Radstone Embedded Computing has announced an addition to the AFIX (additional flexible interface Xtension) family of plug-on daughter cards with the AFIXM. Designed for use with Radstone's single-board computers, the original AFIX cards featured single-/dual-channel dual-redundant MIL-STD-1553 (AFIX 1553), and 8-bit or 16-bit SCSI and graphics adapter (AFIXSG). The AFIXM features non-volatile (Flash) memory and uses Embedded TrueFFS technology for full hard-disk emulation in sizes between 512 MB and 2 GB.

The AFIXM allows customers to add Flash memory to a single-board computer, but without taking up a valuable PMC site, and so provides enhanced functional density.

The AFIX family of daughter cards is designed to extend and enhance the functionality of Radstone single-board computers by providing features that are not natively supported by the host card, and allowing systems integrators the opportunity to add features to a host card without using a PMC site. The cards are specifically designed to allow the implementation of new functionality in less time and at lower cost than would otherwise be possible. Radstone's strategy is to not only make available off-the-shelf AFIX cards such as the AFIXM, but also to use the AFIX philosophy and architecture to develop a custom response to unique customer requirements that would otherwise be expensive and time-consuming to fulfill.
Radstone Embedded Computing
(978) 671-9490
www.radstone.com

Jadoo Power Systems Inc. has announced the XRT, a new addition to the lineup of fuel cells and accessories. The XRT delivers the power density demanded by the emergency preparedness market.

The XRT provides critical support power when the grid is either unavailable or unreliable. The XRT can be used for power-hungry emergency response applications that need power support, such as portable radio and laptop battery recharging, as well as a battery replacement for emergency lighting and critical communication devices like satellite phones and modems.

Supporting Jadoo's N-Gen fuel cell power unit and N-Stor fuel storage canisters, the XRT weighs only 50 pounds, but provides the energy of four 45 amp-hour batteries weighing more than 100 pounds. A mobile, rugged fuel cell power package, the XRT can be configured to deliver application runtimes beyond that of standard deep-cycle, marine batteries.

A fully configured XRT includes:

• six N-Stor360 fuel canisters, providing up to 2200 Watt-hours (180 amp-hours)of run time;

• one 100 W N-Gen fuel cell power unit;

• 110 Vac and 12 Vdc outputs;

• hot-swap-capable, allowing for continuous, uninterrupted operation; and

• digital “state-of-fill” indicator to identify remaining run time.
  Jadoo Power Systems
  (888) JADOO4U
  www.jadoopower.com

FreeWave Technologies has announced the IM-E500, a board-level, wireless spread- spectrum radio designed specifically for military applications.

The IM-E500 is designed to meet the rigorous demands of military and government users worldwide. As a board-level product, the IM-E500 provides outstanding performance and versatility in a small footprint that makes it suited for OEM applications. In addition, it offers military customers a cost-effective solution by allowing them to incorporate wireless communications into a variety of applications, such as unmanned vehicles, robotics and UAVs.

The IM-E500 radio offers spread-spectrum frequencies between 2.372 GHz to 2.4 GHz as well as a number of other new features designed specifically for the military market. New features include:

• frequency hopping;

• high speed — 115.2 Kbps true throughput (188 Kbps over the air);

• long-range capabilities — up to 20 miles, which can be extended through repeaters;

• extreme reliability through error-free communications — data is securely transmitted via 32-bit CRC with user-defined automatic transmission;

• industrial-grade specifications — 100% tested for full performance from -40 °C to +75 °C;

• bundled solution — the repeater and simultaneous slave and repeater functions are all contained within one radio;

• improved supply voltage range and reduced power consumption — besides increased power supply, the IM-E500 offers a low power mode that consumes only 5 mA — a unit in low power mode will wake up, synchronize with the network and accept data in less than 150 ms;

• best-in-class diagnostics and a separate diagnostic serial connector that allows for real-time local diagnostics and setup menu access as well as signal level in dBm and transmit current.

The IM-E500 is available for immediate shipment.
FreeWave
(303) 444-3862
www.freewave.com

Endwave Defense Systems, a manufacturer of RF subsystems and components for military and homeland security applications, has announced the X-band synthesizer that meets the rigid requirements of Satcom environments. This high-performance synthesizer operates over the X-band Satcom range of 6.410 GHz to 7.545 GHz and can be customized to meet step size requirements from 1 kHz down to 1 Hz. It features outstanding spectral purity and low phase noise of -77 dBc at 100 Hz offsets and -125 dBc at 1 MHz offsets. The X band synthesizer is ideal for harsh environment defense applications where a combination of low noise, wide bandwidth, and very small step size are essential. The base model is based on Endwave's proprietary YIG oscillators. Applications include field-portable X-band Satcom terminals, control links for unmanned aerial vehicles, and tri-band converters. Other S-, C-, Ku-, Ka-, and tri-band synthesizers are also available in YIG and VCO-based designs.
Endwave
(408) 522-3180
www.endwave.com

Intersil Corporation has introduced two micropower real-time clock/calendar devices. The ISL1219/21 are ideal for time stamping single events such as the moment a warranty is voided by the removal of a cover or recurring events such as the opening and closing of a security door.

These devices can time stamp an event by issuing an output signal or by stopping the real-time clock (RTC) registers from advancing at the moment the event occurs. The output signal contains the second, minute, hour, date, month and year that the triggering event occurred.

The ISL1219/21 offer two options for switching from normal power to battery backup power. All RTC functions except the I2C bus are operational during battery back-up mode unless disabled. The user SRAM is operational until battery power drops below 1.8 V.

The ISL1219/21 are available in a 10-lead MSOP package and the integrated crystal compensation enables the use of a less expensive external crystal. The ISL1221 has a separate FOUT than the IRQ/FOUT in the ISL1219. The FOUT is the frequency output that is programmable from 32.768 kHz to 1/32 Hz. It is used for a variety of timing applications including the clocking of the microcontroller in sleep mode, eliminating external crystals and further reducing the BOM.

On-chip oscillator compensation provides initial crystal frequency trimming through an I2C interface for timing accuracy, enabling the use of a low-cost crystal. The real-time clock tracks time with separate registers for hours, minutes and seconds. The device has calendar registers for date, month, year and day of the week. The calendar is accurate through 2099, with automatic leap year correction.

The battery saver prevents initial battery current drain before the devices are first used. In order to preserve battery life, these devices will not draw any power from the battery source until after the device is first powered up from the VDD source.

The alarm can be set to any clock/calendar value for a match. The alarm status is available by checking the status register, or the device can be configured to provide a hardware interrupt via the IRQ pin.

The ISL1219 is offered in a 10-lead MSOP and is priced at $1.50. The ISL1221 also includes separate FOUT and shared IRQb/EVDETb in a 10-lead MSOP package and is priced at $1.60. All pricing is in 1,000-unit quantities.
Intersil
(408) 432-8888
www.intersil.com

ICS Sensor Processing, part of Radstone Embedded Computing, has announced the ICS-8500, the first PMC to become available that delivers the performance of FPDP II — with its transfer rate of 400 MB/s, compared with 160 MB/s for FPDP — in a rugged environment. The ICS-8500, which can be configured as either a transmitter or a receiver, also features 8 MB of swing buffer memory.

Available in convection- and conduction-cooled versions, the ICS-8500 offers similar functionality to the ICS-500-R and ICS-500-T PMC products, but is configurable under software control as either a receiver or transmitter. The 400 MB/s FPDP II interface is provided via the P4 connector: when the ICS-8500 is communicating with a non-FPDP II device, it automatically reverts to ANSI/VITA 17 FPDP operation at 160 MB/s. An 8 MB swing buffer is provided, as is a PCI 2.2 (64/66) PCI interface.

In transmit mode, the board provides an FPDP/TM interface. In addition to a continuous data transmit capability, a loop mode of operation is available, in which a fixed length of data equal to the programmed buffer length is written to both banks of the swing buffer. When triggered, this data is repetitively generated and transmitted by the FPDP output interface.

In receive mode, the board provides receive (FPDP/R) and receive master (FPDP/RM) capabilities. A key feature of the product is its ability to perform the corner turning function: this software-enabled feature reorders multichannel data from channel ordering by time to time ordering by channel.

ICS Sensor Processing invented the front-panel data port (FPDP) interface in 1994 as a method of cost-effectively providing high-speed connectivity between two boards, providing deterministic, sustained bandwidth communications that are not impeded by contention for bus resources. FPDP is an ANSI/VITA standard (ANSI/VITA 17-1998) and is accepted in the industry as the optimum method of achieving high-speed data transfer between sensors and DSPs.

Device drivers for VxWorks, Linux and Windows are available. Availability of the ICS-8500 is immediate.
Radstone Embedded Computing
(978) 671-9490
www.radstone.com

Astron Wireless Technologies is offering a full hemispheric coverage UHF SATCOM antenna, Model SC-303B, for mobile and ship applications where high-performance operation from zenith down to the horizon is required. Conventional antennas provide either upper or lower elevation angle coverage or a combination of the two antennas. To obtain full hemispheric coverage, the user must switch between the two antennas. Astron's UHF SATCOM antenna provides full hemispheric coverage without the need of a switch to select one of two antennas. In addition, the right-hand circular polarization over the full hemisphere provides multipath rejection. This is an important feature when operation is required over seawater or in regions with high levels of multipath signals. It should be noted that conventional low-angle coverage antennas are typically linearly polarized and do not provide the multipath reduction.

The unit is fully radome protected enhancing operation and performance in high winds and bad weather. The antenna is designed to offer a frequency range of 240 to 400 MHz with 50 Ω impedance and maximum VSWR of 1.5:1.Power-handling capability is 200 W CW.
Astron Wireless Technologies Inc
(703) 450-5517, ext. 2913
www.astronwireless.com

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