Curtiss-Wright Controls to provide data concentrator units for Air Force and NATO AWACS aircraft
CHARLOTTE, N.C., 8 Sept. 2012. Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc., a provider of avionics and electronics, has received a contract from Rockwell Collins to provide data concentrator units (DCUs) for use on U.S. Air Force and NATO AWACS aircraft. The Curtiss-Wright Controls products will provide the conversion of analog and digital sensor inputs into digital outputs to support the upgrade of this aircraft's navigation control avionics. The engineering phase has commenced and hardware shipments are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2013.
The Curtiss-Wright Controls Avionics & Electronics DCU is a microprocessor-based controller that receives an assortment of discrete, analog and digital inputs to process and format them into other common digital data formats for various aircraft systems' consumption. The DCU design can accommodate a variety of digital communication protocols including EIA/TIA-232,-422, -485, ARINC 429, USB 2.0, AFDX/ARINC-664, MIL-STD-1553, CAN bus, or Ethernet.
The DCU interfaces with various avionic and air vehicle discrete, digital, and analog inputs for monitoring, passing through data and controlling various aircraft subsystem components. The DCU also interfaces to other systems by way of the ARINC 429 and Ethernet data buses and is usually the data hub for most of the avionics equipment. It can perform data scaling, offsets, range, checking, data formatting, and BIT functions in addition to the normal conversion functionality. The DCU also provides output capability for aircraft subsystems/components control, and crew warning and alert indication.
The Curtiss-Wright Controls Avionics & Electronics facility located in City of Industry, CA, will manufacture the products covered by this agreement. The products will be shipped to Rockwell Collins Government Systems Division in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
