South Africa - Flag South Africa

Incoterms:DDU
Duty, customs fees and taxes are collected at time of delivery.

Please confirm your currency selection:

US Dollars
Free shipping on most orders over $150 (USD)
All major credit cards accepted

Euros
Free shipping on most orders over 150 € (EUR)
All major credit cards accepted

South African Rand
Free shipping on most orders over R2 000 (ZAR)
American Express not accepted as a method of payment

British Pounds
Free shipping on most orders over £150 (GBP)
All major credit cards accepted

Bench Talk for Design Engineers

Bench Talk

rss

Bench Talk for Design Engineers | The Official Blog of Mouser Electronics


Bringing RF into the Embedded World: It’s Time
On 六月 1, 2015 in Open Source, RF by Barry Manz
Barry Manz

Embedded systems have been almost entirely digital throughout their long history, while RF and microwave technologies were separate subsystems with no effective interface between the two. For many reasons, this “RF/digital divide” should finally be connected.

Last October, Mercury Systems, which makes embedded systems (i.e., board-level digital and RF subsystems), proposed that manufacturers of embedded and microwave subassemblies participate in its initiative called OpenRFM.

OpenRFM is a modular, open architecture built around OpenVPX that combines hardware, firmware, and software, and allows high channel density, advanced interconnect technology, and employs a “building block” approach.

The company’s goal is to make it possible to integrate RF and microwave technology into current “digital-only” embedded form factors for the first time. If you’re not in the embedded systems business you’re probably wondering “Why is this just happening now?”

• It would allow these two technologies (digital and microwave) to be integrated in a standard form factor followed by the embedded systems industry.

• It would be a major step toward realizing two major goals of the U.S. Department of Defense: to dramatically increase function integration, and to allow radar, electronic warfare, and other systems to be used in multiple platforms without major redesign.

• All embedded systems manufacturers and prime contractors could follow a single design roadmap while retaining the flexibility to differentiate their products from others by using their own OpenRFM-compatible products.

• Systems could be constructed that are smaller, lighter, consume less power, are less expensive, and shorten the time to market for both embedded systems and end products.

Although Mercury targeted OpenRFM to sectors of the defense industry in which it participates, there is no reason why it could not be adopted in other embedded markets such as rugged industrial, scientific, and medical systems, and telecommunications, for example. As some of these applications make use of wireless communications in some form, OpenRFM should be useful for manufacturers of commercial systems that incorporate it.

For a more complete discussion of why this is happening now and the challenges, limitations, and opportunities OpenRFM presents, see my article of the same title at: Bringing RF into the Embedded World: It’s Time



« Back


Barry Manz is president of Manz Communications, Inc., a technical media relations agency he founded in 1987. He has since worked with more than 100 companies in the RF and microwave, defense, test and measurement, semiconductor, embedded systems, lightwave, and other markets. Barry writes articles for print and online trade publications, as well as white papers, application notes, symposium papers, technical references guides, and Web content. He is also a contributing editor for the Journal of Electronic Defense, editor of Military Microwave Digest, co-founder of MilCOTS Digest magazine, and was editor in chief of Microwaves & RF magazine.


Related Posts

  • Key Trends Shaping the Future of Embedded Systems

    Mouser Electronics will be an exhibitor at the first North American embedded world conference, October 8-10 in Austin, Texas. The event will showcase AI, cybersecurity, open-source, human-machine interfaces, expert panels, keynotes, and Mouser's “Circuit Showdown.”

  • Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) Bolsters Industrial Control

    Time-sensitive networking (TSN) is a new connectivity technology that extends the promise of Industrial IoT to time-sensitive industrial control and actuation systems. This blog provides an in-depth understanding of TSN principles and functionalities to design next-generation Ethernet products.

  • Software Development Tool Trends for Embedded Hardware

    The recent push toward more open source ecosystems has had an arguably net positive effect on the robustness and user-friendliness of many embedded development tools. Here is a look at software developments that have and are continuing to make significant changes to the workflow of embedded system developers.

  • Save Time with Mouser’s BOM Tool

    Time is a bizarre thing. We’re always trying to find time, pass time, waste time, etc., etc. So, in respect of your time, Mouser has created a couple cool features to help you save time. Of course, you’re always welcome to spend as much time on mouser.com as you want to, but we also understand if what you’re after is that sweet feeling of accomplishment you get after checking something off your to-do list, we’d like to help you get there faster. Speaking of lists, anyone who has a list of parts can save a lot of time using Mouser’s BOM Tool.

  • Facebook Redefines Time as “Flicks.” Is the World Ready?

    Some might define “time” as the fourth dimension or, perhaps, as an arbitrary set of numbers that divides each of our days into 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, and 86,400 seconds. Periods of time smaller than the second are generally expressed as fractions of a second, but these small intervals create challenges when trying to sync virtual reality and gaming environments.

  • CircuitPython: Embedded Python for Education

    Bridging the gap between desktop programming and embedded development does not need to be complicated. CircuitPython is an exciting new programming language that targets the education market to help foster the learning of both computer programming and electronics.
17584 Views
Tagged With: Open Source, RF

Search

Categories

Featured Authors

All Authors

Show More Show More
View Blogs by Date

Archives