Mentor Blogs

If you enter into discussions with anyone in the military/aerospace (mil/aero) community, you’ll likely hear “sequestration” more than once. Conversations among defense professionals today invariably touch on the topic, some even escalate into heated, impromptu debates. Reactions and predictions on the topic of sequestration vary wildly among mil/aero professionals. At a recent event in Washington, … Read More

Milaero, Mil-Aero, Military, Software, Buck McKeon, soldier, Technology, Aerospace, Warfighters, Obama, Mentor Graphics, Office of Management and Budget, Mentor.com, President Obama, DoD, Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, Mentor

Intel is making a splash, again, at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Before I get to Intel’s news at the 2011 International CES, which opened its doors today, I wonder how well we all know Intel, its roots, and its relevance to the mil/aero market. Intel Corporation was founded in 1968 by Gordon E. Moore (the man behind Moore’s Law) and Robert Noyce (co-inventor of the integrated … Read More

intel, IA-64, Warfighters, x86, Aerospace, Engineer, battlefield, Geek, Gordon E. Moore, Hardware, 486, COTS, Electric, electrical, Computer, Electronic, Core, Embedded Systems, DoD, Design Automation, DX4, Vetronics, Mentor, soldier, soldiers, Military, Robert Noyce, Mil-Aero, Milaero, Mentor Graphics, Mentor.com

On September 23, 2010, the Department of the Army (U.S.) issued solicitation W9124D10IPADS for the purchase of 587 Apple iPads prepared to the following specification: “Item shall be equal to the salient characteristics of the Apple 32GB iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G.” Requirements include: - 32GB of storage that operates on skip-free flash memory eliminating the need for a hard drive and provides instant … Read More

soldier, Software, Mil-Aero, Computer, COTS, Milaero, Military, Operating System, Android, Electronic, iPhone, Mentor, Embedded Systems, Mentor Graphics, Electric, Mentor.com, electrical, Hardware, Geek, iPad, soldiers, Warfighters

The Apple iVolution has been going strong since the initial release of the iPod on October 23, 2001. Apple has significantly impacted cultures around the world; you can’t go around a corner these days without seeing the tell-tale white ear buds hanging from someone’s ears. iPods were so successful that they were followed up with a touchscreen variant, the iPod Touch, which was followed by the hugely … Read More

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Mil-aero organizations the world over are investigating, and even already adopting, non-ruggedized, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) computing and communications devices, including Apple’s popular iPad. It’s appealing: sleek, slim, compact, shiny. All good things. What it is not, not yet anyway, is rugged enough to withstand military and aerospace environments, missions, and applications. Some may recall … Read More

Mentor.com, Mentor Graphics, soldiers, Warfighters, Apple, Hardware, battlefield, iPad, iPhone, Mentor, Android, Electronic, Design Automation, Embedded Systems, Computer, FBI, COTS, Geek, Electric, DoD, electrical, soldier, Mil-Aero, rugged, Software, Operating System, Overheat, Military, network-centric, mil-std, Milaero

Android is sexy, as are the ever-increasing number of smartphones and PC tablets that take advantage of Google’s operating system (OS). Military personnel, even officials at the highest ranks, agree. Soldiers want to use Android devices and Apple’s iPad in the field, while on a mission, communicating, socializing, killing time, or blowing off steam. Soldiers have historically been frustrated by the … Read More

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Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems, a division of Raytheon in Waltham, Mass., can lay claim to unveiling what is arguably the hottest news to come out of AUSA 2010, the annual meeting and exposition of the Association of the United States Army, held last week in Washington, DC. It’s RATS. I’m not kidding. The acronym is unfortunate, but the system may hold the key to greater mission effectiveness, … Read More

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Android addicts are everywhere. Even those who didn’t anticipate using a larger number of apps on their smart phones are finding themselves downloading a new app almost daily. Google’s Android mobile operating system (OS) is making waves throughout the commercial market; and now, thanks to Raytheon engineers in Waltham, Mass., it is likely to change the face of the digital battlefield. Soldiers are … Read More

Microsoft, Mentor.com, Hardware, Apple, apps, iPhone, Mentor, Mentor Graphics, Android, Embedded Systems, COTS, Engineer, battlefield, Geek, Computer, Google, DoD, Design Automation, Electronic, Xbox, network-centric, UAV, Warfighters, soldier, soldiers, Raytheon, Software, Operating System, PSP

In a previous life, I was a DJ and the lasers were one of my favorite parts of the nightclub (aside from the music). I have always been enamored by these amazing devices that shoot coherent beams of light out of them. LASER is an acronym meaning Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation and what many may not know is the predecessor of the laser was the MASER, which means Microwave Amplification … Read More

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The military and aerospace (mil/aero) community uses hundreds of acronyms; this fact became evident almost immediately as I began work in the industry. The most prevalent and important acronym continues to be SWaP—which stands for size, weight, and power. SWaP is of paramount importance to mil/aero systems designers, and to the end users—including warfighters in the field reliant on electrical and … Read More

soldier, Size, Mil-Aero, Computer, COTS, Milaero, Military, battlefield, electrical, Hardware, Electronic, Mentor, Mentor Graphics, Mentor.com, Electric, Engineer, Embedded Systems, Geek, soldiers, Warfighters, Weight, SWaP, Vetronics

Technology is moving at an accelerated pace. Processor development yields novel architectures, greater power, and faster speeds; and, all the while, technology companies and device manufacturers are vying to be the one with the “next best thing.” I have been in the mil/aero industry more than a decade and have always been on top of the latest and greatest; it’s a geek’s hobby after all. However, there … Read More

network-centric, Military, Mentor Graphics, battlefield, Computer, Mentor.com, Mil-Aero, Milaero, antenna, DoD, hertz, Electronic, marconi, COTS, Mentor, Geek, Embedded Systems, Hardware, soldier, soldiers, Warfighters

At the heart of most mil/aero electronics—and arguably the most important component of current electronics systems is the processor. Virtually all mil/aero electronics take advantage of processors of one sort or another, whether x86, powerPC, RISC, FPGA, 32-bit, or 64-bit. Many different types of processing devices are employed by the modern warfighter, in fact. Today’s soldier, fed up with being made … Read More

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Processors are rapidly advancing the state of the art in the commercial world, and the mil/aero community is anxious to reap the benefits of the technology. Moore’s Law, which states that the number of transistors placed on an integrated circuit will double every two years, has taken on a slightly different look and feel as we are reach the physical limits of transistor density in a single core. We … Read More

DoD, Hardware, Silicon, Computer, Mentor, Design Automation, Moore's Law, soldiers, Mentor Graphics, Electric, Military, Multicore, Warfighters, battlefield, moore, Gordon E. Moore, Electronic, Mil-Aero, Embedded Systems, Engineer, Milaero, Aerospace, network-centric, Geek, soldier

The mil/aero community is beginning to turn to current bleeding-edge computing technology, and move away from lengthy design cycles that result in fielding technology that is often four to five, or even 10 years, behind the commercial curve. The network-centric battlefield—in which the right information is delivered to the right person at the right time—is starting to take shape, and it requires secure, … Read More

Operating System, network-centric, Mil-Aero, commercial-off-the-shelf, COTS, Milaero, Military, netcentric, battlefield, Hardware, Electronic, Mentor, Mentor Graphics, Design Automation, Mentor.com, design cycle, Geek, Embedded Systems, Global Hawk, Software, Warfighters, UAV, Vetronics, soldier, soldiers

Welcome to part two of my four-part (part one) ESC 2010 blog series. Today’s topic: shifts in the industry. One of the biggest trends I observed at the show was the start of a paradigm shift in the evolution of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software companies and their products. EDA software companies have traditionally provided the software tools and services to create modern day semiconductors, … Read More

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