Military Embedded Systems
Op-Eds
Avionics
BAM Blog: heads up on components availability for heads-up displays - Blog
November 27, 2013
BEFORE & AFTER MARKET (BAM) BLOG: Jet fighters and the family car will have several things in common in the near future. When a disruptive technology is developed, prior generations of similar technologies are significantly impacted. In the consumer market, customers can generally adopt new technologies rapidly if the price point is right. Conversely, higher-value equipment with long operating life times does not have this luxury. Manufacturers of prior generations of military, space, and aerospace equipment may find their supply chain disrupted as cost-conscious vendors adapt to a more volatile market cycle.
From The Editor
John Rynearson named first VITA Hall of Fame inductee - Blog
November 20, 2013
John Rynearson, technical director of VITA, is the first person to be inducted into the newly created VITA Technologies Hall of Fame. The news took him by pleasant surprise, announced during today’s VITA Standards Organization (VSO) meeting in Scottsdale, AZ, in front of his friends and peers in the industry. After the announcement was given by John McHale, editorial director of Military Embedded Systems magazine, the room filled with applause and congratulations.
Comms
BAM BLOG: Counterfeits: the 2,000 versus 200 Equation - Blog
November 13, 2013
Before & AfterMarket Blog (BAM). At first glance, having 2,000 component suppliers to choose from -- versus 200 – is a good thing. Competition drives down prices and component selection appears bountiful. In the electronics supply chain, though, things don’t always work that way. In fact, the “2,000 vs. 200” equation is downright dangerous. Almost any vendor can sell a component, but not all vendors are authorized to do so. This is a big distinction.
Radar/EW
Six customized computers myths that you should know - Blog
November 04, 2013
One of the most common problems executives face is making business decisions about technologies with which they are not familiar. As they survey the crowded marketplace, corporate leaders often rely on information from self-interested vendors, or so-called conventional wisdom.
Comms
Collecting semiconductor products - Blog
October 21, 2013
NEWBURYPORT, MA. I've found where they put the Lost Ark at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" -- it's in an aftermarket semiconductor warehouse in Newburyport, MA. Seriously, Rochester Electronics has a storage area for products going back decades that is eerily similar to the one in the movie (see photo).
Comms
Radar/EW
Designing OpenVPX systems to support Gen3 >10 Gbaud signaling - Blog
September 30, 2013
Signal Integrity (SI) is becoming an increasingly critical consideration for designers of OpenVPX systems. While system integrators first confronted some SI issues as the embedded industry made the performance advance from Gen1 at 3.125 Gbaud to Gen2 at 6.25 Gbaud signaling, the current transition to Gen3 >10 Gbaud signaling rates, nearly doubling the bandwidth of Gen2 OpenVPX, requires a significant increase in the level of tools, capability, expertise, and know-how to ensure successful design and implementation of a robust latest generation, OpenVPX system.
Comms
Avionics
Ada Watch: Choosing the right Ada subset for strong static guarantees - Blog
August 13, 2013
While Ada offers many features that act as safety guards at run time, by raising exceptions when a violation is detected, some of these features may be too complex to guarantee a safe execution before the program is run. This is the case for example of pointers, which may be used to create arbitrarily complex shared data structures in memory. SPARK is a subset of Ada that forbids these features, most notably pointers, in order to be able to provide strong guarantees at compile time. A preview of the next revision of SPARK called SPARK 2014 is already available, as well as the associated verification tools.
Avionics
Avionics
Code Quality: Dynamic & static analysis combined makes engineers & auditors happy - Blog
March 28, 2013
In the good old days, before writing software became “software engineering,” code development was a black art practiced by weird nerdy kids straight out of college. For them, coding was by no means a structured discipline. If you managed to get them to communicate, they might tell you that they were hacking code together and using ad hoc test data to see whether it did what it was supposed to do when they executed it.
Avionics
Ada Watch: Getting the right programming language for the job - Blog
March 05, 2013
Ada is a strongly typed language that is a natural choice for developing high-reliability programs. Some languages such as C are good at low-level-programming but not for solving other challenges – as covered in my previous blog. You need to choose the right tool for the job. Instead of using one language or one tool for every problem, you should provide engineers with multiple options for developing high-reliability software – which is where Ada shines.
Avionics
Avionics
Radar/EW
HPEC Vanguard: New tools for complex algorithms - Blog
August 28, 2012
Arthur C. Clarke famously made the observation that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” In the radar and signal intelligence world, corps of Ph.Ds are regularly developing mathematically complex algorithms that require significantly more processing power than can be deployed in a contemporary embedded COTS system. These algorithms must sit gathering dust in a drawer until Moore’s Law has driven performance densities sufficiently to enable the needed compute power for that class of algorithm. When any given class of applications is made possible, more demanding algorithms follow in their wake. This way of understanding our market highlights the fact that there are two types of applications that embedded military and aerospace system designers typically confront.
Avionics
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Rafale fighters to be delivered to Serbia by Dassault Aviation
August 30, 2024
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ATHENA sensor selected for U.S. Army threat detection program
August 27, 2024
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Training provider V2X secures combat readiness task order valued at as much as $3.7 billion over 5 years
August 21, 2024
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Final VH-92A presidential helicopter delivered to U.S. Marine Corps by Sikorsky
August 20, 2024
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Metron and Cellula Robotics Complete a Series of In-Water Demonstrations for Multi-National Defense and Commercial Customers
September 04, 2024
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Switchblade loitering munitions to be provided to U.S. Army by AeroVironment
August 29, 2024
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Autonomous logistics aircraft tested during U.S. Air Force exercise
August 27, 2024
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PRODUCT OF THE WEEK: VersaLogic’s Swift rugged embedded computer
August 26, 2024
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U.S. Navy, Shield AI partnering on aerial target project
August 28, 2024
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AI-enabled software project kicks off between RTI and U.S. Air Force
August 27, 2024
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Multi-jet autonomy flights using AI pilot conducted by Shield AI
August 26, 2024
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Artificial intelligence, machine learning to be developed for U.S. Space Systems Command by Sierra Space
August 22, 2024
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U.S. Navy signs CACI to 5-year engineering, systems support contract
September 03, 2024
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Mobile satellite terminals to be provided to U.S. Department of Defense by Ovzon
August 30, 2024
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Comms system to be integrated onto Australian frigates by Rohde & Schwarz
August 29, 2024
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Heavy Tactical Vehicle contract for U.S. Army won by Oshkosh Defense
August 23, 2024