ATM Modernization, Business & GA, Commercial, Military

New Products

By | January 1, 2004
Send Feedback

Improved Headset X

Bose Corp., Framingham, Mass., has implemented new functions and design features into its Headset X. For example, it reduced the size of the headset’s portable control module by 30 percent and placed its functions, including dual thumbwheel volume controls, within easy reach. The Headset X now also includes Bose’s AdaptiSense technology, a power management system designed to conserve energy and manage battery power by regulating voltage to supply only the power the headset needs. The system also detects when the pilot has stopped wearing the headset and automatically shuts off power to the active noise-reducing circuitry. A new tricolor indicator with day/night brightness adjustment also provides continuous, real-time battery status. Visit www.bose.com.

Development Tools

Telelogic recently introduced its DOORS/Analyst modeling tool, which operates within the company’s DOORS requirements management tool. With DOORS/Analyst, requirements engineers and system analysts are able to visualize requirements within the DOORS database, using UML (unified modeling language) 2.0 graphical diagrams. Telelogic announced other new UML 2.0-based development tools: versions 2.2 of TAU/Architecture and TAU/Developer. These tools were designed to "empower" development teams with a model-driven architecture (MDA) approach based on the UML 2.0 specification. Visit www.telelogic.com.

Infrared Camera

Small, uncooled infrared (IR) cameras, designed for use in unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), have been developed by Indigo Systems, Goleta, Calif. The Omega camera weighs less than 4 ounces (113 grams), including lens, and has an input voltage range of 3.5 to 9 volts DC. It can operate in temperatures ranging from —40 to 55 degrees C, and its spectral response is from 7.5 to 13.5 microns. The Omega’s IR image appears within one second of turning on the system. Visit www.indigosystems.com.

Graphics Board

Radstone Technology has added to its family of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) PMC graphics products the PMCGA3 board for new applications or technology insertions. Based on the P9 visual processing unit from 3Dlabs, the PMCGA3 was designed to be more cost-effective than the P10 unit and have lower power dissipation. It is pin-compatible with previous PMC boards from Radstone. Graphics symbology can be merged with real-time sensor data, improving situational awareness in harsh environments. Visit www.radstone.co.uk.

LED Lamps

Farmingdale, N.J.-based Dialight Corp. recently added non-polarized light-emitting diode (LED) lamps to its line of miniature LEDs. Designed to simplify the transition from incandescent lighting, the 586 Series LEDs can be inserted into any lamp base regardless of how it is wired. The transition can be cost-effective, as the 586 Series LEDs have a life span of up to 100,000 hours. They are available in various voltage levels and cost as low as $4.69 per unit in quantities of 1,000. Visit www.dialight.com.

Switch Modules

A new suite of VME-based switch modules has been developed by VXI Technology Inc., Irvine, Calif. The SVM family of high-density switches offers units that are available in solid state and electromechanical designs. The switch modules support VME32/64 operation and are packaged to operate in hostile environments. Leveraging off the SMIPIITM technology, the SVM products address power, DC, signal and RF (radio frequency) applications. Key features include scan list operation, programmable delays, interrupt-driven triggering, and internal confidence checking. Visit www.vxitech.com.

RT Validated 1553 Core

Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Condor Engineering has announced that its multifunction Mil-Std-1553 intellectual property core, CORE-1553, achieved remote terminal (RT) validation when configured as a single-function RT. With this validation, which involved considerable testing, CORE-1553 "brings a state-of-the-art, flight-validated, Mil-Std-1553 intellectual property solution to developers for use in their embedded military communication design," according to John Gerngross, Condor’s president. It supports simultaneous bus controller, muliple (up to 31) remote terminals and bus monitor operational modes in a single programmable logic device. Visit www.condoreng.com.

COTS Single Board Computer

Tests of Vista Controls’ PPC G4D commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) single board computer (SBC) have indicated that the SBC can safely dissipate up to 60 watts of total onboard power to a chassis sidewall temperature of 75 degrees C, the company says. Testing was performed while the board was mounted on a conduction-cooled base plate rack in a thermal chamber with thermocouples on the most thermally sensitive components. Thermal measurements of the SBC’s dual PPC 7455 microprocessors showed that both were "well below" their 95-degree C limit, Vista says. Visit www.vistacontrols.com.

Graphics PMC

The newest member of Dy 4 Systems’ Insight graphics products, the PMC-704, is said to be the first graphics PCI mezzanine card to provide two independent channels, each with video input, overlay and display capability. Based on the ATI Mobility RADEON 9000 graphics processing engine (also known as the M9 chip), the PMC-704 was designed to provide a high level of video input/output (I/O) functionality. It also enables the creation of systems that use the latest visualization techniques, including stereo helmet-mounted displays, 3D terrain mapping, electronic panning and stabilization, and "transparent vehicle" virtual displays. Visit www.dy4.com.

Solid State Relays

Teledyne Relays now offers two new families of slim solid state relays for medium-power AC/DC loads in automatic test equipment, among other applications. The Series SAS, for AC applications, and Series SDS, for DC applications, were designed to save space on printed circuit boards and provide reliable AC and DC switching. Both relays measure 1.1 by 0.59 by 0.20 inches (28 by 15 by 5 mm), excluding pins. Each one weighs 0.28 ounces (8 grams). Visit www.teledyne.com.

TEAC America

TEAC America has introduced a Digital Debrief Station (DDS) optimized for the display of aircraft video using the company’s Mission Data Debrief Software (MDDS) or for enhanced, three-dimensional mission playback using MDDS Pro software. The DDS is a hardened, portable, application-specific PC with an 18-inch (46-cm) liquid crystal display and keyboard, all contained in a steel case. It features two Xeon 2.2-GHz processors, and 80-gigabyte (Gbyte) IDE hard drive, a removable, 80-Gbyte hard drive and a multifunction R/RW DVD/CD drive. It uses the same packaging employed by the U.S. Air Force for mission planning stations. Field deployable, the DDS withstands 15-g shock or 2-g RMS vibrations while operating at altitudes of up to 10,000 feet and temperatures of 0 to 45 degrees C. Visit www.teac.com.

Display Lighting

JKL Components Corp., Pacoima, Calif., recently introduced a photo-optical "white light" design concept that can be used for illumination in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and avionics instrumentation, among other applications. This new concept provides adjustable resolution and brilliance, absolute x-y color matching, uniformity in light output, and consistency of display in ambient conditions, according to JKL. It applies various lighting technologies, including surface-mount incandescent lamps, cold cathode fluorescent lamps, PC board, wedge-base and bi-pin gas-filled lighting, and white neon lamps. It also includes JKL WhiteCap silicone filter caps, which convert the output of blue LEDs to photometric specifications within the white light spectrum. Visit www.jkllamps.com.

Ruggedized Processor

A computer housed in an electromagnetic interference (EMI-) protected metal enclosure has been developed to operate in inclement weather. SBS Technologies Inc. has introduced its PC7 rugged processor, designed for machine control, data acquisition and processing, communication and other embedded applications that will operate under harsh environmental conditions. The PC7 features either an Intel Pentium III 700-MHz or Celeron 566-Mhz processor and up to 256 megabytes of synchronous dynamic random access memory. It comes with a power supply and four serial RS-232 or RS-422 input/output (I/O) channels and five opto-isolated I/O lines. Visit www.sbs.com.

Sypris Intel Recorder

The Model SP-70, newly introduced by Sypris Data Systems, Monrovia, Calif., stores time-coherent, multichannel wideband analog signals, ranging up to 70 MHz. The SP-70 operates within a 2-gigabit/sec Fibre Channel network and provides real-time data acquisition for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, including signals intelligence, electronic intelligence, and measurement and signature intelligence signals, satellite links, telemetry, instrumentation signals, radar and sonar. The equipment is claimed to be the first recorder to accept analog signals and serial or parallel digital data from 1 megabit/sec to 2.7 Gbits/sec on each channel. Visit www.sypris.com

Satcom Antenna

A new fuselage-mount, Inmarsat Aero-H/H+ high-gain antenna has been introduced by EMS Technologies, Ottawa, Ontario. The AMT-3800, designed for mid-size corporate aircraft and helicopters, is 1.8 by 12 by 36 inches (4.5 by 30.5 by 91.4 cm), and it’s gain is a minimum 12.5 decibels above isotopic circular (dpic) over the Inmarsat coverage area. Visit www.ems-t.com.

Data Bus Analyzers

Tel-Instrument Electronics Corp., Carlstadt, N.J., recently announced its new, and first, family of ARINC 429 data bus analyzers. The Flexibus family includes various models that can support up to two transmit and two receive ports on a single unit. Flexibus products include configuration storage, a "trap" function to allow the capture of intermittent events for analysis, and a "slew" function that allows the units to "walk" through a range of values during label transmission. It also features programmable label definitions to support custom applications. Flexibus units require no set-up or manual configuration. Visit www.telintrument.com.

Cabin Management System

A new cabin management product line, called Conductor, has been developed by Total Aircraft Services Inc. to provide access to digital content. Core to a Conductor system is a ruggedized PC-based network. With its touch-screen control, the server provides access to digital movies and music without using DVDs and CDs. The accompanying software can be customized to match a corporate aircraft owner’s taste. Conductor can be installed in smaller cabins or expanded to support larger cabins with multizone requirements. Total Aircraft Services is based in Van Nuys, Calif. Visit www.tasaircraft.com.

Receive the latest avionics news right to your inbox