Military Embedded Systems

Asute Networks and RadiSys Announce Partnership to Address Demanding Communications and Mil/Aero Applications

RadiSys Corporation — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:32:02 -0800

SAN DIEGO, CA and HILLSBORO, OR— March 9, 2010 — Astute Networks, Inc., a leading provider of bladed storage solutions optimized for the most demanding applications on the edge of the network, and RadiSys Corp. (NASDAQ: RSYS), a leading global provider of application-ready software and hardware platforms, today announced that the two companies have entered into an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement to supply cutting-edge Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) solutions to communications and mil/aero customers worldwide.

Under the partnership, the companies will provide integrated solutions based on RadiSys' Promentum® ATCA chassis and server blade products and Astute Networks' edge storage blades, bundled with application-specific software. The combination of RadiSys' systems and product expertise, and Astute Networks' Caspian Edge Storage Blades, will provide an innovative product offering for demanding mission-critical network environments. The companies will market these combined solutions in the communications and mil/aero marketplaces.

"Astute Networks' experience in designing world-class storage products for the communications and mil/aero markets was the basis for entering into this mutually beneficial OEM agreement, and we are pleased to welcome them as a new member of our RadiSys Alliance Partner Program," said Anthony Ambrose, vice president and general manager of communications networks, RadiSys. "This partnership will enable our customers to select from an even broader range of integrated platform solutions that provide the choice, flexibility and time-to-market advantages required by the communications and mil/aero industries."

"RadiSys has defined itself as a leading global provider of application-ready software and hardware platforms for use in the communications, multi-media, mil/aero and medical markets, and we look forward to bringing cutting-edge solutions to market, together," stated Clark Masters, president and chief executive officer, Astute Networks, Inc. "End-users are driving the demand for integrated vendor solutions and are looking for partners with proficiency in designing and implementing these solutions. We believe the RadiSys/Astute Networks partnership will benefit our mutual customer base by providing a wide array of technology options."

Telecommunications customers such as TynTec Ltd. have already welcomed the partnership.

"To provide new capabilities to our carrier customers, we need innovative platforms that will deliver more compute and storage capabilities with ever-decreasing total cost of ownership," said Thorsten Trapp, chief technology officer, TynTec Ltd. "The RadiSys/Astute Networks OEM agreement provides telecommunications equipment manufacturers with all of these advantages in a package that decreases power, space and weight as well."

Mil/aero customers will also benefit from the synergies that the RadiSys/Astute Networks partnership offers. The companies have demonstrated abilities in developing innovative solutions for the ATCA platform which has become an integral computing architecture in the mil/aero sector. ATCA is ideal for mission-critical applications because of its inherent advantages in power consumption, deployment simplicity, space utilization and commercial off-the-shelf availability.

About Astute Networks, Inc.

Astute Networks is the leading provider of bladed storage solutions for edge applications to the telecommunications, military, aerospace, government and other mission-critical markets. The company's focus is to provide the most reliable ATCA storage platform with high availability, optimal performance and efficient space and power utilization. Astute Networks' edge storage solutions are easy to deploy and maintain and feature lower product lifecycle costs while increasing time to market. Astute Networks is located in San Diego, Calif. For additional information, visit www.astutenetworks.com. Astute Networks - Edge Storage Made Simple™

About Radisys

RadiSys (NASDAQ: RSYS) is a leading provider of application-ready software and hardware platforms for use in the communications, multi-media, defense and medical markets. RadiSys’ innovative and market leading technologies help equipment manufacturers and network operators bring the most advanced products and services to market faster and more economically. For more information, visit www.radisys.com, write to info@radisys.com, or call 800-950-0044 or 503-615-1100. Editors seeking more information may contact Lyn Pangares at RadiSys Corporation at 503-615-1220 or lyn.pangares@radisys.com.

VersaLogic announces ultra-high performance SBC on PC/104-sized card

VersaLogic — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:08:35 -0800

VersaLogic Corp., a Eugene, Oregon-based embedded computer company, today announced the "Wildcat", a very high-performance single board computer (SBC). Built around an Intel® 2nd generation Core™2 Duo processor (SP9300), the entire SBC fits on a single 4.2” x 3.8” (107 mm x 96 mm) board.

Wildcat is designed for applications which require extreme CPU and video processing in a compact package. The SP9300 Core 2 Duo CPU is combined with the GS45 Graphics Memory Controller Hub and ICH9M I/O Controller Hub to form an extremely high-performance system. This powerful SBC is ideally suited for compute-intensive high-end applications such as flight navigation, guidance systems, and medical scanning / imaging. Wildcat is qualified to MIL-STD-202G shock and vibration standards for use in harsh environments.

"VersaLogic's new Wildcat is at the top of its class as the premium solution for applications requiring high-speed processing," said Len Crane, President of VersaLogic. "This kind of processing power, in such a small package, with relatively low power dissipation, will open a new generation of applications. It will also allow multi-CPU systems to be replaced to save a great deal of space, cost, and power in existing applications. This is a very significant step in processing capabilities."

Available in both a standard (0º to +60ºC) and an extended temperature version (-40º to +85ºC), the Wildcat runs at speeds up to 2.27 GHz, with typical power consumption of 19.5 watts. On-board features include up to 4 GB DDR3 RAM, gigabit Ethernet port, four USB 2.0 ports, dual SATA interface, serial port, digital HD audio support, and a latching MiniBlade™ socket for high-reliability flash storage. The board supports analog VGA and LVDS flat panel video interfaces for Extended Desktop, Clone, and Twin display modes, as well as advanced graphics capabilities with 3D video acceleration. Wildcat includes a stackable PCI interface (PCI-104™ standard) and VersaLogic’s SPX™ interface for system expandability.

The Wildcat owes its ability to pack extreme CPU and video performance into a PC/104-sized card to a new Core 2 Duo package. The small form factor (SFF) micro-FCBGA package uses 0.5 mm pitch balls to fit 956 connections in very little space.

Wildcat features Phoenix Technologies’ Embedded BIOS® with OEM enhancements. This field-reprogrammable BIOS supports custom defaults and the Firmbase™ software developers kit (SDK) for security, remote/network booting, and other application functions. Wildcat is compatible with a variety of popular operating systems, including Windows, Windows Embedded, Linux, VxWorks, and QNX.

The Wildcat is customizable, even in low OEM quantities. Customizations include manufacturing to Class 3 specifications, conformal coating, BIOS customization, revision locks, custom labeling, high-G shock and vibration treatment, custom testing and screening, etc. The Wildcat is fully RoHS-compliant.

VersaLogic will begin shipping Wildcat in March of 2010. Pricing is about $1,600 in OEM quantities. For additional information, please visit VersaLogic Corp. at www.VersaLogic.com, email sales@VersaLogic.com, or call toll-free 1-800-824-3163.

About VersaLogic Corporation

A leading supplier of industrial computers since 1976, VersaLogic focuses on high-quality board-level products for embedded OEM applications. Its five-year product availability guarantee and outstanding warranties demonstrate a commitment to service. Product platforms include EBX, PC/104, PC/104-Plus, EPIC™, SUMIT™, and SPX™. For five consecutive years, VersaLogic has received the coveted "Platinum" level vendor rating based on independent user surveys by technology research firm VDC Research Group, Inc. VersaLogic received ISO 9001:2008 certification in 2009 and was one of the first companies in North America to be registered to the 2008 revision of the standard. For more information, visit www.VersaLogic.com.

PT Adds IP-Based Radar/Sensor Recording and Playback Platform to its Air Traffic Control and Defense Communication Systems

Performance Technologies — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:23:56 -0800

Amsterdam, The Netherlands – PT (NASDAQ: PTIX), the recently rebranded Performance Technologies, a leading global provider of advanced network communications solutions, today announced the introduction of its MPR2000 Radar and Sensor Data Recording/Playback System. The new offering enables integrators to more easily expand their existing air traffic control recording systems and leverage new technologies to build next generation, IP-based sensor and radar recording solutions.

The MPR2000 Data Record/Playback System is the newest addition to the company’s suite of air traffic control and defense communication systems, complementing the world class MPS1000 Data Distribution Server which transports multiple radar formats and sensor interfaces over IP. For over a decade, PT systems have provided extremely reliable and highly available services over IP networks, by gathering and delivering vital data such as weather, flight tracking, and ground surveillance. The company’s presence in air traffic control and defense-related communication systems includes over 3,500 systems deployed in 30 different countries.

PT’s MPR2000 expands the current portfolio by adding the capability to easily record and play back radar/sensor data. The record feature stores data in raw or payload format with highly accurate timestamping, enabling the user to view previously captured data as source material to analyze or transmit to remote archive locations. A unique feature of the MPR2000 is its multiple playback function, whereby simultaneous sessions may be conducted and widely distributed to discrete users. The MPR2000 employs a web-based user interface simplifying set-up, configuration, monitoring, and maintenance in order to create an intuitive, user-friendly experience. Unlike other offerings, these capabilities apply to the entire platform as well as to specific radar/sensor ports (links) running specific communications protocols. Finally, MPR2000’s flexible platform accepts optional processor blades and PT’s NexusWare® Linux® distribution, enabling tight integration of applications and reducing the need for additional servers.

"PT is very proud to introduce the newest member of our Air Traffic Control portfolio," said Ed Bizari, Vice President of Military, Aerospace, and Government Systems for PT. "Coupled with our popular, field proven MPS1000, the MPR2000 delivers a one-two punch to provide mission-critical, IP communication solutions, and it represents our ongoing commitment to the Air Traffic Control and government systems industry to provide best in class products."

PT is demonstrating its Air Traffic Control solutions that include the MPR2000, the MPS1000, and the company’s IPnexus® EMS at the ATC Global Exhibition and Conference, March 9-11, 2010, in Stand R301A in Amsterdam RAI.

Online Resources

Air traffic and defense communication system architects needing more information on PT’s MPR2000 system, the MPS1000 server, and other leading communication solutions can access the following online resources:

-- MPR2000 Data Record/Playback System: go.pt.com/mpr2000

-- MPS1000 Data Distribution Server: go.pt.com/mps1000

-- NexusWare® Radar/Sensor Communications Software: go.pt.com/wan

-- IPnexus EMS (Element Management System): go.pt.com/ems

About PT (www.pt.com)

PT (NASDAQ: PTIX) is a global supplier of advanced network communications solutions to carrier, government, and OEM markets. PT’s portfolio includes IP-centric network elements and applications designed for high availability, scalability, and long life cycle deployments. The company’s entire line of offerings is anchored by IPnexus®, PT’s own IP-native, highly integrated platforms and element management systems. OEMs and application developers, including PT itself, leverage the robust carrier grade Linux® development environment and rich suite of communications protocols (PT’s NexusWare®) of IPnexus Application-Ready Systems as a cornerstone component of their end product value proposition. PT’s SEGway™ Signaling Solutions provide low cost, high density signaling, advanced routing, IP migration, gateway capabilities, SIP bridge, and core-to-edge distributed intelligence. The company’s Xpress™ NGN applications enable evolving Mobile 2.0, Multi-media, and IMS based revenue generating services. PT is headquartered in Rochester, NY and maintains sales and engineering offices around the world.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and which could impact the Company's financial performance. These statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. The Company's future operating results are subject to various risks and uncertainties and may be affected by various trends and factors which are beyond the Company's control, including customers' acceptance of the Company's new products. Forward-looking statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements, the Notes thereto, Risk Factors, and Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company as of December 31, 2009, as contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Microsemi Extends Advanced Silicon Carbide Portfolio With 1,500 Watt RF Power Transistor for UHF Pulsed Radar Provides High Performance for Next-Generation Military/Aerospace Applications

Microsemi — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:47:31 -0800

Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq:MSCC), a leading manufacturer of high performance analog mixed signal integrated circuits and high reliability semiconductors, announced today the introduction of a new 1,500 watt RF power transistor for UHF pulsed radar applications, expanding its industry-leading portfolio of high power silicon carbide transistors.

Designated the Model 0405SC-1500M, the new device from Microsemi's RF Integrated Solutions group, utilizes state-of-the-art SiC technology to provide unparalleled 1,500W peak power performance in a compact single-ended package that replaces complex push-pull balun circuitry found in conventional silicon BJT or LDMOS solutions.

"We are very excited to lead the market with this silicon carbide broadband transistor specifically designed for UHF Band pulsed radar in military and aerospace applications," said Charles Leader, Microsemi RFIS Vice President. "This new 1,500 watt device demonstrates our ability to extend this advanced technology through aggressive investment. We now can support next-generation UHF radar designs with a full series of silicon carbide transistors having powers rated at 100 watts, 500 watts, 1000 watts and now the 0405SC-1500M at 1,500 watts.

The 0405SC-1500M is a high performance, common gate, class AB, high power transistor designed for UHF frequencies from 406 to 450 MHz. It is built with 100% gold metallization and gold wires in a hermetically sealed package providing highest reliability for weather radar and over the horizon radar applications.

System Benefits with 0405SC-1500M SiC transistors:

-- Single-ended simple impedance-matching design replaces complex push-pull

balun circuitry

-- Industry's highest peak power for reduced system power: 4-way

combination yields 5kW with margin

-- High operating voltage slashes power supply size and dc current demand

-- Low conducting current minimizes system noise effect

-- Extremely rugged performance improves system yields

-- 50% smaller size than equivalent silicon devices

-- All gold metallization and gold wire for military grade long term

reliability

-- Hermetic, solder-sealed packaging extends lifetime operation

The 0405SC-1500M transistor utilizes new chip design and processing enhancements to offer state-of-the-art performance, notably in high power, small transistor and circuit size over the specified frequency range with 300us pulse width and 6% duty cycle.

0405SC-1500M Key Product Features:

-- Designed for 406 -- 450 MHz UHF radar

-- Medium Pulse Format: 300 us, 6%

-- 1,500 watt output power

-- High power gain: 8 dB Typ

-- Drain efficiency: 45 % @450MHz

-- Compression: In Compression

-- Vdd: +125V

-- Ruggedness capable of VSWR-T 5:1

Demo units for the entire line of Microsemi silicon carbide transistors are available now by contacting the factory or by email request to sic@microsemi.com. Technical datasheets are available on the Microsemi website at www.microsemi.com.

Carbon Unveils New Generation of ARM Models with Availability of Mali Models

Carbon Design Systems — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:06:22 -0800

Carbon Design Systems™, the leading supplier of tools for the automatic creation, validation and deployment of system-level models, announced today immediate availability of virtual models for ARM® Mali™ Graphic Processor Units (GPUs).

“Our new Mali models represent the first in a new generation of ARM models from Carbon,” says Tom Rathje, Carbon’s vice president of engineering. “The built-in TLM-2.0 interface gives each model the flexibility for architectural exploration, firmware development and application software development.”

These new models, including the Mali-200 and Mali-400MP, are compiled directly from the ARM register transfer level (RTL) code and are 100% implementation accurate.

Each contains transaction level model (TLM)-2.0 interfaces to execute seamlessly with Fast Models from ARM as part of a system prototype and quickly boot an operating system such as Linux or Android. The interface and dynamic clock generation logic automatically turn the model on when it is being used and off when it is dormant. As a result, models run in a loosely timed (LT) level environment without slowing it down, except when they’re active. This capability will enable the same model to be used for architectural exploration, firmware development and application software development.

Mali models also contain a cycle-accurate TLM interface and integrate directly into Carbon SoC Designer and any SystemC or RTL design environment.

Availability

Mali models are available now from Carbon Design Systems. For pricing and further details, send email to: info@carbondesignsystems.com. To learn more about Carbon Design Systems, visit: cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=htt[...].

About Carbon Design Systems

Carbon Design Systems offers the leading system validation solution for complex system-on-chip (SoC) designs. Target applications range from model generation and deployment to virtual platform creation, execution, and analysis. Carbon provides 100% implementation accuracy on the critical components required for accurate architectural analysis and pre-silicon hardware/software validation. Solutions are based on open industry standards, including SystemC, IP-XACT, Verilog, VHDL, OSCI TLM, MDI, SCML, CASI, CADI and CAPI. Carbon’s customers are systems, semiconductor, and IP companies that focus on wireless, networking and consumer electronics. Carbon is headquartered at 125 Nagog Park, Acton, Mass., 01720. Telephone: (978) 264-7300. Facsimile: (978) 264-9990. Email: info@carbondesignsystems.com.

Aonix ObjectAda Real-Time released on VxWorks 653; Atego's real-time Ada development system now available to military and aerospace developers.

Atego — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:21:53 -0800

San Diego, USA and Cheltenham, UK – 8th March 2010. Atego, the leading independent supplier of industrial-grade, modeling and development tools for complex, mission and safety-critical embedded systems and software, has announced the release of Aonix ObjectAda Real-Time for Windows targeting the Wind River VxWorks 653 multi-partition RTOS for PowerPC. This is the first release of the Aonix ObjectAda product with full Ada runtime support for the Wind River safety-critical platform.

“Aonix ObjectAda Real-Time for VxWorks 653 was developed to meet customer demand,” said James B. Gambrell, Executive Chairman at Atego. “Although Atego, formerly Aonix, has for years been providing a full safety-critical Ada product for ARINC-653 systems, to realize the full potential of multi-partition RTOSs, both full Ada runtime, and safety-certifiable Ada runtimes needed to be available. We are happy to now have satisfied this need.”

VxWorks 653 is Wind River's robust operating system for controlling complex ARINC 653 Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) systems. VxWorks 653 fully implements the latest ARINC 653 application executive (APEX) specification with a robust time and space partition scheduler. Aonix ObjectAda Real-Time runs within a VxWorks 653 partition where execution of a non-certifiable Ada application can work in cooperation with safety-critical functionality resident in other partitions. This is a significant cost advantage via reduction in the amount of Ada code that needs to endure the high cost and time associated with the rigor of certification testing and acceptance cycles. Atego’s Aonix ObjectAda Real-Time joins with Aonix ObjectAda RAVEN as one of two products now supporting the VxWorks 653 platform.

“Support for multiple levels of safety criticality is an important aspect of IMA systems,” said Adrian Larkham, Head of Critical Systems at Atego. “Aonix ObjectAda provides facilities needed for the development of Ada applications at varying levels of safety criticality within an IMA system. Aonix ObjectAda Real-Time for VxWorks 653 provides full Ada language coverage for development projects with low levels of application safety criticality. Application development at the highest level of safety criticality is covered by ObjectAda RAVEN for VxWorks 653 and its certifiable subset of Ada.”

Aonix ObjectAda Real-Time for Windows x PowerPC/VxWorks 653 consists of a fully compliant ACATS 2.5 Ada 95 compiler plus supporting tools. It is compatible with Wind River’s VxWorks 653 environment, which comprises the VxWorks 653 operating system and the VxWorks 653 cross development toolset. Aonix ObjectAda for VxWorks 653 leverages Wind River Workbench, an Eclipse-based development environment providing developers access to the broad range of tools available through the Eclipse framework. Users also have the option to utilize Aonix ObjectAda’s standard graphical or command-line interface. The Aonix ObjectAda compilation system is comprised of an integrated language-sensitive editor, source-code browser, compiler with industry-leading compilation speed, debugger and full library manager.

About the Aonix ObjectAda Family

Aonix ObjectAda is an extensive family of native and cross development tools and runtime environments. Aonix ObjectAda native products provide host development and execution support for the most popular environments including Windows, Linux and various UNIX operating systems. Aonix ObjectAda Real-Time products provide cross development tools on Windows, Linux or UNIX systems which target PowerPC and Intel target processors in support of “bare” hardware execution or in conjunction with popular RTOSs. Aonix ObjectAda RAVEN products provide a hard real-time Ada runtime to address those systems requiring certification to the highest levels of safety standards such as DO-178B Level A for flight safety.

Availability

Aonix ObjectAda Real-Time targeting the PowerPC architecture running Wind Rivers’ VxWorks 653 is immediately available.

# # #

About Atego

AtegoTM is the leading independent supplier of industrial-grade, collaborative development tools for engineering complex, mission- and safety-critical architectures, systems, software and hardware. Atego delivers a stable, robust working environment to thousands of users across an extensive range of complex applications in demanding engineering sectors such as aerospace, defense, automotive, transportation, telecommunications, electronics, and medical. Atego’s Aonix PERC® is the leading, highly reliable, real-time embedded virtual machine solution for running JavaTM programs deployed today. Atego also has the largest number of certified Ada applications (Aonix ObjectAda®) at the highest level of criticality. Atego’s standards-based modeling tool suite, Artisan Studio®, provides comprehensive support for the leading industry standards, including OMG SysML, UML and Architectural Frameworks. Atego WorkbenchTM provides a fully integrated, collaborative engineering framework for the trouble-free deployment and maintenance of best-in-class tools for mission and safety-critical systems and software development. Atego’s tools deliver on the promise of an integrated collaborative development environment - allowing architecture, systems, software and hardware engineering teams to Work as OneSM - from concept through to delivery, maintenance and support. Founded in 2010 in a merger between Artisan Software Tools and Aonix, Atego is headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA and Cheltenham, UK with offices in France, Germany and Italy, and is supported by a global distributor network. For more information visit: www.Atego.com.

Geensoft launches Reqtify 2010

Geensoft — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:26:52 -0800

Brest, France - 8th March 2010. Geensoft, the specialist independent provider of software design tools and associated professional services for embedded systems development, has launched Reqtify 2010, a major new version of its award-winning tool suite for the automated management of embedded hardware and software requirements capture, traceability and impact analysis throughout the entire development lifecycle. Reqtify 2010 delivers improved productivity through an extensive range of new and enhanced plug-in tools, features and interfaces.

“Reqtify 2010 includes the most extensive range of new features and functions that we have introduced,” said Eric Larronde-Larretche, Geensoft’s Product Line Manager for Reqtify. “Approaching 10 year’s old, Reqtify’s well-proven technology is now firmly established in, and extremely widely used by, the embedded systems design community worldwide.”

Reqtify 2010 includes new Collaborative Project Management and Reviewer plug-in tools. The new Collaborative Project Management (CPM) plug-in considerably eases a previously painful and time-consuming process for OEMs relating to the collation and management of design partners’ requirements and traceability data. It enables project managers to consolidate all projects and sub-projects into one global Reqtify project, with automatic linkage of design artifacts to the original requirements. This enables remote teams to more easily undertake global impact analysis, measure requirements coverage and share results on an entire project throughout the development lifecycle. The new CPM plug-in includes a specific user management module allowing user profiles, rights and roles to be defined in order to facilitate access control. The Reviewer plug-in has also been completely re-built to make it more visually oriented, facilitate workflow customisation and improve the management of user rights.

Reqtify 2010’s range of new features is extensive. Links management is critical to requirements traceability and Reqtify 2010 now provides the ability to automatically highlight suspect links that have to be validated as soon as changes occur to covered requirements. A new Links Detail View has also been included where engineers can create, edit and analyse traceability and dependencies between project artifacts. It is also possible to define links as either traceability or dependency links so that the required coverage calculation is obtained. A completely reworked Management View enables engineers to easily check project progress and metrics using visual indicators for traceability achievements, requirement errors and quality. Rules Management has also been significantly improved with a new rules management cockpit that enables existing rules to be enabled/disabled using a simple check list and new rules to be created using a simple, intuitive rules editor. A new XML-based tester enables pre-analysis of data to be undertaken prior to the allocation of specific document types to analysis reports. Filters can now be defined with variable values instead of having to define separate filters for each value.

Reqtify 2010 also includes a range of new and enhanced interfaces. A new Eclipse CDT interface and tagger overcomes a major hole in Eclipse Workbench enabling requirements traceability to be easily added to the C/C++ code generated using the CDT capability. The IBM-Rational DOORS interface has also been upgraded to include Full Hierarchy analysis which can be used when there is no clear definition of Sections and Requirements. The interface for HP Quality Center has also been significantly enhanced to include support for Version 10. Improvements have also been made to the Microsoft Office suite and to Sparx Enterprise Architect interfaces.

“With over 10,000 users in 500 companies in Europe, North America and Asia, the launch of Reqtify 2010 further reinforces our position as the market leader in the automated management of requirements gathering, traceability and impact analysis for embedded systems,” said Eliane Fourgeau, CEO of Geensoft. “It also highlights our commitment to the ongoing development of our products and importance as a strong, independent player in the market for embedded systems design tools following our recent management buy-out from Geensys.”

About Reqtify

Reqtify is the most widely deployed solution for addressing requirements capture, traceability and impact analysis in the most demanding, safety-critical domains such as the aerospace and defence, railway transportation, automotive and medical instrumentation industries. Reqtify enables automatic and customisable document generation as evidence that a product meets certification and/or quality constraint requirements at all times throughout the development cycle. Thanks to its impact analysis and requirements coverage capabilities, Reqtify gives all project stakeholders a thorough insight into the effort required to complete each project task (specification, design, V&V activities, integration) and for each product release. It gives a unique and global view of the overall project status enabling project leaders and quality managers to perform risk analyses and to prove compliancy with project requirements and constraints. As such, Reqtify is recognised as a solution that can provide an immediate return-on-investment for projects initiated under quality standards objectives like CMMI or SPICE. It has also been deployed or qualified for application development under certification constraints like DO178C, DO254, EN50128, IEC 61508, ISO26262, FDA 21CFR Part 11, MODAF and DoDAF. With Reqtify, engineers can continue to use their existing working environments to fulfill traceability objectives.

About Geensoft

Geensoft delivers industry-proven, best-in-class embedded systems development tools and professional services that help engineering teams in the aerospace, automotive, defence, energy, industrial automation, medical and transportation industries to more efficiently manage their engineering processes as well as design, verify and validate their model-based embedded systems applications. Privately owned with 60+ employees and headquartered in France, Geensoft has sales offices in Europe and Japan supported by a network of distributors and value-added integrators worldwide. Geensoft’s products include the award-winning Reqtify, ControlBuild and AUTOSAR Builder as well as RT-Builder tool suites. Reqtify provides automated management of embedded systems and software requirements capture, traceability and impact analysis throughout the entire development lifecycle. AUTOSAR Builder enables ARTOP-based design, development, verification and validation of AUTOSAR-compliant automotive electronic systems. ControlBuild is a front-to-back environment for the design, development, validation, deployment and maintenance of control and automation systems and applications. RT-Builder facilitates the modelling, simulation and validation of distributed real-time architectures for multi-processor and multi-bus systems. For further information, visit: www.geensoft.com.

APRO launches BON Series high capacity, high performance and ruggedised SATA II 2.5 inch Solid State Drives

APRO — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:07:48 -0800

Taipei, Taiwan – 8th March 2010. APRO, Taiwan’s leading manufacturer of industrial-grade NAND Flash storage devices, has launched the BON Series of high capacity and high performance Serial ATA II (SATA II) Solid State Drives (SSDs) in a ruggedised 2.5 inch form factor.

The BON Series includes the highest capacity SATA II SLC (single level cell) NAND Flash SSD available today at 256 GBytes and also the highest capacity SATA II MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash SSD at 512 GBytes.

In addition, the BON Series SATA II SLC SSDs are also available in data capacities of 32 GBytes, 64 GBytes and 128 GBytes. All the drives are packaged in 2.5 inch form factor, ruggedised metal casings measuring 9.5mm high for all the drives except the 256 GByte drive which measures 15.3mm high.

Ideally suited to embedded industrial, transportation, military and aerospace applications, the BON Series SATA II SSDs support Fast Erase of media data either by hardware trigger or by software ATA vendor code command across the entire range. Drives also supporting hardware and software triggered Secure Erase, particularly useful for military applications, will be available later in 2010.

The internal dual control RAID-0 design of the BON Series SATA II SSDs helps deliver their high performance, providing a maximum sequential read capability of 240 MBytes/sec with an average access time of 0.1ms and a maximum sequential write capability of 190 MBytes/sec. The BON Series SATA II SSDs are fully compliant with both the SATA 1.0a and 2.6 specifications supporting the required data throughput rates of 1.5 Gbits/sec and 3 Gbits/sec. The drives weigh just 115g.

The BON Series SATA II SSDs provide an extended operational temperature range of -40ºC to +85ºC, vibration, shock and humidity compliance to MIL-STD-810F environmental specifications and are capable of operating up to an altitude of 70,000 feet. In addition, they provide a mean time between failure (MTBF) in excess of 3 million hours, endurance performance greater than 2 million cycles with data retention of 10 years or more.

“The BON Series SATA II SSDs are ideally suited to the growing number of high capacity, high performance data storage applications emerging in the European industrial, mil/aerospace and transportation markets,” said Erez Lev, Managing Director of ProSaleTech, APRO’s channel management partner in Europe. “They not only satisfy the capacity and performance requirements that these applications increasingly demand but deliver them in a compact, lightweight and extremely rugged package.”

About APRO

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Taipei County, Taiwan, APRO has become the leading Taiwanese manufacturer of NAND flash storage products for industrial applications, supplying the global market through an extensive network of distribution partners. With extensive investment in R&D and customer service expertise, APRO continually exceeds expectations in terms of the product quality, performance and application of its industrial flash storage technology. APRO is renowned for delivering optimal, rugged and reliable solutions. For further information visit: www.apro-tw.com.

The MathWorks Announces Release 2010a of the MATLAB and Simulink Product Families

The MathWorks — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:38:03 -0800

NATICK, Mass. – March 5, 2010 – The MathWorks today announced Release 2010a (R2010a) of its MATLAB and Simulink product families. Key in this release are new streaming capabilities for signal processing and video processing in MATLAB, nonlinear solvers for standard and large-scale optimization, and expanded Simulink support for large teams designing complex systems. R2010a also introduces Simulink PLC Coder, which helps industrial control system engineers generate IEC 61131 structured text. This release updates 83 other products, including PolySpace code verification products.

Advancements for the MATLAB family that are part of the R2010a release include:

• Signal Processing Blockset and Video and Image Processing Blockset: New System objects for stream processing in MATLAB. Supporting more than 140 algorithms, System objects use less memory, improve the handling of lengthy signal and video data streams, and simplify the development of streaming algorithms.

• Symbolic Math Toolbox: New interface with Simscape to automatically generate Simscape language equations for physical modeling.

• Global Optimization Toolbox and Optimization Toolbox: New nonlinear solvers for more complex and realistic problems and the ability to use parallel computing to accelerate time-to-solution.

• SimBiology: Stochastic approximation expectation-maximization (SAEM), dosing schedules support, and performance enhancements for improved data fitting and modeling for pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD).

R2010a reflects a continued focus on performance within the MATLAB product family, including multicore support and performance enhancements for more than 50 functions in Image Processing Toolbox, and additional multithreaded math functions in MATLAB. There are also enhancements to file sharing, path management, and the desktop in MATLAB.

With this release, Simulink offers expanded support for large design teams, enabling them to design complex systems more efficiently. These capabilities include tunable parameter structures for management of large parameter sets and triggered model blocks and function-call branching for component-based modeling.

Other Simulink 2010a highlights designed for more efficient embedded system development include:

• Embedded IDE Link and Target Support Package: Code generation support for Eclipse, Embedded Linux, and ARM processors, which provides simplified embedded system development workflows for systems engineers and software engineers.

• IEC Certification Kit: ISO/DIS 26262 tool qualification support for Real-Time Workshop Embedded Coder and PolySpace verification products, easing certification of ECUs developed to Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) A through ASIL D.

• DO Qualification Kit: DO-178B tool qualification support extended to model coverage, which expands the certification credit possible with model verification.

The new release is available immediately and is being provided to users with current subscriptions to MathWorks Software Maintenance Service. Additional information on R2010a product updates is available at: www.mathworks.com/products/new_products/latest_[...]

About The MathWorks

The MathWorks is the leading developer of mathematical computing software. MATLAB, the language of technical computing, is a programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and numeric computation. Simulink is a graphical environment for simulation and Model-Based Design of multidomain dynamic and embedded systems. Engineers and scientists worldwide rely on these product families to accelerate the pace of discovery, innovation, and development in automotive, aerospace, electronics, financial services, biotech-pharmaceutical, and other industries. MathWorks products are also fundamental teaching and research tools in the world's universities and learning institutions. Founded in 1984, The MathWorks employs more than 2,100 people in 15 countries, with headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, USA.

For additional information, visit www.mathworks.com.

Positronic's PosiBand(r) Contact Receives AS39029 Approval

Positronic — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:33:32 -0800

4 March 2010

Positronic’s new PosiBand contact system, introduced in summer 2009, is now qualified to SAE AS39029. This specification covers a wide range of high reliability crimp connector contacts for use in military and aerospace applications. The PosiBand system is suitable for any application requiring rugged, high reliability connectors, and is available with crimp and PCB mount terminations, including press-fit.

The PosiBand contact system is a unique closed entry female contact system which overcomes many of the weaknesses associated with the legacy "split tine" and sleeve approach. The PosiBand separates the mechanical and electrical function of the contact system. The base contact provides a true closed entry feature and enhanced electrical stability, while the PosiBand spring clip provides more stable mechanical function.

The PosiBand design creates a greater area of contact interface between male and female contacts in comparison to that of the ‘split tine’ design, and thus provides greater resistance to vibration and corrosion factors found in harsh environments. This greater area of contact interface is achieved without increased insertion force; in fact, the PosiBand system has a lower average insertion force compared to that of the legacy design.

PosiBand contact resistance is 3 milliohms for size 20 contacts and 4 milliohms for size 22 contacts. The current rating for size 20 contacts is 14 amps with 6 contacts energized. Size 22 contact current rating is 10 amps with 6 contacts energized. Both were tested per U.L. 1977.

In addition, PosiBand contacts do not require annealing of the crimp barrel. This eliminates the possibility of unintentionally annealing the mating end of the female contact, which can cause intermittent or open electrical circuits. The PosiBand system is available in standard density, high density and combination D-Subminiature connectors, as well as subminiature rectangular connectors. PosiBand contacts are priced the same as the legacy design. For more detailed information about the PosiBand contact system, visit: www.connectpositronic.com/pdf_view/181/, contact Positronic Industries at 800-641-4054, or email us at info@connectpositronic.com.

Forte Design Systems Ships Latest Version of CellMath Designer

Forte Design Systems — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:56:01 -0800

Forte Design Systems, a leading provider of SystemC high-level synthesis, datapath synthesis and intellectual property (IP), announced it is shipping the latest version of CellMath Designer™ datapath synthesis and Cellmath IP software.

The CellMath family allows register transfer level (RTL) designers to reduce area, improve performance and lower power consumption for their existing datapath-intensive design blocks.

“We’re seeing strong demand to reduce power and area, and create more competitive designs in virtually all market segments,” says Brett Cline, Forte’s vice president of marketing and sales. “Design teams that added CellMath Designer and CellMath IP to their existing logic synthesis or high-level synthesis design flow have been able to obtain optimal results quickly and at low cost.”

This version of CellMath Designer, the first release from Forte since it acquired Arithmatica in 2009, provides more automation to get users to optimal results with less effort. Other features include improved RTL code optimizations, a new bi-directional retiming algorithm and more scripting control, which mean that existing RTL designs can be used with no modifications.

For existing users, CellMath Designer’s multiplexor synthesis capability has been extended. This will provide more optimal results when optimizing across many levels of multiplexors, including recognizing complex pipeline enable signals formed from multiple levels of logic to improve ease of use and overall quality of results (QoR).

Improved formal verification flow for datapath designs

Traditionally, datapath blocks present unique challenges for formal verification tools because of the difficulty of comparing the original RTL input with the gate-level output after several complex transformations.

CellMath Designer’s unique approach to formal verification has been further extended to provide even more power to users. In this release, users have complete control over which parts of their design are described in RTL code and which at the gate-level, along with control over which carry-save outputs include final additions. This enables users to break verification problems into a chain of simpler/smaller steps that formal verification software can manage. With these new features, unresolved verification tasks can be turned from “inconclusive” to “equivalent.”

CellMath IP

CellMath Designer utilizes optimal, mathematically designed arithmetic operators and functions to improve overall quality of results in datapath-dominated designs. Together with CellMath Designer’s datapath synthesis capabilities, designers find that utilizing CellMath IP operators improves overall QoR, especially power, on existing RTL designs.

CellMath IP includes patented arithmetic architectures for floating-point, fixed-point and integer-based designs, and is being used in millions of leading-edge devices around the world.

Availability and Pricing

The latest version of CellMath Designer is shipping now. U.S. pricing starts at $120,000 for a one-year, time-based license.

About Forte Design Systems

Forte Design Systems is a leading provider of software products that enable design at a higher level of abstraction and improve design results. Its innovative synthesis technologies and intellectual property offerings allow design teams creating complex electronic chips and systems to reduce their overall design and verification time. More than half of the top 20 worldwide semiconductor companies use Forte’s products in production today for ASIC, SoC and FPGA design. Forte is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with additional offices in England, Japan, Korea and the United States.

Micro Focus Survey Finds Government Agencies Building Mainframe Application Modernization into their 2011 Budgets

Micro Focus — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:28:04 -0800

Rockville, MD – March 5, 2010 — Micro Focus® (LSE.MCRO.L), the leading provider of enterprise application modernization, testing and management solutions, today unveiled findings from an informal survey it conducted with various government IT practitioners over the past three months. The survey asked these experts about their plans to modernize their critical mainframe applications, and if and when they planned to allocate budget to the task.

Among the survey’s findings, more than 72 percent of those surveyed said that they are planning to build application modernization into their budgets within the next six months to two years (40 percent planned to budget for modernization within six months to one year). Interestingly, despite the recent buzz around cloud computing, only 6 percent of those surveyed stated that they planned to adopt cloud computing as part of their modernization efforts. The top modernization objective cited by respondents was to move to web-enabled systems (54 percent), with Windows cited as their systems’ most likely platform (38 percent) after modernization.

In addition, long-term cost savings was noted as the most important benefit of modernization, with ease-of-use a close second. A respondent from GSA noted that business requirements are one of their organization’s most important motivators for application modernization, and that they are planning to budget for this effort within six months. GSA’s end objective is to take advantage of various open source tools.

“With IT spending basically flat under the proposed federal FY 2011 budget, agencies are feeling growing pressure to spend wisely and maximize return on their investments,” said Ken Powell, president of Micro Focus North America. “In the pursuit of Web 2.0 technologies, application modernization allows agencies to upgrade their legacy systems without replacing or rewriting core mission-critical applications, which can be expensive, risky, and time-consuming. Today, Micro Focus works closely with more than 6,000 customers throughout the public sector, helping them tackle modernization projects. These customers are finding that modernization can provide a practical, cost-effective step toward next-generation technologies like web-enabled systems and SOA, or cloud-enabling their IT assets as they move toward cloud computing.”

About Micro Focus

Micro Focus, a member of the FTSE 250, provides innovative software that allows companies to dramatically improve the business value of their enterprise applications. Micro Focus Enterprise Application Modernization, Testing and Management software enables customers’ business applications to respond rapidly to market changes and embrace modern architectures with reduced cost and risk. For additional information please visit www.microfocus.com.

Lanner introduces latest dual-core Intel(r) Atom(tm) processor D510-based network appliance at RSA Conference 2010

Lanner Electronics Inc. — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:26:29 -0800

(Taipei, Taiwan- March 4th, 2010) Lanner Electronics, Inc. a leading ODM and OEM of networking platforms, today announced the FW-7565, a new 1U rackmount network appliance built around the new dual-core Intel® Atom™ processor D510 supporting 8 GbE ports. The release of the FW-7565 is timed to coincide with RSA Conference 2010, the industry’s largest gathering of network security personnel.

“The FW-7565 is designed for the cost sensitive entry-level network security segment,” said Terence Chou, the Product Planner for Network Security Appliances “As the first 1U network appliance from Lanner to utilize the dual core Intel® Atom™ processor D510, the FW-7565 delivers greater CPU and network processing sufficient for your network security needs, while consuming minimal power.”

The Intel Atom processor D510 operates at 1.66GHz and includes Intel® HyperThreading Technology. The FW-7565 features up to 8 GbE network ports based on the Intel® network controllers. Customers can choose between multiple NIC options including a 6GbE SKU, 8GbE SKU and by-pass options.

Additionally, the FW-7565 features a front graphic LCM panel, dual USB 2.0 ports, a RJ45 Console Port and a VGA output. There is 1 onboard SO-DIMM socket for up to 2GB of memory, and space for a single 2.5” or 3.5” hard drive disk. Other features include an internal RTC with Li-battery, a WatchdogTimer and a mini PCIe connector for expansion opportunities.

To ensure reliable operation, the FW-7565 comes with two ultra-quiet system fans, one for the 60W power supply and one for the cooling the system, and a passive CPU heat sink.

The FW-7565 is available today for Lanner network appliance customers.

For more information please visit our website www.lannerinc.com/Atom/FW-7565

or contact our sales department at sales@lannerinc.com

About Lanner

Founded in 1986 and publicly listed (TAIEX 6245) since 2003, Lanner Electronics, Inc. is an ISO 9001 certified designer and manufacturer of network application platforms, network video platforms and applied computing hardware for first-tier companies. Lanner's expertise also extends to include driver and firmware support, enabling customers to optimize hardware and software communication to achieve faster time to market. With headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan and branches in the U.S. and China, Lanner is uniquely positioned to deliver custom technical solutions with localized, value-added service. Lanner is an Associate Member of the Intel® Embedded and Communications Alliance, a group of companies committed to developing modular, standards-based solutions based on technologies, processors, products, and services from Intel®.

New from General Dynamics Canada - the PX3030 Single-board Computer Enables Network Connectivity for Mobile Battle Management Applications

General Dynamics C4 Systems — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:36:18 -0800

Designed to withstand the rigors of mobile and tactical environments, General Dynamics Canada introduces the new rugged and powerful PX3030 VPX-REDI single-board computer. The PX3030 harnesses the computing power of the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Mobile processor and 8GB RAM to easily handle today’s demanding network communications, graphics, imagery and video feeds needed for Modern Brigade Combat teams. Developed using proven commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software, the PX3030 delivers maximum operational efficiency and affordability.

Applications:

• Tactical wheeled vehicles including tanks, expeditionary fighting vehicles and Stryker platforms

• Armament platforms such as mobile gun systems and cannons

• Airborne command and control for combat helicopters, aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles

Key Features:

• VPX-REDI, enabling users to easily replace or repair modules

• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 1.2GHz to 2.26GHz processor

• Up to 8 GB DDR3-1066 memory

• Dual Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000 connectivity

• On-board storage up to 16GB SATA NAND, Flash

• Six USB 2.0 and four RS232/422 ports

• Rugged; VITA 47 CC4 vibration, shock and temperature compliant

General Overview:

• Size: 3U module per VITA 48.2 (conduction cooled), Type 1, .85” pitch; Weight: <500g (1.1 lb.)

• Supports Intel Virtualization Technology and Trusted Execution Technology

• Compatible with Microsoft Windows®, LynuxOS, Linux, HHEL, VxWorks and other operating systems

SFF-SIG Adopts CoreExpress(r) Specification to Strengthen PCIe 2.0-Ready COM Portfolio

SFF-SIG — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:22:12 -0800

Nuremberg, Germany, March 2, 2010 - The Small Form Factor Special Interest Group (SFF-SIG), a collaboration of leading suppliers of embedded component, board and system technologies, today announced the adoption and release of the CoreExpress® Specification revision 2.1. CoreExpress was originally developed as a proprietary standard by LiPPERT Embedded Computers GmbH. Under the terms of an agreement between SFF-SIG and LiPPERT, the entire embedded community will now be able to develop CoreExpress modules and applications without regard to confidentiality and without royalties of any kind. Use of the CoreExpress logo will require membership in SFF-SIG.

“The dynamic and vibrant nature of SFF-SIG enabled the group to move rapidly to embrace the CoreExpress Specification”, said Paul Rosenfeld, SFF-SIG President. “Eight companies participated in the review process which was completed within a 90 day window. The structure of SFF-SIG and hard work by its members has given the SIG a strong leadership position in the development and release of next-generation COM standards.”

“I’m thrilled that CoreExpress has achieved the status of an open standard through SFF-SIG”, said Peter Lippert, President of LiPPERT Embedded Computers GmbH. “This is an ideal vehicle to make advanced CoreExpress technology available to the entire embedded community.”

The newly released version of the specification contains a number of enhancements proposed by SFF-SIG members during the evaluation process. These include the support of the emerging DisplayPort interface and the addition of sufficient reserve pins to enable upward compatible support for USB 3.0 in the future. The new version is upward compatible from the current CoreExpress 2.0 version previously published by LiPPERT.

CoreExpress uses a single connector baseboard interface, eliminating the registration problems frequently found with two-connector Computer on Module products. Fully digital to reduce system noise and EMI, CoreExpress is the smallest x86 computer-on-module in the market, measuring a mere 58x65mm. With dedicated interface pins for optional CAN bus support, CoreExpress ushers in a new era of ‘application COMs’ tailored for vertical markets.

Three characteristics establish the CoreExpress Specification as the first of a new generation of Computer on Module. First, the connector used by CoreExpress modules has been confirmed to operate at the speeds required for PCI Express Generation 2. Secondly, the specification contains an option to configure the SDVO interface pins for the new DisplayPort interface. Third, sufficient reserved pins are included in the definition to enable inclusion of at least two USB 3.0 ports in a future release of the specification.

The CoreExpress baseboard interface includes PCI Express (configured as 1 x4 lane or 4 x1 lanes), RGMII Ethernet Interface, 2 SATA ports, 1 CAN bus port, 8 USB 2.0 ports (one of which may be configured as a client), LPC bus, SM bus, High Definition Audio, SDVO (multiplexed with Display Port), 24-bit LVDS flat panel interface, backlight control and an SD/SDIO/MMC 8-bit interface.

The CoreExpress Specification is available for download from the SFF-SIG web site at www.sff-sig.org. CoreExpress modules are available today from LiPPERT Embedded Computers.

About the Small Form Factor SIG

The Small Form Factor Special Interest Group is an international organization devoted to identifying, creating, and promoting standards that help electronics system and device manufacturers and integrators move to small form factor technologies and building blocks in their products, and protect their investments. Benefits of small form factor products include smaller size, reduced power consumption (eco-friendly, “green” products), and greater reliability compared to larger legacy products.

The SIG’s philosophy is to embrace the latest technologies, as well as maintain legacy compatibility and enable smooth transition solutions to next-generation interfaces. For more information about the SFF SIG, visit www.sff-sig.org or e-mail info@sff-sig.org.

CoreExpress is a registered trademark of SFF-SIG. ISM, SUMIT, SUMIT-ISM, COMIT, Pico-ITXe, Pico-I/O and MiniBlade are trademarks of SFF-SIG. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Embvue Product Launch - Prodigy: The Complete AFDX Network Deployment Tool Suite

www.embvue.com — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:34:20 -0800

Embvue Product Launch - Prodigy: The Complete AFDX Network Deployment Tool Suite

Montreal, Canada - Embvue Inc., (www.embvue.com) - a leading developer and provider of embedded software and systems engineering services & certifiable network products for both mission & safety-critical systems, has today officially launched its latest product - Prodigy. Prodigy is a scalable and configurable network integration tool suite that allows users to greatly simplify the deployment of AFDX, or other deterministic Ethernet, networks.

Following on from the successful introduction of A-Stack (Embvue's DO-178B certifiable End System stack solution), Prodigy is the second of three AFDX products to be launched by Embvue. It has been designed from scratch to address the need for a simple, comprehensive, intuitive and efficient way to configure, integrate, optimize and deploy real AFDX networks for current and future aerospace applications.

"Embvue's customers have been searching for a tool solution to enable them to more readily and cost-effectively take AFDX (or other deterministic Ethernet) system components and integrate them together into a deployable network that performs efficiently and in accordance with the AFDX specification," said Phil Cole, VP Sales and Marketing at Embvue. "Prodigy has been developed specifically to address these needs. It makes use of an intuitive, PC-based, Graphical User Interface (GUI) through which customers have the ability to configure the tool suite for their own needs and efficiently interact with both simulated and deployed networks."

Prodigy is scalable. The core capabilities, all of which are accessed via an intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI), include the ability to:

•Model individual network components from multiple suppliers and save them to a database for future use

•Model an entire network by combining pre-saved component models or creating new ones.

•Run a network simulation to examine network behavior under traffic load conditions and spot conflicts/jitter.

•Readily resolve conflicts/jitter through the simulation GUI interface without the need to manually edit configuration parameters.

•Configure and edit individual network components (switches and End Systems) in the simulation model to examine the impact of configuration options on network performance.

•Validate all configurations against user-defined system requirements prior to committing to deployment.

•Automatically download configuration parameters to deployed network components.

•Run both static and real-time performance measurements on the deployed network and compare the results with the performance predicted in the simulated network model in order to assist in the performance optimization of the deployed network.

•Produce a variety of customizable reports

This core functionality can be extended with a number of additional plug-ins or by the inclusion of customer-specified enhancements.

The beta version of Prodigy is available for demonstration commencing immediately.

About Embvue

Embvue is an experienced, process-driven, systems and software engineering company specializing in the provision of products and services for customers developing complex, real time, embedded systems, especially those that are either mission or safety-critical. Embvue's team includes experts in deterministic networks, firmware, BSP's, graphical interfaces, HMIs, dynamic system modeling, IV&V work and software engineering processes including all aspects of DO-178B, DO-254, Def Stan 00-55/00-56 and similar standards/requirements. Embvue is able to tailor its own well-proven internal processes to match those of its customers providing a seamless, well integrated and low-risk project development and management experience aimed at helping its customers bring their projects and products to fruition on time and within budget. Additional information is available at www.embvue.com.

Atego acquires Blue River

Atego — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:22:41 -0800

Embedded World 2010, Nürnberg, Germany – 2nd - 4th March 2010 – Hall 11, Stand 119. Atego, the leading independent supplier of industrial-grade, modeling and development tools for complex, mission and safety-critical embedded systems and software has acquired Blue River Software GmbH, extending its embedded development software portfolio to now include C++ tools. Atego’s acquisition of Blue River closely follows its creation from the recent merger between Artisan Software Tools and Aonix. The acquisition also demonstrates Atego’s effectiveness at delivering on its growth strategyas a platform for market consolidation.

“The Blue River acquisition continues our ‘complex systems tools market’ consolidation program,” said James B. Gambrell, Executive Chairman of Atego. “Blue River’s offerings, vertical markets and German reach complement our existing organization and expand our capabilities across our entire organization. The real benefit of our joining together with Blue River is not just the technology and products it gives us, but that by combining our offerings, our customers are better able to Work as One. As we continue to grow and expand, we are committed to remaining independent-minded and flexible, positioning us particularly well to serve the growing needs of our engineering customers.”

Blue River was founded in 1993 as a supplier of software tools for embedded C++ system development, deriving the bulk of its business in the German automotive, engineering automation, telecommunication and measurement/control industries. The acquisition will significantly expand Atego’s German customer base. All of the Blue River team will join Atego, extending Atego’s knowledge and capability within the embedded C++ industry. Blue River will work with Atego’s German headquarters in Wolfsburg, while retaining its regional offices in Nürnberg.

“I am extremely excited that Blue River has joined with Atego,” commented Thomas Groß, CEO of Blue River Software GmbH. “Atego is a highly successful and fast-growing company with an enviable reputation for providing robust design and development tools for complex systems development. Blue River will add C++ development tools to the solutions and services Atego is able to offer to its customers as well as expand its market share in Germany and beyond.”

“We are pleased to see Atego acquire Blue River and commit to the ongoing enhancement of its products,” said Reinhard Gessler, R&D Manager of E.P. Elektro Projekt GmbH & CO.KG, Germany. “As a long term Blue River customer, we have already been impressed by Atego’s professionalism and service quality. This move could only be made possible by the dedication and skill of the Atego and Blue River teams.”

The acquisition combines Blue River’s operating business including all products and underlying intellectual property, professional services and expertise with Atego’s existing German operations. The product portfolio includes the E32, X32 family and DOCU32 development tools for C/C++. As well as C/C++, the Blue River tools also support C#, JAVA, PASCAL, PL/M and ASSEMBLER development and integrate with all major compilers, including Atego’s Aonix PERC.

“Combining Blue River with Atego is another significant step in our ‘whole product’ growth strategy. Their tools complement our solutions for mission, safety and life-critical complex systems development, adding all-important C++ capabilities to the Atego portfolio,” said Hedley Apperly, VP Product & Marketing at Atego. “This acquisition gives us broad coverage across our customer’s three most important embedded system programming languages; Ada (robust and reliable), C/C++ (current market leading language of choice) and Java (the future for real-time software development). It is also further evidence of our strategy to remain independent-minded and support our customers’ choices of best-of-breed languages and tools.

About Atego

Atego™ is the leading independent supplier of industrial-grade, collaborative development tools for engineering complex, mission- and safety-critical architectures, systems, software and hardware. Atego delivers a stable, robust working environment to thousands of users across an extensive range of complex applications in demanding engineering sectors such as aerospace, defense, automotive, transportation, telecommunications, electronics, and medical. Atego’s Aonix PERC® is the leading, highly reliable, real-time embedded virtual machine solution for running Java™ programs deployed today. Atego also has the largest number of certified Ada applications (Aonix ObjectAda®) at the highest level of criticality. Atego’s standards-based modeling tool suite, Artisan Studio®, provides comprehensive support for the leading industry standards, including OMG SysML, UML and Architectural Frameworks. Atego Workbench™ provides a fully integrated, collaborative engineering framework for the trouble-free deployment and maintenance of best-in-class tools for mission and safety-critical systems and software development. Atego’s tools deliver on the promise of an integrated collaborative development environment - allowing architecture, systems, software and hardware engineering teams to Work as One™ - from concept through to delivery, maintenance and support. Founded in 2010 in a merger between Artisan Software Tools and Aonix, Atego is headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA and Cheltenham, UK with offices in France, Germany and Italy, and is supported by a global distributor network. For more information visit: www.Atego.com.

Atego acquires Blue River

Atego — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:20:46 -0800

Atego, the leading independent supplier of industrial-grade, modeling and development tools for complex, mission and safety-critical embedded systems and software has acquired Blue River Software GmbH, extending its embedded development software portfolio to now include C++ tools. Atego’s acquisition of Blue River closely follows its creation from the recent merger between Artisan Software Tools and Aonix. The acquisition also demonstrates Atego’s effectiveness at delivering on its growth strategyas a platform for market consolidation.

Viking Modular Solutions(tm) announces that their SATA Cube3, an embedded SATA SSD, has achieved MIL-STD-810F Certification

Viking Modular Solutions — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:42:59 -0800

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. – March 3, 2010 – Viking Modular Solutions™, a division of Sanmina-SCI Corporation, and leading manufacturer of innovative memory and flash solutions, today announced its SATA Cube3™, an ultra small form-factor and rugged embedded SATA SSD, has successfully completed tests pursuant to the MIL-STD-810F specification.

Certified under the following test methods, Viking Modular Solutions’ SATA Cube3 is optimized for defense, aerospace, embedded and industrial applications where there is a need for extreme environmental reliability, specifically those of shock, vibration and temperature.

* Method 514.5 – Vibration (16.3 rms, 10-2,000Hz, 3 axes)

* Method 516.5 – Shock (50g half-sine, 11ms, 3 shocks each direction, 3 axes)

* Method 500.4 – Altitude (80,000 ft)

* Method 501.4 – High Temperature (+85C operational)

* Method 502.4 – Low Temperature (-40C operational)

* Method 507.4 – Humidity

* Method 503.4 – Temperature Shock (-40C to +85C)

* Method 510.4 – Blowing Dust & Sand

* Method 513.5 – Acceleration

* Method 511.4 – Explosive Atmosphere

“This MIL-STD-810F certification highlights Viking Modular Solutions’ commitment to the defense and aerospace industries. Architected to provide a secure, reliable and compact solution, the SATA Cube3 will enable our customers to deliver a wide range of optimized applications such as aircraft data recorders, missile guidance systems, rugged laptops and a host of other mission critical applications,” stated Adrian Proctor, vice president of marketing.

The SATA Cube3 features a SATA II (3Gb/s), 4 channel interface, with read and write performance up to 110MB/s (Megabytes per second) and offered in densities of 4GB to 128GB. Constructed with processor technology that delivers SMART command support, wear leveling and a robust ECC management engine, the SATA Cube3 is available as either a 30x32mm BGA (Ball Grid Array) solder down device or as a removable drive by using the industry standard MicroSATA connector.

The SATA Cube3 offers designers of space constrained form factors such as ATCA, uTCA, AMC, PMC and XMC a SerialATA SSD with a low-volumetric density (86% smaller X-Y footprint than a 2.5” HDD/SSD) while still maintaining a high storage capacity (up to 128GB). For more information, visit the SATA Cube3 webpage.

About Viking Modular Solutions

Headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, Viking Modular Solutions is focused on developing and delivering high technology products that optimize the value and performance of our customers’ applications in the Network Infrastructure, Embedded, Defense & Aerospace and Enterprise markets. Founded in 1989, Viking Modular Solutions has been providing Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) with industry leading design, engineering, product support and customer service for more than 20 years. For more information, visit www.vikingmodular.com.

ACME Portable Machines Supports Intel(r) Xeon(r) Nehalem CPUs and AMD(r) ATI FirePro(tm) Graphics Accelerators.

ACME Portable Machines, Inc. — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:31:17 -0800

AZUSA, CA (March 3, 2010) – Acme Portable Machines, Inc., a leading provider of rugged portable computer workstations, chassis, and industrial LCD keyboard drawers, today announced the support of the Xeon® 5500 series CPUs from Intel® and the ATI FirePro™ series of 3D Workstation Graphics Accelerators from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. in their legendary EMP 370 and EMP 390 models. 3D graphics professionals are now able to leverage Intel’s efficient processors and AMD’s high-performance GPU’s to better perform computer-aided design, digital content creation, and simulation out in the field.

Intel®’s new iteration of its Xeon® family offers more efficient, high-performance processing at a lower operating cost – offering up to 2.75x performance increase than the previous Harpertown family. This new series brings several innovative technologies to deliver intelligent performance. Intel® Turbo Boost Technology coupled with Intel® Intelligent Power Technology speeds specific workloads and reduces power consumption during low utilization periods by letting processors operate above the rated frequency rate. Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology delivers greater throughput and responsiveness for multi-threaded applications. Lastly, Intel® QuickPath Technology, with an integrated memory controller, speeds traffic between processors and I/O controllers for bandwidth intensive applications.

AMD’s ATI™ FirePro™ line of graphics cards feature a new OpenGL optimized driver coupled with their award-winning graphics technology. These new graphics cards are ideal for 3D graphics professionals who perform computer-aided design, digital content creation, and simulation applications. The DisplayPort and Dual-Link DVI outputs allow users the ability to use ultra high resolution widescreen monitors, and offer up to 30-bit image quality. Furthermore, the unique AMD ultra parallel processing architecture maximizes throughput by automatically directing graphics power exactly where it is needed. By utilizing the FirePro™ S400 Synchronization Module, users can and operate attach up to four GPUs simultaneously for the most demanding applications.

For more information on the EMP 370, EMP 390, or any other ACME Portable products, please visit www.acmeportable.com or call (626) 610-1888 (PST)

About ACME Portable Machines, Inc.

Founded in 1994, ACME Portable Machines, Inc. is the premier manufacturer and global distributor of high-quality rugged portable computer workstations, chassis, and LCD keyboard drawers. We are headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with sales and service centers in the U. S., Europe, and Asia. Our team of skillful engineers and technicians is committed to quality across all of our products. We are dedicated to manufacturing the most integrated portable computers in the marketplace. All ACME portables are designed and manufactured right down to detailed specifications. We keep current on the latest technological advancements to meet the ever-changing needs of today's and tomorrow's markets. Providing our customers with an investment that will grow in value continuously over time, is our ultimate goal.

ACME Portable contact:

Martin Yen

Marketing Communication

1330 Mountain View Circle

Azusa, CA 91702

+1 (626) 610-1888

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Curtiss-wright Awarded $25 Million Contract From Northrop Grumman

Curtiss-Wright Controls — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:04:20 -0800

CHARLOTTE, NC – MARCH 3, 2010 – Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc. today announced that it has received a contract from Northrop Grumman Corporation to provide the Advanced Mission Management System (AMMS) for the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS) program in the amount of approximately $25 million. The BAMS UAS will provide the U.S. Navy with a persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system to protect the fleet and provide a capability to detect, track, classify and identify maritime and littoral targets.

“Curtiss-Wright is proud to partner with Northrop Grumman to provide advanced computer subsystems for the BAMS UAS unmanned aerial vehicle,” said David Adams, co-chief operating officer of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. “We look forward to building on the success we’ve had as a long-time supplier to the Global Hawk program.”

Northrop Grumman's RQ-4N, a maritime derivative of the RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, will be the platform for the BAMS UAS suite of maritime surveillance sensors and communications systems. Curtiss-Wright will design, develop and manufacture BAMS UAS AMMS units at the company’s Motion Control facility in Santa Clarita, CA. Hardware deliveries will start at the end of 2010 and continue through 2011.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc.

Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Curtiss-Wright Controls is the Motion Control segment of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. With manufacturing facilities around the world, Curtiss-Wright Controls is a leading technology-based organization providing niche motion control products, subsystems and services internationally for the aerospace and defense markets. For more information, please visit www.cwcontrols.com.

About Curtiss-Wright

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW) is a diversified company headquartered in Parsippany, NJ. The company designs, manufactures and overhauls products for motion control and flow control applications, and provides a variety of specialized metal treatment services. The firm employs approximately 7,600 people worldwide. For more information, please visit www.curtisswright.com.

Adi's Electronics Manufacturing Services Facility Achieves As9100 Certification

ADI American Distributors Inc. — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:16:59 -0800

Randolph, NJ, March 3, 2010…ADI American Distributors Inc., announced that their American Manufacturing Services Division has been certified to AS9100, the quality management standard developed for designers and manufacturers serving the international aerospace industry. Located in Okemah, OK, the ADI Division is a fully integrated EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) provider, employing state-of-the-industry SMT (surface- mount technology) and THT (through-hole technology) assembly capabilities in addition to complete manual processes. Notably, ADI’s Randolph, NJ headquarters is certified to AS9100 as well as AS9120, the quality management standard developed as a benchmark for stocking distributors of military and commercial electronics. The Company’s Henlow, England facility is also certified to AS9120.

David Beck, president of ADI, stated, “As ADI operates as both an electronic components distributor and a provider of contract manufacturing services, our commitment to the highest standards of Quality Management Systems throughout our entire business operations is critical to our global customer base. AS9100 and AS9120 certification assures not only our aerospace OEM and end users customers of the highest caliber of supply chain standards, but meets, and often exceeds the quality requirements of our medical, industrial, and commercial customers.”

ADI’s American Manufacturing Services Division is strategically focused on providing high-complexity, high-reliability, and high-mix contracts. The Division’s manufacturing and assembly capabilities, in combination with ADI’s global network of suppliers and military-approved assembly facilities, provide a broad range of value-added services including PCB design, quick-turn prototyping, pre-production/pilot production, Beta Production, box build, component procurement, in-circuit and functional testing, burn-in calibration, as well as fulfillment and deployment. Test engineering, quality engineering, design for manufacturing (DFM), design for testability (DFT), manufacturing design optimization, and long-term repair services are also offered.

According to Bart Mallory, vice president of quality, “Our Aerospace Quality Management Systems established the framework for satisfying our customers’ requirements for risk mitigation, cost minimization, efficiency maximization, and profitability optimization. Additionally, the process of achieving AS9100 certification has helped us fine-tune our ‘lean’ business practices to further ensure we deliver sustainable value, along with excellent service, support and products to end users and OEMs. We are very proud of our accomplishments.”

ADI’s American Manufacturing Services Division received AS9100 certification from Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA).

About ADI American Distributors Inc.

Headquartered in Randolph, NJ, ADI was founded in 1983 as a value-added distributor of electronic and electromechanical components and assemblies. The AS9100 and AS9120 certified organization serves the aerospace (commercial and military), medical, industrial, marine and varied electronics market segments. Boasting a global network of world-class suppliers, ADI offers state-of-the-art electronic component distribution capabilities. The company additionally provides manufacturing and assembly services, along with design and engineering, and material management and logistic services. ADI moreover maintains a military-approved assembly facility with a bonded warehouse (CAGE code OBR80), and has attained “preferred supplier” status among leading OEMs in the aviation sector.

Automatic Fallback Switch, You Select the Trigger Signal with M7387

Electro Standards Laboratories — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:25:18 -0800

Electro Standards Laboratories (ESL), Cranston, RI, announces the new Pathway ® Model 7387 Single Channel RS232 DB25 A/B Switch with Fallback and Remote Port. The M7387 network switch allows the sharing of a single interface device among 2 other devices and may be switched manually, remotely or automatically.

This 2-postion DB25 switch may be programmed via DIP switch settings to use either the RD signals or the DCD signals as triggers for automatic switching. All switched signals are passed via latching copper contact relays that maintain their position and continuity even in the event of a power loss. When power is restored, unit loads previous position and mode of operation while checking DIP switch setting and remote port to determine the correct startup configuration. Users can also override automatic fallback operation from the front panel or remote port and force the unit to operate as an A/B switch (RS232 Fallback Switch).

For more information contact Electro Standards Laboratories at 401-943-1164, eslab@electrostandards.com, www.ElectroStandards.com. All Electro Standards Network Switches are available for export. Government Agencies contact Electro Standards for GSA pricing on COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) network switches.

Magma Announces Agenda for MUSIC Silicon Valley Users Conference

Magma Design Automation — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:17:30 -0800

Magma(R) Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq:LAVA), a provider of chip design software, today announced the final agenda for the MUSIC users conference in Silicon Valley on March 10 in San Jose. The program will feature parallel tracks of technical presentations and tutorials given by Magma users, design industry experts and Magma's engineering research and development staff, and an exposition of Magma partners. Magma CEO Rajeev Madhavan will deliver a keynote address entitled, "The Electronic Ocean."

MUSIC Agenda Focuses on Meeting Today's Analog and Digital Design Challenges

MUSIC provides an open forum for users to gain expertise using Magma's chip design software, and to exchange ideas about and solutions for the challenges of analog and integrated circuit and system-on-chip (SoC) designs.

Over the years MUSIC has become a leading venue for Magma users to gather, share and learn best practices and solutions. This year's program covers a range of Magma software capabilities including synthesis, placement and routing, floorplanning, library characterization, verification, circuit simulation and analog design. Users will share useful tips on how to leverage Magma software to improve results, reduce power, minimize costs and increase productivity.

User presentations will include:

65-nm Design Tapeout in 6 weeks

Case Study: Low Power Design

Comparing Crosstalk Delay Calculations in Talus(R) and Prime Time-SI

Accelerating Timing Closure on Large, Complex Nanometer Designs

Multi-Mode/Multi-Corner Analysis Using Talus(R) Flow Manager(TM)

Magma Talus Design with Scan Test Compression

At-Speed Functional Verification of Complex IOs using FineSim(TM) SPICE

A High-Capacity Power Integrity Flow Supporting Inductive Rail Effects with Transistor-Level Accuracy

Using the Titan(TM) Shape-Based-Router for Next-Generation Flash-Based FPGAs

Magma will present the following tutorials:

Solving Design Challenges Visually with the Talus(R) Visual Volcano(TM)

Using SiliconSmart(R) ACE and Embedded FineSim Simulator for 28-nm Standard I/O Cell and Memory Characterization

The MUSIC agenda will also feature a guest keynote and a luncheon panel. Robert Patti, CTO and vice president of Design Engineering at Tezzaron Semiconductor, will present, "3D Integrated Circuits: New Directions for Semiconductors." Venture capitalists from Farallon Advisors, LLC, Foundation Capital, Intel Capital and U.S. Venture Partners will participate in a panel entitled, "Semiconductor Venture Funding -- At a Crossroads?" moderated by Jorge del Calvo of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.

For the complete MUSIC agenda and to register for the conference visit the Magma website at www.magma-da.com/MUSIC.

Magma Partners at MUSIC

In addition to the technical program, the Silicon Valley conference will feature an exposition where users can learn how Magma is working with its partners to ensure design success. Attendees will be able to speak directly with Magma partners about design, flow and integration solutions. Magma partners exhibiting and/or sponsoring MUSIC include Blue Pearl Software, SynTest, TSMC, Uniquify and Virage Logic.

About MUSIC

MUSIC -- Magma Users Summit on Integrated Circuits -- provides a forum for Magma users to exchange ideas, discuss common problems and explore solutions related to the design and manufacturing of integrated circuits, as well as offering users an opportunity to meet with Magma staff and product experts. The MUSIC program covers the key elements of semiconductor design, from system-level design to tapeout, for systems on chips, ASICs and ASSPs. Magma users can register to attend any of the conferences via the Magma website at www.magma-da.com/MUSIC.

Magma, SiliconSmart and Talus are registered trademarks and FineSim, Flow Manager, Titan and Visual Volcano are trademarks of Magma Design Automation Inc. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Forward-looking Statements:

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements about the features and benefits of Magma's software are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially including but not limited to the ability of Magma's products to produce the desired results and the company's ability to keep pace with rapidly changing technology. Further discussion of these and other potential risk factors may be found in Magma's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). The company undertakes no additional obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Themis Computer Signs Exclusive Deal with Sight Systems for UK Market

Sight Systems — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:20:37 -0800

High performance board developer Themis Computer has signed an exclusive distribution deal with Sight Systems which will help the USA giant break into the UK market and expand its European presence.

Sight Systems will use Themis’s next generation servers and single board computers to spearhead a push into the defence sector. It will also expand Themis’s presence within the aerospace, telecommunications and embedded systems markets.

The new agreement gives Sight Systems exclusivity on Themis’s servers and single board computer solutions throughout Ireland and the UK. Sight Systems already provides extensive integration services to the government, aerospace, communications, control and automation, and embedded systems markets. Its market expertise, as well as strong sales and support coverage, were vital factors in Themis’s selection of the company.

William E. Kehret, president and CEO of Themis Computer, said: “Sight Systems is already a key distributor for world-leading industrial component manufacturers, so we are very pleased that they will be adding their sector expertise to our European sales team. As a focused and fast growing organisation, I know that Sight Systems will provide premium support to Themis’s customers and prospects, along with a wealth of complementary products and capabilities.”

Craig Blackman, managing director of Sight Systems, commented: "Themis’s extensive product lines and its leadership in embedded systems and rugged servers were very attractive to us. Its products will significantly broaden our systems portfolio, particularly in COTS solutions, which is increasingly demanded as a solution by the defence sector. Themis has a very successful track record in its ability to package server grade hardware that is usable in defence applications. Their dedication to world-wide technical support and quality also matches our philosophies, making us an excellent team."

Sight Systems will sell Themis’s new UltraSPARCT2-based T2VPX™ OpenVPX computer, and T2BC™ blade server for use in the entire family of IBMBladeCenter Sight Systems will also sell Themis’s rugged family of COTS servers which provide users high performance in program specific configurations, requiring shock resilience in excess of 25G. Themis servers offer outstanding platform performance, dependability and value, for use in harsh environments. Sight Systems will also sell Themis’s new VMEBus Intel®-based board products, compatible with the Linux®, Windows®, and Solaris Operating Environment, the industry’s leading Unixoperating system, Themis’s single-board computers enable users to access thousands of off-the-shelf software solutions.

About Themis Computer’s Robust Servers and Single-Board Computers

Themis Computer is a leading provider of highly scalable blade servers, Rugged Enterprise Server (RES) systems, and board level embedded computers. Themis products feature rugged construction, high performance, superior scalability and ease of maintenance. Themis offers VME64 and VPX board-level computers featuring the leading processor architectures, including; x86 and Sun UltraSPARC. Themis’ single board computers include single and multiple slot configurations. I/O expansion is available with on-board XMC/PMC sockets and PMC carrier cards.

Themis's high performance servers, single-board computers, and graphics controllers are now being integrated into advanced communications and defence systems, worldwide. The Themis Computer family of COTS board and system products provide the increased processing power and reliability necessary for demanding application environments, while achieving a net reduction in total cost of ownership.

About Sight Systems www.sightsystems.co.uk

Sight Systems develops world class industrial computers and services for clients in the UK, continental Europe and North America. Specialising in bespoke products with a strong emphasis on unbeatable product quality, Sight Systems’ client base covers the defence, aerospace, industrial control, digital signage and broadcast industries. It is rapidly becoming the first choice for a number of industry leaders including Aardman Animations, BAE Systems, the BBC, BP, the MOD, Rolls Royce and Shell.

About Themis Computer

Themis Computer is a leading developer and supplier of high performance board and system level products for mission-critical telecommunications, military/aerospace, and industrial embedded applications. Themis provides open standards-based embedded computing platforms that support the Solaris™, Linux®, and Windows® operating systems. Themis' products incorporate features designed to ensure high reliability and availability while reducing the risks of failure caused by extreme environments. An ISO 9001 certified company, Themis Computer practices Total Quality Management (TQM) in all areas of its business, from engineering and manufacturing to customer service. Themis Computer is headquartered in Fremont, California and offers worldwide service and support. For more information please visit www.themis.com or email: info@themis.com.

Themis, the Themis logo, T2BC, and T2VPX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Themis Computer. BladeCenter and IBM are trademarks or registered trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries. Sun and Solaris are registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective companies.

Pentek Introduces High-Speed, Real-Time Recording Instrument for Extremely Wide Bandwidth Signals

Patterson & Associates — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:40:50 -0800

Pentek’s new Model RTS 2711 Real-Time Data Recording Instrument is a ready-to-run, PC-based recorder which includes a complete PC workstation running Windows XP, housed in a rack-mount 4U chassis. It’s extremely high-speed architecture allows simultaneous digitizing and recording of two signals at sampling rates of 500 Megasamples/sec. Since the system handles input signal frequencies up to 750 MHz, it is well suited for development and field testing in a broad range of wideband signal applications including UAVs, telemetry, communication and radar. The RTS 2711 is the fastest and widest bandwidth recording instrument ever offered by Pentek, doubling the aggregate recording rate and quadrupling the attainable bandwidth of previous RTS systems.

“The fact that we have two channels running simultaneously and synchronously at this speed in a single housing is quite remarkable,” said Rodger Hosking, vice president of Pentek. “These two 500 Megasamples/sec channels deliver an aggregate, sustained real-time rate of 1 Gigasample/sec to disk—from the time the recording starts until the disks are full.”

Vastly Deep Storage

In addition to its unusually high data rates, the Model RTS 2711 has exceptional storage capacity with a total of 4 terabytes of RAID storage to record arriving signals. The storage is actually configured as two 2-terabyte arrays with each of the arrays assigned to one of the A/D channels. All data is stored on high-performance, removable hot-swap SATA drives, accessible from the front panel.

"With regard to recording time, with each of the two channels running at its full rate of 500 Megasamples/sec, our customers can record signals continuously for an hour," said Chris Tojeira, product manager, Pentek. "And because the Model 2711 is a complete turn-key instrument, customers don’t need to do any programming or write any software—they can start recording immediately.”

The Benefits of the NTFS File Format

What sets the Pentek RTS 2711 apart from competing recording instruments is that it records data directly in NTFS (new technology file system) format. This means that as soon as recordings are laid down on the RAID array hard disks, they are immediately available to any Windows application for analysis or post-processing.

A number of competing instruments use a proprietary file system for recording. In order to open these files in Windows applications, such as signal analysis tools like MATLAB and others, the files must first be converted to a Windows-compatible file format. This conversion can often take many times longer than the actual duration of the recording.

Built-In Virtual Instruments and API with SystemFlow

What makes the RTS 2711 so easy to use is its SystemFlow software package based on a client/server architecture and delivered with every RTS instrument. SystemFlow includes several key components. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) provides the user with a control interface for the recording instrument and an intuitive means for setting up system parameters. The powerful Signal Viewer includes two companion analysis tools: a virtual oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer so users can monitor the signal prior to, during and after a recording session. Together, these elements of SystemFlow greatly simplify operation. In addition, SystemFlow includes an Applications Programming Interface (API) which allows users to integrate control of the RTS instrument into a larger system application.

A Deployable Subsystem

The RTS 2711 is a deployable instrument with the client application accessible remotely via TCP/IP messaging over Ethernet or the Internet. All system commands, status information and recorded files can pass back and forth between the client and server. As an example, a customer could have a larger system that needs to record live data at a monitoring facility. The RTS 2711 can be deployed as a server at a remote location to record signals. The recorded signal can then be accessed from the monitoring facility via the Internet.

Price and Delivery

For the latest pricing and availability information, please contact Mario Schiavone by phone at (201) 818-5900 ext.229, or by email at mario@pentek.com.

About Pentek

Pentek develops, manufactures and markets innovative DSP systems to original equipment manufacturers, distributors and value-added resellers. Pentek offers powerful VME, VXS, PMC, XMC, cPCI, PCI, PCIe boards for data acquisition, software radio and digital signal processing featuring Texas Instruments C6000 DSPs, Freescale G4 PowerPCs and Xilinx FPGAs. Pentek's I/O includes A/Ds, D/As, FPGAs, digital up/downconverters and more. Pentek equips all products with high-performance I/O including Gigabit serial interfaces and offers strong DSP software support.

Diamond Systems Joins Qseven Consortium

Diamond Systems — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:12:31 -0800

Diamond Systems Corp., a leading supplier of ruggedized single-board computers (SBCs) and I/O expansion modules targeting real-world applications, today announced that it has become a Participating Member of the Qseven Consortium, a multi-vendor standards body dedicated to advancing the Qseven computer-on-module (COM) standard.

Through its participation in the Qseven Consortium, Diamond will develop and deliver off-the-shelf and customized board-level subsystems that integrate Qseven embedded computing cores, Diamond’s industry-leading analog, digital, serial, wireless, and other I/O technologies, and flexible expansion via industry-standard FeaturePak modules. These modular application-ready subsystems will assist OEMs in precisely meeting the budget, energy consumption, and performance requirements of their applications, while shortening time-to-revenue and reducing development costs and risks.

“The Qseven COM (computer-on-module) standard packs the latest low-power, embedded processors, chipsets, and standard system interfaces into a highly compact package while eliminating the need for expensive connectors that unnecessarily burden system costs,” noted Diamond Systems Founder and President Jonathan Miller. “Additionally, Qseven COMs and FeaturePak I/O modules are extremely well suited for deployment together on standard and customized application baseboards.”

“We’re excited to welcome Diamond Systems as the newest Participating Member of the Qseven Consortium,” said Martin Danzer of Qseven Consortium Founding Member company congatec AG. “As the originator of the newly introduced FeaturePak I/O module standard, Diamond has added a significant new companion technology for adding off-the-shelf I/O modules to embedded designs based on Qseven embedded computing cores.”

About the Qseven Consortium

The Qseven Consortium, founded in 2007 by congatec AG, Seco s.r.l. and MSC Vertriebs GmbH, is a multi-vendor organization dedicated to advancing use of the Qseven computer-on-module (COM) standard throughout the global embedded computing industry. Qseven COMs adhere to a standardized form-factor of 70mm x 70mm and plug into application baseboards via a single, high-speed, 230-pin MXM connector. Qseven modules integrate all core functions of an embedded computer, including CPU, memory, and interfaces for graphics, audio, mass storage, network, USB and other I/O expansion. The MXM baseboard interface connector carries all signals to and from the Qseven module, including system buses such as PCI Express and LPC, and I/O interface signals for functions such as USB, SATA, gigabit Ethernet, graphics, and audio. The Qseven Consortium currently has 21 Participating Members.

Tiny Embedded I/O Expansion Card Format Taps PCI Express

Diamond Systems — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:06:44 -0800

Eight companies in the global embedded computing market jointly unveiled the FeaturePak™ standard and products at the Embedded World tradeshow in Nuremberg today. The FeaturePak specification defines tiny, application-oriented personality modules – three-fifths the size of a credit card – that snap into low-cost, low-profile sockets on single board computers (SBCs), computer-on-module (COM) baseboards, and full-custom electronic circuit boards.

FeaturePak modules interface to the host system via a single low-cost, high-density, 230-pin connector, which carries PCI Express, USB, I2C, and several other host-interface signals, plus up to 100 points of application I/O per module. The host interface is CPU agnostic and is compatible with both Intel- and RISC-architecture systems. Additionally, the modules can easily be integrated into embedded designs along with Qseven, COM Express, SUMIT, PCI/104-Express, EBX, and EPIC.

The companies participating in today’s FeaturePak launch include Diamond Systems Corp., originator of the standard, plus FeaturePak Initiative Charter Members Arbor Technology Corp., Cogent Computer Systems Inc., congatec AG, Connect Tech Inc., Douglas Electronics Inc., Hectronic AB, and IXXAT Automation GmbH. FeaturePak-related products unveiled or announced today at Embedded World by the FeaturePak Initiative’s Charter Members include several FeaturePak I/O modules and FeaturePak-expandable COM baseboards.

“Following the FeaturePak Initiative’s initial launch, we intend to turn the FeaturePak specification, trademark, and logo over to a suitable standards organization so it can become an industry-wide, open-architecture, embedded standard,” said Jonathan Miller, Founder and President of Diamond Systems Corp., which originated the FeaturePak standard and was a charter member of the PC/104 Consortium.

“VDC Research has believed in the modular approach to embedded computing since the introduction of COMs,” commented J. Eric Gulliksen, Senior Analyst with VDC Research Group’s Embedded Hardware and Systems practice. “FeaturePak provides a logical next step to this concept, providing versatile I/O in a standardized, small form factor, interchangeable module, with a value proposition similar to that of COMs. VDC commends Diamond Systems and the other firms involved in the FeaturePak effort for bringing modular embedded computing to an exciting new level.”

"In order to reduce development time and risks, embedded developers are increasingly turning to modular design methodologies that leverage COTS macrocomponents," noted Dr. Jerry Krasner, Chief Analyst at Embedded Market Forecasters. "FeaturePak adds a new -- smaller and flatter -- dimension to what's been previously available in the embedded market. Additionally, it’s CPU, bus, and host form-factor agnostic and can coexist synergistically with both stackable approaches like PC/104 and SUMIT and computer-on-module approaches like COM Express and Qseven."

“The FeaturePak I/O expansion standard will accelerate the development of application-oriented baseboards for Qseven, COM Express, and XTX COMs,” added Gerhard Edi, CEO of congatec AG, which originated the Qseven COM standard and is one of the FeaturePak Initiative Charter Members. “In particular, FeaturePak I/O modules and Qseven COMs jointly provide the lowest profile modular board-level embedded solution available.”

Management buy-out creates Geensoft; Formerly the embedded design tools business of Geensys

Geensoft — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:55:41 -0800

Embedded World 2010, Nuremburg, Germany – 2nd - 4th March 2010 – Hall 10, Stand 531. Geensoft, a new, independent company focusing on the provision of software design tools and associated professional services for embedded systems development, has been created by a management buy-out (MBO) of the former embedded design tools business of Geensys.

The MBO creating Geensoft has been led by former Geensys executives Eliane Fourgeau, Thierry Gueguen and Marc Frouin. Geensoft will be headed by an extremely experienced executive management team that includes Thierry Gueguen as CTO, Michel Hagege as VP of Worldwide Sales and Eliane Fourgeau as CEO. Marc Frouin, Geensys’ former President, will head Geensoft’s new Supervisory Board.

Geensoft’s product portfolio includes the award-winning Reqtify, ControlBuild and AUTOSAR Builder tool suites as well as the RT-Builder system simulation tool. Highly successful in satisfying the embedded systems and software development needs of a broad range of industries over the past five years, Geensoft intends to accelerate their worldwide growth potential by capitalising on their demonstrable success, industry-proven track record and respective market-leadership. New versions of Reqtify and a novel plug-in module to AUTOSAR Builder are being launched at Embedded World 2010 in Nuremberg, Germany in March.

“The completion of the MBO will enable us to focus more clearly and completely on accelerating the market penetration and future growth potential of our portfolio of software tools for embedded systems,” said Eliane Fourgeau. “Their previous success in addressing the embedded system and software development issues of their respective target markets clearly indicates that they have a continued and significant future role to play.”

Reqtify provides the automated management of embedded systems and software requirements capture, traceability and impact analysis throughout the entire development lifecycle. Reqtify’s underlying technology also provides the requirements engine for most of the other requirements traceability tools currently on the market. AUTOSAR Builder provides an AUTOSAR/ARTOP platform for the design, development, verification and validation of AUTOSAR-compliant automotive electronic systems. ControlBuild is a front-to-back environment for the design, development, validation, deployment and maintenance of control and automation systems and applications. RT-Builder facilitates the modelling, simulation and validation of distributed real-time architectures for multi-processor and multi-bus systems.

To be headquartered in Brest (France), Geensoft will continue to operate on a global basis with R&D and sales offices in France (Paris, Brest and Nancy) along with sales offices in Germany (Munich) and Japan (Yokohama) supported by a network of distributors, value-added integrators and OEMs throughout Europe, North America and Asia. All of the former Geensys personnel responsible for the development, sales and support of the Geensoft product portfolio and associated services have transitioned to Geensoft.

Geensoft inherits an enviable customer base amongst market-leading global companies. Automotive industry customers include PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault, BMW, Delphi, Valeo, Autoliv, JCAE, Magneti Marelli and Denso. Customers in the aerospace/defence arena include companies like Airbus Industrie, Boeing, EADS, SAFRAN, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins and Thales, to name a few. Rail industry customers include RATP and SNCF, Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens Transportation, Faiveley, and in other industry sectors companies like Spie, Clemessy, EDF, Degrémont, CNR, Schneider Electric, ELA Medical and Lilly.

“Over the last five years, our products have gained an enviable reputation for supporting quality centric engineering processes as well as complex embedded systems and software development for demanding customers in the aerospace, automotive, defence, energy, industrial automation, medical and transportation industries,“ concluded Eliane Fourgeau. “Our seasoned sales, support, professional services and engineering personnel give companies in all these markets the competitive edge they have come to expect from our tools.”

About Geensoft

Atego acquires Blue River; Extends its software development tools suite with Blue River IDEs for Embedded C++

Atego — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:24:30 -0800

About Atego

Curtiss-Wright Controls Introduces 512GB Rugged Network Attached Storage (NAS) Solution

Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:36:53 -0800

DAYTON, OH – March 2, 2010 -- Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems, a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls and a leading designer and manufacturer of rugged deployed systems for the aerospace and defense market, has introduced the new Vortex Compact Network Storage (CNS), a rugged conduction-cooled network attached storage (NAS) solution. The small Vortex CNS package is designed for mounting in an ARINC tray on deployed platforms and provides 512GB of solid state storage, with growth to 1TB in early 2010. The CNS is “protocol-flexible” and supports CIFS, NFS, HTTP, FTP and PXE protocols on up to four (4) 1Gb Ethernet connections, making it ideal for sharing critical data in and across network centric systems. This rugged NAS solution is designed for use in a broad range of both manned and unmanned ground, air, and sea vehicles.

“The Vortex CNS is designed to optimize the sharing of mission critical data in harsh-environments,” said David Dietz, vice president and general manager of Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems. “The Vortex CNS’s data encryption and data management capabilities, coupled with its exceptional size, weight and power characteristics, make it an ideal solution for rugged deployed storage applications.”

The Vortex CNS can be integrated with one or two Curtiss-Wright Controls VPX3-FSM Flash Storage Modules to provide an extremely rugged, high-performance secure solution for sharing critical data in rugged environments. The 3U VPX VPX3-FSM is a rugged high performance, high-capacity solid-state SATA storage card that includes a NIST certified 256-bit AES encryption capability to ensure the protection of sensitive data.

The Vortex CNS is the newest member of Curtiss-Wright Controls’ Vortex family of high-performance storage systems designed to support the severe environment of military applications that range from high-speed streaming recorders to network centric file servers.

Measuring 3.75” H x 4.88” W x 12.20” D and weighing less than 12 lbs., the Vortex CNS is a fully rugged package that easily fits into most demanding space requirements. In addition, the CNS packaging can be tailored to fit the application requirements to address cooling limitations as well as size, weight, and power (SWaP) considerations.

Vortex CNS Features:

· Four 1GbE ports

· 512 GB solid-state storage

· NIST certified AES-256 data encryption

· Power interruption protection

· ½ ATR, 3.75” H x 4.88” W x 12.20” D (95.25 x 123.95 x 309.88mm)

For pricing and availability of the Vortex CNS please contact the factory.

For editorial information regarding Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems products or services, contact John Wranovics, public relations director, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Tel: (925) 640-6402; email. jwranovics@curtisswright.com.

Inquiries: Please forward all Sales and reader service inquiries to Matt Young, Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems, Tel: (937) 252-5601 x1363; Fax (937) 258-2729; email: systeminfo@curtisswright.com.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems

Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems is one of the industry’s most comprehensive and experienced single sources for rugged, integrated solutions that are qualified for military platforms. Our product and service expertise includes Motion Control, Network Centric Computing, Rate Sensor Assemblies, Vehicle Management Computers, High-Speed Recording & Storage, and Electronic Manufacturing Services. The Electronic Systems business group serves the defense, aerospace, commercial and industrial markets and is part of Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc. For more information about Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems, visit www.cwcelectronicsystems.com.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Curtiss-Wright Controls is the motion control segment of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW). With manufacturing facilities around the world, Curtiss-Wright Controls is a leading technology-based organization providing niche motion control products, subsystems and services internationally for the aerospace and defense markets. For more information, visit www.cwcontrols.com.

Emerson Network Power and Freescale Semiconductor Collaborate on Power Architecture(r) Technology for Small Form Factor Boards

Emerson Network Power — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:32:30 -0800

Embedded World, NUREMBERG, Germany [March 2, 2010] - Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson and the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity™, and Freescale Semiconductor, a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors, today announced a collaborative effort to deploy Freescale multicore QorIQ processors on modular single-board computers (SBCs) based on the COM Express® small form factor.

The goal of the collaborative initiative is to deliver the power, performance, integration and broad feature sets associated with embedded processors to systems designers targeting the telecom, military, aerospace, medical and factory automation markets. Resulting products are intended to help OEMs simplify design cycles, reduce development costs and speed time-to-market.

The two companies will soon release a white paper on the web site of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) that defines how to design systems using Freescale QorIQ processors on modular single-board computers based on the COM Express small form factor.

Based on Freescale's e500 core designed with Power Architecture® technology, QorIQ devices offer a broad range of price, performance and power options that are ideal for a variety of market requirements. QorIQ processors are the next generation successor to the ground breaking PowerQUICC device family, which pioneered the communications processor space.

“The availability of Power Architecture technology-based processors on small form factor boards will expand customer choices and allow OEMs to focus valuable R&D resources on solutions in their market place,” said Joe Pavlat, President of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group. “I support the intent to get these ideas incorporated into appropriate standards.”

Computer-on-Modules (COMs) are highly integrated SBCs that provide the core functionality of a system and allow application-specific features to be designed onto a carrier board, creating a semi-custom embedded computing solution. Bringing these two technologies together eliminates the chip-level design effort, simplifying the OEM design cycle and reducing the customer’s hardware design time and cost. OEMs are able to focus on differentiating their product through software and other features and realize revenue sooner.

“With reduced design resources, an increasing number of OEMs are faced with challenging ‘build or buy’ scenarios, encouraging them to adopt SBC solutions in contrast to traditional chip-level design due to their ability to reduce development costs and enable a faster time-to-market,” said Dick DuBois, senior vice president of Emerson Network Power’s Embedded Computing business. “In addition to telecom markets, the combination of the Power Architecture and COM Express form factor will appeal to a broad customer base in military, aerospace, government, medical, automation and industrial.”

“Integrating Freescale’s flagship networking processors into standardized form factors holds the potential to dramatically enhance innovation across a range of markets where high performance and low power are critical,” said Brett Butler, vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Networking Processor Division. “Freescale is pleased to collaborate with Emerson to help take SBC solutions to new levels of performance and energy efficiency.”

About Emerson Network Power

Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson, is the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity™ from grid to chip for telecommunication networks, data centers, health care and industrial facilities. Emerson Network Power provides innovative solutions and expertise in areas including AC and DC power and precision cooling systems, embedded computing and power, integrated racks and enclosures, power switching and controls, monitoring, and connectivity. All solutions are supported globally by local Emerson Network Power service technicians. For more information on Emerson Network Power’s embedded computing products and services including AdvancedTCA®, COM Express®, CompactPCI®, embedded motherboards, MicroTCA®, VMEbus and OpenSAF® for original equipment manufacturers and systems integrators in the telecommunications, industrial, aerospace/defense and medical markets, visit www.EmersonNetworkPower.com/EmbeddedComputing. Learn more about Emerson Network Power products and services at www.EmersonNetworkPower.com.

About Freescale Semiconductor

Freescale Semiconductor is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. The privately held company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations around the world. www.freescale.com.

Curtiss-Wright Controls Introduces its First Rugged 3U OpenVPX(tm) Data Recorder

Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:59:42 -0800

DAYTON, OH – March 2, 2010 -- Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems, a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls and a leading designer and manufacturer of rugged deployed systems for the aerospace and defense market, has introduced the new conduction-cooled Vortex VR-7310 3U VPX/VPX-REDI/OpenVPX™ (VITA 46/48/65) data recorder. This small form factor data recorder board enables system designers to quickly and easily integrate high-volume, continuous (streaming) data recording in a small compact package. The VR-7310 is designed for use in a broad range of space, weight and power (SWaP)-constrained critical applications in both manned and unmanned ground, air, and sea vehicles, including signal intelligence, image processing, FLIR radar, sonar, RF tuners, MRI and cameras.

“Today’s advanced sensor systems require the capability to record and retrieve high-speed sensor data in a wide range of harsh environments,” said David Dietz, vice president and general manager of Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems. “The VR-7310 delivers the high bandwidth and system operability of the VPX and OpenVPX standards, coupled with the size, weight and power advantages of the 3U form factor, to provide an ideal recording system for rugged deployed data management and storage applications.”

The VR-7310 data recorder provides a quick and cost effective way to store and retrieve captured data from a variety of sensor interfaces without interruption. The VR-7310 supports storage includes eight (8) external 6 Gbps SAS/SATA links that enable direct attachment to eight (8) 1.8” or 2.5” drives deployed on disk carrier cards or VPX3-FSM Flash Storage Devices. This high performance 3U VPX recording engine features an on-board XMC/ expansion site, supporting a wide variety of I/O such as Serial Front Panel Data Port (sFPDP), Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), 10GbE and analog I/O, as well as FPGA processing. The board’s AMCC 460SX CPU is supported with 2GB of DDR2 SDRAM memory for recording buffers.

Vortex Software

Curtiss-Wright Controls supports the Vortex data recorder family with software that enables users to easily manipulate or analyze data while it is recorded or during playback. The Vortex software provides full access to a well-defined and fully documented interface to the data before it is written to or read from disk. Curtiss-Wright Controls also provides the XML-RPC API which enables the customer’s application to control system operations including the number of channels to acquire, disk grouping, playback from offsets in the recording, disk group management. For custom applications, the Vortex software provides users with an easy to use API for creating high-speed recording systems with a wide range of I/O options. Application Programming services are available upon request.

The Vortex Family of Storage Solutions

The VR-7310 is the newest member of Curtiss-Wright Controls’ Vortex family of high-performance data recorder and rugged storage systems designed to support the severe environment of military applications that range from high-speed streaming recorders to network centric file servers.

The Vortex family supports applications including instrumentation recording, mission recording, SIGINT/ELINT recording and storage for both rugged and lab environments.

VR-7310 Features:

· Powerful CPU (AMCC 460SX)

· 8 external 6 Gbps SAS/SATA links

· Pluggable IO on XMC site

· VITA 46 3U form factor

· Fully rugged conduction-cooled

· Network Attached Storage (NAS) capability

For information on pricing and availability of the VR-7310, please contact the factory.

For editorial information regarding Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems products or services, contact John Wranovics, public relations director, Curtiss-Wright Controls, Tel: (925) 640-6402; email. jwranovics@curtisswright.com.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems

Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems is one of the industry’s most comprehensive and experienced single sources for rugged, integrated solutions that are qualified for military platforms. Our product and service expertise includes Motion Control, Network Centric Computing, Rate Sensor Assemblies, Vehicle Management Computers, High-Speed Recording & Storage, and Electronic Manufacturing Services. The Electronic Systems business group serves the defense, aerospace, commercial and industrial markets and is part of Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc. For more information about Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems, visit www.cwcelectronicsystems.com.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc.

Curtiss-Wright Controls Boosts Speed on ADC FMC Card

Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:49:30 -0800

Upgraded ADC510 FMC Card Now Delivers 550MSPS Output

HIGH WYCOMBE, UK – March 2, 2010 -- Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls and a leading designer and manufacturer of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) VME, VPX, VXS, and CompactPCI products for the aerospace and defense (A&D) market, has announced the availability of a higher performance, faster version of its ADC510 FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC/VITA 57) module. Now, featuring two enhanced Texas Instruments ADC devices, the ADC510 delivers sampling performance increased to 550MSPS with analog bandwidths >1.7GHz. Available in both air-cooled and conduction-cooled rugged versions, the ADC510 is aimed at DSP applications such as Signal Intelligence (SIGINT), Electronic Counter Measures (ECM), and Radar. The ADC510 makes it easier and faster for system developers to integrate FPGAs into their embedded system designs.

“Ideally suited to SDR and SigInt applications, the faster ADC510 illustrates Curtiss-Wright Control’s continued leadership in practical open standard rugged solutions such as FMC,” said Lynn Patterson, vice president and general manager Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing. “FMCs enable our customers to have access to new technology with simplified upgrades paths for future solutions which protects their investment.”

The ADC510 now supports two Texas Instruments ADS54RF63 ADC devices with each device supporting a sampling rate up to 550 MSPS and providing 12-bits of digital output. The ADC device interfaces are routed to the FMC connector to enable an FPGA on a baseboard to directly control and receive data. There is a choice of sample clock sources for the ADC510 including an onboard source that supports sampling rates of 300, 320, 400, and 500 MSPS as well as the ability to utilize an external sample clock. Input and output triggers are provided to enable multiple ADC510 modules to be synchronized to increase the number of input channels.

It complements Curtiss-Wright Controls’ growing family of high-speed ADC FMC cards, including the recently announced ADC512, FMC-520 and FMC-XCLK2 providing a complete ADC/DAC solution for DSP applications.

FMCs address the needs of FPGA centric I/O by enabling I/O devices that reside on an industry standard mezzanine card to be attached to, and directly controlled by, FPGAs that reside on a baseboard. The benefits of FMCs are a small footprint, reduced I/O bottlenecks, increased flexibility, and reduced cost by removing redundant interfaces. An FMC module is about half the size of a PMC mezzanine module. To maximize data throughput and minimize latency, the FMC connector has many pins that support high-speed signals for moving data between the FMC and an FPGA on the baseboard. FMCs are ideal for high speed analog I/O, digital I/O, fiber-optics, memory or even a DSP co-processor.

ADC510 Key Features:

· Dual Texas Instruments ADS5463 or ADS54RF63 12-bit analog to digital converters

· Onboard clock generator (300, 320, 400 or 500MSPS), external RF sample clock input.

· FMC/VITA 57 form factor

· Air- or conduction-cooled rugged versions

Software Support

HDL example code is available for the ADC510 for integration into the HDL development suite for Curtiss-Wright Controls’ FPGA baseboards. The ADC510 is provided with HDL example code to simplify and speed integration into the HDL development suite for integration with Curtiss-Wright Controls’ FPGA host boards.

About FMC (VITA 57)

FMC modules enable I/O devices that reside on an industry standard (VITA 57) mezzanine card to be attached to, and directly controlled by FPGAs that reside on a host board. About half the size of a PMC mezzanine module, FMCs provide a small footprint, reduced I/O bottlenecks, increased flexibility, and reduced cost through the elimination of redundant interfaces. To maximize data throughput and minimize latency, the FMC connector provides numerous I/O pins that support high-speed signals for moving data between the FMC and the FPGA.

Pricing for ADC510 starts at $5,000 US. Availability is off-the-shelf.

For editorial information regarding Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing Multi Computing products or services, contact John Wranovics, Director of Media Relations, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Tel: (925) 640-6402; email. jwranovics@curtisswright.com. Web site: www.cwcembedded.com.

Inquiries: Please forward all Sales and reader service inquiries to Jerri-Lynne Charbonneau, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Tel: (613) 254-5112; Fax: (613) 599-7777; e-mail: sales@cwcembedded.com.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing

Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing is the industry’s most comprehensive and experienced single source for embedded solutions, ranging from Processing, Subsystems, Data Communication, DSP, and Video & Graphics to the most advanced board level components and fully integrated custom systems. The Embedded Computing group serves the defense, aerospace, commercial and industrial markets and is part of Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc. For more information about Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, visit www.cwcembedded.com.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc.

Atego's real-time Ada development system now available to military and aerospace developers

Atego — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:38:22 -0800

Embedded World 2010, Nürnberg, Germany – 2nd - 4th March 2010 – Hall 11, Stand 119—Atego, the leading independent supplier of industrial-grade, modeling and development tools for complex, mission and safety-critical embedded systems and software, has announced the release of Aonix ObjectAda Real-Time for Windows targeting the Wind River VxWorks 653 multi-partition RTOS for PowerPC. This is the first release of the Aonix ObjectAda product with full Ada runtime support for the Wind River safety-critical platform.

About the Aonix ObjectAda Family

About Atego

Express Logic Announces Safety-Critical Certification Pack(tm) for ThreadX(r) RTOS for IEC-61508, EUROCAE ED-12B, and Related European Safety Standards

Express Logic — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:35:48 -0800

March 2, 2010 – Embedded World, Nuremberg, Germany ― Express Logic, Inc., the worldwide leader in royalty-free real-time operating systems (RTOS), today announced the immediate availability of market-specific, turnkey, Safety-Critical Certification Pack™ products for its popular ThreadX® RTOS. ThreadX has proven itself in over 750 million electronic devices, many of which are required to meet stringent industrial, medical, transportation, rail, automotive and aerospace safety and reliability standards. To date, ThreadX customers have performed the required certification tests and validations themselves. By introducing a turnkey Safety-Critical Certification Pack for ThreadX, Express Logic can now help embedded device manufacturers eliminate developer months of verification and validation effort in complying with rigorous reliability and safety-critical standards.

For European customers, Express Logic’s Safety-Critical Certification Pack supports such standards as IEC-61508 for Industrial Equipment, IEC-62304 for Medical Devices, EUROCAE ED-12B for Aerospace, and the newly globalized rail standard IEC-62279 (formerly known as BS/EN-50128). With ThreadX and the appropriate Safety-Critical Certification Pack for their application, manufacturers can mitigate their development risk by using a proven, readily-certifiable RTOS for a fraction of the cost of alternate solutions.

Affect on Time to Market

In its "Embedded Market Survey" (2009), TechInsights reported that 57% of all software projects do not hit their targeted release date with the average project running 4.4 months late. Since market windows do not move, there are few solutions to this problem: companies can allocate more resources to the project or start the project sooner. Unfortunately, both of these options can have a negative affect on other projects and research.

Today, the ability to deliver a quality product before a competitor frequently determines ultimate market share and profitability. To keep projects on schedule, it’s beneficial to consider reducing project scope, while still achieving the same goals. By using a reliable, field-proven COTS RTOS such as ThreadX, along with a Safety-Critical Certification Pack, developers can eliminate many developer years from their project schedule and increase the likelihood of successful, on-time completion. The ThreadX Safety-Critical Certification Pack addresses the requirements of many safety certification standards, and is a 100% turnkey solution for certification of the RTOS used in a safety-critical system.

ThreadX Safety-Critical Certification Pack

The ThreadX Safety-Critical Certification Pack is a turnkey solution for meeting the RTOS-related aspects of standards for safety-critical systems. The ThreadX Safety-Critical Certification Pack includes all source code, documentation, coverage analysis, validation artifacts, and summary report for submission to the governing agency as part of the overall system certification. Each Pack is pre-tailored for the specific standard addressed (e.g., IEC 61508), the Operating System used (i.e., ThreadX), and the Target Environment (i.e., processor, board, development tools, etc.), leaving nothing for the customer to do, but submit the evidence to the certifying authority.

A typical ThreadX Safety-Critical Certification Pack contains the following:

• Software Safety Requirements

• Software Safety Validation Plan

• Development Plan

• Configuration Management Plan

• Quality Assurance Plan

• Verification/Test Plan

• Coding Standards

• Requirements Standards

• Design Standards

• Requirements Specification

• Design Description

• Unit Test Procedure

• Unit Test Plans

• Unit Test Reports

• Integration Test Procedure

• Integration Test Plan

• Integration Test Report

• Trace Matrices

• Configuration Index

• Software Accomplishments Summary

• Safety Manual

European and International safety standards covered by various ThreadX Safety-Critical Certification Packs:

• Avionics:

 EUROCAE ED-12B A/B/C/D

 EUROCAE ED109 Level AL1 – AL5 (Coming Soon)

• Industrial:

 IEC-61508 SIL 3/2/1

• Medical:

 IEC-62304 Class A, B, C

• Transportation and Rail:

 IEC-61508 SIL 3/2/1

 CENELEC EN50128/BS50128 SIL 4/3/2/1

 IEC-62279

ThreadX is a small-footprint, highly-optimized, preemptive scheduling RTOS, used in demanding applications in consumer electronics, industrial automation, medical devices, and aerospace equipment. ThreadX simplifies management of real-time systems with an easy-to-use API, full source code, and extensive documentation. ThreadX is licensed royalty-free with full commercial support.

Shipping and Availability

ThreadX Safety Critical Certification Packs are available for a wide range of customer target environments and development tools, and for a wide range of European and International regulatory standards, at license prices starting at $25,000.

About Express Logic and ThreadX

Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Express Logic offers the most advanced run-time solution for deeply embedded applications, including the popular ThreadX® RTOS, the high-performance NetX™ TCP/IP stack, the FileX™ embedded MS-DOS compatible file system, and the USBX™ Host/Device USB protocol stack. All products from Express Logic include full source-code and have no run-time royalties. For more information about Express Logic solutions, please visit the Web site at www.expresslogic.com, call 1-888-THREADX, or email inquires to sales@expresslogic.com.

# # #

ThreadX, BenchX, TraceX, and FileX are registered trademarks, and Safety-Critical Certification Pack, NetX, CANX, USBX, StackX, preemption-threshold, picokernel, and UDP fast path technology, are trademarks of Express Logic, Inc. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders.

Express Logic's BenchX(r) IDE Supports Lauterbach's TRACE32(r) Debugger

Express Logic — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:33:14 -0800

March 2, 2010 – Embedded World, Nuremberg, Germany ― Express Logic, Inc., the worldwide leader in royalty-free real-time operating systems (RTOS), today announced that Express Logic’s BenchX® IDE now supports debugging using Lauterbach’s TRACE32 debugger. BenchX is an Eclipse-based IDE adapted for use with embedded systems. Lauterbach’s TRACE32 in-circuit emulators and debuggers are powerful development tools for embedded systems. Together, BenchX and TRACE32 deliver robust functionality in an easy-to-use Eclipse-based IDE.

Express Logic’s BenchX was introduced in 2008 and was awarded honors for “Best In Show” at the Embedded Systems Conference. In 2009, BenchX was awarded the “Embedded AWARD” at Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany. Now, once again at Embedded World, BenchX takes a step forward by integrating Lauterbach’s TRACE32, one of the industry’s most highly respected debuggers. BenchX now brings together the Eclipse framework, GNU C/C++ compiler tool chain, and the Lauterbach TRACE32 debugger.

Lauterbach’s TRACE32 offers a set of modular microprocessor development tools, supporting all commonly used embedded processors. The modular hardware and software ranges from low-cost tools to sophisticated, high-end in-circuit emulators. With its high-speed design, TRACE32 is the fastest hardware-based debug tool on the market. TRACE32 can be used to debug the whole system, be it the boot phase, exception routines, or user applications, in almost any host and target environment. This first integration with BenchX currently targets available ARM processors.

“BenchX gives our TRACE32 an Eclipse environment, making TRACE32 even more appealing to embedded developers,” noted Rudi Dienstbeck, Third-Party Manager of Lauterbach, GmbH. “TRACE32 gives developers all the capabilities they need for today’s advanced, complex system debugging, and BenchX surrounds it with the supporting tools developers have come to expect from an Eclipse IDE.”

BenchX is an enhanced implementation of Eclipse, with many additions and optimizations that make development of embedded systems much more practical. BenchX incorporates a unified “BenchX Perspective” that combines the most commonly used windows from the standard Eclipse C/C++ and Debug perspectives. Other additions include RTOS awareness for Express Logic’s popular ThreadX RTOS, removal of buttons and menu options extraneous to the embedded environment, and addition of a progress bar showing status of interaction with the target.

“BenchX brings Eclipse to embedded developers at an affordable price point, but without sacrificing functionality. BenchX comes with virtually unlimited functionality in its integration with Eclipse-compatible tools such as Lauterbach’s TRACE32,” noted William Lamie, president of Express Logic. “We have many customers using TRACE32 with our ThreadX RTOS, and now they can use TRACE32 from within the BenchX Perspective for even greater ease-of-use.”

Shipping and Availability

BenchX is available from Express Logic for as little as $1,000/developer. TRACE32 is available from Lauterbach and its affiliate offices.

About Express Logic and ThreadX

About Lauterbach

Lauterbach is the world’s leading manufacturer of complete, modular microprocessor development tools with 30 years experience in the field of embedded designs. Highest quality, innovation and expert support have lead to Lauterbach's worldwide leadership in the JTAG and in-circuit-emulator market. It is an international, well established company with blue chip customers in every corner of the globe and has a close working relationship with all semiconductor manufacturers. Besides the Headquarters in Hoehenkirchen, Germany, the company has its own branch offices in United Kingdom, Italy, France, on the East and West costs of the United States, Japan and China. Highly qualified sales and support engineers are also available in many other countries. Further information is available from www.lauterbach.com.

# # #

ThreadX, BenchX, TraceX, and FileX are registered trademarks, and NetX, CANX, USBX, StackX, preemption-threshold, picokernel, and UDP fast path technology, are trademarks of Express Logic, Inc. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective hol

Express Logic Announces ThreadX(r) RTOS Support for Renesas SH7216 Series Microcontrollers

Express Logic — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:30:29 -0800

March 2, 2010 – Embedded World, Nuremberg, Germany ― Express Logic, Inc., the worldwide leader in royalty-free real-time operating systems (RTOS), today announced that Express Logic’s ThreadX® RTOS now supports Renesas Technology’s SH-2A core-based SH7216 microcontroller (MCU). Designed for small footprint, demanding real-time control, the ThreadX RTOS is a perfect match for the SH7216, an integrated connectivity chip targeting real-time control applications. Express Logic’s support technology—NetX™ TCP/IP and USB Host/Device/OTG stacks—also supports the SH7216’s connectivity needs.

“Express Logic’s leadership in royalty-free real-time operating systems makes them an ideal fit for the high-volume applications we target,” said Robert Kalman, Marketing Manager, Renesas Technology Europe. “ThreadX presents a small memory footprint with an easy-to-use, rich set of system services such as threads, message queues, counting semaphores, and mutexes. Embedded developers wanting a taste of our combined strengths can check out an evaluation version and demonstration application available for our SH7216 MCUs.”

Although its been introduced recently, the SH7216 has already become one of the most successful for Renesas, targeting connectivity and inverter markets. It features

communication interfaces such as Ethernet, CAN and USB along with 72 different connectivity options, giving developers maximum flexibility for their device, package, performance needs. Its inverter capabilities feature two dedicated timer units, each capable of automatic deadtime insertion, deadtime optimization and automatic synchronization with the analog-to-digital converter making it suitable for solar, motor control or other inverter applications.

The SH7216, capable of 480DMIPS and 400MFLOPS performance, enables extremely fast interrupt response (as low as 30 ns), and contains up to 1 MB of the industry’s fastest embedded flash, MONOS flash—performance only available from Renesas.

Express Logic’s ThreadX® RTOS offers a robust library of application-callable operating system services that simplify and optimize the performance of an embedded system. ThreadX is designed for microcontroller-based applications and features a small memory footprint of under 6KB so it can reside in even the most limited on-chip MCU memory. ThreadX provides preemptive, real-time, priority-based scheduling for optimum responsiveness and high performance and includes services such as thread scheduling, message passing, resource allocation, synchronization, and interrupt management.

User applications are easily managed and remain easily portable to higher- or lower-performance SH2-A core-based processors. ThreadX is complemented by FileX®, a full embedded file system, NetX™, a rich but small-footprint IPv4/IPv6 TCP/IP stack, USBX™, a full USB Host/Device/OTG stack, and PEGX™, a graphics development toolkit. TraceX®, Express Logic’s graphical real-time event analysis development tool, also is available for the SH7216. ThreadX is provided with full source code and is fully integrated into the Renesas HEW IDE.

“ThreadX support of the Renesas SH7216 marks the next step in a long partnership between two very strong players in the embedded space,” commented Udo Nuelle, Managing Director for Express Logic, GmbH. “The SH7216 with its integrated connectivity and Express Logic’s ThreadX RTOS and stacks offer a great synergy that provides real value to customers in a wide range of different applications.”

A free evaluation version of ThreadX and a demonstration program in source code form are available for the SH7216 from Express Logic’s web site, www.rtos.com. The demonstration program consists of a simple multi-threaded application that uses many advanced, yet easy-to-use features of ThreadX, including message passing, thread creation, and scheduling. The entire application, including the ThreadX RTOS, requires less than 7KB of flash and less than 4KB of SRAM. Users can modify the demonstration or write a completely new ThreadX application up to the evaluation version’s limits, which consist of ten threads, one instantiation of each type of memory pool, and a maximum of two instantiations for each of the other ThreadX objects. The demo application is provided in C source code form, and is fully integrated with the SH7216 system and intended for use with the Renesas HEW tools.

“We are pleased to extend ThreadX RTOS support for Renesas’ family of SH-2A-based microcontrollers with support for the SH7216,” commented John Carbone, Vice President of Marketing of Express Logic. “These powerful MCUs operate at up to 200 MHz, enabling ThreadX to deliver sub-microsecond context switch performance for the most demanding real-time applications.”

Shipping and Availability

ThreadX is available in full source code form, royalty free, and at license prices starting at $12,500.

About Express Logic and ThreadX

Express Logic and IAR Systems team up to deliver development solutions for commercial applications in consumer, medical, and industrial devices

Express Logic — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:29:18 -0800

March 2, 2010 – Embedded World, Nuremberg, Germany ― Express Logic, Inc., a worldwide leader in royalty-free real-time operating systems (RTOS), and IAR Systems, a leading provider of software tools for embedded systems, today announced a commercial-grade integration for developers of serious applications. The integration combines Express Logic’s ThreadX® RTOS and IAR Embedded Workbench® IDE in a form that is easily used out-of-the box by developers of embedded applications. Both Express Logic and IAR Systems products support most popular 32-bit architectures, including ARM’s ARM7, ARM9 and Cortex-M3, Freescale’s ColdFire, NEC’s V850, and Renesas’s H8. Now, developers using those processors can benefit from the seamless integration of ThreadX and IAR Embedded Workbench, enabling them to bring products to market faster and easier than ever before.

Express Logic’s ThreadX RTOS is structured for use with IAR’s Embedded Workbench IDE in a source code project. Developers can immediately compile and build the RTOS library and link it with application code using its services. IAR’s Embedded Workbench provides all the editing, compilation, debugging, and version control facilities needed to support embedded development. In addition, IAR Embedded Workbench now includes RTOS kernel awareness for ThreadX, which gives developers a view of all kernel objects and application threads and enables them to set thread-specific breakpoints. ThreadX is provided with a quick-start demo application, with full source code, that developers can use to familiarize themselves with its features and mechanisms. A full list of the IAR Kickstart kits supported by ThreadX can be found here: www.iar.com/kits.

“Many of our ThreadX customers use IAR’s Embedded Workbench as their preferred development environment,” said William E,. Lamie, President of Express Logic. “Now, developers using Freescale’s ColdeFire can also enjoy the benefits of the ThreadX-IAR combination and speed their products to market faster.”

“ThreadX RTOS and IAR Embedded Workbench complement each other extremely well and suit the development of a broad range of consumer and industrial applications,” commented Fredrik Medin, Marketing Director, IAR Systems. “To be successful in these markets, designs need to be introduced as quickly as possible and the combination of our products greatly aid that process.”

Express Logic’s ThreadX RTOS is a small-footprint, easy-to-use, priority-based, preemptive scheduling hard real-time RTOS that has been used in over 750 million electronic products in consumer electronics, medical devices, industrial automation, and networking applications. ThreadX is extremely fast, and responsive to real-time events. ThreadX is available with validation artifacts for IEC, DO-178B/ED-12b, EUROCAE, and USFDA (CDRH) certification.

IAR Embedded Workbench is a set of highly sophisticated and easy-to-use development tools. It incorporates IAR C/C++ Compiler, assembler, linker, librarian, text editor, project manager, and debugger combined in an integrated development environment (IDE) for programming embedded applications.

Shipping and Availability

ThreadX is available in full source code form, royalty free, at license prices starting at $12,500.

About Express Logic and ThreadX

About IAR Systems

IAR Systems is the world’s leading supplier of software tools for embedded systems that enable large and small companies to develop premium products based on 8-, 16-, and 32-bit microcontrollers, mainly in the areas of industrial automation, medical devices, consumer electronics and automotive products. IAR Systems has an extensive network of partners and cooperates with the world’s leading semiconductor vendors. Established in 1983, IAR Systems is part of the Intoi Group since 2005. For more information, please visit www.iar.com.

Forte Becomes OSCI 2010 Global Event Sponsor; Will Co-Sponsor ESCUG, Exhibit at DATE

EVE — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:27:55 -0800

Forte Design Systems, a leading provider of SystemC high-level synthesis, datapath synthesis, and intellectual property (IP), is a 2010 Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI) Global Event Sponsor and will co-sponsor the European SystemC User Group (ESCUG) Meeting.

ESCUG, to be will be held Tuesday, March 9, is collocated with Design Automation & Test Europe (DATE) in Dresden, Germany. Mike Meredith, Forte’s vice president of technical marketing and OSCI president, will present an update on technical working group activities and will appear on a panel titled “10 Years of SystemC: SystemC Quo Vadis?.”

Forte will exhibit its Cynthesizer SystemC high-level synthesis software at DATE in Booth #46 March 9-11. It will demonstrate its SystemC tools available now and in production use for 10 years, along with its newly acquired CellMath tools and IP for improving area, power and speed for existing register transfer level (RTL) designs.

Details about Forte are available at: www.ForteDS.com

More on ESCUG can be found at: www.ti.uni-tuebingen.de/ESCUG.escug.0.html

For information about DATE, go to: www.date-conference.com

About Forte Design Systems

Circuits, LLC Now Offers Rigid-Flex

Circuits, LLC — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:18:25 -0800

Murrysville, PA. Combining rigid and flexible substrates into a single printed circuit board offers designers the ability to improve reliability by reducing connector counts and complex wiring configurations. With the addition of an innerlayer adhesion promotion system, Circuits, LLC’s engineering team released the rigid-flex PCB manufacturing operations to production to offer a more dependable and cost effective alternative for their customers. Rigid- flex PCBs enable weight-reduction and more compact packaging with improved performance ideal for many military, aerospace and medical applications.

Circuits, LLC is well-equipped to take on rigid-flex PCB processing. The 50,000 square foot fabricating and testing facility houses a built-to-purpose, flow-optimized workspace specifically designed and equipped to produce consistent, high-quality flexible printed circuits with minimum handling and transport. The PCB manufacturing facility features a fully-integrated Class 1,000 clean room, a laser driller/router and a custom plating line configured for the production of complex circuits.

Rather than using a traditional oxide treatment in the manufacture of rigid-flex, Circuits chose an innerlayer adhesion promotion system that combines micro-etching and surface adhesion promotion to influence the flow of the pre-preg resin yielding significant interlaminar bond strength between resin and the copper surface. The COBRA Bond™ process (developed by OMG Electronic Chemicals) is designed to work with multiple types of foils, is scratch resistant and has lower overall processing costs. “The new system offers many benefits for Circuits and their customers,” according to Michael Carano, Global Manager Strategic Business Development and Marketing, OMG Electronic Chemicals, “plus the COBRA Bond™ process meets with Circuits’ “clean manufacturing” strategy because it is more environmentally sound than traditional oxide processes.”.

As both the mechanical and electrical aspects are a consideration when designing rigid-flex applications, Circuits, LLC offers their staff of experts to help customers design for manufacturability early in their process to insure the highest yields possible through the fabrication and the assembly process.

About Circuits, LLC

Circuits, LLC is a quality‐driven, customer‐focused manufacturer of highly reliable built‐to‐spec flexible printed circuit boards serving the defense, industrial, and medical markets with consistent quality and on‐time delivery unsurpassed by competitors.

Circuits, LLC

4060 Norbatrol Court

Murrysville, PA 15668

www.circuits‐corp.com

OMG Electronic Chemicals is a diversified global developer, producer and marketer of value-added specialty chemicals and advanced materials that are essential to complex chemical and industrial processes. Key technology-based end-use applications include affordable energy, portable power, clean air, clean water and proprietary products and services for the microelectronics industry. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, OMG Electronic Chemicals operates manufacturing facilities in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. For more information, visit www.omgi.com.

COBRA Bond™ is a registered trademark of OMG Electronic Chemicals.

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Tanner EDA and IC Mask Design Collaborate on Tools to Accelerate Analog Layout Design

Tanner EDA — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:03:48 -0800

MONROVIA, California – March 2, 2010 – Tanner EDA, the catalyst for innovation for the design, layout and verification of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs) and IC Mask Design, an industry leader in the provision of physical design services to the global semiconductor industry, are collaborating on the development of a toolset to accelerate analog layout design. By exclusively licensing IC Mask Design’s patented layout acceleration technology and integrating it into Tanner EDA’s custom IC design suite, the partners will offer engineers an improved solution to boost layout productivity and quality.

Tanner EDA and IC Mask Design have been working together since 2007. In the course of working with customers to better understand their analog layout design challenges, the partners recognized a need to speed up the analog layout process. In Q2 2010 Tanner EDA will offer a breakthrough toolset based on IC Mask Design’s proprietary technology that accelerates and semi-automates physical design activities to improve productivity. The new tool will embed seamlessly into Tanner EDA’s powerful and robust layout editor. Designers will be able to automatically generate devices and structures that are silicon-aware and are contextually tuned for their own specific layouts. This new solution gives engineers and managers the benefits of quality and productivity by consistently applying analog layout knowledge and experience to eliminate errors and speed layout cycles.

Commenting on the collaboration, Greg Lebsack, president of Tanner EDA, said, “We are very focused on bringing innovations from trusted, well-regarded partners to our customers, and are pleased to be able to help them benefit from the depth and breadth of IC Mask Design’s experience in analog layout design. This collaboration is another instance of our desire to help analog designers develop breakthrough products with improved productivity and shorter design cycle times.”

Mr. Ciaran Whyte, co-founder and CTO of IC Mask Design, added, “We have always been impressed with the functionality and ease-of-use that Tanner EDA’s tools deliver to designers. It has been a natural extension of our working relationship to leverage our joint knowledge of analog layout challenges to further benefit analog layout productivity.”

Previews of the joint solution developed by Tanner EDA and IC Mask Design will be available from March 9th to March 12th in Booth #12 at the Design Automation & Test in Europe (DATE) conference in Dresden, Germany. The partners expect to ship this tool along with Tanner EDA’s next major product release – v15 of HiPer Silicon™ – at the beginning of Q2, 2010.

About IC Mask Design

Founded in 2002, IC Mask Design is a dynamic engineering organization and industry leader in the provision of Physical Design services to the global semiconductor industry. The company delivers services for analog, RF, mixed-signal and digital designs, and provides a range of training courses covering the complete spectrum of physical design.

About Tanner EDA

Tanner EDA provides a complete line of software solutions that catalyze innovation for the design, layout and verification of analog and mixed-signal (A/MS) integrated circuits (ICs). Customers are creating breakthrough applications in areas such as power management, displays and imaging, automotive, consumer electronics, life sciences, and RF devices. A low learning curve, high interoperability, and a powerful user interface improve design team productivity and enable a low total cost of ownership (TCO). Capability and performance are matched by low support requirements and high support capability as well as an ecosystem of partners that bring advanced capabilities to A/MS designs.

Founded in 1988, Tanner EDA solutions deliver just the right mixture of features, functionality and usability. The company has shipped over 33,000 licenses of its software to more than 5,000 customers in 67 countries.

HiPer Verify and HiPer Silicon are trademarks of Tanner Research, Inc.

All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

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Contact for Tanner EDA:

Linda Marchant, Cayenne Communication LLC -- 919-451-0776 linda.marchant@cayennecom.com

Emerson Network Power and Freescale Semiconductor Collaborate on Power Architecture(r) Technology for Small Form Factor Boards

Emerson Network Power — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:53:54 -0800

NUREMBERG, Germany – Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson and the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity™, and Freescale Semiconductor, a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors, today announced a collaborative effort to deploy Freescale multicore QorIQ processors on modular single-board computers (SBCs) based on the COM Express® small form factor.

The two companies will soon release a white paper on the Web site of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) that defines how to design systems using Freescale QorIQ processors on modular SBCs based on the COM Express small form factor.

Based on Freescale's e500 core designed with Power Architecture® technology, QorIQ devices offer a broad range of price, performance and power options that are ideal for a variety of market requirements. QorIQ processors are the next-generation successor to the groundbreaking PowerQUICC device family, which pioneered the communications processor space.

“The availability of Power Architecture technology-based processors on small form factor boards will expand customer choices and allow OEMs to focus valuable R&D resources on solutions for their markets,” said Joe Pavlat, president of the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group. “I support the intent to get these ideas incorporated into appropriate standards.”

“With reduced design resources, an increasing number of OEMs are faced with challenging ‘build or buy’ scenarios, encouraging them to adopt SBC solutions in contrast to traditional chip-level design due to their ability to reduce development costs and enable a faster time-to-market,” said Dick DuBois, senior vice president of Emerson Network Power’s Embedded Computing business. “In addition to telecom markets, the combination of Power Architecture technology and the COM Express form factor will appeal to a broad customer base in military, aerospace, government, medical, automation and industrial markets.”

“Integrating Freescale’s flagship networking processors into standardized form factors holds the potential to dramatically enhance innovation across a range of markets in which high performance and low power are critical,” said Brett Butler, vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Networking Processor Division. “Freescale is pleased to collaborate with Emerson to help take SBC solutions to new levels of performance and energy efficiency.”

About Emerson Network Power

Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson, is the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity™ from grid to chip for telecommunication networks, data centers, health care and industrial facilities. Emerson Network Power provides innovative solutions and expertise in areas including AC and DC power and precision cooling systems, embedded computing and power, integrated racks and enclosures, power switching and controls, monitoring, and connectivity. All solutions are supported globally by local Emerson Network Power service technicians. For more information on Emerson Network Power’s embedded computing products and services including ATCA®, COM Express®, CompactPCI®, embedded motherboards, MicroTCA®, VMEbus and OpenSAF® for original equipment manufacturers and systems integrators in the telecommunications, industrial, aerospace/defense and medical markets, visit www.EmersonNetworkPower.com/EmbeddedComputing. Learn more about Emerson Network Power products and services at www.EmersonNetworkPower.com.

About Freescale Semiconductor

Portwell's New 1U Rackmount Network Appliance Supports Freescale QorIQ P2020 Communications Processor

American Portwell Technology, Inc. — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:45:58 -0800

FREMONT, CALIF. —March 1, 2010—Companies interested in high performance with low power will welcome CAK-2000, latest 1U rackmount network appliance from American Portwell Technology, Inc. (www.portwell.com) because it supports the latest Freescale QorIQ™ P2020 communications processor. Incorporating the 45nm Freescale processor based on Power Architecture® core with SOI technology low-power platform, Portwell’s CAK-2000 network appliance delivers high single-thread performance per watt and dual-core frequency up to 1.2 GHz. Optional Freescale VortiQa™ software also forms a part of this high profile package and is designed to help users simplify the ongoing migration to the expanding range of multi-core processor applications. Integrated security engine support protocols includes SNOW, ARC4, 3DES, AES, RSA/ECC, RNG, single-pass SSL/TLS and Kasumi. Portwell’s CAK-2000 1U rackmount network appliance also features: six LAN ports for 10/100/100 Ethernet; built-in two Bypass/Failover segments; up to 4GB DDR3 RAM with two DIMM sockets; bootable with SATA HDD via Linux® operating system or SD Flash; on-board RJ45 console port; one Mini-PCIe slot; LEDs at front panel to show power, bypass and system status; software-controlled reset switch; drivers for controlling the reset switch and status LED; and an internal 150W ATX power supply. CAK-2000 is regulatory certification ready—including FCC/CE and UL—and RoHS/WEEE compliant, which means that the CAK-2000 can be used both domestically and internationally right out of the box.

Designed for OEM branding, American Portwell’s CAK-2000 1U rackmount network appliance is the ideal solution for applications in Network Security (such as IDS/IPS, Firewall, IPSec, VPN, Deep Packet Inspection, Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus and UTM); Network Management (such as Routers, RAS Gateways, QoS, Server-Load Balance, Wireless Controller and Streaming); plus Telecommunications and Industrial and Military applications.

Dual-core Performance in Single-core Power Budgets

According to Mark Huang, American Portwell Technology’s product marketing manager, Portwell and Freescale are the perfect combination of technologies. “Freescale’s P2020 communications processor offers an advanced set of features,” Huang states. “The integrated security engine supports common security algorithms used in networking and wireless applications such as IPSec and SSL. The 64b memory controller offers future-proofing against memory technology migration with support for DDR3,” he explains. “It also supports error correction codes in P2020 L2 cache, which is a baseline requirement for any high-reliability system. Other memory types, such as flash are supported through the 16b local bus, USB, SD/MMC and SPI. The bottom line,” Huang adds, “is that with dual-core performance in single-core budgets, combining Portwell’s CAK-2000 with Freescale’s P2020 communications processor delivers the ideal solution for a wide variety of applications in the networking and telecom markets.”

Outstanding Product Quality and Support

“Freescale is pleased to partner with American Portwell to expand the availability of world class security appliance products to our joint customers,” said Sathyan Iyengar, vice president of Software Products for Freescale’s Networking and Multimedia Group. “American Portwell is a highly respected company providing outstanding product quality and support.”

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Product details: www.portwell.com/products/detail.asp?CUSTCHAR1=[...]

# # #

About American Portwell Technology

American Portwell Technology, Inc., is a world-leading innovator in the Network Security market and a member of the Intel Embedded Alliance and Freescale Technology Alliance. American Portwell Technology designs, manufactures and markets a complete range of communication appliances, embedded computer boards and systems, and rackmount systems for both OEMs and ODMs. American Portwell is both an ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 13485:2003 certified company. The company is located in Fremont, California. For more information about American Portwell’s extensive turnkey and private-label branding solutions, call 1-877-APT-8899, email info@portwell.com or visit us at www.portwell.com.

All products and company names referred to herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or mark holders.

# # #

Product Contact:

Product Marketing Manager

American Portwell Technology, Inc.

510-403-3314

mark@portwell.com

Media Contact:

Marketing Executive

American Portwell Technology, Inc.

510-403-3354

susanw@portwell.com

XTech Acquires Triple E Corporation

XTech — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:48:41 -0800

Randolph, MA — XTech, the leading global manufacturer of front panels and accessories for the electronics industry, today announced that it has acquired TripleE Corporation, in Lowell, Massachusetts. TripleE provides ruggedized solutions to the defense, avionics, and security industries.

"This acquisition reflects XTech's strategy of expanding and diversifying into markets that are adjacent to our core front panel and enclosure business," said Reinhold Hesse, Chief Executive Officer. "The growth rates of the defense/security markets are attractive and stable, with long product life cycles. TripleE complements XTech's current base of business in the communications and general electronics markets — where shorter life cycles are common."

"The addition of TripleE also presents an exciting opportunity to leverage the disciplines of XTech's strong Lean manufacturing team. We will continue to implement performance improvements and drive bottom line growth by applying XTech's proven continuous improvement processes."

TripleE will become part of Extrusion Technology, Inc., the parent company of the XTech brand. Laurie Burger, Chief Marketing Officer, noted, "The acquisition will broaden our market share in the defense sector, while opening up new opportunities for organic growth through synergies in channel, products, and global manufacturing footprint. Given XTech's ITAR compliance — a key requirement in the defense and security sectors — we can more easily and seamlessly integrate TripleE into XTech's infrastructure. Our current and new customers are foremost on our minds and our transition team is taking all precaution to ensure success."

"TripleE's strong portfolio of ruggedized front panels and components — for applications such as NEBS compliant systems and mobile communications — greatly enhances XTech's offerings to the telecommunications and computing markets. The acquisition expands our ability to serve the rapidly growing needs of those applications," Burger added.

"XTech reinforces its commitment to customer service, product quality and innovation to the ruggedized market through this acquisition," said Reinhold Hesse. "We are excited by the opportunities we see to innovate and grow."