Author: SrtGrpAdmin

When one envisions a VPX system, the image that often comes to mind is a multislot high performance computing system full of processing and I/O boards. But there is a completely different class of VPX “systems” that range from one to three slots in size, primarily in a 3U form factor. What do these “systems” look like and what is driving their existence?

Two applications seem to be leading the charge. Development systems with one to three slots provide engineers a quick way to get started with the development process. These are usually commercial grade, air-cooled chassis designed for use in development labs environments.

The second type are small, portable or mobile systems, usually conduction or passively cooled and designed for rugged operating environments.

Trends in slot count are emerging
One-slot: These tend to be dedicated to a very specific purpose, i.e. development system. The single slot is dependent on a backplane primarily for power and connection to external I/O.

Two-slot: Also dedicated to very specific functions, with a fair amount of application essential functionality built into the chassis. The second slot provides a degree of expandability to add or change functionality as needed.

Three-slot: The choices for three-slot VPX systems increase dramatically with many products available from virtually all VPX system suppliers. This is a sweet spot because it is still a very small size but has the capability to support a system with a dedicated processing board and a couple of slots for application specific I/O or additional processing. A three-slot system lends itself well to a simple full mesh backplane configuration for maximum bandwidth between modules. Many of the suppliers of three-slot systems offer customizable I/O so that the system can be effectively adapted to ­specific application needs.

To further understand what these systems look like, let’s look at a few examples.

Development Systems
Many companies offer small development systems for VPX. In fact, these were the first of the products announced using VPX technology. They come with 1-3 VPX slots in a generic configuration so that board and software engineers can quickly begin the prototyping stage. The chassis is small with a power supply and cooling for a small number of VPX boards.

One of the more extreme examples is a recently announced development system, the Model 8257, from Pentek that has only one 3U VPX slot (See Figure 1). It is intended to be a quick start development platform designed for a specific 3U VPX board with a mezzanine. The backplane simply provides power to the board and provides an interface to a rear transition module for I/O access. Developers can connect a notebook or desktop PC and develop, run, and debug their application right out of the box. The advantage to this strategy is that Pentek can use an off-the-shelf chassis and with a few minor tweaks, load it with a carrier card for whatever mezzanine is preferred so that a developer can be up and running in no time. The modularity of the architecture makes it easy to incorporate other options as new products are developed. In this case, both Pentek and their customers win with a proven, cost-effective solution that can be quickly modified.

Figure 1: Model 8257 3U VPX. Photo courtesy of Pentek.

Deployable Systems
Here is where it starts to get interesting. 3U VPX lends itself well to small, mobile systems in rugged operating environments. To achieve the size, weight, and power (SWaP) goals of these applications, conduction or passive cooling strategies are often used, eliminating the need for fans.

SR Technologies implements an interesting low slot count product strategy for their products with capabilities that include waveform, protocol stack, and user interface (UI) development primarily for Signal Intelligence (SigInt)/Electronic Warfare (EW) markets. Historically these capabilities have been delivered, as individual federated tactical ‘black boxes’ incorporating general purpose processors (GPPs), RF front ends, and custom designed software-defined radios (SDRs). As open architecture standards such as VPX have emerged, customer requirements required redesigning and deploying these capabilities as 3U conduction cooled VPX modules.

As customer needs changed, SR Tech­nologies needed to find a way to take these second-generation capabilities and deploy them back into the tactical market without large redesign efforts. For the tactical market, SWaP is at a premium and there were no easy solutions to this without designing an ecosystem of chassis to support it. For SR Technologies, the concept of a small tactical VPX chassis, incorporating just the essential elements of a standard sensor module, quickly came into focus.

Each chassis has basic building blocks within it, that are deemed essential to any operation and worthwhile of being embedded into the chassis, for example, power supply, Global Position System (GPS), and chassis management. Each module slot gets its allocation of power along with GPS on either a serial link and/or Ethernet.

Once the initial roll out of SR Technologies’ developed capabilities was deployed, it was very quickly seen that any third-party capability could be inserted into the chassis with minimal cost and time. This is obviously the whole intent of the open modular standard and it played out as per this intent. From an integration viewpoint, the integration exercise became a 10-minute phone call with the third-party module developer followed up by one to two days of integration testing. Very few problems have been encountered and on a number of occasions it’s been plug and play.

One of SR Technologies VPX modules is called the LANShark so it was not a stretch to call the family of chassis Shark­cages! (See Figure 2). Currently there are single slot and dual slot Shark­cages with up to four slots to follow.

Figure 2: Sharkcage, Photo courtesy of SR Technologies.

With all of these variations, the funda­mental philosophy of the cage has remained intact:

• Embed the PSU, chassis management card and GPS.
• Keep everything passively cooled
• Use common off the shelf connectors and stock all the long lead items for quick delivery.

These small systems point out how important a “system-level” strategy is to a success­ful VPX product line. One quickly notices that key functionality, very generic to a series of applications, can be built into the chassis. This functionality can be used over a broad range of products making it possible to swap out core VPX modules to quickly redefine a platforms mission without going through long and expensive development and integration processes.

One problem that is becoming apparent is the need for system level standards to ensure the interchangeability of system modules. A lot of focus is going into ensuring that board-level modules comply to standards, but more work needs to be done at the next level up. Many applications consider the box level to be a replaceable unit and standards are going to be needed to make this possible.

Expect to see many more of these small 3U systems.

Wireless communications company SR Technologies has selected Sunrise for its new headquarters, and will create 40 new jobs and retain 161 positions, the company announced Wednesday.

The company has an office in Davie but was considering other potential locations for its headquarters including Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Maryland, according to Enterprise Florida and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, which work with companies on expansion and relocation.

SR Technologies, part of SRT Group, was offered state and local incentives of $280,000 for the confirmed creation of 40 jobs, according to the Alliance.

The company will occupy more than 77,000 square feet of office space at the Sawgrass Technology Park, expanding its footprint by 40,000 square feet in the new location. It is making an investment of more than $1 million, according to a news release from the state.

The company, which specializes in design, engineering, and research and development for wireless communications, said a key reason it chose Sunrise was access to software companies in the area.

“The location provides us with the room we needed to grow our company,” said Rick Lund, chairman and founder of SR Technologies.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-sr-technologies-sunrise-hq-20181017-story.html

The SRT Group is proud to launch our newly revamped SRT Aviation Services Page, and we’re off to a flying start. As a full-service operation, we offer our clients state-of-the-art systems and devoted technical service from world-class experts.

SRT Aviation has invested more than a decade of research into developing sophisticated aviation, navigation, and communication solutions for our clients while meeting the stringent requirements of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Our quality assurance is unmatched, and our passion for our clients is boundless.

Find out how SRT Aviation can strengthen your mission: contact us and we’ll pilot you through everything you need to get off the ground.

SRT Aviation. Test. Train. Fly.

SRT Group is pleased to launch our new website for our friends in the law enforcement community. We are proud to partner with our country’s heroes who put their lives on the line to keep America safe from crime.

The SRT Wireless Law Enforcement division provides Wi-Fi signal technology and training services that help bring policing strategies into the 21^st century.  Our cutting-edge tactical Wi-Fi tools enable officials to combat the challenges of a technological world. We amplify our products with our comprehensive 802.11 training services to give our clients all the skills they need for success.

SRT Group is working hand-in-hand with law enforcement officials to implement innovative policing tactics that are optimal for their communities.

We encourage any potential partners to engage with us through our secure website, and we look forward to continuing our mission of making America safer.

Fresh off the plane from London, SRT’s JR Russell joined his colleague Conrad Smith and others at partner Thuraya Telecommunications’ private booth at Washington, DC’s FedEx Field this Sunday, where they watched the Washington Redskins beat the St. Louis Rams, 24 to 10.

Festivities started early Sunday morning, as the SRT Team joined Thuraya’s tent in the Hall of Fame Plaza for pre-game meetings with partners and customers.

The crisp fall weather was perfect for watching football, and there was a big turnout at the game. While the players tackled on the field, JR and Conrad tackled in the tent, showing the world everything SRT has to offer.

It’s been a busy week for JR, who just got back from DSEI defense and national security conference in London, but he is ebullient as ever.

“Jetting from London to DC has been a whirlwind, and I’ve loved every minute of it,” said JR. “The best part of my job is meeting people who are passionate about our products. In both London and DC, we got to form real connections with our customers and partners.”

SRT has much more in store this month. To stay updated with the team and to find out more about how SRT can help your business thrive, contact JR directly via jrussel@www.srtgrp.com

SRT Wireless took London by storm last week as COO JR Russell attended DSEI 2015.

DSEI is the largest integrated defense and security show in the world, covering Air, Naval, Land & Security. More 32,000 personnel from 121 different countries attended this year’s conference, making it a prime opportunity for SRT to strengthen strategic relationships within the defense community.

There was no time for tea and crumpets at this London gathering – JR meant business! This global business development platform enabled him to introduce SRT’s bleeding-edge products and services to a wider audience.

JR’s grin says it all:

“DSEI was an amazing experience for SRT.” he says. “We learned firsthand from the best industry experts and met some incredible people, but most importantly, we were able to share our passion for our products with the defense community we serve.”

We are following last week’s great show with more opportunities to share our products.

To hear for yourself about how SRT’s products and services could help your business, contact JR directly via jrussell@www.srtgrp.com.

Today we are thrilled to announce that SRT has been named to the prestigious Inc. 5000, Inc. Magazine‘s annual list of the fastest-growing companies in America!

Companies are selected and ranked based on their three-year revenue growth. As SRT’s revenue has more than doubled in the last three years, we were ranked #2,788 overall.

As mentioned by the South Florida Business Journal, we proudly share this honorable recognition with 139 other South Florida companies, and 336 companies across the entire state of Florida.

Further, when SRT submitted data to Inc. six months ago, our company employed just 87 people; today we employ more than 100. We also recently launched a brand new SRT Wireless website. Our commitment to bleeding-edge design, invention and execution has never been greater.

We are incredibly honored to rank among some of the most innovative and exciting companies in the Inc. 5000 this year, but we believe this is just beginning.

Our ongoing growth is a testament to our company’s vision, our employees’ unwavering passion for the highest level of innovation and service, and our exceptional customer satisfaction among a highly competitive telecommunications industry.

SRT goes beyond to deliver the very best satellite and Wi-Fi technologies, with the most forward-thinking capabilities, and for the greatest value in our industry.

Thank you to all of our team members, partners and customers for being a part of SRT’s story!

J.R. Russell

Chief Operating Officer

SRT is proud of our participation in NATIA’s 30th annual Training Conference and Technical Exhibition being held in Charlotte, North Carolina this week (July 18-24).
NATIA, the National Technical Investigators’ Association, is the country’s premiere non-profit organization for law enforcement education. NATIA connects law
enforcement and intelligence professionals who support their agencies’ technical surveillance, tactical operations, and forensic activities.

At this year’s conference, executives from SRT’s law enforcement, government and commercial divisions are giving a joint presentation on cutting-edge technologies that support federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in their vital role of keeping Americans safe.

We look forward to seeing you there!