BAE Systems (English: BAE Systems plc[3], also translated as British Aerospace Systems[Note 1]) is a multinational defense and aerospace company headquartered in London, UK. It was formed in 1999 from the merger of British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems, a subsidiary of General Electric, with the name derived from the initials of British Aerospace “BAE” and “Systems” from Marconi Electronic Systems [4].
According to 2010 statistics, BAE Systems ranked second in global arms sales with $32.9 billion [Note 2][5], later surpassed by Boeing to third place. It is the largest aerospace company in the UK and the largest missile manufacturer, as well as the largest aerospace manufacturer in Western Europe, with its economic operations heavily reliant on military industrial revenue. The old company was established in 1963 and remains headquartered in London after reorganization.
Business
It mainly develops and produces military aircraft, civil aircraft, missiles, satellites, electronic devices, instruments, testing equipment, and related weapon systems, almost monopolizing the development and production of military aircraft, spacecraft, and tactical missiles in the UK.
As of December 30, 2012, the company had 88,200 employees in Australia, India, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the US.
Introduction
BAE Systems Avionics Systems received a $70 million contract to provide 128 radar systems for the Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft’s map display system (as shown in Figure 1).
The system is called the Tornado Advanced Radar/Map Display Information System (TARDIS), developed in the UK, replacing the outdated radar projection map display system.TARDIS is a state-of-the-art system using active matrix liquid crystal displays, the latest radar processing technology, MAP generation software, and graphics using Wind River platform technology and Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components.
TARDIS provides digital color displays for Tornado pilots and navigators, which can be used collaboratively or independently, and performs radar data and digital data fusion for moving map display data, providing advanced, enhanced situational awareness for low-level terrain navigation and avoidance capabilities.
System Architecture
The TARDIS map display system is an evolution of the VxWorks-based map display system developed by BAE Systems Avionics Systems for other military aircraft.The architecture of the TARDIS map display system is a multi-processor VMEbus design, including multiple PowerPC VME single-board computers (SBC) running VxWorks 5.5 real-time operating system (RTOS) APIs.The control processor consists of Curtiss-Wright Controls SVME/DMV-179 COTS SBC, while the display processor is Curtiss-Wright Controls SVME/DMV-712, which is a collaboration between BAE Systems in the UK and Curtiss-Wright in Canada.The software for the digital moving map display device running on PowerPC processors under VxWorks communicates between processors via a VMEbus backplane, using Wind River shared memory object multi-processing middleware.This allows data to be shared efficiently between VxWorks tasks running on control and display processors while providing scalability from the underlying VMEbus architecture. The device software running on the display processor under VxWorks uses the OpenGL graphics library to drive active-matrix liquid crystal displays.BAE Systems has defined an optimization strategy based on using Wind River’s general platform, VxWorks version, for developing TARDIS map display device software as part of its CMM Level 5 software development process.The Wind River general platform enables BAE Systems engineers to accelerate development through a toolkit that includes validated tools for developing, building, debugging, and optimizing their C and C++ device software.User interface.Additionally, the VxWorks RTOS provides generality across TARDIS by abstracting software from the underlying hardware to control and display processor architecture.This strategy allows BAE Systems engineers to gain experience, develop expertise, and maximize their productivity through continuous use of development tools.
Tool Suite.
The Royal Air Force needed to quickly develop navigation for its Tornado GR4 low-level attack aircraft. The system, called TARDIS, required dynamic processing of radar data and digital moving map display data for pilots and navigators. The challenge was to reliably integrate multiple highly complex software applications to generate full-color, real-time displays.
BAE chose the VxWorks® real-time operating system (RTOS), its development tool platform, and Wind River® Professional Services to deliver the state-of-the-art Tornado Advanced Radar/Map Display Information System, TARDIS.
By using Wind River’s products and services, BAE avionics engineers were able to meet their challenging deadlines with an advanced system using liquid crystal active matrix displays, the latest radar processing technology, and advanced map generation software and graphics. TARDIS provides digital color displays for pilots and navigators, who can view the displays together or independently. The system integrates radar data and digital moving map display data to provide optimal situational awareness for low-level terrain navigation and avoidance capabilities.
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