General Dynamics [GD] Canada yesterday said it has introduced the new ultra-rugged SD8000 family of smart display products with the quad-core 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor, bringing the latest in commercial computing to military vehicles.
The new smart displays meet the computing-intense requirements of the battlefield while conserving size, weight and power inside military vehicles, the company said in a statement.
“Quad-core processing effectively doubles the computing capabilities of previous dual-core smart displays,” said David Ibbetson, general manager, General Dynamics Canada. “Increased demand for warfighters to have rapid and direct access to information and sophisticated battle management applications requires highly integrated battlefield computing solutions. Now, with our next generation Smart Displays, we are bringing this capability to our customers the same day it is available to commercial industry.”
Matt Langman, director of marketing, Intelligent Systems Group at Intel, said: “The growing use of sensors and high definition video, along with heavy processing requirements for critical battlefield management and on-site embedded training/mission rehearsal applications, amplifies demands on vehicle computing systems. By harnessing the increased energy efficiency and enhanced 3D graphics and video capability native to the 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor family, General Dynamics can provide critical computing capabilities while maintaining processing speed.”
The next generation displays have numerous details that meet military standards, including such things as convection-cooling, touch screen, multiple video and audio input channels. The company also integrated Intel® Virtualization Technology to enable the use of Multiple Independent Levels of Security/Safety (MILS), a high assurance security architecture for controlled information.
The displays were developed for ground combat vehicles in harsh military environments and can be adapted to the changing dynamics of missions while supporting interoperability and future technology enhancements.
General Dynamics’ Smart Displays are on board a variety Army ground combat vehicle platforms including the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP), Stryker and Bradley vehicles.
The systems also save size, weight and power over conventional architectures and provide easy integration into vehicle C4I sub-systems.