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SSDL awarded NATO contract to supply solid-state drives
S
olid State Disks Limited (SSDL) has been awarded a contract to supply the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force (NAEW&CF), based in Geilenkirchen, Germany, with 40 solid-state data storage drives for use in Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) aircraft.
The contract was awarded by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) and the drives are based on SSDL’s SCSIFlash technology; modified to use CFast cards, as opposed to standard Compact Flash cards. The drives are to be used to replace AWACS removable media assemblies (RMAs) that currently use Seagate hard disk drives (HDDs) that are more than 20 years old. SSDL’s drives
will replace the original RMAs and replicate the exact behaviour of their HDDs - so no modifications need to be made to any of the aircraft when upgrading to the new drives. In addition, the SCSIFlash-based RMAs provide functionality the original units never had. For example, at the request of NAEW&CF, the replacements include the ability to eject the CFast cards, whereas before the original HDD-based units had to be removed in their entirety, risking damage to the connectors on the rear. The replacement drives also have an Emergency Erase button on the front panel; this to destroy all data on the CFast card if the crew feel there is a risk of the aircraft falling into enemy hands.
Also, whereas the original RMAs have
replacement RMAs is 13
heaters for use in
extremely low
temperatures, SSDL’s solid-state-based solution requires no heating. Indeed, the replacement RMAs meet the environmental test requirements for equipment used on the AWACS, requirements that draw from parts of MIL-STD-810G.
The intended service life of the
years, during which time SSDL will provide technical support to ensure the units continue to function correctly. Support will include obsolescence management of the new RMA’s components. The replacement units will be supplied with two USB cables, one for unit configuration and one for applying firmware updates.
www.solidstatedisks.com
Four-channel master IC and sensor signal conditioner for the IO-link market
R
enesas, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, has introduced two semiconductor solutions for the rapidly growing IO-Link market: the CCE4511 four-channel IO-Link master IC and the ZSSC3286 - IO- Link ready, dual-channel resistive sensor signal conditioner IC.
IO-Link is a digital communication protocol that is used most widely in industrial automation applications. As a standardized technology, it is designed to enable seamless communication between sensors, actuators, and other devices in an automation system. Renesas’ new CCE4511 is said to be the industry’s first four-channel master IC for the IO-Link protocol with 500mA driving current for each channel and provides numerous advantages over two-channel master devices. It is designed to save energy, reduce PCB size and requires fewer external components than competitive offerings.
The CCE4511 offers a high-voltage interface along with overvoltage detection and over-current protection. To improve application performance, an integrated IO-Link Frame Handler is provided, which automates most of the lower layer communication tasks. This reduces the microcontroller (MCU) loads significantly,
www.cieonline.co.uk
thus gaining more performance for other tasks, and/or allowing designers to use a less expensive MCU. The CCE4511 has an ambient operating temperature of up to 125º C for harsh industrial environments. It also supports detection of ready pulses from IO-Link devices, which is required to fulfil the newly defined IO-Link Safety System Extension. The ZSSC3286 is a dual path sensor signal conditioning IC (SSC) for highly accurate amplification, digitization, and sensor-specific correction of sensor signals. It supports IO-Link connectivity with an
integrated IO-Link stack running the IO-Link Smart Sensor Profile for digital measuring and switching sensors. The device is suitable for bridge and half-bridge sensors, as well as external voltage-source elements. Digital compensation of the sensor offset, sensitivity, temperature drift, and non- linearity is accomplished via a 32-bit Arm-based math core running a correction algorithm with calibration coefficients stored in a non-volatile, reprogrammable memory. ZSSC3286 is described as the first sensor signal conditioner with an integrated IO-Link
compliant stack. Traditionally, an additional microcontroller has been used to run the stack. According to Renesas, the ZSSC3286 obsoletes the MCU, saving board space and costs. It also offers two parallel ADCs with up to 24-bit resolution, a measurement scheduler for optimized performance, and advanced system diagnostic functions. The CCE4511 is available today in an 8mm x 8mm 56-QFN package. The ZSSC3286 is also now available packaged in a 5mm x 5mm 40-QFN.
www.renesas.com Components in Electronics October 2024 9
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