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RAPPID-White_Paper_FINAL

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WHITE PAPER Rappid: A modular, application-ready spectrum processing platform mrcy.com 5 5 OPEN FIRMWARE At the core of the Rappid platform is a new open firmware standard, OpenFPGA. This standard is a step toward abstracting the FPGA firmware, allowing applications or algorithms, including EW techniques, software-defined radio (SDR) and others, to be easily loaded into different hardware systems without making in-depth changes or customizing the algorithm for the hardware. As long as the algorithms are compliant to the OpenFPGA standards, they can be developed by the customer, third-party organizations or Mercury. Figure 11 OpenFPGA Concept, Supporting Multiple FPGA Boards The OpenFPGA standard provides three key enablers for FPGA development: ▪ A set of standard interfaces to logic blocks for data input, output, clocks, memory, command and status ▪ A software library to support the replacement of the entire FPGA logic application with another within 100s of ms ▪ A software library to support the replacement subsets of FPGA logic using partial reconfiguration within 100s of ms This architecture simplifies mission application development and provides a hardware-agnostic approach to developing applications. The ability to use the same hardware for different mission applications opens the possibility of using that hardware as a DRFM jammer, for example, and then later as a GPS receiver or software-defined radio (SDR) by merely reprogramming the FPGA through OpenFPGA and executing a different mission application. The OpenFPGA standard provides several benefits to the development, deployment and sustainment aspects of a program while moving away from the "vendor-locked" solutions of the past. OpenFPGA-developed solutions are rapidly implemented regardless of the FPGA hardware, and smoothly ported over to any OpenFPGA-supported hardware device. RAPPID MIDDLEWARE In support of the Rappid platform, many heterogeneous applications are available to reduce development time for its users. These optional add-ons consist of FPGA firmware and CPU software applications. Rappid enables designers to leverage these preconfigured and pretested applications as building blocks to rapidly complete system prototypes and solutions. They advance development efforts and allow more time to focus on incorporating proprietary IP to transform baseline subsystems into unique system solutions. BRINGING SECURITY TO EW The security of critical defense platforms and missions has never been more important. Mercury processing hardware has built-in third-generation security framework and provides the building blocks to complement users' secure architectures. This enables the creation of user-specific private and personalized system-wide security, overcomes vulnerabilities derived from complex supply chains and allows Foreign Military Sales. Figure 10 Rappid Software Architecture Mission Application 1 Mission Application 2 Mission Application N Application Manager Hardware Manager Hardware (Vendor 1) Function 1 Function 2 ___ Function M Hardware (Vendor 2) Function 3 Function 4 ___ Function N Hardware (Vendor 3) Function 5 Function 6 ___ Function O Hardware (Vendor 1N) Function 7 Function 8 ___ Function P Vendor 1 FPGA Vendor 2 FPGA Vendor 3 FPGA User FPGA Logic Same Logic Multiple Devices

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