WHITE PAPER
Processing Evolution for the Future Electronic Battlespace
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TECHNICAL CHALLENGES FACING NEXT
GENERATION RF SYSTEMS
Overcoming Environmental Obstacles
Along with the leaps in performance expected from next
-gen RF systems come increased ruggedization challenges,
especially with thermal management. Designing processors
to survive the extreme environments of deployed military
systems remains a focus area for mechanical engineers.
Commercially-designed components do not effortlessly
transition to operation in harsh, severely SWaP-constrained
environments and are reaching performance levels that run
hotter than can be easily dissipated. Recreating data center
functionality and capability within a VPX footprint requires
continuously engaging with multiple silicon vendors to inform
their embedded/industrial roadmaps, developing advanced
manufacturing techniques to reliably 'lay down' components on
a real estate-limited single -board form factor, and designing
new cooling approaches to manage thermal dissipation.
Protecting the Data
Cyberattacks are a growing threat on the electronic battlefield;
yet they are only one of a multitude of attempted intrusions
facing next generation RF systems. Deployed systems are
subject to the same security vulnerabilities as advanced
commercial systems. However, the consequences of a security
breach put lives at risk, and adversaries have demonstrated
a focused commitment on all forms of disruptive warfare.
Security for mission-critical systems must be built–in, not
bolted on as an afterthought. That means technologies
such as FPGA-based cryptography, root of security, secure
boot, sensors, fingerprinting and physical protections
can all be applied to protect our customers' systems. In
addition to providing proven security, physical impacts to
SWaP-C requirements can be minimized during design.
Countering Evolving Threats
To counter threats from adversarial airborne weapons
systems, ranging from intelligent swarms of UAVs to
hypersonic missiles, radars must detect and target
with ultra-low latency. In many cases, the radars must
also dynamically shift from surveillance of long-range
threats to tracking and jamming short-range targets.
Battlefield adversaries use advanced techniques across
the RF spectrum to affect all forms of military radar and
electronic warfare (EW) systems. By using very brief radar
pulses to locate aircraft, with pulse widths on the order
of nanoseconds, and frequency hopping communications
to avoid detection, adversarial field assets can be
protected while conducting attacks elsewhere. Detection
of stealthy signals requires sophisticated sensors and
processors capable of ingesting wide-bandwidth data.
To address the increased processing demands driven by
a dynamic threat landscape, next generation RF systems
must be equipped with sensor processors capable of being
maintained and upgraded through open architecture tenets.
