And speaking of OpenVPX ... we chose BittWare’s new GT-3U-VPX (GT3X) hybrid signal processing board for an Editor’s Choice award because it offers just so darn many intriguing combinations: The board is fashioned in a 3U VPX form factor – yet also supports several OpenVPX slot profiles. Then there’s the processing power – Is it generated by DSPs or FPGAs? Well, both. GT3X integrates four ADSP-TS201S TigerSHARC Analog Devices DSPs in addition to a Stratix II GX FPGA from Altera. The result: A powerful “this and that” fast fusion board offering simultaneous off- and on-board data transfers at speeds faster that 2 GBps, thanks to BittWare’s ATLANTiS FrameWork enabling technology, tucked inside the Stratix II. And, like any true VPX board, it’s available on a platform that’s ruggedizable.

Additional plusses of this conduction-cooled, extended temp board – also well-suited for image processing and electronic warfare – include: 19 high-speed SERDES transceivers channels, eight link ports routed from the DSPs (up to 600 MBps), up to 1 GB onboard DDR2-SDRAM, and flash memory of 64 MB to facilitate booting the FPGA and DSPs.