Engineers at ARINC in Annapolis, Md., needed I/O modules for their GLOBALink/HF satellite communication system. The IP-COMM 302 and IP-Serial IndustryPack mezzanine boards from SBS GreenSpring Modular I/O in Menlo Park, Calif., met their needs.
GLOBALink/HF uses the high-frequency (HF) spectrum to enable equipped aircraft to communicate directly with air traffic control authorities and airline operations control centers while over oceanic, polar, and other remote regions, he says.
ARINC`s system designers decided to use the IndustryPacks for their flexible I/O applications and small size, says Keith Cingel, software engineer in the aeronautical communications and management engineering department at ARINC. "Also, there is a lot of third-party vendor support available. So when ARINC`s HF ground station was designed it made economical sense to go with tried-and-true.
"Our experience with GreenSpring products are that they are reliable and the cost is reasonable," he adds.
Designers use four IndustryPacks in the HF data link ground station; one GreenSpring IP-Serial for asynchronous communication to the HF radios and one to three GreenSpring IP-COMM302s for synchronous communication to support the interface to the HF data modems. The ground station provides HF-based, air-to-ground digital communications with aircraft via various ground-based computer software applications.
The IP-COMM302 interfaces the system`s single-board computer to the HF data modem. The IP-Serial interfaces the board to the Cubic Transmitters/Receivers, which is used for command and control of the radios. - J.M.
For more information on the GreenSpring modules contact Chris Thompson by phone at 650-327-1200, by fax at 650-327-3808, by mail at 181 Constitution Drive, Menlo Park, Calif. 94025, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.greenspring.com.
The Virtual Retinal Display technology from Microvision was chosen to for the U.S. Army`s ACIS Comanche Compatible Common Helmet program.
