PCI/cPCI Cards
Ballard Technology, Everett, Wash., recently announced its OmniBus family of PCI and cPCI interface cards for Mil-Std-1553, ARINC 429/575, ARINC 708/453 and ARINC 717/573 avionics data buses. Available in a range of single- or mixed-protocol configurations, the Omnibus boards were designed to provide abundant processing power and handle high channel counts. A single PCI or 3U cPCI Omnibus card can host up to 32 ARINC 429 channels, up to four dual-redundant Mil-Std-1553 channels, or combinations of these with other protocols. Visit www.ballardtech.com.
Mission Data Recorder
TEAC Aerospace Technologies announced the production phase of its line of solid state mission data recorders, the MDR-87. These are single line replaceable units (LRUs) for recording video, audio and digital aircraft information by interfacing to aircraft components and buses. Visit www.teac-aerospace.com.
Switch Plug-In
Irvine, Calif.-based Racal Instruments has introduced its Model 1260-111/A high-voltage reed-relay switch plug-in, rated for 1 million operations at full-rated 60-watt load. It was designed for use in either the Adapt-a-Switch 1260-100, VXI carrier, or the 1256, GPIB/RS-232 switching mainframe. The plug-in enables rapid switch card expansion and replacement, while the relays facilitate user-specific test configurations. The 1260-111/A contains 12 Form A and 12 Form B dry-reed relays that are paired, with a common input connection. It includes drivers for LabWindows/CVI, LabVIEW for VXI, and GPIB/RS-232 applications. Visit www.racalinst.com.
Mini IR Camera
Indigo Systems, Goleta, Calif., announced an ultracompact infrared (IR) camera suitable for unmanned air vehicle (UAV) payloads. The thermal imaging device weighs less than 4.2 ounces (120 grams) and measures only 1.35 by 1.45 by 1.9 inches (3.4 by 3.7 by 9.2 centimeters). The Omega camera burns less than 1.5 watts of power and features under 2-second turn-on time. Vanadium oxide micro-bolometer detectors and proprietary on-focal plane signal processing result in thermal resolution of less than 40 mK, when normalized to f/1.0. The camera provides analog and 14-bit digital outputs to support machine vision and imaging applications. In extended-temperature mode, scenes can be imaged in temperatures up to 400 degrees C. Visit www.indigosystems.com.
Dual-Transceiver IC
A dual-transceiver integrated circuit (IC) with low power consumption and a small footprint has been introduced by Holt Integrated Circuits, Mission Viejo, Calif. The HI-1573 is available in production quantities for 3.3-volt Mil-Std-1553 data bus interface applications. The single-chip, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) HI-1573 consumes 340 milliwatts when transmitting at a 100-percent duty cycle and is housed in an enhanced small-outline IC (ESOIC) plastic surface-mount technology package that has an internal heat sink.� It is also available in the larger, 20-pin dual in-line package (DIP) format. The HI-1573 has the same pin-out arrangement, footprint and 1:2.5 turns ratio transformer as Holt’s 5-volt interface products. Visit www.holtic.com.
High-Temp Inductors
A new series of 2100HT, 2200HT and 2300HT high-temperature toroid power inductors is available from J.W. Miller Magnetics, Gardena, Calif. Appropriate for high-power, high-density power supplies and extremely hot electronics applications, the parts operate at a range of minus 55 to 200 degrees C. The units feature a self-shielding design and provide an inductance range of 1.2 �H to 1,000 �H with 38A maximum rated current. Visit www.jwmiller.com.
Hardware Trace Probe
Green Hills Software, Santa Barbara, Calif., will offer a hardware trace probe that the company claims combines the highest-speed trace engine and largest trace memory available. The SuperTrace Probe allows designers to control the processor’s trace logic and to capture trace data while the processor is running. The 1-gigabyte trace buffer can capture several hundred million processor cycles of execution and data trace, simplifying data collection and reducing the time to locate and correct software bugs. The new probe will be compatible with PowerPC 405, PPC 440, ARM7 Embedded Trace Macrocell (EMT), ARM9 EMT and ARM10 EMT. Visit www.ghs.com.
Dy 4 Alliance
Dy 4 Systems will develop its next-generation rugged graphics product together with ALT Software Inc., a provider of OpenGL graphics software for ATI Technologies Inc. graphics chips. This collaboration is expected to result in a new Dy 4 graphics product featuring the ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics processing engine and OpenGL technology. Visit www.dy4.com.
Fibre Channel NIC
Data Device Corp., Bohemia, N.Y., has introduced the FibreAccess series of 2-gigabit/sec Fibre Channel network interface controllers (NICs). The FC-75000-series Fibre Channel NIC operates over a temperature range from minus 40 to 85 degrees C. It provides a dual-redundant architecture with autonomous failover or dual-independent channels, low memory-to-memory message latency, deterministic autonomous message scheduling, and built-in avionics upper-layer protocols on a conduction-cooled PMC card. Initially, the FC-75000 is available with a transformer-coupled copper interface with either front panel connection, PMC rear connection or a fiber optic interface. The FC-AE-1553 protocol is available with the new FibreAccess series, offering a transition path from older, slower bus technologies. Visit www.ddc-web.com.