Software drivers developed enables VxWorks users to support Intel Xeon DMA engine, 40Gbe
NewsJune 04, 2018
ASHBURN, Va. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions engineers designed a solution for High Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC) systems that deal with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) applications based on the Wind River VxWorks real-time operating system (RTOS).
The new software drivers by Curtiss Wright for Wind River’s Board Support Package (BSP) can be used with Intel’s Xeon D processor-based CHAMP-XD1 3U OpenVPX and CHAMP-XD2 6U OpenVPX DSP modules. This will enable VxWorks to support Intel Xeon D processor’s QuickData Technology Direct Memory Access (DMA) engine and 40 GbE Mellanox Ethernet Controller.
Marc Couture, Director of Engineering at Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions mentions that optimizing VxWorks across multiple cores, multiple devices, and multiple boards will help designers with any jitter issues as systems today have hundreds, and million lines of code that have been developed that can move forward with VxWorks.
This solution will allow HPEC System designers that require deterministic, hard real-time attributes of VxWorks to utilize Intel Xeon D processor architecture for multicore/multiboard HPEC systems for designers of ISR applications.
In addition, the VxWorks BSP provides an alternate path for users that only had Linux as an option. Linux has taken over the market share over time in places where VxWorks used to be, Couture explains. However, he says that VxWorks continues to promote a smaller footprint and lowers latency for radar and electronic warfare applications where the decision-making process needs to be as fast as possible.
The system has undergone bandwidth testing with the driver, according to Denis Smetana, Senior Product Manager - DSP Products, at Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, the system's real performance maintained on both the PCIe DMA functionality and Ethernet drivers in terms of moving data across 40Gbe backplane. Testing also showed that the drivers for the Mellanox devices can support 40Gbe or InfiniBand.
