AMC embedded computing for aerospace and defense applications introduced by Pentek

March 26, 2013
UPPER SADDLE RIVER, N.J., 26 March 2013. Pentek Inc. in Upper Saddle River, N.J., is introducing the 56xxx family of Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) products for aerospace and defense applications that need access to Pentek's line of signal processing products.

UPPER SADDLE RIVER, N.J., 26 March 2013.Pentek Inc. in Upper Saddle River, N.J., is introducing the 56xxx family of Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) products for aerospace and defense applications that need access to Pentek's line of signal processing products.

Pentek officials are capitalizing on their company's modular embedded computing product architectures to bring a large array of options to market in a very short time, company officials say. The Pentek 56xxx products consists of 15 different modules.

Many new defense programs are evaluating AMCs because of the small form factor packages and chassis, Pentek officials say. The built-in support for the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) and the existing infrastructure of modules, systems and software provide are applicable to many applications.

The AMC products are derived from the Pentek Cobalt family based on Xilinx Virtex-6 field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) with PCI Express Gen 2 system interfaces, and the Pentek Onyx product family using Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGAs with PCI Express Gen 3 interfaces.

I/O functionality in the 56xxx family includes analog-to-digital, digital-to-analog, multiband-digital receivers, upconverters, and transceivers.

AMC is the PICMG specification that defines the small form factor modules. AMC modules can be used directly in a MicroTCA chassis creating a data acquisition and processing system in a small size.

The AMC modules are designed for commercial air-cooled operating environments. Software support packages are available for Linux and Windows operating systems. For systems that require custom functions, IP can be developed using the Pentek GateFlow FPGA Design Kit, extending or even replacing the factory-installed functions.

Onyx-based AMC products feature the Pentek GateXpress PCI Express configuration manager to reconfigure the FPGA across PCI Express without rebooting.

For more information contact Pentek online at www.pentek.com.

About the Author

John Keller | Editor

John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Military Aerospace, create an account today!