June 05, 2009
Systems integration, telecom offer new hardware niche in New England
There was a time not too long ago when computer giants ruled New England. Digital Equipment Corp., Wang Laboratories Inc., Data General Corp. and Prime Computer were just three of the names that anyone with even a passing knowledge of computers knew. So what is on the horizon for New England hardware manufacturers? According to Enterprise Strategy Group, manufacturers of products designed and built to perform highly specific, problematic tasks requiring unique solutions. One such company is Mercury Computer Systems Inc.
Mass High Tech
Jim Schakenbach
May 18, 2009
Exploiting advanced imagery with a standards-based network architecture
Sensor-based imaging produces volumes of information, but how can only the most valuable information for the warfighter be both extracted and delivered quickly? A new Converged Sensor Network (CSN) Architecture is facilitating just that.
Military Embedded Systems
Tom Roberts
April 30, 2009
FPGAs deliver performance and flexibility to mixed-signal applications
Many mission-critical applications in defense and signals intelligence operate in a mixed-signal environment, transforming an analog input from some part of the spectrum into a digital bit stream and then processing that bit stream into useful information. These applications require a high-performance A/D converter capability, combined with time and frequency domain receiver processing.
DSP-FPGA.com E-Letter
Jack Kilian
April 23, 2009
The best way to run a railroad
OpenVPX and VITA 65 have joined forces at their own VME "Promontory Point," clearing the way for interoperable VPX boards. All aboard!
Military Embedded Systems
Chris Ciufo
April 01, 2009
Mercury's 'OpenVPX Industry Working Group' colors outsides VSO's lines: An efficient technology fast-track or Pandora's box?
Many embedded industry insiders and VSO working group members were surprised when Mercury Computer Systems recently announced its formation of an independent, outside-VSO "OpenVPX Industry Working Group." Consequently, Editor Chris Ciufo conducted an interview with Mercury's 3U VPX and small form factors product line manager, Greg Tiedemann, to find out the 5Ws and H: Who, what, when, where, why, and how – and what does VITA think of all this?
VME and Critical Systems
Chris Ciufo
March 31, 2009
VPX and VXS Strike a Balance of Choices for Designers
VXS and VPX each have different strengths as alternatives for today’s military embedded system developers. It’s important to understand the capabilities and the trade-offs they offer compared with traditional VME.
COTS Journal
Anne Mascarin and Tom Roberts
March 19, 2009
Chelmsford computer firm pushes envelope in defense
No one knows how defense budgets will fare under the Obama administration, but
Mercury Computer Systems
Inc. of Chelmsford is banking on getting a greater share of military contracts and moving ahead on a profitable course, its executives say.
Boston Globe
Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent
March 09, 2009
Take IP Networking To The Tactical Edge
Parallel computing is the way of the future. Compute clusters on the macro level and multiprocessors on the micro level are ganging up to accelerate the processing of huge quantities of data. Many advantages can be reaped if Internet Protocol (IP) networking can be taken to the tactical edge—where sensors collect valuable data. Why? Because IP networking is pervasive and inexpensive. And better than any other protocol we have today, IP networking can minimize the interoperability risks of developing applications on compute clusters in the laboratory and then deploying them to large systems in the field.
Electronic Design
Ian Dunn
January 30, 2009
A focusing force
A focusing force: Mercury Computer CEO puts the emphasis back on defense industry
Boston Business Journal
Jackie Noblett
January 15, 2009
Embedded Hardware Percolates On All Fronts
Getting to market quickly is a major determinant in the build-versus-buy choice. With a host of new processor options, the choice is clear: system creation through the use of boards and modules. The Ensemble MXI-205 Xilinx V5 FPGA AMC Module is cited as an example.
Electronic Design
Editor: Bill Wong
January 01, 2009
Increasing Computing Power to Understand the Earth's Climate
Mercury's Visualization Sciences Group collaboration with the German Climate Computing Center to understand what the earth's climate will be in the upcoming decades and centuries, was selected as Advanced Imaging's Solution of the Year for Visualization.
Advanced Imaging
December 11, 2008
Mercury Computer Systems RACE++ Series PowerPC 7448 Multicomputer Upgrade
Mercury 's RACE++ Series PowerPC 7448 Multicomputer, a drop-in upgrade for previous RACE++ products, provides significant improvements in processor speed resulting in a 20-30% increase in appliation performance.
TMCnet
Editor: Richard Grigonis
November 01, 2008
Mercury Offers Processor Architecture to Give Network Access to Reconfigurable Computers
Engineers at Mercury are offering a new sensor-fusion capability called the Converged Sensor Network (CSN) architecture designed to blend high-performance embedded computing systems into a converged sensor network environment.
Military & Aerospace Electronics
Editor: John Keller
October 07, 2008
Sensor Architecture Delivers ISR Capabilities
Combining information management, such as data fusion, exploitation, and dissemination, with signal and image processing, Mercury's Converged Sensor Network (CSN) Architecture offers transformational ISR capabilities.
ECN
October 01, 2008
Minimizing UAV Payloads with Ultra-Compact Computing
The increasing use of smaller unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is driving developers to shrink sophisticated sensor systems.
COTS Journal
By Thomas Roberts
September 18, 2008
New Sensor Network Architecture for Military Unveiled
Mercury introduced a sensor network architecture for use by the military on the "next-generation" battlefield. The Converged Sensor Network Architecture connects sensors, embedded computing systems, data storage and image display units, and sends the sensor data over an IP-based network.
Network World
Editor: Jeff Caruso
September
2008
Ethernet and RapidIO Set the Standards for High-Speed Military I/O
The U.S. military becomes a more network-centric force each year, relying more and more on the quality of the data it receives from sensors on land, at sea, and in the air. Its systems require high bandwidth combined with low latency to move the data quickly from chip to chip, box to box, and system to system.
Military & Aerospace Electronics
Editor: John McHale
August 27, 2008
Mercury Accelerates Image Generation for Defense Contractor
Mercury was awarded a comprehensive application acceleration design win based on the Cell processor by a top-tier prime contractor for a homeland security application.
Supercomputing Online
July 08, 2008
Software Development Kits Address Challenges
The growth area in the software development kit space for many data-intensive applications will be around a movement from single-core processors to multicore processors.
Advanced Imaging
Editor: Stacey Meacham
July 07, 2008
Game Processor Might Make its Way into Warfighting Apps
The advanced processor technology that lets Sony PlayStation 3 jet jockeys blow enemy fighters out of the sky in games such as “Warhawk” might soon help real warfighters do the same in combat.
Defense Systems
Editor: David F. Carr
June 18, 2008
AdvancedTCA Beyond Commercial Applications
The guide provides detailed analysis, interviews, and survey results for engineers and programmers in the process of selecting an embedded board partner, whether this is for a standard board, a semi-custom, or a service partnership to create a fully custom platform. The Q&A with Mercury discusses examples of AdvancedTCA applied to military needs.
eg3 Insiders' Guide: Embedded Boards & Systems
Editor: Jason MacDonald
June
2008
Rugged Computing Power for Small Platforms
A new class of embedded computing for size, weight, and power constrained applications are optimized for real-time image, sensor, and signal processing and ruggedized for harsh environments.
Defense Tech Briefs
By Thomas Roberts
June
2008
Critical Systems on Small Platforms Need Ultra-Compact Computing
A new generation of real-time, ultra-compact, rugged, and powerful computers is starting to appear on the critical systems horizon, ideal for transforming unrelenting sensor data streams into information that is usable at data transmission bandwidths.
VME & Critical Systems
By Thomas Roberts
May 28, 2008
Mercury Cuts System Size
Just as the embedded industry starts to get serious about system size and form factors, Mercury unveiled its smallest system - the PowerBlock 50.
EDN
Editor: Warren Webb
May 15, 2008
Going to the Well
Accelerated number crunching makes oil and gas exploration more efficient.
Advanced Imaging
Editor: Barry Hochfelder
May 07, 2008
Mercury Puts 100 GFLOPS in Your Hands
Mercury Computer Systems announced this week that they’ve released a new compute platform that puts 100 GFLOPS in a package you can hold in your hand weighing “less than 10 pounds.”
insideHPC.com
Editor: John West
May 05, 2008
Miniature Linux PC Targets Military Apps
Mercury Computer Systems announced a Linux-based engineering development kit (EDK) for a 7-10 pound computer that targets small ground, naval, and air vehicles.
LinuxDevices.com
May
2008
Hot Components and Cool Enclosures
Systems architects and integrators tackle thermal issues with clever chassis designs.
Military & Aerospace Electronics
Editor: Courtney E. Howard
May
2008
Designing Very High Performance ATCA Systems
The demand for compute power in today’s high-performance applications brings a variety of technical issues, but a standards-based approach can achieve successful solutions.
RTC
By Thomas Roberts
April 17, 2008
Embedded Technology: Designers Choose From the Latest Fabrics
Embedded-system designers are using the latest switched-fabric technology to not only boost data rates, but also dynamically optimize performance, bypass failed subsystems, and coexist with legacy components.
EDN
Editor: Warren Webb
April 15, 2008
DOD Wants Apps up to Speed
Despite hardware advances, complex code and heavy traffic put a drag on systems. According to some in the indusry, bloated operating systems and applications are preventing military organizations from getting sufficient speed from their information technology systems.
Government Computer News
Editor: Peter Buxbaum
April
2008
An ATCA-Based Solution for Low-Latency Embedded Applications
Designed for telecoms, ATCA is a very capable standard suited for a much broader range of applications. RapidIO, a lean, low-latency fabric for embedded applications, is gaining traction in embedded control. Not surprisingly, RapidIO and ATCA are being adopted.
Boards & Solutions
By Ian Shearer
March 12, 2008
Software Giants and Startups Tackle Lithography Complexity
Every year at the SPIE Advanced Lithography conference, the EDA sector seems to gain a little more prominence. While the bulk of the presentations still focus on tackling hardware and materials issues, there is no question software is enabling so much of the present-day advances keeping the industry on track.
Semiconductor International
March 04, 2008
Accelerating Persistent Surveillance Radar with the Cell Broadband Engine
Next-generation airborne radar-imaging systems will require increased processing capability while adhering to stringent power and energy constraints. Multicore technology addresses this requirement by providing more operations/watt than clock frequency scaling. The Cell processor, developed for the video-game industry, offers a unique architecture that can be exploited to address this need.
Embedded Technology Journal
By Jeffrey Rudin
March
2008
Computational Complexity
Single-board and mezzanine-board computers deliver expanded functionality in a reduced size. Military systems integrators are endeavoring to pack as much technology as they can on as small a device as possible.
Military & Aerospace Electronics
Editor: Courtney E. Howard
February
2008
Extending the Life of VME into the 21st Century: A Pragmatic View
Every designer must choose between trade-offs when considering which VME technology to use. For modern, demanding applications, however, standards bodies are conquering the challenge, and VPX and VXS play vital roles in propelling VME well into the 21st century.
VME and Critical Systems
By Anne Mascarin
February
2008
ATCA and RapidIO Meet Demanding Semiconductor Applications
The necessity for highly available platforms supporting dense and complex processing in the semiconductor industry has led to the adoption of Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA) equipment for top-end control applications.
RTC
By Ian Shearer
January
2008
Rugged Electronics Empower Tomorrow’s Technology
Technology companies are enabling the military’s net-centric vision through smaller, faster, stronger rugged computers.
Military & Aerospace Electronics
Editor: Courtney E. Howard
January
2008
Supplier Base for VPX Embedded Computing Begins to Take Shape
The market and supplier base for VPX and VPX-REDI SBCs are beginning to emerge, and several companies are stepping forward to provide embedded computing that adheres to these standards.
Military & Aerospace Electronics
Editor: John Keller
December 15, 2007
Readers Choice Tech Awards: XMC Digital Receiver Supports Multi-Board Coherency
Mercury's Echotek Series ECV4-2 family of mixed-signal PMC and XMC modules was selected as one of the top five Readers Choice Tech Awards for Boards and Modules.
ECN
December
2007
Software-Defined Radios: The Radios of the future
SDR is an emerging technology that promises immediate upgrades via software, bypassing the need for expensive hardware upgrades. Accordingly, when SDR's benefits are planned for early in the design process, results include improved communications life cycles, increased code portability, and reduced costs.
VME and Critical Systems
By Joshua Noseworthy
May
2007
Multicomputer Programming, Cell BE Processor Boost Signal Processing
The high performance levels of multicore processing, combined with multicomputer programming techniques, are delivering the computationally intensive signal processing required in many defense electronics systems.
COTS Journal
By Thomas Roberts
April
2007
Hurdles Behind it, VPX Hits Its Stride
With VPX now gaining momentum, the debate over next-generation VME has shifted. With VPX/VPX REDI closer to reality, the role of VXS as a “here now” alternative is in question.
COTS Journal
Editor: Jeff Child
February
2007
Solving Extreme FPGA High-Density Computing with AdvancedTCA
A new initiative authorized by the FCC teams satellites with earth-bound communications systems to significantly improve coverage and capacity for voice and data communications. The key technology to enable this coexistence is antenna beam forming. Mercury leveraged AdvancedTCA to enable a high-speed communications infrastructure – one that delivers the massive computing requirements that make this ground-based beam former a reality.
CompactPCI & AdvancedTCA Systems
By Greg Tiedemann