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Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions has introduced the CHAMP-XD3, its highest performance, security-enhanced, 3U OpenVPX Digital Signal Processing (DSP) module, based on the Intel Xeon D-1700 processor. The SOSA-aligned payload card represents a ‘quantum leap’ for sensor data processing capability in Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) constrained applications.
The CHAMP-XD3 combines a 10-core Intel Xeon D-1700 processor for DSP processing with a Xilinx MPSoC FPGA, which supports Curtiss-Wright’s Enhanced TCOTS framework, aligned with the compute-intensive payload profile as defined by the SOSA Technical Standard. This rugged, conduction-cooled module is designed to handle the largest processing tasks characteristic of multi-mode / Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs), modern Signal Intelligence (SIGINT), Electro-Optical / Infrared (EO/IR), and Electronic Warfare (EW) applications.
To ensure wire-speed transfers of sensor data, the card provides three channels of DDR4-2400 SDRAM memory (up to 48 Gb), delivering more than 50% additional memory bandwidth compared to previous generation solutions. In addition, the CHAMP-XD3 features up to 160 Gb of memory via dual NVMe SSD devices to support demanding virtualization, high-bandwidth, and redundant non-volatile storage requirements.
The dual SSDs deliver twice the memory bandwidth of prior solutions and provide support for Intel’s Virtual RAID on CPU (VROC), which improves RAID performance by shifting control from the host bus adapter to the CPU itself. To eliminate I/O bottlenecks, the module’s backplane supports a wide-band, 16-lane Gen3 PCIe expansion plane, in addition to its 40 GbE data plane and dual 10-GbE Control Plane interfaces.
“Our latest SOSA-aligned DSP engine redefines the art of the possible for sensor processing in the 3U OpenVPX form-factor, enabling developers of High-Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC) systems to take full advantage of the performance delivered by the new Intel Xeon D-1700 processor architecture,” said Chris Wiltsey, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions. “With its high-core count, exceptional floating-point performance and integrated AI acceleration, the CHAMP-XD3 builds on Curtiss-Wright’s legacy of bringing industry-leading modular open systems-based sensor processing modules to market. Combined with industry leading DSP capabilities, the CHAMP-XD3 supports our latest eTCOTS security infrastructure for critical program protection.”
This powerful DSP processor module is engineered for the most demanding compute-intensive sensor processing applications. To meet the needs of emerging cognitive EW requirements and accelerate AI/ML functions, the CHAMP-XD3 features Intel’s AVX-512 instructions to support extensive floating-point calculations.
With AVX-512, Intel doubles the width of the floating-point engine, significantly speeding sensor, ML, and deep learning inference processing, as well as machine vision and smart video analytics applications. AVX-512 also enables Intel Deep Learning Boost, which is based on optimized Vector Neural Network Instructions (VNNI).
The CHAMP-XD3’s Xilinx MPSoC FPGA features a quad-core Arm A53 and a dual-core R5 processor, and can be used for enhanced TrustedCOTS (eTCOTS) security functionality.
An optional MPSoC FPGA toolkit is available for applications that require greater design versatility for adding security IP. This toolkit enables the integration of advanced security IP, such as Raytheon’s Night Cover product suite and Idaho Scientific’s Immunity cryptography cores. The MPSoC FPGA can also support co-processing and general purpose I/O requirements. The module’s Microsemi SmartFusion2 FPGA has a dedicated Intelligent Platform Management Controller (IPMC) core, with HOST 3.0 extensions, that supports system and health monitoring, as well providing enhanced security capability that adds additional protection of critical control logic.
Software support for the CHAMP-XD3 DSP engine includes a comprehensive BIOS and Linux Board Support Package (BSP) for ease of integration and solution development.
The CHAMP-XD3 is available in both SOSA-aligned and enhanced IO configurations.
