Open-reference environment for safety-critical embedded computing introduced by Abaco
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., 14 April 2016. Abaco Systems in Huntsville, Ala., is introducing the FORCE2 Open Reference Computing Environment for developing safety-critical, DO-254/DO-178 certifiable embedded computing applications compliant with the FACE avionics initiative.
A rugged, pre-integrated small form factor system for mission computing and avionics display, the FORCE2 comprises a high technology readiness level (TRL) SBC314 3U VPX single-board computer and graphics card in demanding video and image-processing applications.
The FORCE2 can work with DO-254 artifacts in Design Assurance Level (DAL) A systems that require the highest level of assurance, Abaco officials say.
"Certification is a huge cost incurred by in-house development of safety-critical systems which, allied to the high cost of system development, can make such solutions prohibitively expensive," says Chris Lever, vice president of product management at Abaco Systems.
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The Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) approach is a government-industry software standard and business strategy for acquisition of affordable software systems that promotes innovation and rapid integration of portable capabilities across global defense programs.
The FORCE2 features either a 1.4 GHz quad-core or a 1.8 GHz 8-core NXP (formerly Freescale) QoriQ Power Architecture processor with as much as 4 gigabytes of memory. Advanced graphics capability is provided by an AMD Radeon E8860 GPU with 2 gigabytes of DDR5 memory. A range of avionics I/O is supported including ARINC-429 and MIL-STD-1553. DVI and VGA video outputs are featured.
For more information contact Abaco Systems online at www.abaco.com.
