WINTEC selects PrismTech's Vortex OpenSplice for open-architecture modeling of airborne system

WOBURN, Mass., 6 May 2016. Engineers at WINTEC Inc. in Shalimar, Florida, are using Vortex OpenSplice software from PrismTech, a provider of software platforms for distributed systems in Woburn, Massachusetts, in the development of an open-architecture, universal plug-and-play airborne system.

WINTEC officials won Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding to design and develop a modular, open architecture for deploying air-to-ground weaponry from myriad aircraft platforms -- such as military combat jets and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) -- and specialized test equipment.

The new system is intended to overcome limitations associated with existing air-to-ground weapon architectures, which are generally based on point designs that are unique to individual weapons and contractors. As such, these weapons cannot be readily modified or upgraded, or easily reconfigured to different capability levels for cost-effective performance of varying missions.

PrismTech’s Vortex OpenSplice enables components – such as sensors, seekers, and propulsion systems – within a developing class of weapon architectures to be able to accommodate emerging technologies and allow seamless communication of updated plug-ins.

“Vortex OpenSplice is the backbone that is able to connect these major interchangeable components,” says Steve Jennis, senior vice president of corporate development at PrismTech. “WINTEC is evaluating the DDS benefits that Vortex OpenSplice provides as their project scales and evolves.”

To initiate the first phase of this project, WINTEC turned to PrismTech’s open-source DDS Community Edition, a version of Vortex OpenSplice high-performance messaging technology designed for small companies and those projects that may not yet require a full complement of services and support. As the project progressed, however, so did WINTEC’s need for Vortex OpenSplice’s advanced capabilities and services, officials say.

“Thanks to the DDS Community version, we had become very familiar with Vortex OpenSplice and its robust quality of service levels,” says WINTEC President Greg Fountain. “We were specifically looking for a DDS based solution with a shared memory capability — and Vortex OpenSplice was our choice.”

PrismTech’s Vortex OpenSplice is a commercial and open-source implementation of the Object Management Group's Data Distribution Service for Real-Time Systems (DDS) standard. Vortex OpenSplice has been designed to optimally address the real-time information distribution and management challenges posed by high-performance, real-time data-processing systems. Vortex provides efficient, secure, interoperable, Internet-scale, real-time data sharing. It is a key enabler for systems that have to reliably and securely deliver high volumes of real-time data with stringent, end-to-end qualities-of-service.

PrismTech’s customers deliver systems for the Internet of Things, the Industrial Internet, and advanced wireless communications. PrismTech supplies the data connectivity solutions, tools, and professional services they need to build systems with the required: platform coverage, performance, scalability, efficiency, flexibility, and robustness. PrismTech’s customers service many market sectors, including: aerospace and defense, industrial automation, energy, healthcare, transportation, smart cities, and financial services.