 |
| 3U OpenVPX VPX3-1220 and XMC-121 XMC processor mezzanine card. Photo: Curtiss-Wright |
[Avionics Today 08-25-2016] Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions division has introduced two new small form factor Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Single Board Computers (SBCs) based on Intel’s latest generation Mobile Xeon processor E3 v5, formerly known as Skylake-H. The new rugged modules, the 3U OpenVPX VPX3-1220 and XMC-121 XMC processor mezzanine card, feature a low-power version of the Xeon processor to provide high performance quad-core x86 processing with integrated graphics at typically 50 percent the power levels of previous solutions.
These SBCs are ideal for use in Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C)-constrained aerospace and defense systems. What’s more, the VPX3-1220 is the first Xeon processor SBC designed to meet DO-254 Design Assurance Level (DAL) C. Available with certifiable DO-254 design artifacts from Curtiss-Wright, this VPX module can greatly speed the deployment and certification of critical manned and unmanned airborne safety certifiable applications, according to the company.
Both of these new SBCs are designed for use in general purpose mission computing applications that require the highest possible processing performance while consuming low power. These fully rugged modules speed and simplify the integration of Intel Xeon-class processing into demanding defense and aerospace deployed applications such as mission computing, image and display processing, virtualization, and small multi-SBC ISR systems.