Abaco Systems today announced that its rugged 3U VPX SBC347D single board computer had been chosen by a major international defense electronics company to be at the heart of a new electronic warfare system that will be deployed in manned and unmanned aerial vehicles and in fixed and mobile ground platforms. Between two and four SBC347Ds will be configured in the system, depending on customer requirements.
The value to Abaco of the orders over the coming four years is expected to total $3.5 million.
The SBC347D was chosen not only for its high performance, enabled by its x16 PCI Express™ bandwidth, but also for its ability to maintain that performance even at the high temperatures that are expected in the deployed systems. An innovative cooling architecture means that the computer, based on the 12-core Intel® Xeon® D-1500 processor, can operate at its full speed at temperatures up to 75°C. Not only does this deliver better performance in a wider range of SWaP-constrained environments, it also makes that performance more predictable – essential in mission critical applications that require real time determinism.
Traditional solutions that are widely implemented on other SBCs see the CPU being throttled by up to 50% of its core frequency, causing a substantial deterioration in performance. This throttling is in order to maintain the processor within its rated temperature range to avoid failure.
The SBC347D will manage system-wide communication, including activity detectors and exciters, wideband antennae, T/R switches and wideband receivers. It can optionally initiate signal initiated jamming; sequential jamming; multi-carrier jamming; and wideband/barrage jamming.
“The SBC347D is unique in its ability to maintain its maximum performance even at high temperatures – which makes it a compelling solution for customers who demand the predictable performance that is essential in mission critical applications that require real time determinism,” said John Muller, Chief Growth Officer, Abaco Systems. “Abaco has an important competitive advantage when it comes to delivering solutions that are rugged enough to withstand deployment in the most challenging environments, especially in the area of cooling – and the SBC347D, and this order, are evidence of that advantage.”
The Intel Xeon processor has a maximum power of 45W and is a lidded component, which adds additional thermal resistance. In Abaco’s SBC heat frame designs, removing this heat from the high performance processor is a challenge to achieve good thermal margin and full processor performance at high card edge temperatures.  Abaco has combined its traditional solution for removing/spreading heat with a reliable space grade technology to move heat through the heat frame with a low temperature drop while maintaining 500V electrical isolation.
The SBC347D features versions of the Xeon D-1500 processor that offers support for up to 16 cores. It is specifically designed for demanding high performance embedded computing (HPEC) military/aerospace applications such as command and control, ISR, signal processing, radar/sonar and electronic warfare.
