OpenFPGA: RAPPID FIRMWARE
App-based electronic warfare
mrcy.com 4
EXPANDING TECHNIQUE EFFICIENCY WITH
OpenFPGA — USE CASE
An EW DRFM-based jammer offers an example of how
OpenFPGA can be used in the field. Typically, an EW jammer
suite can contain 50 or more unique technique types,
traditionally all programmed simultaneously into the FPGA
device. However, in real-world applications it is extremely
rare to have a situation where every one of those 50
techniques are needed at the same time. With the support
of Rappid's OpenFPGA standard, any required capability can
be selected in real time by loading the needed applications
from memory to the FPGA processor. The storage of a large
number of techniques in off-FPGA memory drastically
increases the total effective resources of an FPGA and
enables more efficient utilization of FPGA resources than
the previous "fit-everything" paradigm. Additionally, this
concept allows the use of much smaller FPGAs to perform
the same system solutions that would otherwise require
larger ones, reducing costs and cooling and power needs.
OVERCOMING THERMAL CHALLENGES WITH
OpenFPGA — USE CASE
An aircraft or drone sits on the tarmac in final preparation for
launch. The final system checks are in process. An EW system
is in the queue to run its built-in self-test before aircraft
takeoff. Inside the EW system are FPGA processing modules,
executing their functions and algorithms regardless of the
system input. An FPGA's temperature is linearly correlated
to the amount of resources executing, so the FPGA devices
are dissipating their full thermal load even when not used.
When the aircraft is not moving, thermal dissipation taxes the
aircraft 's systems since there is the least amount of airflow
when idle. Overheating is a challenge for system designers.
Revisiting this scenario on an EW system designed using
Rappid and its OpenFPGA standard, before takeoff, the EW
system commands its FPGA modules to clear its resources,
effectively lowering the thermal dissipation. When the built-in
self-test of the EW system runs, the EW system commands
the full capabilities of the FPGA modules be loaded, allowing
for complete execution of self-tests. After the short time
testing takes, the EW system again clears the FPGA resources
until takeoff. Once airborne, the EW system can load the full
FPGA resources when airflow is more readily available.
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For more information on OpenFPGA
and the Rappid platform:
electronicwarfare@mrcy.com
Visit: mrcy.com/rappid
