Leveraging Emerging Embedded Processing Trends in Rotorcraft Advanced Open System Architectures (AOSA)

This paper summarizes some of the key challenges for next generation Rotorcraft Advanced Open System Architectures (AOSA) and relates them to emerging solutions and technology trends occurring in the embedded computer market. The challenges of next generation AOSA include: meeting radical affordability targets by leveraging Moore's law and Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA), providing interoperability adapters for mixed legacy and next generation environments, supporting System-of-Systems (SoS) Community-of-Interest (COI) real-time and stored data exchange needs, delivering increased robustness (safety, security, and reliability), enabling software reuse and spiral developments, and supporting affordable technology insertion within a diminished supply chain. The architecture design challenge is to develop an AOSA that includes optimized set of standards, components, and topology which can best leverage the trends and investment in the embedded computing market given a set of evaluation criteria. Typical evaluation criteria that are used in AOSA option trades include overall life cycle cost, performance, risk, and growth. Embedded Compute Node (ECN) component trends include the explosion in multicore processing, Graphics Processor Graphics Processing Unit (GPGPU) based accelerators, and 4-8 billion transistor custom Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) accelerators. Embedded Model Driven Design (EMDD) trends include direct synthesis from SystemC behavioral and MATLAB algorithmic descriptions to targeted autocode environments for both software and firmware to languages including C, C++, Verilog, and VHDL. Embedded Networking (EN) trends include migration toward 10 Gigabit Ethernet and high speed fabrics, Top-of-Stack (TOS) and crypto accelerators integrated directly on the processor chip, and Internet Protocol unification with Quality-of-Service (QoS) support. Embedded System Thermal (EST) trends include technology for markets focused on handheld battery life and compact size of iPods and iPads with improved power management features. Embedded Physical Interconnection (EPI) trends include the explosion in the use of optical fiber based infrastructure. Embedded Software Infrastructure (ESI) trends include GPGPU programming environments, hypervisor based operating system environments, Service Oriented Architectures (SOA), deeply embedded virtualization environments, and the emergence of many Open Group application environment initiatives like the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE™). This paper presents a selected set of AOSA drivers, their decomposition into derived requirements for components / standards / topology, and a mapping to key embedded computing trends and solutions. A 2015 generic Rotorcraft AOSA system architecture is used to relate this mapping to the design alternatives tradespace.