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
Military Vehicle Computing and Comms
Military Vehicle Modernization and Upgrade Efforts Strive for Efficiency
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
May 2013
The DoD and U.S. Army continue to rethink and revamp their plans for next-gen vehicle requirements, and that will necessitate rethinking previously planned electronics. OnboardRead More...
Past Articles
Military Vehicle Computing and Comms
Military Vehicles Leverage the Blending of Computing and Comms
Mike Southworth, Director of Marketing, Parvus
May 2013
As a consequence to the Budget Control Act passed by Congress in 2011, the Department of Defense is currently enduring another round of steep budget cuts with no apparent end inRead More...
GPGPUs vs. FPGAs for Military Signal Processing
GPGPUs Stake Out Territory beside FPGAs for Military Signal Processing
Clarence Peckham, Senior Editor
April 2013
With the number of FPGAs and GPGPUs available in the marketplace, there are multiple choices for designers of signal processing systems. There is no simple answer of which type ofRead More...
GPGPUs vs. FPGAs for Military Signal Processing
Exploiting GPGPU RDMA Capabilities Overcomes Performance Limits
Dustin Franklin, GPGPU Applications Engineering Specialist, GE Intelligent Platforms
April 2013
GPU technology has increasingly found favor in military/aerospace applications because of the significant opportunity it presents to apply its inherently massively parallelRead More...
Where OpenVPX and VME Overlap and Diverge
OpenVPX and VME Contend with Overlaps and Differences
Clarence Peckham, Senior Editor
March 2013
Since its beginning in the early 1980s, VME has evolved and even mutated in later years. The evolution was driven by the desire to support faster and newer technologies such asRead More...
Where OpenVPX and VME Overlap and Diverge
System Requirements Drive OpenVPX and VME Choices
RJ McLaren, Manager Military and Aerospace Products, Kontron
March 2013
Military system designers have the tough task of continually developing the most technologically superior applications. All are looking to win in this highly competitive market, andRead More...
Boards and Systems for Video Processing
Video Processing Solutions Step Up to Meet New Challenges
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
February 2013
Video processing technology has moved front and center now. Driving that is the trend toward every vehicle, every aircraft, every ship, every UAV and every soldier on the groundRead More...
Boards and Systems for Video Processing
VPX Meets Needs of High-Performance Avionics Systems
Akos Csilling, Product Development Manager, Creative Electronic Systems
February 2013
Traditional high-performance computing platforms are limited by the connection bandwidth and latency between the multiple computing elements needed to achieve the performanceRead More...
Boards and Systems for Video Processing
Exploring New Criteria for Rugged System Testing
Wayne Tustin, President Equipment, Reliability Institute
February 2013
Consider an electronic system or other equipment intended for military usage. Stating that the equipment is “rugged” is not sufficient. Rugged really refers to a set of laboratoryRead More...
Five Most Compute-Intensive Military Applications
Computing Enables Different Military Systems in Varying Ways
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
January 2013
Embedded computing has become the central building block for many of today’s advanced military programs. That’s because more and more of system functionality is now implemented asRead More...
Five Most Compute-Intensive Military Applications
GPU Technology Eases Challenge of UAV EO/IR Processing Design
Marc Couture, Director, Product Management, Mercury Systems
January 2013
As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) continue to chalk up impressive successes participating in numerous and varied missions around the world, there is significant pressure on UAVRead More...
Five Most Compute-Intensive Military Applications
UAV Systems Face Safety-Critical Challenges
Himalya Bansal, Technical Marketing Assistant and Shan Bhattacharya, Field Application Engineer, LDRA
January 2013
UAVs have a well-established role in military operations around the world for a variety of mission types, and evidence suggests that their use and the diversity of this use areRead More...
Five Most Compute-Intensive Military Applications
Small UAV Systems Push Bandwidth and Latency Envelopes
Lee Foss, Founder and CEO, Advanced Micro Peripherals
January 2013
If there is any area of technology where compute density is critical, it’s the area of Small UAVs. One area where costs are being dramatically curbed is through the use of farRead More...
Advanced Compute Payloads for Small UAVs
Upgrades Dominate Small UAV Payload Design Activities
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
December 2012
The control and payload electronics aboard Small UAVs—like the Raven, Integrator, Shadow and Wasp—face some of the most rigorous size, weight and power restrictions. Selecting theRead More...
New I/O and Format Standards for Box-Level Systems
Small Form Factor System Approaches Vie for Military Mindshare
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
November 2012
Rugged box-level systems have become a staple in today’s military embedded computing market. Because complete systems can now fit into a relatively small enclosed box-levelRead More...
New I/O and Format Standards for Box-Level Systems
Creating Mobile Networks for Tactical Environments
Kevin Holcomb, Technical Marketing Engineer, Cisco Systems and Mike Southworth, Director of Marketing, Parvus
November 2012
Defense personnel rely on communications equipment to relay dynamic information, including biometrics, voice, location telemetry and real-time video to enhance situationalRead More...
New I/O and Format Standards for Box-Level Systems
MXM Standard Enables GPGPU Use in Rugged Systems
Marc Couture, Director of Product Management, Mercury Computer Systems
November 2012
Many products and technologies designed specifically for high-volume commercial applications are increasingly useful for embedded applications. But before they can add value theyRead More...
New I/O and Format Standards for Box-Level Systems
Counterfeit Chips Cause Problems in Military Supply Chain
Steve Martin, Executive Vice President, Components Direct
November 2012
A recent study by market research firm IHS found that over 12 million counterfeit components have entered the supply chain in just the past five years. Many of these parts makeRead More...
Box-Level Systems in UAV Payload Designs
UAV Payloads Embrace Compute-Dense Rugged Box Systems
Jeff Child, Editor-in-Chief
October 2012
Even as defense budgets shrink—with more severe cuts ahead—the area of Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs) is seeing less of a hit. On one hand all branches of the military areRead More...
Box-Level Systems in UAV Payload Designs
Effective Video Handling on Unmanned Vehicles
Tim Klassen, Video Technology Lead Consultant, GE Intelligent Platforms
October 2012
There are many significant challenges in handling video in an unmanned vehicle environment, and these are exacerbated by the deployment of increasing numbers of sensors and theRead More...
Box-Level Systems in UAV Payload Designs
Compact Box-Level Systems Enable Net-Centric Open Architectures
Ákos Csilling, Product Development Manager, CES Creative Electronic Systems
October 2012
Striving for smaller size, weight and power (SWaP) has always been one of the main goals for avionics since the beginning of the industry. Today, there are several competingRead More...
Box-Level Systems in UAV Payload Designs
Achieving Network Security with Common Criteria
Gene Keeling, Director, Global Certification Team, Cisco Systems
October 2012
Today’s government and industry leaders overwhelmingly identify cyber security and information assurance as one of their top computing and networking concerns. Cyber threats areRead More...
