AB3100H Ballard Technology Rugged Computer

The Astronics / Ballard Technology AB3000 Series Rugged Computers are a family of compact, conduction-cooled computers for use in demanding environments. These versatile systems include many built-in standard peripherals, avionics databuses, and user interfaces, as well as PMC expansion capability. With the addition of application software, the AB3000 provides a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solution to challenging interface, bridging, control, and audio/display problems.

The AB3000 can be used for data and protocol conversion, databus/network bridging, data servers, data recorders, communications, power controllers, federated controllers and multiple net-centric applications. They also support voice and visual processing for cockpit voice actions, canned message delivery, workstation expansion and more. The AB3000 is small and lightweight for easy integration into today's modern aircraft, UAVs, and ground mobile platforms.

At the heart of the AB3000 is a user-programmable Intel Atom E680T processor with hyper-threading and virtualization. It features an integrated graphics media accelerator (GMA) for 2D/3D video and 2-channel audio. Protocol processing for the avionics interfaces is off-loaded to dedicated interface circuitry, maximizing Intel processor resources for the user application.

There are two ways software can operate the AB3000: embedded or tethered. Embedded programs are typically developed on a host computer and then uploaded to the AB3000's non-volatile flash memory. At power-on the embedded application boots from the flash memory and runs without host intervention. In tethered operation, a separate computer runs the application and controls the AB3000 over ethernet.