Upscreened Arm-based processor for hi-rel aerospace and defence applications

Teledyne e2v has announced that the company has qualified and released an upscreened version of the LX2160 to operate between -55C to +125C. The defence-qualified processor implements a 16-core Arm Cortex A72 design providing developers of AI-at-the-Edge computing systems, SBCs, and other compute-intensive systems embedded in aerospace and defence equipment with unparalleled performance in the smallest form factor and optimised power envelope.

Compared to the previous generation processor LS1046, a quad-core processor in NXP's 64-bit Arm Layerscape portfolio, which the company has also qualified, the power-efficient LX2160 provides designers of embedded systems a lift of 2.6 more Giga instructions per Watt. With 4x more cores and 6x more DMIPS (201k DMIPS @ 2.2GHz) computing capability, the device delivers notable performance benefits for aerospace and defence applications, including two DDR4 interfaces, 100GbE, multiple PCIe Gen3.0 and SATA Gen3.0, to allow faster switching and routing of data. The device also provides engineers an easy migration pathway for previously developed software assets on Arm based systems to more compute-intensive designs or system upgrades.

The company's defence qualification of the processor ensures designers of its functionality over a wide -55C to +125C operating temperature range. The device is housed in a compact 40mm x 40mm package, which reduces mounting area and minimises installation space. Also, it is committed to supporting the processor for 15+ years, avoiding common and costly obsolescence issues.

"The military qualification of NXP's flagship LX2160 processor enables Teledyne e2v to deliver to our aerospace and defence customers the high-performance needed for their compute-intensive applications," says Thomas Guillemain, marketing and business development manager of Digital Processing Solutions at Teledyne e2v. "We are already working to generate a space-qualified version of the LX2160 for launch next year."

Samples of the defence-qualified LX2160 processor are available now.