applicat ions
RUGGED COMPUTERS
GTS to provide Navy with
shipboard computers
Global Technical Systems (GTS) in
Virginia Beach, Va., will provide the
U.S. Navy with air- and water-cooled,
open-architecture, rugged computers under an $84.9 million contract.
Officials of the Naval Sea Systems
Command in Washington are asking GTS to build the Common Processing System (CPS)—a shock-resis-tant, open-architecture computing
system for Navy cruisers, destroyers, and other programs. The contract includes spare parts and engineering services. The CPS provides a
common computing infrastructure
for ship combat systems, including
processing and memory, data storage, and I/O interfaces for csombat
systems. The GTS team consists of
Northrop Grumman, DRS Technologies, IBM, and GoAhead Software.
GTS engineers will build the
CPS using commercial off-the-shelf
(COTS) hardware and software, such
as BladeCenter technology. Plug-in components are accessible, hot-swappable, and battle-ready protected by the GTS Advanced COTS
Enclosure (ACE). The CPS consists of a
rugged enclosure and three subsystems: the processing subsystem, the
storage and extraction subsystem,
and the I/O subsystem. Í
FOR MORE INFORMATION visit Global
Technical Systems at www.gtshq.com.
RUGGED COMPUTERS
General Dynamics chooses rugged servers from
Crystal for Prophet signals intelligence vetronics
Vetronics designers at General Dynamics C4 Systems in Scottsdale,
Ariz., needed rugged computer servers for a combat vehicle signals
intelligence (SIGINT) system. They found their solution from Crystal
Group Inc. in Hiawatha, Iowa.
General Dynamics is using
the RS112 1U rugged server
from Crystal Group on a project
to integrate and upgrade the
U.S. Army Prophet program,
which enables tactical
commanders to detect, identify,
locate, and deter a wide range
of signal emissions on the
battlefield.
The Prophet system is comprised of electronic components that
are vehicle-mounted or soldier-transportable. Prophet offers a near-real-time picture of the battlespace through SIGINT sensors and highperformance computing.
The program is structured with the ability to incorporate new
technologies as they become available, including Crystal Group’s RS112
1U rugged server, Crystal officials say.
The Crystal Group server is relatively small, lightweight, and power-efficient, yet rugged enough to withstand the environmental rigors of
vehicular electronics on the battlefield, where equipment is subject to
high levels of shock and vibration, temperature extremes, dust, dirt,
and other contaminants.
The RS112 meets MIL-STD 810, has a lightweight aluminum chassis,
and is 20 inches deep. It has one expansion slot, two drive bays, and
Intel Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge processor options, Crystal officials
say. The rugged server is hard-mounted in Prophet vehicles or can be
packaged in transit boxes that allow for quick installs.
FOR MORE INFORMATION visit Crystal Group online at
www.crystalrugged.com and General Dynamics C4 Systems at
www.gdc4s.com.