- FACEREF1 is a complete, ready-to-run hardware platform
- Provides optimal support for Wind River Systems, Presagis software
- High performance, high Technology Reference Level
HUNTSVILLE, AL July 31, 2012 GE Intelligent Platforms (NYSE: GE) announced the FACEREF1 Software Reference Platform today at the FACE™ Consortium Meeting (PEO Aviation, Huntsville, AL). The FACEREF1 platform is designed to allow organizations developing FACE-compliant applications to take advantage of a COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) solution that is pre-configured, pre-validated and pre-tested -- reducing risk, cost and time-to-market. It provides a platform for customers to try COTS software, develop application code, and demonstrate capabilities on a rugged platform that is capable of being deployed on real airborne platforms.
The Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE™) Consortium, an Open Group Managed Consortium, is leading the development of open standards for avionics systems. The Consortium is creating a technologically appropriate open FACE reference architecture, standards and business model that will ensure interoperability, increase portability, promote innovation and competition, bring advanced capabilities to the warfighter faster and lower implementation costs.
The FACE Consortium provides a vendor-neutral forum for industry and the U.S. government to work together to develop and consolidate the open standards, best practices, guidance documents and business models necessary to achieve these results.
GE is working closely with Wind River Systems and Presagis to ensure that the two companies' software roadmaps for FACE-compliant operating system, OpenGL and HMI tools work "out of the box" on the FACEREF1 hardware platform.
"A key objective of the FACE initiative is to create an environment in which advanced, yet proven, computing technologies can be deployed to the warfighter faster and at lower cost," said Rod Rice, General Manager, Military & Aerospace Products, GE Intelligent Platforms. "The FACEREF1 platform allows these objectives to be met by taking advantage of an off-the-shelf, high performance solution that features a high Technology Reference Level (TRL), that is ready to run, and that eliminates the time, risk and cost that would be incurred by developers creating a solution in-house."
GE's FACEREF1 Software Reference Platform is a complete, rugged subsystem that features GE's SBC312 single board computer and PMCCG1 graphics PMC. The SBC312 is based on Freescale™'s Power Architecture™ P4080 8-core processor yet has the power envelope of previous dual core systems, while the PMCCG1 features the high performance/low power S3 2300E GPU (graphics processing unit). The interface between the CPU and GPU is via a 4-lane PCI Express® to PCI-X® bridge, allowing high-bandwidth connectivity between the two processors.
For more information: http://defense.ge-ip.com/products/3687.
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FACE is a trademark of the Future Airborne Capability Environment Consortium. Freescale is a trademark of Freescale Semiconductor Inc. PCI Express and PCI-X are registered trademark s of PCI-SIG. Power Architecture is a trademark of Power.org. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Ian McMurray
GE Energy Management
[email protected]
+44-(0)-1327-322821