As its name implies, articles in this section blend in-depth examinations of a key embedded computer or electronics technology trend and put it in context with the requirements of today's military system designs. This section is typically the cover story for the issue.
Most Recent
Four Embedded Form Factors with the Most Secure Future
Futureproof Form Factors: Picking the Winners
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
April 2012
There are a lot of aspects that lead to acceptance by the military for a particular board-level embedded computing form factor. It's not simply technical merit but a host ofRead More...
Past Articles
Four Embedded Form Factors with the Most Secure Future
One Size Doesn’t Fit All in Form Factor Choice
David Pursley, Product Line Manager, Kontron
April 2012
It is said that there is nothing more certain than change. This is especially true of the remarkable advancements made in embedded computing. And, nowhere are the advancementsRead More...
Four Embedded Form Factors with the Most Secure Future
FPGAs and GPGPUs Vie for Military System Design Mindshare
Marc Couture, Director of Product Management, Mercury Computer Systems
April 2012
Advanced sensor processing continues to demand greater performance while consuming less of a vehicle’s Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) budget. FPGAs and the General Purpose GraphicalRead More...
GPGPUs vs. FPGAs for Military Signal Processing
GPGPU Solutions Gear Up for Signal Processing Duties
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
March 2012
The idea of graphics processors used as general purpose processors is the latest disruptive technology to invade military embedded computing. GPGPUs offer powerful and denseRead More...
GPGPUs vs. FPGAs for Military Signal Processing
Case Study: Adapting GPGPU Tech for Mil DSP Use
Ian Stalker, Product Marketing Manager and Ivan Straznicky, Technical Fellow, Strategic Planning Office Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions
March 2012
Thanks to their unmatched speed, hundreds of cores and dedicated floating point math libraries, General Purpose Graphics Processor Units (GPGPUs) are gaining ground in the militaryRead More...
GPGPUs vs. FPGAs for Military Signal Processing
EXCLUSIVE ROUNDTABLE: Experts Discuss Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE)
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
March 2012
Recently, COTS Journal’s Jeff Child had the unique opportunity to sit down with representatives from three companies involved in the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE): KirkRead More...
FPGA Boards in Radar and SIGINT
FPGA Processing Boards Fuel Radar and SIGINT Advances
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
February 2012
As the signal processing capabilities of FPGAs continue to climb, they’ve become key enablers for waveform-intensive applications like sonar, radar, SIGINT and SDR. VPX, VXS and VMERead More...
FPGA Boards in Radar and SIGINT
FPGAs Keep Pace with Expanding Defense Mission Challenges
Tom Roberts, Solutions Marketing Manager, Mercury Computer Systems
February 2012
SIGINT and Electronic Warfare (EW) missions face increasingly complex technical challenges, both in current operations and in preparing for potential future conflicts. Missions mustRead More...
FPGA Boards in Radar and SIGINT
FPGAs Enable Fast Data Transport in Radar and Sensor Systems
Rafeh Hulays, Ph.D, Business Development Vice President, AdvancedIO Systems
February 2012
Advanced radar systems that can detect targets in complex, high-clutter environments are essential for mission-critical operations such as defense, search and rescue, and offshoreRead More...
FPGA Boards in Radar and SIGINT
Chip Scale Atomic Clocks Improve for UAV System Designs
Steve Fossi, Director of New Business Development, Government Business Unit, Symmetricom
February 2012
Precise time and frequency are needed to calculate position as well as to send and receive encrypted video and vehicle control data in very dense waveforms. UAVs normally synchronizeRead More...
Five Game-Changing Technology Trends for the Military
Five Game-Changer Technology Trends Facing the Military
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
January 2012
Compute-density has become the mantra for many of today's advanced military programs. More and more of system functionality is now implemented as software running on single boardRead More...
Five Game-Changing Technology Trends for the Military
Single Event Effects Complicate Military Avionics System Design
Minal Sawant, Product Marketing Manager, Microsemi
January 2012
Military aircraft routinely operate at altitudes from 30,000 to 60,000 feet or more, including planes with sophisticated fly-by-wire circuitry and those used for airborne earlyRead More...
Five Game-Changing Technology Trends for the Military
Middleware Evolves to Suit the Era of Multicore
Marshall Oberg-Porter, Technical Support Specialist, Objective Interface Systems
January 2012
Multicore processors have become a ubiquitous foundation for hardware and software product development. They are present in embedded systems ranging from consumer mobileRead More...
SWaP Hurdles for Small UAV Controls
Embedded Processing Brings More Functionality to Small UAVs
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
December 2011
The electronics aboard Small UAVs—for flight control, mission control and communications—face some of the most rigorous size, weight and power restrictions. Selecting the rightRead More...
Powering Board and Box-Level Systems
Power Supplies Meet Demanding Needs of Board and Box-Level Systems
JEFF CHILD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
November 2011
While often an afterthought in embedded military computer system designs, choosing power supplies and power conversion electronics can become make or break technical choices. With moreRead More...
Powering Board and Box-Level Systems
Advanced Battery Technology Shrinks Military Energy Costs
David McShane, Executive V.P. of Business Development and Engineering International Battery
November 2011
According to a study completed by the U.S. Army in 2007, one out of eight U.S. Army casualties in Iraq was a result of protecting a fuel convoy-related mission. Keeping forwardRead More...
Powering Board and Box-Level Systems
Inrush Current Control Technology Boosts Power Converter Reliability
Steve Butler, Vice President of Engineering VPT
November 2011
Designing power subsystems for platforms like military vehicles, aircraft and shipborne gear requires special care. It’s critical to protect those multimillion-dollar machines fromRead More...
FPGA Processing for Radar and SIGINT Systems
VME and VPX FPGA Processing Advances Target Radar and SIGINT Needs
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
October 2011
No longer viewed as peripheral or coprocessing devices, faster FPGA-based DSP capabilities combined with an expanding array of IP cores and development tools for FPGAs are enablingRead More...
FPGA Processing for Radar and SIGINT Systems
FPGAs Pave New Processing Paths for VPX and VME Systems
Rodger Hosking, Vice President, Pentek
October 2011
Every new FPGA generation delivers more DSP horsepower, higher resource densities, more memory and faster interfaces. Because FPGAs are so well suited to embedded computing boards,Read More...
FPGA Processing for Radar and SIGINT Systems
VPX Cabling Solutions from Prototyping to Deployment
Justin Moll, Director of Marketing, Elma Bustronic and Jason Lippincott, Marketing Manager, Meritec
October 2011
With the design flexibility of VPX, there are many configurations available for all types of applications. For certain I/O requirements, achieving the intended design goals could beRead More...
FPGA Processing for Radar and SIGINT Systems
Roadmap Approach Eases Technology Readiness Challenges
Mike Macpherson, Director, Business Development, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing
October 2011
A Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) is a systematic, metrics-based process that assesses the maturity of, and the risk associated with, critical technologies to be used in U.S.Read More...
FPGA Processing for Radar and SIGINT Systems
FPGAs Inject New Levels of Flexibility into Military SBCs
Susan Wooley, President, Micro/sys
October 2011
Implementing FPGAs on embeddable SBCs provides military OEM system integrators a completely new set of tools for customizing their embedded applications into small, harsh, ruggedRead More...
Next-Gen Military Comms and Networking Solutions
Military Comms and Networking Pick Up the Pace
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
September 2011
A major portion of today’s U.S. military platforms is either directly or indirectly involved in communications or networking critical information between warfighters. This meansRead More...
Next-Gen Military Comms and Networking Solutions
10 Gbit Ethernet Offers an Alternative to Bus-Based Slot Cards
Angsuman Rudra, CTO/CEO, D-TA Systems
September 2011
With the advent of the 10 Gbit Ethernet network as a high-speed data transfer mechanism, demanding military sensor interfacing and processing are seeing a seismic shift. The largeRead More...
