INDUSTRY

SRC Computers, Inc. has been awarded a development contract to create a miniaturized computer system based on their Unified Computing Architecture (UCA) and reconfigurable MAP processor for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Sensors Directorate. The resulting mobile/man-portable computer is expected to perform 96 Gflops with over 6 GBytes per second of direct sensor I/O bandwidth in a single processor weighing as little as 10 pounds, depending on configuration. Even higher levels of performance are achievable for non-floating point applications such as image processing. The system will initially be used to support a variety of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and other Air Force sensor applications. Processors on board today's UAVs are only capable of processing about 10% of the data acquired by on-board sensors. According to Tim Kemerley, Chief of Aerospace Components Division, Sensors Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, "The object of this program is to accelerate the development and transition of a new on-board RF and EO/IR sensor signal processor that will increase the capability per unit volume and power by a factor of 500 to 1000." Under this contract, SRC will shrink the MAP and work with technology providers ISR and Tessera to add an optional 2 Gsample per second A/D front end and cool the assembly with a SprayCool system. Jon Huppenthal, President and CEO of SRC Computers, asserts: "Both military and commercial customers have shown significant interest in the Compact MAP. Consequently, SRC will use the Compact MAP developed under the contract throughout its product line in a variety of form factors." To date, SRC has delivered a standard SRC-6 system to the AFRL, which will be used to port existing applications to the UCA in preparation for the receipt of Compact MAP systems in late 2004 and early 2005. MAP is a general purpose reconfigurable Direct Execution Logic processor that offers orders of magnitude improvement in performance, volume and power consumption as compared to high-end microprocessors. SRC currently produces general purpose computing systems based on the UCA with MAP for embedded, workstation and high-end server markets, and has had systems in the field for several years. All SRC systems are software compatible and are programmed using standard high-level languages and programming models under SRC's Carte (pronounced KAR-te) programming environment, making the systems very programmer friendly. SRC Computers, Inc. is a privately owned company, established in 1996 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, by legendary computer architect Seymour Cray. Since that time, SRC has developed and delivered a new Unified Computing Architecture that provides orders of magnitude increases in performance over conventional microprocessors. Because this SRC-developed software and hardware architecture is applicable to products ranging from uniprocessor handheld devices to large-scale multiprocessor computer systems, SRC is able to offer solutions targeted at the high performance server and workstation markets as well as the embedded markets. SRC's website is located at www.srccomputers.com. ISR is a privately held corporation located in Liberty Lake, Washington. The company was founded in 1988 and has developed a revolutionary system level approach to packaging and cooling electronics. ISR delivers total system solutions in partnership with customers in telecommunications, computing, power and defense that enable next generation performance with solid reliability. ISR's website is located at www.spraycool.com. Tessera (Nasdaq:TSRA) develops semiconductor packaging technology that meets the demand for miniaturization and increased performance of electronic products. Tessera licenses its technology to its customers, enabling them to produce semiconductors that are smaller and faster, and incorporate more features. These semiconductors are utilized in a broad range of communications, computing and consumer electronic products. Tessera's website is located at www.tessera.com.