Advanced Computing in the Age of AI | Friday, April 26, 2024

Mercury Introduces Model 5560 FPGA Co-processing Board Powered by AMD Xilinx Versal Technology 

ANDOVER, Mass., Sept. 28, 2022 -- Mercury Systems, Inc. (www.mrcy.com), a leader in trusted, secure mission-critical technologies for aerospace and defense, today introduced the Model 5560, its next-generation 3U OpenVPX SOSA aligned co-processing board that is the first to be powered by the AMD Xilinx Versal HBM series with integrated high-bandwidth memory.

Why It Matters
Electronic warfare and spectrum processing applications used by land, air, and sea-based platforms must capture input signals, process them, and deliver output signals on extremely short timelines. Near-peer adversaries are investing in capabilities to achieve split-second information advantages in warfare, and the United States and its allies must rely on trusted, secure processing to maintain technological superiority.

Many existing defense systems use field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) as co-processers to accelerate data processing at the edge, but they run into bottlenecks when data is transferred to memory that is positioned elsewhere on the board, which delays decision making. Mercury’s Model 5560 is directly integrated with the on-chip HBM via the Versal Programmable Network-On-Chip, resulting in up to an 8x increase in bandwidth and 63% lower power compared to a system using external memory. With gigabytes of HBM directly accessible by the Versal HBM adaptable engines, the overall amount of data that can be pushed through the system can be significantly increased. Model 5560 is the new flagship in Mercury’s portfolio of co-processors that use HBM technology, joining the Model 5585 and 5586 modules.

“The climate of continuous urgency in the geopolitical environment is escalating demand for faster, more powerful and secure aerospace and defense systems,” said Kevin Beals, Vice President and General Manager of Mercury Signal Solutions. “By collaborating with technology leaders like AMD, we put the most powerful American innovations into the hands of those who ensure the safety of our nation.”

“The combined power of high capacity on-chip High Bandwidth Memory, using our unique 2.5D packaging technology, coupled with our advanced Programmable Network-On-Chip technology, which is integrated into the highly specialized Model 5560 architecture, results in solution that is purpose-built for extremely demanding customer requirements,” said Manuel Uhm, director of Silicon Marketing, AMD.

Processing massive amounts of data at the edge with Model 5560

  • 16 GB of Versal high-bandwidth memory
  • Versal HBM series delivers memory bandwidth of up to 820 GB/sec, 8x the bandwidth of DDR5 memory at 63% lower power
  • Four 100 GigE high-speed optical data pipes for an aggregate data throughput rate of 50 GB/sec
  • Navigator FPGA design kit (FDK) and board support package (BSP) for operational control and IP development

Mercury envisions, creates, and delivers innovative technology solutions purpose-built to meet its customers' most pressing high-tech needs. For more information, visit mrcy.com.

Mercury Systems – Innovation That Matters

Mercury Systems is a technology company that delivers commercial innovation to rapidly transform the global aerospace and defense industry. From data to decision, silicon to systems, A&D leaders turn to the products, services, technologies and people that comprise the secure, end-to-end Mercury processing platform—the exponential power that connects customers to what matters most. Innovation That Matters®. By and For People Who Matter. To learn more, visit mrcy.com.


Source: Mercury Systems

About the author: Tiffany Trader

With over a decade’s experience covering the HPC space, Tiffany Trader is one of the preeminent voices reporting on advanced scale computing today.

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