Brochure

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defense.ge-ip.com/hpec
The most demanding C4ISR and EW applica-
tions demand high performance embedded
computing which sees the deployment of
multiple processors of either homogeneous
or heterogeneous types, either on a single
silicon devices, on a single board – or on
multiple boards.
Serial switched fabrics for
high system throughput
This presents two key challenges. The first
is in the intercommunication between the
processors – but here too, GE provides solu-
tions. GE was among the first embedded
computing companies to commit whole-
heartedly to the interconnect technology
that has rapidly become the standard for
demanding military applications. VPX – and,
subsequently, OpenVPX – grew out of the
pervasive and hugely successful VME stan-
dard, and is an open standard which utilizes
the familiar 3U and 6U card sizes of VME.
It offers true rugged capabilities, including
conduction cooling and resistance to shock
and vibration. At the same time, it offers
higher power budgets, more signal density
and a far faster serial backplane.
GE has also chosen to standardize on two
other open interconnect standards: 10
Gigabit Ethernet and InfiniBand. 10 Gigabit
Ethernet was chosen not only for its high
performance, but because it is ubiquitous,
supported by a substantial ecosystem of
products, technologies and expertise.
The Intel/InfiniBand combination is dominant
in the high performance computing clusters
that are often called ‘server farms’ – installa-
tions which deliver massive computing power
by coupling together multiple servers or
blades. With the growing requirement in the
military/aerospace market to gather, process
and disseminate huge volumes of data, those
server farms are increasingly being repli-
cated in defense applications. For customers
looking to create similar profiles, there are
sound commercial as well as technical
reasons why the Intel/InfiniBand combination
is a compelling one.
Software rises to the development challenge
The second challenge is in managing the
multi-faceted complexity of developing
challenging, mission-critical applications on
hardware platforms that can themselves be
complex to master – and to do so in minimum
time and at minimum cost.
Here, GE offers the AXIS – Advanced Multipro-
cessor Integrated Software – development
environment. AXIS is a set of software modules
that can be used to accelerate the design,
development, testing and deployment of
complex DSP and multiprocessing platforms
for real-time applications such as radar, sonar,
communications and image processing.
AXIS allows tough questions – about system
sizing, data movement, algorithm perfor-
mance, configuration, application mapping
and so on – to be answered quickly and easily,
speeding the cycle of design, development,
test, optimization and validation and reducing
time to market.
GE’s high performance embedded computing
solutions combine the best in COTS technolo-
gies with open standards and advanced tools
to make the development and deployment of
demanding ISR applications easier, faster and
more cost-effective.
Technology: The GE Advantage
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100% commitment to COTS, industry standards
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Innovator in key technologies such as truly rugged GPGPU, InfiniBand
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Leadership in ruggedization
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Focus on compelling SWaP characteristics, high performance