system. SPIRIT Hawk, based on our field-proven hardware building blocks, enables customers to bring their solutions to market faster and with lowered project risks and costs."
Because SPIRIT Hawk can be used for both development and deployment, it allows system developers to begin developing their applications right away, enabling ground-based and flight demonstrations to be performed at an early stage.
Based on pre-integrated safety-certifiable OpenVPX modules (available with certification artifacts up to DAL A for a wide variety of applications), SPIRIT Hawk provides system developers with a field-proven, rugged chassis that is pre-integrated with an SBC, graphics controllers, and avionics I/O cards. Performance options include Power Architecture® or Arm® based SBCs, AMD® graphics, and the full range of avionics I/O interfaces. This ITAR-free system is designed to be compliant with FACE™ (Future Airborne Capability Environment) software and to ease and speed the deployment of critical airborne applications around the globe.
SPIRIT HAWK Basic Configuration:
SPIRIT Hawk is offered in two basic configurations. For unique requirements, the configuration can be customized with minimal time, risk, and cost.
Base Configuration #1
- NXP® QorIQ® T2080-based safety-critical SBC running at up to 1.8GHz
- 4 x dual-threaded E6500 processor cores
- Each core with AltiVec vector processor
- Each core with 64 KB L1 cache
- Shared 2 MB L2 cache
- 1 x DDR3 memory controllers with 512 KB L3 front side cache ECC
- Single high-speed 64-bit DDR3 SDRAM controller with ECC to correct single-bit errors and detect double-bit errors on single memory controller
- Up to 16 GB of DDR3 SDRAM with ECC
Base Configuration #2
- NXP Layerscape LS1043-based safety-critical SBC running at up to 1.6GHz
- 4 x A53 Arm processor cores
- Each core with Neon SIMD processor
- Each core with 32 KB L1 instruction cache and 32KB L1 data cache
- Shared 1MB L2 cache assignable to the four processing cores
- 1 x DDR3 memory controllers with 512 KB L3 front side cache ECC
- Single independent high-speed 32-bit (with ECC) DDR4 SDRAM controller with ECC to correct single-bit errors and detect double-bit errors on single memory controller
- Up to 8 GB of DDR4 SDRAM with ECC
Other options include a graphics card, custom I/O, and an additional processor card. In addition, the SPIRIT Hawk backplane can be modified to meet unique pin-out requirements.
Curtiss-Wright's rugged SBCs, avionics I/O, and graphics modules are designed for use in size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) constrained aerospace and defense systems. Use of these safety-certifiable cards can greatly speed the deployment and certification of critical manned and unmanned airborne safety-certifiable systems.
Safety Certification Expertise
To further expand the capabilities and services available to system designers developing COTS-based DO-254 airborne electronic hardware (AEH) and DO-178B/C software-based safety-certifiable avionics solutions, Curtiss-Wright has established a strategic partnership with Mannarino Systems & Software (MANNARINO), a leading provider of safety-critical systems, software and electronic hardware engineering services. Under the agreement, exclusive for the embedded COTS aerospace & defense market, MANNARINO provides Curtiss-Wright and its customers with safety-certifiable software, systems integration support (including the development of life cycle data artifact kits), and expert guidance through safety certification processes.
Software Support
The SPIRIT Hawk base configurations are supported by Green Hills Software INTEGRITY®-178 tuMP™ and Wind River® VxWorks® 653 operating systems. Operating systems from other partners, such as SYSGO®, Lynx Software Technologies®, and DDC-I, may be added over time.
About Curtiss-Wright Corporation
Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a global innovative company that delivers highly engineered, critical function products and services to the commercial, industrial, defense and energy markets. Building on the heritage of Glenn Curtiss and the Wright brothers, Curtiss-Wright has a long tradition of providing reliable solutions through trusted customer relationships. The company employs approximately 9,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.curtisswright.com.
