Officials at the Raytheon Naval and Maritime Systems in Fullerton, Calif., needed a low-cost PowerPC board to control the radar processing in the Surface Search Radar project for the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy. The VGM1 (Gemini) PowerPC board from Synergy Microsystems in San Diego, Calif., fit their plans.
The increased memory capability of the Synergy board enabled Raytheon engineers to use more power and reduce cost, says Robert Clifford program manager for the Surface Search Radar at Raytheon. Before the Synergy PowerPC, three Motorola 68060 processors performed the same functions, Clifford says.
The Gemini is a single-board VME 64 processor running at 200 MHz with 128 megabytes of DRAM, 100Base-T Ethernet, 2 RS-232 serial ports, 1 megabyte Flash memory, I/O through front panel and system controller, and PMC module with 20-channel serial interface.
The Raytheon Surface Search Radar is for ship- or shore-based navigation and surveillance applications. Coast Guard officials are using it for Vessel Traffic Service applications to monitor commercial shipping in U.S. ports and waterways. - J.M.
For more information on the Gemini board or Synergy contact Ron Marcus by phone at 619-452-0020, by fax at 619-452-0060, by mail at 9605 Scranton Road, Suite 700, San Diego, Calif., 92121-1773, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http:/www. synergymicro.com.
