SALLY COLE, SENIOR EDITOR

To address emerging electronic warfare (EW) threats, which are becoming increasingly more agile and moving up the spectrum, radio frequency (RF) and microwave component designs are also evolving.

DENIS SMETANA, CURTISS-WRIGHT

In order to keep up with the continued acceleration of new technology and to be able to protect the warfighter from the latest threats, it is essential that we can turn our deployed platforms into adaptable entities that can evolve over time and are not static. The SOSA [Sensor Open Systems Architecture] Technical Standard is the next major step in realizing this goal.

TOM SMELKER, MERCURY SYSTEMS

Today’s sensor-based systems often fail to perform at their full potential due to loss of fidelity in data processing or discarding data due to analog bandwidth limitations from the performance trade-offs required to meet size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints. In addition, the most effective radar and electronic warfare (EW) response techniques demand extremely low latency as the signal transitions from analog RF to digital and back to RF. Heterogeneous 2.5D system-in-package (SiP) technology, a new trend in microelectronics that includes multiple die inside the same package, is proving to be an excellent match for sensor-edge processing requirements, as it integrates high-performance chiplets to support direct digitization of wideband RF signals.

JOHN MCHALE, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Shared perspectives from embedded COTS suppliers at the annual Embedded Tech Trends (ETT) conference and networking event typically flavor my January/February column each year. Back-to-back twenty-minute press briefings in three-hour periods not only provide column fodder but also help us plan editorial contributions for the coming year.

JOHN MCHALE, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Officials from the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) and the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) Consortia will be leading the The Open Group FACE and SOSA Consortia Expo & Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) virtual event next month on March 23, 2021 from 11 am to 4 pm Est.

ANDREW MCCOUBREY, CURTISS-WRIGHT

The standards currently being defined by the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) Consortium will deliver many clear benefits to system integrators designing embedded sensor-processing systems. The SOSA Technical Standard will define common pinouts that foster and ease interoperability. Greater system flexibility will come from the ability to place a variety of module types into the same system slot, while convergence on common interconnect technologies (such as backplane Ethernet) will ease the integration of modular systems.

JOHN MCHALE, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona. The Sensor Open System Architecture (SOSA) Technical Standard applies open-architecture concepts to high-performance defense sensor systems such as radar, electronic warfare (EW), and signals intelligence (SIGINT) platforms. A key part of the developing technical standard will be how to ensure conformance to the standard is met for hardware or SOSA modules claiming alignment with the Technical Standard. This webcast, titled "SOSA Conformance and What it Means to You," held Wednesday, February 24, featured SOSA Consortium experts discussing the current status of the Technical Standard, what the upcoming 1.0 release means for conforming to the standard, and how you should approach SOSA conformance for your products.

EMMA HELFRICH, TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

Interface Concept, company specializing in the design and manufacturing of COTS embedded boards and systems, announced the ComEth4412a, a 3U VPX dual plane hybrid PCIe Gen 3 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet Switch, designed in alignment with the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) technical standard.

JOHN MCHALE, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

In this episode of the Mil Tech Virtual Toolbox, we spoke with Duc Huy Tran, VP of Global Marketing with Aitech Systems about tools for enabling cybersecurity in military embedded systems and how artificial intelligence (AI) and open architecture initiatives such as the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) are changing the defense electronics landscape.

EMMA HELFRICH, TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

Abaco Systems, Inc. announced the VP831 as the next generation of the VP889, the 3U VPX FPGA board engineered with 100G Ethernet on a design aligned with the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) technical standard.