87 results about "Commercial off-the-shelf" patented technology

A safety critical, time sensitive data system for projecting safety / mission critical data onto a display pair of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) light weight projection glasses or monocular creating a virtual 360° HUD (Heads Up Display) with 6 degrees of freedom movement. The system includes the display, the workstation, the application software, and inputs containing the safety / mission critical information (Current User Position, Total Collision Avoidance System—TCAS, Global Positioning System—GPS, Magnetic Resonance Imaging—MRI Images, CAT scan images, Weather data, Military troop data, real-time space type markings etc.). The workstation software processes the incoming safety / mission critical data and converts it into a three dimensional space for the user to view. Selecting any of the images may display available information about the selected item or may enhance the image. Predicted position vectors may be displayed as well as 3D terrain.

A secure computing system is provided which utilizes a unique combination of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Virtual Private Networking (VPN), and server-based computing on thin client devices. The combination of technology and components provide secure computing through Defense-in-Depth using commercial off-the-shelf components.

An adapter for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) circuit card modules resulting in increased cooling efficiency. COTS circuit card modules generally have at least one printed wiring board (PWB), at least one component mounted on the PWB, a heatsink or some type of heat path, a frame for supporting the cards, and a wedgelock for use with a conduction-cooled chassis. The adapter increases the cooling efficiency of such COTS modules while allowing them to remain compliant with IEEE 1101.2 Specifications. The invention is efficient in removing heat from the COTS circuit card modules as it increases the conduction contact area between the chassis cold wall and the COTS module. In addition, the adapter allows for the use of an extended width wedgelock to increase the clamping force over the conduction contact area. The extended width wedgelock is mounted to one surface of the frame such that when installed in a conduction-cooled chassis, the opposite frame surface is forced against the chassis cold wall. The increased wedgelock size approximately doubles the clamping force applied. The net effect of these improvements are a reduction in the thermal resistance per inch of wedgelock length. This, in turn, reduces the module to chassis interface temperature rise. The improved thermal resistances and decreased temperature rises boost the reliability of the COTS circuit cards, particularly in the stringent environments experienced in military applications.

Method and apparatus are provided for preventing faulty commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) peripherals or I / Os from disabling the bus to which they are connected. The apparatus has isolators coupled to the bus and the I / Os. A controller is coupled between the interfaces, a processor and memory, operating such that an I / O cannot transfer data to the bus without permission from the bus. Isolation memory keeps I / O and bus messages separate. I / O messages are checked before being sent to the bus. The method comprises: determining if there is a message for the peripheral, temporarily storing the message, determining if the message is for output or input, and if for output, sending it to the peripheral, and if for input, requesting and receiving it from the peripheral, temporarily storing and checking it, and transferring it to the bus only if valid. This prevents a failed I / O or peripheral from disabling the bus.

A commercial off-the-shelf smartphone is adapted, through software modifications only, to provide multiple operating domains or domains that provide differing levels of security and reliability. Each operating domain is isolated from the others. Detection of unauthorized modification is provided. Cross domain activity notification is provided.

Electronic displays are physically reshaped and / or resized to meet custom specifications for special applications such as avionics, where Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) are not typically used. Customization includes cutting the physical display to specified dimensions to fit into a target opening, and resealing the display to preserve proper cell spacing and assure basic functionality. The target opening is typically a control panel or dashboard opening, such as in the cockpit of an airplane. The sealing process may include improving the original seal, and / or providing additional seals. Additional seals may protect sensitive areas against chemical corrosives or contamination, humidity, electrostatic damage, etc., and / or prevent light from passing around the edge of the display image area. Electric continuity may need to be reestablished for electric leads affected during the customization process, and electronic drivers may need to be reattached to the display. Additional modifications and / or enhancements may be made to the display during reshaping and / or resizing. For example, TABs or COGs may be relocated, added, removed, replaced, and / or reoriented; electric circuits may be replaced and / or supplemented with circuits having different functionality; the display medium may be altered and / or replaced; polarizers, filters, and / or films may be added, removed, and / or replaced. The customized display may then be ruggedized by attaching a suitable bezel (face plate) and frame (support hardware) thereto, and the completed, customized display unit may then be installed in the target location and integrated with surrounding hardware and electronics.

Methods and apparatus are provided for standardizing an interface infrastructure between sensor devices and client applications. The apparatus comprises a Sensor Application Integration Framework (SAIF) in the form of an application program interface (API) transport layer between sensor devices and client applications. Sensor services are registered in the SAIF API as interface definitions, and the client applications search the interface definitions corresponding to desired sensor services. An interactive handshake of messages and data between client applications and sensor services is implemented via the SAIF API by means of standard communication protocols such as XML. The SAIF API abstracts the details of the underlying sensor hardware from the client application, and can therefore function as a standard interface for sensor simulation, for sensor emulation, and for an active sensor device. The SAIF API hardware and associated software are generally compatible with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology.

Apparatus and methods for thermal conditioning equipment. In a preferred embodiment, an equipment enclosure comprises a body, a wall, a fluid port, and a fixture. The body defines an outer plenum and an inner chamber in the latter of which the fixture retains the equipment. The wall, which is between the outer plenum and the inner chamber, isolates the thermally conditioned first fluid from a second fluid in the inner chamber. Since the wall is thermally conductive it allows heat to be transferred between the outer plenum and the inner chamber. The fluid port is in communication with the outer plenum to allow the thermally conditioned first fluid to flow into the outer plenum. Baffle plates are also provided to distribute flow of the second fluid to the equipment.

A distributed control system architecture (HSE) provides an open, interoperable solution optimized for integration of distributed control systems and other control devices in a high performance backbone, provides an open, interoperable solution that provides system time synchronization suitable for distributed control applications operable over a high performance backbone, and provides an open, interoperable solution that provides a fault tolerant high performance backbone as well as fault tolerant devices that are connected to the backbone. The distributed control system architecture comprises a High speed Ethernet Field Device Access (HSE FDA) Agent, which maps services of a distributed control system, e.g., a fieldbus System, to and from a standard, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Ethernet / Internet component. The distributed control system architecture also comprises a High speed Ethernet System Management Kernel (HSE SMK) that operates to keep a local time, and keeps the difference between the local time and a system time provided by a time server within a value specified by the time sync class. The local time is used to time stamp events so that event messages from devices may be correlated across the system. The distributed control system architecture further comprises a High speed Ethernet Local Area Network Redundancy Entity (HSE LRE) that provides redundancy transparent to the applications running on the system. The HSE LRE of each device periodically transmits a diagnostic message representing its view of the network to the other Devices on the system. Each device uses the diagnostic messages to maintain a Network Status Table (NST), which is used for fault detection and selection from a redundant pair of resources.

Systems and methods for redundancy management in fault tolerant computing are provided. The systems and methods generally relate to enabling the use of non-custom, off-the-shelf components and tools to provide redundant fault tolerant computing. The various embodiments described herein, generally speaking, use a decrementer register in a general purpose processor for synchronizing identical operations across redundant general purpose processors, execute redundancy management services in the kernels of commercial off-the-shelf real-time operating systems (RTOS) running on the general purpose processors, and use soft coded tables to schedule operations and assign redundancy management parameters across the general purpose processors.

Systems and methods for redundancy management in fault tolerant computing are provided. The systems and methods generally relate to enabling the use of non-custom, off-the-shelf components and tools to provide redundant fault tolerant computing. The various embodiments described herein, generally speaking, use a decrementer register in a general purpose processor for synchronizing identical operations across redundant general purpose processors, execute redundancy management services in the kernels of commercial off-the-shelf real-time operating systems (RTOS) running on the general purpose processors, and use soft coded tables to schedule operations and assign redundancy management parameters across the general purpose processors.