GE Intelligent Platforms joins FACE Consortium to foster open-systems avionics standards

Editor's note: GE Intelligent Platforms changed its name to Abaco Systems on 23 Nov. 2015 as a result of the company's acquisition last September by New York-based private equity firm Veritas Capital.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., 31 March 2013.embedded computing expert GE Intelligent Platforms in Huntsville, Ala., is joining the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Consortium, which is in place to develop open standards for avionics systems of the future.

The FACE Consortium, part of the Open Group, consists of 414 companies, colleges, and other organizations seeking to create open-architecture avionics standards for component interoperability and portability and reduced costs. GE joins the organization as an associate member.

Other FACE Consortium members include IBM, Oracle, the U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin, the MIT Embedded Systems Laboratory, BAE Systems, Raytheon, Boeing, Rockwell Collins, the U.S. Army, Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions, and QinetiQ North America.

Last summer GE introduced a rugged subsystem for companies developing FACE conformant software. The company is working with real-time software expert Wind River Systems in Alameda, Calif., and with embedded graphics specialist Presagis in Montreal to make Wind River and Presagis software work reliably on GE hardware.

The platform features GE's SBC312 single board computer and PMCCG1 graphics PMC. The SBC312 is based on the Freescale Power Architecture P4080 8-core processor yet has the power envelope of previous dual core systems, while the PMCCG1 features the high performance/low power S3 2300E graphics processing unit.

"Being a member of the FACE Consortium allows us to be deeply involved in helping to shape the standards that will in turn shape the future of avionics systems," says Rod Rice, general manager of military & aerospace products at GE Intelligent Platforms.

"The growing interest in the FACE Consortium by industry-leading companies such as GE validates the need for standardized approaches for using open standards within avionics systems," says Allen Brown, President and CEO of The Open Group.

"GE Intelligent Platforms's long-standing commitment to advancing innovation and improving safety for aerospace and defense companies aligns well with our vision for the FACE Consortium," said We welcome GE Intelligent Platforms as a new member of the FACE Consortium and look forward to their contributions and help in achieving our goals."

For more information contact GE Intelligent Platforms online at www.ge-ip.com, or the FACE Consortium at www.opengroup.org/getinvolved/consortia/face.