Curtiss-Wright Controls Announces New Full Mil-Temp Xilinx® Virtex®-6-based 3U VPX FPGA DSP Engine
ASHBURN, VA – October 29, 2012 – Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions (CWCDS), a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls, has introduced its second Xilinx® Virtex®-6 FPGA-based VPX digital signal processing (DSP) engine, the VPX3-453 FPGA module, in a compact 3U VPX form-factor. The VPX3-453 is a high performance, small form factor DSP engine that combines a Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGA and a Freescale® Power™ Architecture MPC8640D processor. This small form-factor 3U VPX (VITA 46/48) card is ideal for SWaP-constrained environments and is designed to support the full -40 + 85 deg C rugged operating temperature range. The VPX3-453 is the follow-on to Curtiss-Wright’s popular Virtex-5-based VPX3-450, with which it provides backwards compatibility to optimize technology migration. The VPX3-453 speeds and simplifies the integration of advanced DSP and image processing into embedded systems designed for demanding Radar Processing, Signal Intelligence (SIGINT), ISR, Image Processing, and Electronic Warfare applications.
“Curtiss-Wright is a leader in bringing advanced COTS FPGA processing to rugged open architecture system designs for defense and aerospace applications,” said Lynn Bamford, senior vice president and general manager of Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions. “Building on the success of our earlier Virtex-5-based VPX3-450, the new VPX3-453 is designed to bring the processing power of Xilinx’s Virtex-6 FPGA to embedded systems that must deliver optimal FPGA and Processor performance, over the full rugged temperature range, in a compact, SWaP-optimized space.”
The VPX3-453 features Gen 2 PCIe with Non-Transparent Bridge support for better handling of large 3U systems, as well as additional I/O flexibility to the backplane from either the XMC or FPGA. To better support its on-board Virtex®-6 FPGA, the board features extensive FPGA memory bandwidth, including 2.4 GB/s SDRAM and 4.8 GB/s SRAM performance. FPGA memory support includes one (1) bank of DDR2 SDRAM and two (2) banks of QDR-II+ SRAM. Two (2) 4-lane high-speed serial ports to the backplane and an additional port to the XMC site provide a total of 7.5GB/s bandwidth into and out of the FPGA in addition to the primary 4-lane PCI Express® (PCIe) link to the on-board fabric.
Software Support
Software support for the VPX3-453 includes BSPs for VxWorks® or Linux®.
To ease and speed application development, Curtiss-Wright also offers its Continuum FXTools FPGA design kit. Software and development tools for the VPX3-453 are part of the Continuum Software Architecture (CSA). The Continuum FXtools package contains the full Continuum Firmware and BSP package, plus additional VPX3-453 specific support libraries for the MPC8640 processor using such off-the-shelf operating systems as VxWorks and Linux. Additional development support includes highly-optimized IP Blocks, development environment, reference designs, scriptable simulation test benches and software libraries.
The VPX3-453 enhances Curtiss-Wright’s comprehensive family of rugged 3U VPX modules, which comprises both Power Architecture (VPX3-127) and Intel® Architecture (VPX3-1256/7) single board computers (SBCs) and GP-GPU-based processors (VPX3-491). Many combinations of these interoperable cards can be put together to form powerful systems in a compact space.
VPX3-453 Features:
- 3U OpenVPX (VITA 65)
- One user-programmable Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGA node (LX240T)
- One bank of DDR2 SDRAM (256MB).Up to 2.4GB/s peak bandwidth
- Two banks of QDR-II+ SRAM (36MB total).Up to 4.8GB/s peak bandwidth
- Two 4-lane 3.125GHz serial links to the backplane
- One 4-lane PCIe link to the on-board switching fabric
- 19 pairs (38 pins) of discrete LVDS signals to the backplane
- 1/3 clock capable pairs
- One Dual-core Freescale Power Architecture MPC8640 processor
- Running at 1GHz
- 1GB of DDR2 with ECC
- 256MB of Flash with write protection for user code, data, or FPGA bitstreams
- Protected backup Flash
- Two Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, factory configurable to either 1000 Base-T or 1000 Base-X
- Two EIA-232 serial ports
- Connections to the FPGA configuration bus and command/control bus
- Backwards compatible to the VPX3-450 from both a software and backplane perspective
- On-board Gen2 PCIe switch
- 8-lane port to the MPC8640 processor
- 4-lane port to the FPGA node
- 4-lane port to the XMC site
- Two 4-lane ports to the backplane.
- Thermal sensors for monitoring board temperatures
- Sensors for monitoring board temperatures and FPGA power consumption
- Support for ChipScope™ Pro and JTAG processor debug interfaces
- Multi-board synchronous clock
- Continuum FXtools for the VPX3-453
- FPGA design kit with highly-optimized IP Blocks, development environment, reference designs, scriptable simulation test benches and software libraries
- Continuum Firmware and BSP for VxWorks and Linux and systems library kit for the MPC8640 processor
- Continuum Vector subroutine library available
- VITA 48 1” pitch format
- Conduction-cooled levels available. Contact factory for other options.
Sales & Editorial Contacts
For editorial information regarding Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions products or services, contact John Wranovics, public relations director, Curtiss-Wright Controls, Tel: (925) 640-6402; email. [email protected].
Sales inquiries: Please forward all Sales and reader service inquiries to Jerri-Lynne Charbonneau, Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions, Tel: (613) 254-5112; Fax: (613) 599-7777; e-mail: [email protected].
Price and Availability
Production Conduction-Cooled Units will be available in Q1 2013. Please contact the factory for information about pricing. For more information on the VPX3-453, please visit our website.
About Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions
Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions (CWCDS) is a long established technology leader in the development of rugged electronic modules and systems for defense applications. CWCDS serves as a technology and integration partner to its customers, providing a full range of advanced, highly engineered solutions from modular open systems approaches to fully custom optimized solutions. Our unmatched capabilities and product breadth span from industry standard based COTS modules to complete electronic subsystems. The company’s modules and systems are currently deployed in a wide range of demanding defense & aerospace applications including C4ISR systems, unmanned subsystems, mission computing, fire control, turret stabilization, and recording & storage solutions. Additionally, the company’s broad engineering capabilities combine systems, software, electrical, and mechanical design expertise with comprehensive program management and a broad range of life-cycle support services.
About Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc.
Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Curtiss-Wright Controls is the Motion Control segment of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. With manufacturing facilities around the world, Curtiss-Wright Controls is a leading technology-based organization providing niche motion control products, subsystems and services internationally for the aerospace and defense markets. For more information, visit www.cwcontrols.com.
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