Radar Photo

COTS Synchronous Serial Solutions

COMMUNICATE WITH CONFIDENCE

Sealevel synchronous serial adapters are trusted for military, aerospace and commercial applications where reliable, high-speed communications are required. Choose from a variety of RS-232 or RS-232/422/485 multi-interface options using the industry-standard Zilog Z85230 Enhanced Serial Communication Controller (ESCC) or the powerful Zilog Z16C32 Integrated Universal Serial Controller (IUSC).

Compact Synchronous Server

 

We’ve added synchronous serial capabilities to our rugged Relio solid-state computers. Choose from powerful i7, i3 or Atom dual core processors models, each offering a wealth of standard I/O. Perfect for radar, satellite and other military applications, our compact Relio R2 Sync Server provides 4 synchronous ports, while the 1U Relio R6 includes 8.  Designed using the Zilog Z85230 ESCC, each synchronous channel is individually configurable for RS-232, RS-422, or RS-485.

 

Relio systems provide the advantages of COM Express architecture, require low power consumption and operate fanless over a wide 0-50°C temperature range. The systems are easily customized to match specific customer I/O requirements.

 

 

CASE STUDY: Synchronous Serial Adapter

 

Sealevel designed a custom PCIe Mini Card to connect a rugged, military computer server to radio modems installed in aircraft. The radio modems use a proprietary, synchronous protocol as the host interface with little documentation available and no opportunity for modification.

 

Key to the implementation is the use of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that contains the PCI Express interface IP and the custom synchronous serial control logic. The FPGA is coupled with a multi-protocol transceiver to drive and receive the RS-423 signals and provides Transmit and Receive FIFOs that are custom-sized for the required protocol and data rates, but may be resized for other applications. The FPGA offloads the host processor by sensing the sync pattern and only interrupting the  Sealevel-provided driver after a valid frame has been received. The Sealevel PCIe sync serial FPGA architecture is extensible and scalable to serve various custom synchronous serial protocols and applications.