As its name implies, articles in this section blend in-depth examinations of a key embedded computer or electronics technology trend and put it in context with the requirements of today's military system designs. This section is typically the cover story for the issue.
Most Recent
ISR Programs and Payloads in Large UAVs
Ethernet Switches Connect With Military Needs
Martin Sweeney, Senior Electrical Engineer, Mike Southworth, Director of Marketing, Parvus
February 2010
The success of net-centric warfare is dependent on fast, secure communications technology—specifically Ethernet. To meet the military’s demands for Ethernet-enabled vehicles, there isRead More...
Past Articles
ISR Programs and Payloads in Large UAVs
UAV Payloads Focus on Autonomy, ISR and Comms
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
February 2010
As the use, design and planning of military UAVs matures, the DoD has adopted a strategy of closely pairing its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) programs with itsRead More...
Target Report: Five Most Compute-Intensive Defense Application Areas
Next-Gen Processor Technology Redefines Compute Density
Ben Klam, VP of Engineering, Dave Barker, Director of Marketing, Extreme Engineering Solutions
January 2010
The demands of today's advanced military applications require system architects to constantly push the design envelope. These demands are coming from multiple fronts. The militaryRead More...
Target Report: Five Most Compute-Intensive Defense Application Areas
Secure Network Communications Pushes Compute Limits
Christine Van De Graaf, Product Manager David Pursley, Field Applications Engineer, Kontron
January 2010
New and evolving technology initiatives such as Brigade Combat Team Modernization, JTRS (Joint Tactical Radio System) and WIN-T (Warfighter Information Network-Tactical) rely heavilyRead More...
Target Report: Five Most Compute-Intensive Defense Application Areas
New Solutions Attack the Defense Industry’s Most Compute-Centric Problems
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
January 2010
There's a trend that should be obvious, but is often overlooked at higher echelons of the defense industry: More and more of system functionality is now implemented as software runningRead More...
Target Report: Five Most Compute-Intensive Defense Application Areas
Cluster Computing Suits Up for Aircraft Duty
Jim Renehan, Director of Marketing, Trenton Systems
January 2010
Surveillance aircraft may represents just a small slice of the overall military defense market, but they exemplify many of the challenges facing the rackmount system designer.Read More...
Target Report: Five Most Compute-Intensive Defense Application Areas
GPU-based Processing Solves Persistent Surveillance Challenges
Anne E. Mascarin, Product Marketing Manager, Mercury Computer Systems
January 2010
Persistent surveillance requires highly compute-intensive imaging capabilities because the aerial vehicle must remain (on demand) in an area to detect, locate, characterize,Read More...
Target Report: Five Most Compute-Intensive Defense Application Areas
Intel Architecture Invades Embedded DSP Arena
Ian Stalker, DSP Product Manager, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing
January 2010
Floating point processors are an essential component of military digital signal processing (DSP) systems. For approximately the last ten years, the evolving series of PowerRead More...
Control and Comms in Small UAVs
Common Computing Architecture Wins for UAV Programs
Tom Clancy, CTO and VP of Tactical Systems, Aurora Flight Sciences and Mike Southworth, Director of Marketing, Parvus
December 2009
The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the military has skyrocketed as UAVs have proventheir military worth in Afghanistan and Iraq. UAVs are credited with saving soldiers'Read More...
Control and Comms in Small UAVs
Small UAV Tap the Rich Variety of Embedded Options
Christine Van De Graaf, Product Manager, David Pursley, Field Applications Engineer, Kontron
December 2009
UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) were originally developed to take the soldier out of harm's way and have come a long way since the days of "large" surveillance drones like the PredatorRead More...
Control and Comms in Small UAVs
Small UAVs Step up to Advanced Comms Capabilities
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
December 2009
The brisk investment in UAV development and procurement continues across all branches of the DoD. And that situation isn't expected to change under the current Administration. InRead More...
Distributed Power in Military Systems
SSPC Advancements Enhance Vehicle Power System Designs
Steve Rood Goldman, Marketing Manager and Michael Glass, Principle Marketing Engineer, Data Device Corp.
November 2009
Developers of electrical power management and distribution systems for current and future force ground vehicles face several challenges. As new applications increase the number andRead More...
Distributed Power in Military Systems
Modular Approach Wins for VME Power Systems
Steve Butler, Vice President of Engineering, VPT
November 2009
Military electronics continue to push the performance envelope in all directions. With each new system design come the same challenges: more processing power, tighter specs and shorterRead More...
Distributed Power in Military Systems
Meeting MIL-STD-810 for Batteries Presents Challenges
Jeffrey VanZwol, Marketing Director, Micro Power Electronics
November 2009
The military standard MIL-STD-810, "Department of Defense Test Method Standard for Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests" specifies the equipment'sRead More...
Distributed Power in Military Systems
Power Conversion Solutions Toughen Up for Military Duty
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
November 2009
With more and more computing stuffed into smaller spaces, power has direct implications on the size, cooling and mobility of a system. Selecting power supplies and power conversionRead More...
Small Form Factor Boards and Standards
Small Form Factor Realm Churns out Boards and Standards
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
October 2009
Small embedded computers—in both standard and non-standard form factors—are in high demand for military applications that are extremely space- or weight-constrained or whereRead More...
Small Form Factor Boards and Standards
SUMIT Interconnect Spec Revamps Small Form Factor Landscape
Bruce D. Virell, Product Manager, VersaLogic
October 2009
Designers of high-performance embedded systems need to incorporate growing numbers and types of I/O in smaller and smaller off-the-shelf and semi-custom boards, while keeping theirRead More...
Net-Centric Processing and RF Challenges
Network-Centric Technologies Flow into Land, Sea & Air Systems
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
September 2009
The Defense Department’s broad Network-Centric vision calls for real-time sharing of voice, video and data between soldiers, aircraft, satellites, ships, robots and UAVs, all over aRead More...
Net-Centric Processing and RF Challenges
Software-Defined RF Measurement Aids Radar Beamforming
David A. Hall, Marketing Engineer National Instruments
September 2009
Since the transmission of the first radio waves, engineers have continually sought new ways to use electromagnetic microwave signals. RF signals have been used for a variety ofRead More...
Net-Centric Processing and RF Challenges
Tools Enable Smart Radios to Do Complex Spectrum Navigation
Sharon Rushen, PAO Program Coordinator CERDEC
September 2009
A “smart” radio knows which radio frequencies are vacant, temporarily unoccupied, or occupied, and acutely bounces from one to the other providing seamless, efficient communication forRead More...
Multi-Function Boards for Military I/O
Multi-Function Boards Revamp the Military I/O Landscape
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
August 2009
Thanks to the magic of today’s level of semiconductor integration, multi-function board products have emerged enabling military system designers to blend a variety of I/O functionsRead More...
Multi-Function Boards for Military I/O
Multipurpose SBCs Drive Wide Range of Battlefield Apps
Nauman Arshad, Senior Product Line Manager Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing
August 2009
New trends in processor chipsets and bus architectures are aligning to meet the increasing demand for small form factor multipurpose single board computers for use in rugged militaryRead More...
Multi-Function Boards for Military I/O
Performance Demands Drive Multi-Function I/O Trade-offs
Andrew Reddig, President and CTO TEK Microsystems
August 2009
Over the last 20 years, military embedded systems developers have struggled to balance two trends: increased functionality vs. standard off-the-shelf products. As chip suppliersRead More...
Military Vehicle Electronics
Computing, Power and Networks Take Priority in Mil Vehicle Modernization
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
July 2009
For several years now, any discussion about the future of military vehicles revolved around the Army’s massive Future Combat Systems program. All that officially changed late lastRead More...
Military Vehicle Electronics
MIL-STD 461E: A Key Standard for Vehicle-Based Computing
American Reliance
July 2009
For the DoD, specifying a computer’s electromagnetic interference (EMI) and its electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is an important judge on how well the computer will operate withinRead More...
Military Vehicle Electronics
Case Study: 24 GHz Short-Range Radar Chip for Mil Vehicles
Dave Saunders, Senior Systems Engineer US Monolithics
July 2009
Military vehicles use radar sensors to enable features such as all-weather operations, weapons control, altimeter measurements, reconnaissance and navigation. In all of theseRead More...
