While the Intel Xeon D processor offers server-class
performance with multiprocessing capability, matching that chip, or other microprocessors, with the Nvidia
GPGPU can speed the processing of incoming sensor
video. “You can encode or decode video coming from
the sensor, or use the GPGPU as a parallel processor,”
Southworth says.
Improvements in microprocessors suitable for on-board
unmanned vehicle
sensor processing are
expected continue. “We
are starting to see a
migration to more cores
coming up on the Xeons.
We already have seen Xeon
D-class processors with four,
eight, twelve, and up to sixteen cores in a package,”
says Peter Thompson, director of business development technology at Abaco
Systems in Huntsville, Ala.
Sometimes specialized processors are necessary for
image and video processing, and sometimes a combination of specialized processors like GPGPUs and a
high-performance, general-purpose processor like the
Intel Xeon can fit customer needs.
“On the video side, we are seeing interest in
GPGPU,” says Aitech’s Patterson. “They are
seeing the need for small, compact
repetitive algorithms dis-
tributed among hundreds of
processors, if not more. You
can break down your video
into smaller chunks, process
those pixels separately, and
In addition to enhanced pro-
cessing power, unmanned vehi-
cle sensor processing designers
also are gaining access to the
Intel AVX-512 technology, which
adds 512-bit extensions to the
256-bit Advanced Vector Extensions single-instruction
multiple data (SIMD) instructions for x86 instruction set
architecture (ISA).
“AVX is Intel’s name for its vector-processing engine
that it puts on its processors,” Thompson says. “It’s a
side-car on the processor, and is designed to do signal
and image processing. AVX gives you the capability to
process in parallel. Its parallel vector pipeline enables
you to manipulate more data per cycle, so you can do
more of whatever it is you are doing.”
In addition to processing performance, the Intel
Xeon offers designers access to a broad
range of software support. “If you can use
that Xeon ecosystem, you have access to
all the software in that ecosystem,” says
John Bratton, product and solutions mar-
keting manager at Mercury Systems in
Andover, Mass.
Networking and I/O
When it comes to transforming raw sen-
sor data into actionable information, pure
processing power is only one piece of the
puzzle. To run at its optimum speeds, a
processor needs the ability to receive data
from sensors as quickly as it can pro-
cess that data.
“You don’t want to starve the processor for data,”
says Mercury’s Bratton. “The backplane needs unre-
stricted fat pipes. We have 10-gigabit or 40-giga-
bit pipes across 40 channels, and we guarantee the
performance.”
The sensor-pro-
cessing system must
be able to move data
within the system,
as well as move data
to other on-board
systems or to satellite
links or ground-based net-
works. For these tasks, on-board
data networking and I/O is essential.
“Beyond the processor itself is the
ability to move data around on the
vehicle faster than ever before,” says
GMS’s Ciufo. “Our customers want
10-gigabit fiber Ethernet on board, so
we can add an Ethernet switch to route data throughout
the platform. Networking is important, because we are
talking about something like an on-board data center.”
The Parvus DuraNET 20-11 from Curtiss-Wright
Defense Solutions is an ultra-small-form-
factor (SFF) rugged 8-port Gigabit Ethernet
switch optimized for demanding manned and
unmanned vehicle and aircraft platforms.
The S402-LC Mustang rugged and sealed CPU
server based on the Intel Xeon E5 processor
from General Micro Systems is for aerospace and
defense applications that demand SWaP efficiency.
