New season, new beginning

16 September 2020
sbc6511_blog_pic_sept_18_2020_jet_mountains.jpg

It’s official. Well, not quite, but it’s getting close. Today’s weather here in western NC feels like fall is just around the corner. Yesterday, I saw a truck full of pumpkins heading down the mountain on their way to becoming Jack-o-lanterns that will adorn front porches across the south. The Christmas tree farms are tagging trees that will soon be removed from these cool, quiet hills and make their way to living rooms all over the country. Of course, the real start of fall is still a week away, but around here that’s something you just slide into, or rather, fall into. The real start of fall will likely happen with no celebration.

Yesterday at Abaco, however, we did celebrate. Yesterday, we launched the SBC6511, our first 6U VPX single board computer aligned with The Open Group Sensor Open Systems Architecture™, or SOSA™, technical standard. Some may say that’s no big deal. After all, other suppliers have 6U boards. OK, but are those built on Intel’s 9th Gen Xeon E six core CPU (formerly known as Coffee Lake Refresh) plus the Xilinx® Zynq® UltraScale+™ FPGA with advanced security capabilities (ZU7EG)? Are any of them aligned to the SOSA standard? As far as we can tell, no. This makes the SBC6511 the most up to date—possibly only—6U SOSA aligned SBC on the market.

Prime contractors needing SOSA aligned products have several options to choose from. Abaco’s plan is to make sure the people relying on us for embedded electronics get what they want, not just what they need. We have been working diligently to bring new SOSA aligned products to market, not older generation products with stripped down features and a couple fewer connectors. Our new SOSA aligned products are aligned by design, not by chance or re-work. This means program managers and engineers get to develop new programs that start with new silicon technology. New programs based on new designs—what a novel idea.

There is a great deal more new technology in the SBC6511 than the CPU and FPGA. Check out the press release, the web page or the datasheet to get the full story. This is our third SOSA aligned product. Like the SBC6511, our SBC3511 and IPN254 are also designed with the latest in CPU, FPGA, and, in the case of the IPN254, GPU technology. There are more where these came from, so be on the lookout for more SOSA aligned products—all with latest and greatest technology and feature sets—in the next few months.

The changing of the seasons is a good time to reflect on what has been and look forward to what’s next. But there is a time between the past and the future. Now. It’s a great time to take a minute to celebrate the now, like we are with the newest addition to our SOSA aligned lineup. Happy Fall, y’all!

Richard Mintz

Rich Mintz is a Senior Product Marketing Manager with Abaco Systems. For over twenty-five years, Rich has worked for global electronics and automation suppliers, serving manufacturing, utility, transportation, and government sectors through his roles in engineering, product management and marketing.