Curtiss-Wright
Intel® Core™ Duo processor

The heart of the US Defense Department's transformation initiative is a set of aerospace and defense (A&D) applications that impose rigorous requirements for high performance with reduced size, weight and power (SWaP). The DoD and its prime contractors are now focused on meeting the challenge of spiral technology insertion by deploying computing and communications solutions that combine leading-edge technologies, embedded lifecycle support and low cost.

Meeting the demands of high-bandwidth signal processing, high resolution video and computationally complex battlefield and vehicle management systems imposes technical challenges for contractors, who must deliver validated hardware and software that delivers value-added capabilities, while performing within severe time-to-market and budgetary constraints.

Curtiss-Wright Controls for Embedded Computing is now meeting this challenge by expanding its product line of commercial off the shelf (COTS) single-board computer (SBC) solutions to include the performance and power management advantages of Intel® Core™ Duo processors. Curtiss-Wright is using Intel multi-core processors validated with Intel® chipsets as the foundation for new single board computers designed to meet the evolving requirements of a broad range A&D systems.

Curtiss-Wright products based on Intel multi-core processors include a 3U CompactPCI* board that can operate as a system controller, peripheral processor or an I/O processing node and a 6U VME64x board that, with the addition of a hard drive, becomes a full-featured modular computing and platform. Both SBCs are designed for benign and rugged air or conduction-cooled systems. Curtiss-Wright cites the fact that Intel multi-core processors deliver substantial gains in performance per watt, help reduce time-to-market while providing the cost advantages of standards-based COTS technology with embedded lifecycle support.