company confidential - copyright 2009 1 cots computer systems in military & aerospace...

Company Confidential - Copyright 20091

COTS Computer Systems in Military & Aerospace

Applications


COTS

Terminology• COTS – Commercially off the Shelf• MOTS – Military off the Shelf• MOTS – Modified off the Shelf• Wikipedia:• COTS is a term for or hardware, generally technology

or computer products, that are ready-made and available for sale, or license to the general public. They are often used as alternatives to in-house developments or one-off government-funded developments. The use of COTS is being mandated across many government and business programs, as they may offer significant savings in procurement and maintenance.


Military/Aerospace COTS

• Military and Aerospace grade computer electronics has shrunk from around 10% of the overall market in the 1980's to well below 1%

• Its safe to say COTS is here to stay. • Its not for ALL applications but its

definitely for many• More applications become viable and

affordable with COTS


COTS Driver #1 - Availability

AVAILABILITY• COTS is increasingly the only form in

which the required high tech computing components are available

• The military/aerospace market is too small in volume for Military Spec Equivalents


COTS Driver #2 - Value

COTS based computer systems provide the best commercial value for increasingly complex applications and equally stretched defence and aerospace budgets


COTS Driver #3 - Timetable

DEVELOPMENT TIMETABLE• COTS can substantially reduce

development timelines• COTS is not normally a 100% solution• In many applications its near enough so

there is still a small gap of extra development, but shorter, cheaper & easier to manage


COTS Drivers – ICT Technology

• Technological advancements are at their most prolific in the consumer, commercial computing and gaming sector

• Micro-processors are now nano-processors with multi-core & cell processors we are at 35nm Technology

• The race to 0nm is on! Electrons will become the transistors

• Digital vision, graphics, communications, storage, network connectivity and many other technologies, are all driven by consumer markets


Computing Drivers - Processing Power

• When I entered my career over 30years ago the 8086 & 6800 were the staple diet

• Moore’s Law – Doubling of transistor density every 12-18months (CPU & Memory)

• Commercial computing is consistently delivering unprecedented processing power

• Xeon 5500 (Nahalem) = 6 Cores/ 12 Cores with Hyperthredding


Computing Drivers - Processing Power


MIP Benchmark

• 1 MIP = IBM System/370 – 1972 (Extremely Expensive - $1m+)• 0.5 MIP = VAX 11/780 – 1977 (Expensive - $250K+)• 1.8 MIP = 286 PC – 1982 (The dawn of Cheap Computing - $2K)• 9,800 MIP – Pentium 4


Graphics


Graphics

GPUs are getting as powerful as CPUs


COTS Technology Trends

• The same trends can be seen in a multitude of other COTS components

• Networking – 1Mb … 10Gb Ethernet• Storage – 1MB … 2TB Magnetic Drives• 100-300GB Solid state drives now

commercially viable• Displays 100”+• Etc…..


COTS Software Standardisation

• Love them or hate them Microsoft have introduced software standardisation

• Complex warfare/avionics systems are increasingly Intelligent Distributed Interconnected

• OS & Software standardisation is required• Centralised/remote embedded device/system

management & maintenance is required


Real-Time & Deterministic

•Hard real-time control logic executes on dedicated cores•No dedicated hardware components (eg. DSPs or FPGAs)


Managing the Forest• COTS Software already exists for managing

forests of complex technology ecosystems eg. Microsoft System Center


COTS Hardware + Software

•COTS Hardware +

•COTS Software =

Solutions and enablers for a multitude of complex applications previously technically and commercially un-

feasible


Technology Market Drivers• Consumer components are: • Notorious for having short product life

cycles to meet consumer demand for faster, cheaper, in forever smaller footprints.

• Notorious for being un-reliable. Quick to market, little time to fix bugs,

quickly move to next generation• Barely reliably operational in benign

environments, let alone hostile ones• BUT there are NO MIL-STD equivalents


Managing & De-Risking COTS

COTS needs to be supplemented with managed processes based on specialist

know-how & experience


Challenge is Managing COTS• Challenge 1• Ensuring that the COTS parts satisfy the

performance requirements of the application as closely as possible

• Achieved through Best of Breed Component Selection Close relationship with the Manufacturers &

Supply Chain management Rigorous testing and technical/performance

benchmarking Ensuring that best of batch selection is

undertaken through up-screening testing


Best of Breed Component Selection


Challenge in Managing COTS

• Challenge 2• Engineering in additional mitigating

protection to compensate for shortfalls and remain fit-for-purpose particularly in areas such as shock, vibration, thermal management, ingress protection for water/sand/dust, etc…

• Bridging the gap between a commercial operating environment and a significantly more hostile one


Protecting the Technology


Challenge is Managing COTS

• Challenge 3• Compensating for lack of Certification of

Conformity and Origin by FMEA reviews Rigorous component testing Record keeping Disciplined inspection Change control management regime


Compliance & Certification


Challenge is Managing COTS

• Challenge 4• Ensuring continuity of component

supply/spares through: Whole life component management planning Selection of components from long term

(Embedded) Roadmaps Extensive best practice obsolescence

management Close partnerships and controls of the

supply chain Storage management


Qualified Batch not Component• Challenge 5• Qualification process for up-screen testing of

lower grade devices to elevated specifications• The result is a qualified batch, not a qualified

component • The qualified batch is then controlled and

managed with appropriate safeguards• These can then be used to compensate the

lack of traceability provided by COTS manufacturers


Change & Obsolescence

• Challenge 6• Military projects with development

phases that can last up to tens of years, and in-service lifetimes of greater still

• Built with components with lifecycles measured in months.

• COTS change & obsolescence management is possible but requires specialist know-how and experience


COTS Management Strategy

• Whole life component management planning becomes a critical function

• Must ensure adequate supplies of fit-for-purpose computing systems throughout the Concept, Assessment, Development, Manufacture, In-service, and Disposal cycle


Need to define a COTS strategy• Central to COTS strategy and business

approach is maximizing the value of the computer system investment by reducing through-life cost of ownership, minimizing impact of obsolescence and de-risking in-field failures.

• Seeking to maximise backwards compatibility from one generation to another (fit, form & function).

• Coupling with periodic technology refresh opportunities that increase performance without disruption to the existing hardware or software environment.


Summary• The trend to COTS is set to continue unabated• To deploying COTS in military/aerospace

systems roadmaps offers significant cost benefits

• Requires a specialist model of deployment• Need to bridge the technical and performance

gaps between the demands of the operating environment and the capabilities of the technology to operate reliably within it

• Need to manage COTS through best practice, to leverage its benefits and mitigate its shortfalls


Any Questions?

Max [email protected]

company confidential - copyright 2009 1 cots computer systems in military & aerospace...

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