Thales PowerPC SBC Runs Linux In AMS High-Availability Naval Console

Raleigh NC, March 2004 - Thales Computers, a leader in providing integrated PowerPC and Pentium-based VME COTS systems and solutions to OEMs and system integrators, has announced that its series of PowerEngine single-board computers (SBCs) based on the latest IBM PowerPC 750FX processor, has been selected by AMS (Essex, England; Rome, Italy) as the processing engines for a new, integrated Compact Redundant Naval Console, the CTI 2000.

Thales Computers' PowerEngine series will serve as the central processors in each of the two modules incorporated into the CTI 2000: a Man Machine Interface (MMI) module running under BlueCat Linux and a real-time module running under LynxOS. Both are installed in the same VME rack to provide a compact, high-performance, high-availability management system for naval applications. The CTI 2000 will be the first system deployed as part of a $15 million upgrade of the command and control systems on two Royal Malaysian Navy Laksamana class Corvettes, awarded to AMS in 2002.

The CTI 2000 is a collaborative effort between AMS (Rome, Italy), Elesia, Thales Computers, and Primagraphics (Cambridge, UK). In addition to the PowerEngine boards provided by Thales Computers, Elesia developed the high-availability architecture and a high-availability library used in the CTI 2000, and also supplies a PMC Mezzanine Card (PMC) providing enhanced I/O; while Primagraphics is supplying an advanced graphics PMC.

The engineering staffs of all four companies worked together over a two-year period to develop the first naval console based on a PowerPC running Linux. The challenges overcome during development included the migration of the MMI feature from an AIX-based PowerPC to the PowerPC running Bluecat Linux, while simultaneously implementing a new generation of graphics board. The collaborative project has demonstrated the feasibility of developing stable, reliable, high-performance solutions for mission-critical applications, based only on COTS components, open standards, and open-source software.

According to Robert Negre, Thales Computers' Vice President of Technology, "It is a major accomplishment to reach the deployment stage in the defense market with a Linux solution. This effort emphasizes the commitment of Thales Computers to implement Linux-based solutions on PowerPC. And equally important, it demonstrates our ability to deliver those solutions rapidly in a collaborative relationship."