Quantum3D introduces XMC module for safety-critical avionics applications
SAN JOSE, Calif., 22 Sept. 2008. Quantum3D Inc. in San Jose, Calif., is introducing the Sentiris AV1 PCI Express Mezzanine Card (XMC) for security- and safety-critical avionics applications like primary flight instrumentation and multi-level security (MLS) systems.
Certifiable to DO-178B for software and DO-254 for hardware, Sentiris AV1 is designed to resist obsolescence by using a field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based video- and graphics-processing core instead of dedicated graphics processors.
The core of the module is the Xilinx Virtex 5 FPGA programmed as an upgradeable embedded graphics processor. The product's video- and graphics-processing capabilities with analog and HD-SDI video outputs enable three-dimensional graphics in cockpits and mission-critical applications.
Integrators can use Sentiris AV1 with any operating system or microprocessor environment because the driver and all other software are written to DO-178B.
"Full DO-178B/DO-254 certifiability and the certain availability of a graphics processor are among the top problems facing embedded graphics systems designers in the safety-critical arena today," says Alan Commike, principal high-performance computing architect for Quantum3D. "Safety-critical systems designers will be able to choose a design option they can be comfortable certifying and then delivering on embedded programs as long as necessary."
Sentiris AV1 also meets the shock, vibration, temperature and other requirements of MIL-STD-810F, making it suitable for harsh environmental conditions of military and civilian field-computing implementations. Sentiris AV1 offers 512 megabytes of ECC-protected DDR2 memory, dual RGB and dual HD-SDI outputs, and eight lanes of PCI Express. The product comes standard as a conduction-cooled XMC.
For more information contact Quantum3D online at www.quantum3d.com.