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

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...
Past Articles

Five Game-Changing Technology Trends for the Military
Advanced Networking
January 2012
As the U.S. military transforms itself to Network-Centric operations, every node in the networked military will be affected. The overall idea is for every vehicle, every aircraft,Read More...

Five Game-Changing Technology Trends for the Military
Adapting Consumer Platforms
January 2012
A theme that inevitably permeates any discussion of military technology these days is the notion of ruggedized smartphone and iPad-type devices adapted for military use. That shift isRead More...

Five Game-Changing Technology Trends for the Military
Power and Cooling Challenges
January 2012
To satisfy demands for greater compute density, system developers embraced faster processors and boards with more processors and processor cores. All that inevitably pushes powerRead More...

Five Game-Changing Technology Trends for the Military
General Purpose Computing Using GPUs
January 2012
The sheer complexity of today’s military embedded systems is overwhelming. The challenge gets particularly acute when systems run on a variety of processor engines. FPGA-based systemsRead More...

Five Game-Changing Technology Trends for the Military
Solid State Drives
January 2012
While solid state disk drives are by no means a new technology, their evolution is reaching a key tipping point where complete program and data storage can reside on rugged SSDs. ThisRead 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...

VME, VPX and cPCI in Tech Upgrade Programs
Tech Upgrade Programs Tap the Benefits of VME, VPX and cPCI
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
August 2011
Among the reasons for VME’s soaring success in military systems is its unique ability to remain backward compatible and facilitate technology refresh in military programs. As newRead More...

VME, VPX and cPCI in Tech Upgrade Programs
Tech Refresh Strategies Bolster New Battlefield Compute Workloads
David Pursley, Product Line Manager Kontron
August 2011
The ability to handle increasing volumes of data is dramatically impacting the modern battlefield, often outpacing the performance of legacy systems. The value of sharing thisRead More...

VME, VPX and cPCI in Tech Upgrade Programs
Modular Upgrades Continue to Extend VME-Based Systems
Andy Reddig, President and CTO, Tek Microsystems
August 2011
Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) is one acronym used today to describe a systems approach to creating modular, upgradable systems. MOSA is increasingly important as the rate ofRead More...

Function-Specific vs. General Purpose Pre-Integrated Systems
Function-Specific Integrated Systems Get Closer to End Application
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
July 2011
In parallel with the trend toward rugged box-level systems is another trend toward “pre-integrated subsystems.” These are defined as a set of embedded computing and I/O boards putRead More...

Function-Specific vs. General Purpose Pre-Integrated Systems
Pre-Integrated Subsystems Step Up to Meet Demanding Requirements
Mike Southworth, Parvus
July 2011
Advances made in embedded computing technology continue to push pre-integrated subsystems further into demanding applications where only the most durable, powerful systems willRead More...

Function-Specific vs. General Purpose Pre-Integrated Systems
Networked-Military Calls for More Complex UPS and Power Distribution Tech
Michael A. Stout, Falcon Electric and David J. Proli, Marway Power Solutions
July 2011
Napoleon once stated that “an army travels on its stomach.” Today’s new high-tech military travels on its communications capabilities. The spectrum of these capabilitiesRead More...

The Shuttle and Space Electronics
30-Year History: Shuttle Program Parallels Computer Tech Advances
Pete Yeatman, Publisher; Warren Andrews, Editor Emeritus
June 2011
I magine a world with no personal computers, no MS-DOS, no Internet, no iPhone; iPad or App Store; No Twitter or Facebook. That’s where we were in 1981 when Ronald Reagan took the oathRead More...

The Shuttle and Space Electronics
Copper Leadframes Eclipse Alternatives for Military Memory Designs
Jeff Kendziorski, Director of Marketing, Micross Components and Sean Long, Director of Marketing, ISSI
June 2011
Memory board design can present the military system designer with one of their toughest tasks: managing heat dissipation at the component level. With ever increasing memory densitiesRead More...

Adlink
Advantech