Military Embedded Systems
Op-Eds
Comms
BAM Blog: long life applications require high-rel components - Blog
April 09, 2014
Before & After Market (BAM) Blog: Before you begin diving into this blog piece, take a moment to step out of your comfort zone and into the shoes of a warfighter on the frontlines in a battle. This specific person you have become has been using mission-critical equipment that must operate under some of the most severe conditions in their current environment, including operating in 100+ degree temperatures for eight or more hours each day. In this moment you realize just how much you rely on the proper functionality of your equipment, as you cannot afford to waste any time fixing defects because it puts your life at risk. These types of scenarios need to be considered every time the procurement of mission-critical, high-reliability (high-rel) devices takes place.
Radar/EW
Embedded Vanguard Blog: Optimizing deployed system design begins with dialogue - Blog
March 27, 2014
Today, defense and aerospace system integrators are under increasing schedule and budget pressure. While funding for new programs is harder to come by, the technical requirements for deployed systems continues to increase as platforms become more digitally connected and sensor rich. One frequently overlooked strategy that can significantly aid a system integrator’s efforts to develop an optimal system solution, especially when confronted with space, weight and power (SWaP) constraints, is to engage COTS hardware vendors early in their design process.
Comms
Reviewing DMSMS 2013: Collaboration brings new beginnings - Blog
March 25, 2014
Hurricane Isaac’s interruption of Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) 2012 and subsequent rescheduling instigated the pairing of DMSMS with the Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC) for the 2013 event, located in Kissimmee, FL and hosted by the Navy. Bringing together these two complementary aspects of Department of Defense (DoD) operations created a unique opportunity for raising cross-disciplinary collaborations. Looking back, the pairing of DMSMS and DMC is a natural progression. The overlap of the two conferences provided a logical platform for discussion around balancing affordability and obsolescence risk amongst active defense programs: a threat currently facing every facet of the military's manufacturing and sustainment mission.
Comms
BAM BLOG: De-mystifying semiconductor IP - Blog
March 19, 2014
Before & After Market (BAM) Blog: Nowadays, it’s called IP. Decades ago, it was just called software. By either name, it is the programming inside a chip that makes the chip unique. Software/IP is also a big factor in product lifecycle management (PLM).
Comms
BAM Blog: chip makers respond to mil-spec market pressures - Blog
February 24, 2014
Before & AfterMarket (BAM) Blog: The military market is renowned for developing and implementing the most advanced technology available. However, a device that’s central to most of this technology – the semiconductor – is lagging in the military-market design space.
Comms
BAM Blog: How packaging issues accelerate EOL - Blog
February 06, 2014
Before & AfterMarket (BAM) Blog: Nobody likes to be duped. Anyone who has ever bought a “designer” handbag on the street at a huge discount quickly figures out the deal was too good to be true. Something that looked genuine on the outside turns out to be fake.
Comms
BAM BLOG: When buying based on cost doesn?t make sense - Blog
January 15, 2014
Before & AfterMarket (BAM) Blog: Most of the public debate about onshore versus offshore manufacturing has to do with the cost of production and domestic-market competitiveness. But in many cases, the debate should not be exclusively about cost – it should be about trust.
Avionics
BAM Blog: obsoleted semiconductors and DO-254 - Blog
December 18, 2013
Before and Aftermarket (BAM) Blog: As semiconductors become more and more complex, guaranteeing that they can still function correctly in safety-critical applications is proving increasingly difficult; and in many cases, system testing to assure correct operation under all foreseeable equipment operating conditions is often impossible. The avionics industry has recognized this problem and introduced guidelines for manufacturers to follow to overcome the testing dilemma.
Avionics
BAM Blog: heads up on components availability for heads-up displays - Blog
November 27, 2013
BEFORE & AFTER MARKET (BAM) BLOG: Jet fighters and the family car will have several things in common in the near future. When a disruptive technology is developed, prior generations of similar technologies are significantly impacted. In the consumer market, customers can generally adopt new technologies rapidly if the price point is right. Conversely, higher-value equipment with long operating life times does not have this luxury. Manufacturers of prior generations of military, space, and aerospace equipment may find their supply chain disrupted as cost-conscious vendors adapt to a more volatile market cycle.
From The Editor
John Rynearson named first VITA Hall of Fame inductee - Blog
November 20, 2013
John Rynearson, technical director of VITA, is the first person to be inducted into the newly created VITA Technologies Hall of Fame. The news took him by pleasant surprise, announced during today’s VITA Standards Organization (VSO) meeting in Scottsdale, AZ, in front of his friends and peers in the industry. After the announcement was given by John McHale, editorial director of Military Embedded Systems magazine, the room filled with applause and congratulations.
Comms
BAM BLOG: Counterfeits: the 2,000 versus 200 Equation - Blog
November 13, 2013
Before & AfterMarket Blog (BAM). At first glance, having 2,000 component suppliers to choose from -- versus 200 – is a good thing. Competition drives down prices and component selection appears bountiful. In the electronics supply chain, though, things don’t always work that way. In fact, the “2,000 vs. 200” equation is downright dangerous. Almost any vendor can sell a component, but not all vendors are authorized to do so. This is a big distinction.
Radar/EW
Six customized computers myths that you should know - Blog
November 04, 2013
One of the most common problems executives face is making business decisions about technologies with which they are not familiar. As they survey the crowded marketplace, corporate leaders often rely on information from self-interested vendors, or so-called conventional wisdom.
Comms
Collecting semiconductor products - Blog
October 21, 2013
NEWBURYPORT, MA. I've found where they put the Lost Ark at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" -- it's in an aftermarket semiconductor warehouse in Newburyport, MA. Seriously, Rochester Electronics has a storage area for products going back decades that is eerily similar to the one in the movie (see photo).
Comms
Radar/EW
Designing OpenVPX systems to support Gen3 >10 Gbaud signaling - Blog
September 30, 2013
Signal Integrity (SI) is becoming an increasingly critical consideration for designers of OpenVPX systems. While system integrators first confronted some SI issues as the embedded industry made the performance advance from Gen1 at 3.125 Gbaud to Gen2 at 6.25 Gbaud signaling, the current transition to Gen3 >10 Gbaud signaling rates, nearly doubling the bandwidth of Gen2 OpenVPX, requires a significant increase in the level of tools, capability, expertise, and know-how to ensure successful design and implementation of a robust latest generation, OpenVPX system.
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Rugged mission displays for surveillance applications
March 30, 2010
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Software warranties -- A new era?
September 23, 2009
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Solving the processor challenges for safety-critical software
October 12, 2011
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Remote test equipment solves problems in avionics bus systems
June 24, 2008
Unmanned
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COM Express enables application-specific data acquisition systems
October 12, 2011
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Enhanced Full-Motion Video advances military UAS surveillance - Multistream image processing and routing in real time
October 06, 2010
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COTS vendors, while concerned about extensive DoD budget cuts, see opportunities for retrofits, unmanned systems
October 12, 2011
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Deploying ruggedized platforms for unmanned vehicles
June 20, 2011
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JDL Level 2-4 information fusion engine released by Larus Technologies
May 23, 2013
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DARPA Adaptive Radar Countermeasure program contract awarded to Leidos and Exelis
June 01, 2015
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The Internet of Things for the intelligence community
July 23, 2015
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Predictive analytics and the industrial IoT: Thinking about military adoption
September 10, 2015
Comms
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DNA protects electrical components against counterfeiting
June 16, 2011
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OtterBox arms the military with rugged technology
February 18, 2009
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Navy's NMCI network speeds warfighter's chance to get inside the adversary's OODA loop: An exclusive interview with HP's Bill Toti,
April 29, 2011
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Obsolescence management: Another perspective
February 10, 2009