VMETRO to Include Pentek A/D Boards in Phoenix VXS System Solutions

VMETRO, the market leader in delivering VXS-based (VITA 41) processing solutions, has further expanded the scope of its Phoenix product line by announcing an OEM relationship with Pentek. This agreement enables VMETRO to leverage Pentek's expertise by including several of Pentek's VXS and XMC A/D boards with VMETRO's Phoenix processing and Vortex data recording solutions. This arrangement further enhances VMETRO's ability to deliver Phoenix VXS system solutions suited for demanding signal processing applications in defense and aerospace markets.

The products within VMETRO's Phoenix family are system-level components interconnected with high-speed serial links, such as defined by the VXS standard, and they provide a balanced combination of high-speed communications and high-performance processing. The addition of A/D converter products to the Phoenix product family is a natural progression because of the requirement for A/D front-ends in many applications such as SIGINT, EW, ELINT, and radar, in which VMETRO's existing VPF1 high-performance processing boards are used. The supported Pentek A/D converter products feature resolutions from 10 to 14 bits and sampling rates from 100 MHz to 2 GHz.

The value that VMETRO is adding is twofold. First, VMETRO will provide IP that resides in the FPGAs of the A/D converter boards and FPGA/PowerPC processors cards, such as VMETRO's VPF1, that facilitates the communication between the boards across the VXS high-speed serial interconnects. This firmware IP, together with its corresponding software API, form VMETRO's TransComm toolkit. Having this firmware and software available to customers will free them from having to develop the VXS communications infrastructure and allow them to focus on developing their FPGA algorithms. Second, the up-front integration and testing work done by VMETRO will greatly simplify customers' system development effort.

This agreement further strengthens VMETRO and Pentek's partnership world-wide, by building upon the existing distribution of Pentek products through VMETRO's wholly-owned subsidiaries (called VSYSTEMS) throughout Europe.