IP Cores

Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Condor Engineering now offers its CORE-1553 and CORE-MMSI intellectual property (IP) cores for programmable logic devices. CORE-1553 is a downloadable encoder/decoder/processing core that can provide one or more dual-redundant military protocol channels when loaded on a single programmable logic device (PLD), FPGA (field programmable gate array) or ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) device. The portable unit is applicable to the full range of Mil-Std-1553 implementations. The CORE-MMSI was designed to support the emerging MMSI/EBR-1553 protocol. It runs at a 10-megahertz (MHz) rate over RS-485. Visit www.condoreng.com.

Coax Cable

Mesa, Ariz-based Semflex Inc. has introduced RG+ 142, a lightweight, flexible coaxial cable for commercial and military/aerospace applications. The product claims transmission line performance superior to standard RG cable–50 percent better in standing wave ratio performance at 6 GHz–as well as enhanced temperature stability. It is claimed to be 60 percent lighter than standard cable, as well. The operating temperature range is —65 to +125 degrees C. The cable’s outer shield is braided aluminum over aluminum foil; the interior dielectric is an expanded PTFE. Pricing is from 92 cents to $2.70 per foot. Visit www.semflex.com.

Switch Array Panel

Eaton Aerospace now offers an integrated switch array panel that has conventional multipole switch and indicator functionality integrated into a common printed circuit board. Designed for relatively quick installation in aircraft cockpits, the panel system has 50 percent less depth and 50 percent less weight than conventional panels, according to Eaton. Also, the array switch is much smaller than the standard avionics switch. The panel incorporates microprocessor logic, built-in test capability, bus communications or other custom forms of "smart electronics." It also includes light emitting diode (LED) lighting for the panel and indicator. Visit www.aerospace.eaton.com.

IFE Satellite Radio

Sirius Satellite Radio, New York, and Avionics Innovations Inc., Ramona, Calif., are about to jointly introduce the AI-SSR receiver for in-flight entertainment. It is designed to integrate into an aircraft’s intercom system, so pilots and passengers can switch between essential communications and Sirius’ 100 channels of audio programming. Provided throughout the continental United States, the 100 digital channels include 60 channels of commercial-free music. The AI-SSR receiver includes up/down/seek tuning, present memory mode, and scrolling text display. It operates on 14 to 28 volts DC. The two companies plan to have the receiver available early this year, following Federal Aviation Administration certification. Visit www.sirius.com and www.avionicsinnovations.com.

Training CD-ROMs

Aviation Learning Inc., Rochester, N.Y., announced it is offering four new CD-ROMs for aircraft maintenance training. They are "How to Safety Wire," "Using Torque Wrenches," "Standard Tools and Measuring Devices," and "Identification of Standard Hardware." They allow self-paced training, and each CD-ROM is less than one hour in duration. visit www.aviation learing.com.

New from Sensis

Sensis Corp. announced plans to introduce two new products at the Maastricht 2003 air traffic control (ATC) exhibition in the Netherlands. It said it will introduce Aerobahn, an "aviation intelligence toolkit" that enables airports, airlines and other aviation constituencies to securely access, share, display and analyze airport and aircraft operations data, both real-time and historical. This new product breaks the tradition in which raw data is accessible to, and understood by, only a select group of users. Aerobahn seamlessly fuses raw data from multiple sources–airport surveillance systems, flight plans, weather, ACARS (airborne communications addressing and reporting system), etc.–to develop user-friendly information. It has an Internet browser-based interface, designed to make it easy to deploy and navigate.

Sensis also said it will introduce a Mode S-based vehicle location unit for tracking and identifying airport surface vehicles. Called VeeLo, the small unit (shown above) mounts on a vehicle’s exterior and connects to its ignition and battery. It emits the same type signals as a Mode S or ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) transponder, so a multilateration system can track the vehicles. Visit www.sensis.com.

Dimmer and Switch

Ducommun Technologies Inc., Carson, Calif., has introduced its solid state Universal Lamp Dimmer and Switch for the crew rest quarters in widebody aircraft. The system can work with 12 and 28 volts AC and DC; voltage is selectable via an on-board dip switch. Pulling a knob turns the 10-watt halogen reading lamp on and rotating the knob controls the lamp’s brightness. By not using a conventional potentiometer approach for dimming, Ducommun was able to make the lamp reliable and long-lasting. Visit www.ductech.com.

Photo Book

Aviation photographer Paul Bowen recently published his third coffee-table book titled Air To Air Warbirds. The 224-page book features more than 500 color photos of combat aircraft flown during and shortly after World War II. A special chapter showcases close-up details of the aircraft and their cockpits. R.A. "Bob" Hoover wrote the book’s forward. Air To Air Warbirds sells for $70. Twelve of Bowen’s photos also appear on a calendar. For orders, contact North Shore Press by calling 800-697-2580.

SBS: COTS Products

SBS Technologies recently introduced three commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products. Under a licensing agreement with Quantum 3D, SBS has re-engineered the air-cooled Sentiris graphics subsystem to a conduction-cooled PMC (PCI mezzanine card) format. The result is the S4110-CD00-AR high-resolution graphics board for military-standard and extended environment deployments. Based on NVIDA’s Quadro4 embedded graphics processing unit (GPU), the Sentiris subsystem is an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) P1383.1-compliant PCM, developed for avionics and training applications. It features a 128-bit interface to 64 megabytes (Mbytes) of double data rate (DDR) memory and hosts a dedicated graphics bandwidth of 7 gigabits per second (Gbits/sec). This enables a pixel fill rate of up to 400 megapixels per second.

SBS also has introduced a conduction-cooled chassis for avionics applications, where COTS is required and space, limited. The RCOM05-ATR-6V standard 1/2 ATR short ARINC-404 chassis was designed to meet the strict space limitations of the ARINC 404A envelope. The aluminum chassis houses a five-slot, 6U VME64X backplane that accommodates up to five top-loaded, conduction-cooled VME boards. The chassis is cooled by convection or via a base cold plate, which allows for a maximum temperature range of -40 to +71 degrees C. Pricing for the chassis starts at $18,500.

Finally, SBS has unveiled its C5C 6U CompactPCI single-board computer with dual Intel Pentium III processors. The product was developed for embedded applications and to meet the processing demands for conduction-cooled boards used in harsh environments. Applications include command and control, communications and intelligence, and simulation, test and measurement. Visit www.sbs.com and www.quantum3d.com.

PXI Chassis

Geotest-Marvin Test Systems Inc., Irvine, Calif., recently introduced the GX7100, reportedly the first combination PXI (PCI extensions for instrumentation) chassis offering both 3U and 6U slots. The 14-slot chassis accommodates a system controller and 13 PXI or cPCI (compact peripheral component interconnect) instruments. Slot 1 is dedicated to the system controller. Slot 2 can be used by a PXI Star Trigger controller or by any PXI or cPCI instrument. Slots 3 through 14 support the PXI Star Trigger and can accommodate any PXI or cPCI instrument. The GX7100 takes up 4U of rack space.

In addition Geotest-Marvin has introduced design improvements to its PC/ISA instrumentation chassis, used in automatic test systems, data acquisition and process control applications. The improvements include better interfacing mechanism and a new look that matches the PXI chassis families. Visit www.geotestinc.com.

CCD Camera

The Danish manufacturer of charged coupled device (CCD) cameras, JAI AS, has joined with two European partners, Stemmer Imaging and Asentics, to launch the ThinkEye intelligence camera. Designed to "combine electronic eyes with electronic brains," the ThinkEye camera includes a PowerPC processor with floating point unit and a progressive-scan CCD sensor. The components are housed in an anodized aluminum case. The first member of the ThinkEye family, the monochrome TE-100, has 259-by-494 pixel resolution. Visit www.jai.com.

Cable Assemblies

Tensolite, St. Augustine, Fla., is now capable of providing hard metric (HM) cable assemblies that are configurable to any shielding location and can use any coax cable with a maximum outside diameter (OD) of 0.068 inches. The HM system is a modular 2-mm signal-contact-pitch cable connector with pins arranged in 1-by-5 wafers. The assemblies were designed for cable-to-board applications with minimum cross-talk and signal rise times measured in picoseconds. Visit www.tensolite.com.

Battery Charger

Three automatic three-stage 12- and 24-volt battery chargers, dubbed "chargers with a brain," have been introduced by VDC Electronics Inc., Englewood, N.J. The Models 12112, 12041 and 24021 were designed to produce high-frequency pulses that cause the battery’s sulfuric acid crystals to unbound, allowing the acid to return to the cell’s electrolyte. These desulphator conditioners can each charge up to six batteries and maintain them over an extended time without overcharge. They include battery test circuitry, quick connect/disconnects and four light-emitting diode (LED) indicators. Visit www.vdcelectronics.com.