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Tactical Linux computer muscles up

Nov 21, 2008 — by Eric Brown — from the LinuxDevices Archive — 5 views

Eurotech subsidiary Parvus announced a more powerful version of its rugged tactical mission computer. The Parvus DuraCor 810-Duo runs Linux on a 1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2GB of DDR2 RAM, and targets “high reliability” military and homeland defense applications, says the company.

(Click for larger view of the DuraCor 810-Duo)

The DuraCor 810-Duo is designed for Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) military applications that enhance “the situational awareness and onboard computing capabilities” of unmanned aircraft and tactical wheeled and tracked vehicles, says Parvus. The DuraCor 810-Duo meets several “MIL” standards (see spec list) for environmental conditions, including extreme temperatures, shock/vibration, ingress, and EMI/EMC conducted and radiated emissions/susceptibility, says the company. The device is also said to meet the power supply voltage and surge/transient requirements of ground and airborne military deployments.


DuraCor 820
(Click for details)

Compared to the similarly rugged DuraCor 820 Linux-compatible mission computer (pictured), which was announced in February, the DuraCor-810-Duo is faster, offers more memory, and adds an 8GB solid-state disk (SSD) option, says Parvus. It also offers more USB ports, and upgrades one of the two Ethernet ports to gigabit Ethernet.

The DuraCor-810-Duo's Intel Core2 Duo CPU has 2MB of L2 cache, and is matched up with 2GB of DDR2 memory. There are six expansion slots for PCI-104 or PC/104-Plus modules, plus an expansion connector that is said to be pre-routed for optional add-on cards.

As with the DuraCor 820, the DuraCor 810-Duo is equipped with locking circular connectors (see image above) that are said to bring out gigabit and fast Ethernet connections, six USB 2.0 ports, and dual RS-232 ports. The connectors are also said to hook up VGA and dual LCD (LVDS) displays, as well as keyboard, mouse, and audio peripherals. The 8GB SSD is preinstalled with Linux, but the computer is also said to support Windows XPe, WinCE, QNX, and VxWorks.


DuraCor 810-Duo (back)
(Click to enlarge)

The conductively cooled DuraCor 810-Duo is larger than the 820, measuring 10.6 x 5.3 x 5.3 inches and weighing 7.5 lbs. MIL reliability standards are said to be supported with sealed MIL-38999 connectors, EMI/EMC filtering, a watertight aluminum enclosure, a railed card cage, and a nearly cordless interconnect scheme says Parvus.

Specifications listed for the DuraCor 810-Duo include:

  • Processor — Intel Core2 Duo CPU L7400 (1.5GHz); 667 MHz FSB; 2MB L2 cache; Intel 945GM chipset
  • Memory — 2048MB DDR2 666MHz SODIMM 200pin
  • Flash — 8GB SATA SSD; optional CompactFlash drive
  • Expansion — 6 x PCI-104/PCI-104-Plus slots
  • Storage — external SATA interface for HDD
  • Display — 1 x VGA analog out; 2 x LCD digital out (LVDS)
  • Networking — 1 x 10/100 Ethernet; 1 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet
  • USB — 6 x USB 2.0 ports
  • Serial — 2 x RS-232 ports
  • Audio — AC97 codec with line in, line out, and microphone
  • Other I/O — 5 x LEDs; keyboard, mouse
  • Power — 24Vdc battery or 28Vdc vehicle power input (18V to 33VDC continuous); under 30 Watt consumption
  • Dimensions — 10.6 x 5.3 x 5.3 inches (269.2 x 134.6 x 134.6mm)
  • Weight — 7.5 lbs (3.4 kgs)
  • MILS standards met — MIL-STD-810F, MIL-STD-461E, MIL-STD-704E, MIL-STD-1275D
  • Operating temperature — -40 to 160 deg. F (-40 to 71 deg. C)
  • Operating systems — Preinstalled with Linux; also supports Windows XPe, WinCE, QNX, and VxWorks


DuraCor 810-Duo (left) next to companion gigabit Ethernet switch, the DuraNet 1268

Parvus also announced a DuraNet 1268 gigabit Ethernet switch that appears intended as a networking companion to the DuraCor 810-Duo. Pictured above, to the right of the DuraCor 810-Duo, the switch offers ten gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as Quality of Service (QoS) traffic prioritization, VLAN trunking, and Rapid Spanning Tree (RSP) redundancy, says Parvus.


Parvus Zypad WR1100
(Click for details)

In addition, the company this week announced an upgrade to its line of military-grade Zypad wrist computers, with the Zypad WR1100 (pictured at right).

Availability

The DuraCor 810-Duo and DuraNet 1268 are slated to go into production in early Q2 2009, says Parvus. More information on the DuraCOR 810-Duo may be found here.


 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.



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