Real Time Systems

DUNE has designed and developed several real time systems where multi-processor processing architectures are needed and related algorithms must be evaluated, simulated and optimized to provide flexible and reliable systems according to the Customer needs.

DUNE has a good skill in both HW and SW architectural design, development of multi-core and multiprocessor architectures for signal processing (FPGA, DSP, PPC, μC, μP), embedded systems design (development and architecture definition), system analysis (performance evaluation, algorithms definition and optimization) and system management (time activities, critical reviews, contacts with the Customer Program Manager, supply of documentation, testing, integration, and final validation).

The ASU2 antenna simulator emulates the behavior of a phased array antenna of a modern fighter. The device is capable of generating a combination of analog RF signals which emulate the ones generated by the aircraft phased array.

DUNE has performed the entire design and system analysis, the Microwave subsystem specifications, the high performance real-time FW for several FPGAs and the system management SW.

DUNE has also realized dedicated HW products (such as FPGA-based interface boards, interfaces to drive the fast attenuators and bridge boards to send multiple LVDS signals from a board to another).

DUNE has also provided the entire HW and SW documentation (such as SW and HW description documents, test and validation plans, user manuals) as well as the support to the Customer Program Manager in order to detail the critical points and manage the project changes if they occur.

ASU2 emulates the behavior of a phased array antenna of a modern fighter relative to the optical fibers interfaces with the scenario generation system.

The system is a solid simulator developed in Dune which emulates the receiving section of the antenna and is capable of receiving and managing four real-time Hot-Link channels (600 Megabit/s per channel).

The incoming data are acquired via AlphaData boards equipped with a FPGA Xilinx Virtex IV. The dedicated MMI (Man-Machine-Interface) can acquire, arrange, display and store data on magnetic devices according to the user needs.

The system has been designed and developed on Motorola (DSP56309) platform for avionic HF communication applications. All the logic functions have been implemented according to STANAG 4197 standard.In particular the Doppler correction, the 4 DPSK modulation and demodulation, the end of frame realignment, the interleaving functions and the BCH coding and decoding have been implemented.

The system has the purpose to emulate a torpedo control system to check and control off-line the entire logic of a real torpedo head.

DUNE has designed and developed both hardware and real-time software architecture for processing, visualization (exploitation of an industrial SIEMENS terminal) and graphic data exchange via LAN.

From an architectural point of view the system is based on VME bus and the control function is committed to a Radstone PPC (VxWorks O.S.) board. Moreover, 2 I/O commercial boards are located on the bus while the interface functions with the torpedo head are committed to boards designed and realized by DUNE.