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Electronics & Computers

Small Form Factor Computing in OpenVPX

The new OpenVPX™ (VITA 65) standard helps military system designers build compatible embedded systems by defining “profiles” to which vendors can adhere when designing boards, and system integrators...

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Electronics & Computers

Stackable Computer Architecture Moves to 3rd Generation

Change is a concept that is well known in the computer industry. Designers and manufacturers alike have embraced this trend in an ongoing race to increase computing power while reducing...

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Articles
Aerospace

Using Multi-core Processing to Deliver Better Intelligence

The rapidly evolving and changing asymmetric threats confronting the U.S. military are dramatically escalating demands for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). Even...

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Photonics/Optics

Fiber Optic Gyroscope Technology Improving Weapons Systems Performance

Autonomous vehicles require gyroscopes for navigation and stabilization of the platform in demanding battlefield, aerospace and undersea environments. Autonomous vehicles...

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RF & Microwave Electronics

Making A Case for Modified COTS

In 1992 the Department of Defense (DOD) was exploring ways to reduce the procurement costs and delivery times of equipment purchases having to meet military standards. The development, documentation and...

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Articles
Unmanned Systems

Designing Future Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

So far, defense companies have done a credible job fielding Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), or other water-borne robots to address critical capability...

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Articles
Aerospace

Improving Military Communications Through COTM

Avital component for any military organization is the ability to communicate, share information and provide support for large, mobile groups of personnel anytime, anywhere. Satellite technology is...

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Electronics & Computers

Multicore Tools for Embedded Systems — Staying Ahead of the Game —

Building a multicore system means dealing with non-determinism. Interactions between tasks running on different cores can occur in a different order, and at a different rate...

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Electronics & Computers

Redesigning COTS Servers for Military Applications

Military and ISR operations are inundated with vast amounts of data collected from an expanding network of sources, including sensor data from UAS, satellites, and remote monitoring stations....

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Electronics & Computers

When the Going Gets Tough...

The theaters of operation for marine, air and land vehicles continue to redefine the term “rugged environment.” No longer bound by on-board human operators, autonomous and unmanned military vehicles are now free...

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Articles
RF & Microwave Electronics

Harnessing FPGAs for Beamforming Software Radio Systems

Over the past 20 years, software defined radio techniques have not only revolutionized radar and communications systems, but they have also boosted system performance levels. One of the...

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Aerospace

New Tools Bring Faster, Simpler Fluid Flow Analysis Into the Engineering Mainstream

Fluid flow is a critical part of defense and aerospace design, whether the product is a rocket’s fuel valve or a tank’s turret-mounted electronics pod....

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Articles
Aerospace

FPGA Software Tests Telescope Microshutters

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the next big telescope at NASA, will be placed at a stable Lagrange point approximately 1 million miles from the Earth. This telescope is the next stepping stone...

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Articles
Aerospace

Advances in High-Frequency PCB Materials

Traditionally, RF/microwave printed circuit board applications were developed based on the needs that came out of the military market. Applications like radar and guidance systems were operating at...

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Articles
Aerospace

Specifying Components for Space Applications

Recently, NASA renewed a decades-old request for grant proposals that call for “faster, better, cheaper” projects. The ultimate agenda is to expedite developments in aerospace capabilities while...

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Articles
Test & Measurement

Reliable EMI Shielding Materials and RF Cable Assemblies Ensure High Performance for Handheld Test Instruments

While high-performance test equipment has been used successfully in the laboratory for many years, the trend is moving toward remote...

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Articles
RF & Microwave Electronics

Passive Devices Designed to Improve Signal-to-Noise Ratios in Defense Electronics

While power architectures of defense electronics are extremely diverse, all have common operational demands: they must be robust (shock, vibration, temperature...

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Aerospace

UAV Airframes and Missions Drive Embedded Computing Choices

Every branch of the armed forces has a need for capabilities delivered from unmanned aerial vehicle/ unmanned aerial system (UAV/UAS) platforms. These unmanned vehicles have proved...

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Aerospace

Integrating Formal Methods into Software Toolsets for Avionics Certification

Current practice in certification of avionics systems (e.g. DO-178B1) is centered on testing. The testing process has been prescribed to incorporate a semi-formal...

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Articles
RF & Microwave Electronics

Microwave Energy Transmission for Aircraft

Unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, are used in many applications to gather intelligence without risking human lives. These aircraft, however, have limited flight time because of their reconnaissance...

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Aerospace

Alternative Energy and Propulsion Power for Today's U.S. Military

The U.S. military has the most sophisticated weapons systems in the world, but they are fueled and mechanically powered by old technologies. Given the mission of the U.S....

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Articles
RF & Microwave Electronics

Choosing Your RF Design Environment Flow

You can’t build a house without blueprints. So why do so many RF design flows try to build a board without a schematic? Most often, this crude process comes about due to lack of availability of RF...

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RF & Microwave Electronics

Antenna Design Considerations

With the advent of prolific wireless communications applications, system designers are in a position to consider the placement and performance of an antenna system. The first step in establishing antenna...

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Articles
Data Acquisition

CAT Scanner Provides 3D View Inside Nuclear Weapon Components

The Department of Energy’s (DoE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is pursuing a smaller, safer, more secure, and less expensive nuclear weapons complex. Meeting that...

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Aerospace

Shortwave Infrared Sensors: A New Way to See

Compact, lightweight, and uncooled imaging sensors are fueling a revolution in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). They are the key enablers for a powerful new breed of...

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Articles
Aerospace

Improved Interference Rejection Using Multi-Static Radar Signal Processing

In multi-static radar (MSR), the transmit/ receive aperture is divided into a number of sub-apertures that can be placed in various locations relative to each other....

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Articles
Data Acquisition

USB-to-Synchronous Cable Enables IP Data Communications for Tactical Radios

Warfighters can benefit greatly from having radio IP-based data communications at the theater level. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the 750,000 tactical radio...

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Articles
Aerospace

Designing the Next Generation of Military Robots

Many recent blockbuster films and best-selling books depict the robotic apocalypse and have shed a negative light on military robotics. However, not all unmanned system development is aimed...

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Aerospace

Evaluating the FPGA Selection Process in Military System Design

As technologies such as digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and general-purpose processors (GPPs) advance, product and feature differentiation...

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