Designed for applications where only the highest processing performance and I/O bandwidth will do, Curtiss-Wright Control Embedded Computing’s range of multi-processing solutions make ideal platforms for radar, sonar and signal intelligence signal processing applications. Extensive, scalable systems with many processing nodes may be configured based on Power Architecture (PowerPC) processors with AltiVec,™ advanced FPGA processors, and optimized interconnect fabrics such as Serial RapidIO™ to offer class-leading levels of compute performance. We maintain a state-of-the-art engineering facility dedicated to the development of DSP products. Our engineers continually probe the boundaries of compute performance while maintaining strict rules for thermal management and reliability of the finished products. Curtiss-Wright has the depth of resources to design products for the harshest of environments and offers the highest performing range of COTS DSP products for military applications available today.

Our total solutions approach to multi-processing DSP systems is based on a keen awareness of our customers’ needs and an architectural design that spans the entire range of complexity and performance from one to hundreds of processing nodes. User productivity and high performance based on the latest open-standards COTS hardware and software development technologies are the goals we set for ourselves when designing our next generation of DSP solutions:

• Open standard VPX, VPX-REDI and VME form-factors
• Scalable architectures incorporating PowerPC and FPGA processing nodes
• High-speed switched fabrics using Serial RapidIO
• Ruggedization options to match environmental requirements
• Continuum Inter-Processor Communications middleware to abstract hardware without comprising performance
• Continuum Insights system-level productivity software for visualization, test and analysis
• Continuum Vector signal processing library optimized for AltiVec

The introduction of the VPX module standard provides the enabling technology for Curtiss-Wright’s future multi-compute architecture. VPX, defined by an industry-wide VITA standardization effort, will be the long-term successor to the VMEbus standard for many military and commercial applications. VPX (VITA 46) adds much extended backplane connectivity to the current form-factor and incorporates connectors that support multi-Gbps signaling rates for future generations of switched fabrics. The introduction of VPX technology provides the basis for Curtiss-Wright’s future multi-compute engines and FPGA front-end processors offering no-compromise high speed I/O connectivity and the flexibility of switched fabric interconnection demanded by our flagship signal processing systems.

Continuum is a broad ranging software development platform for through-life project management, designed to protect our customers’ long term investment by providing a set of powerful system development tools spanning many future generations of Curtiss-Wright hardware products. These tools include vector processing and FPGA libraries, development environments, communications middleware, system software libraries and system analysis tools that are critical to successful application deployment.

Continuum IPC provides the functionality to communicate between processing nodes, either on a single card or multiple cards via a fabric. It is a cornerstone of Curtiss-Wright’s scalable multi-computing solutions, effectively abstracting the application software from the details of the hardware implementation or its physical location. IPC is optimized for high performance and low latency to maintain overall system performance and efficiency.

IPC’s ability to abstract the application interface from the hardware platform will future-proof existing projects as they transition to new fabrics and higher performance processing technology through the natural spiral development cycle. IPC is the key to protect and re-use valuable DSP application software and intellectual property.

>> Grab the Continuum IPC datasheet (registration required)

Complex systems with many processing nodes and networked interconnect architecture require specialized tools to debug and verify their operation. Our aim with Continuum Insights is to enhance productivity by offering a range of specifically targeted tools that provide clear insight into the configuration, real-time performance and network traffic of systems under development. We have selected the opensource Eclipse IDE as our platform of choice for these tools providing compatibility and familiarity with Wind River Systems’ Workbench platform development tools.

Three classes of tools make up Continuum Insights:

• Instrumentation and analysis tools to collect real-time system event data. A post run-time analysis tool allows developers to debug and verify critical interaction among multiple processors. Event data can be collected from processing nodes in the system synchronized to a common precision timebase.
• Run-time system monitoring with graphical display of threads, processor utilization, task allocations and fabric performance of individual nodes or clusters of nodes. The monitoring tool encourages real-time user interaction to control processes or data transfers by displaying results in a “dashboard-like” display format.
• Network analysis tool enables the developer to view the system physical topology, measure network bandwidth loads, manage and optimize packet routing with awareness of IPC-defined end-points so developers can easily correlate traffic to the system software.

>> Grab the Continuum Insights fact sheet (registration required)

Signal processing applications demand the highest performance solutions. Highly optimized for the PowerPC Altivec execution unit, Continuum Vector provides a comprehensive set of functions designed for military DSP applications. The provision of an industry standard API and the open-standard VSIPL API permits programmers to use their preferred model, saving development time. Continuum Vector also supports algorithm development on desktop PCs to reduce the need
for embedded hardware while designing and testing applications.

>> Grab the Continuum Vector datasheet (registration required)

Managing data flow is the key to a successful multi-computer system implementation. Applications such as signal intelligence or sensor fusion need many channels to be processed simultaneously. A radar receiver, on the other hand, may have fewer channels but needs more powerful processing nodes and must exchange data continuously between nodes to perform corner-turns in real-time. High speed serial switched fabrics share and distribute multiple data streams between processing nodes. Having developed many of our pioneering system concepts using the StarFabric switched fabric, we now offer Serial RapidIO as the common architectural solution for data flow. Serial RapidIO provides flexible network topologies and scalable, low-latency bandwidth that can be tailored to the individual needs of a particular processing configuration. It supports both distributed and central switching allowing almost unlimited combinations of star, tree or mesh topologies to be created to suit every type of application and bi-sectional bandwidth requirement.

The use of FPGAs has revolutionized the way DSP subsystems are configured. With a large number of gates, hardware multipliers and high-speed serial interfaces, an FPGA can outperform a microprocessor by a factor of ten or more. FPGAs are applicable to a variety of applications including radar, signal intelligence and image processing that have elements of computing that are characterized by repetitive fixed-point processing that can be expressed in highly parallel form. FFTs, pulse compression, filters, and digital down converters are examples of functions that FPGAs perform well. In deployed systems, this technical advantage translates to smaller, lower-power and lower-cost systems.

FPGA development is supported by Continuum FXtools – an extensive design kit designed to speed FPGA development. Optimized, extended temperature IP blocks are included for all of the hardware interfaces, allowing the integrator to focus on the productive development, simulation and test of algorithms rather than understanding the intricacies of hardware devices. Professional consulting services are available to assist with all aspects of FPGA design, delivered by senior Curtiss-Wright engineers with FPGA expertise.

Curtiss-Wright’s latest multi-compute engines use four single and dual-core PowerPC 8641 processors with AltiVec running up to 1.33GHz, each with up to 1GB DDR2 SDRAM creating eight individual high performance processing nodes per board. Each board supports a high-performance XMC site which is typically used as a sensor interface with Serial FPDP, digital receivers, digital video and custom high-speed serial interfaces.

Support is provided for the leading off-the-shelf operating systems including VxWorks from Wind River and Linux through the Continuum Software Architecture (CSA) Firmware and BSP packages. CSA provides a unified suite of firmware, diagnostics and BSP/driver APIs which are common to Single Board Computers, multi-processor cards and FPGA processor boards.