header-company Curtiss Wright

Click this image for a hi-res versionCurtiss-Wright Controls' New Rugged 3U OpenVPX™ Single Board Computer Features QorIQ™ P4080 Processor

VPX3-129, designed to support OpenVPX™, is the second product to be announced from Curtiss-Wright Controls based on Freescale’s QorIQ P4080 SOC

OTTAWA, ONTARIO –December 15, 2009 -- Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, a leading designer and manufacturer of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) VME, VPX, VXS, and CompactPCI products for the rugged deployed aerospace and defense (A&D) market, has introduced the VPX3-129, a new rugged Power™ Architecture-based 3U VPX (VITA 46) single board computer (SBC). This powerful, small form-factor SBC augments the performance and advanced I/O capabilities of Freescale’s QorIQ™ P4080 eight-core communications processor with an extensive I/O complement to provide a highly capable 3U VPX SBC. Joining its predecessor, the VPX6-187, the VPX3-129 is the second member of Curtiss-Wright Controls’ family of QorIQ P4080-based SBCs. Designed to support the new OpenVPX™ system interoperability specification for VPX, the VPX3-129 is ideal for a wide range of embedded commercial and military/aerospace applications including tactical aircraft, armored vehicles or rugged naval systems.

“The VPX3-129 expands our high performance Power™ Architecture-based 3U VPX product portfolio, ” said Lynn Patterson, vice president and general manager of Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing. “Designed to be OpenVPX Ready, this small form factor, high bandwidth card is ideal for high performance SWaP constrained rugged applications.”

To satisfy space, weight and power (SWaP)-constrained applications, the VPX3-129 is designed to optimize functionality, reduce power dissipation and maximize system flexibility. Its integral high-speed VPX backplane and XMC mezzanine connectivity enables multi-GB/s data flows from board-to-board via the backplane, and from the backplane to the XMC site, to support the acquisition, processing, and distribution of high-bandwidth sensor input such as video, radar, and sonar data. The board’s rich I/O complement includes two (2) Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports (1000-x capable), four (4) serial channels, up to 8-bits of discrete digital I/O, Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 ports, and an XMC mezzanine site with 64- bits of I/O mapped to the backplane. It accommodates either dual SRIO high speed fabric ports to the backplane or up to 3 PCIe ports to provide plenty of high speed connectivity for the most demanding applications.

VPX3-129 Key Features:

  • Powerful general-purpose SBC powered by Freescale QorIQ P4080
  • Up to 8 Power Architecture E500MC cores up to 1.5GHz
  • Up to 2GB DDR3 SDRAM controlled by dual 64-bit controllers
  • Full complement of I/O capability (Ethernet, serial, USB 2.0, TTL and differential discretes)
  • Single PCIe VITA 42.4 XMC site, with IO to the backplane as per VITA 46.9
  • 3U VPX format with up to three 4-lane PCI Express® (PCIe), or Dual Serial RapidIO® (SRIO) or a combination there of
  • Inter-Processor Management Interface as defined in VITA 46.11
  • VxWorks® 6.x BSP, Driver Suite supporting Workbench 3.x IDE as well as Wind River® Linux®
  • Curtiss-Wright Controls’ Continuum Software Architecture (CSA) firmware provides a comprehensive suite of system debug, exerciser, and update functions, built-in-test (BIT), and non-volatile memory sanitization function
  • Designed for harsh-environment applications.  Both air- and conduction cooled rugged versions available

VPX3-215 3U Carrier Card
The optional VPX3-215 companion 3U carrier card provides the following system expansion features:

  • High performance XMC/PMC site supporting x8 lane PCI Express port (VITA42.4) with differential pair IO routing
  • PMC site supports up to 100MHz PCI-X (5V tolerant)
  • PMC site supports up to 100MHz PCI-X (5V tolerant)
  • Two x4 lane PCI Express Switch ports on P1 provide access to the PMC/XMC site

Software Support
The VPX3-129 SBC and the companion VPX3-215 ExpressReach expansion card are built in conformance with Curtiss-Wright Controls’ Continuum Software Architecture (CSA), an interoperability initiative under its COTS Continuum program, that eases system upgrades and compatibility across product lines through the use of standardized APIs and abstraction of hardware layers. CSA-compliant boards significantly ease and speed software driver development efforts.

Operating environment support includes drivers for operating environments including Wind River VxWorks/Tornado (6.x) and Wind River Linux 3.0.

Ruggedization Levels
The VPX3-129 is designed for demanding, high-performance defense and aerospace applications and is offered in a range of rugged configurations including air-cooled (Level 0/100) and conduction-cooled (Level 100/200). Innovative cooling techniques are employed to handle high performance implementations.

Volume pricing for commercial and rugged versions of the VPX3-129 is available. For pricing and availability please contact the factory. More information on the VPX3-129.

Sales inquiries: Please forward all Sales and reader service inquiries to Jerri-Lynne Charbonneau, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Tel: (613) 254-5112; Fax: (613) 599-7777; e-mail: sales@cwcembedded.com.

For editorial information regarding Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing products or services, contact John Wranovics, Director of Public Relations, Curtiss-Wright, Tel: (925) 640-6402; email. jwranovics@curtisswright.com.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing

Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing is the industry’s most comprehensive and experienced single source for embedded solutions, ranging from Processing, Subsystems, Data Communication, DSP, and Video & Graphics to the most advanced board level components and fully integrated custom systems. The Embedded Computing group serves the defense, aerospace, commercial and industrial markets and is part of Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc.

About Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Curtiss-Wright Controls is the motion control segment of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW). With manufacturing facilities around the world, Curtiss-Wright Controls is a leading technology-based organization providing niche motion control products, subsystems and services internationally for the aerospace and defense markets. For more information, visit http://www.cwcontrols.com/.

Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: a reduction in anticipated orders; an economic downturn; changes in the competitive marketplace and/or customer requirements; an inability to perform customer contracts at anticipated cost levels; a change in government spending; and other factors that generally affect the business of aerospace, defense contracting, marine electronics and industrial companies. Please refer to the current SEC filings for Curtiss-Wright Corporation under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, for further information.

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