Fibre Channel Instrumentation Network Architecture

"This SBIR effort will research Fibre Channel Standard (FCS)technology to extend the Phase I effort and create a lab-readydevice that bridges between current NexGenBus technology (FCS)and legacy instrumentation bus standards such as CAIS and 1553.Candidate protocol selections such as SCSI, TCP/IP and FC-AL willbe researched in order to maximize interoperability.Hardware/software designs will use a "personality module" conceptto make the device reconfigurable and portable. Networkconfigurations will be examined to maximize flexibility. Thebridge device developed in this phase will be hosted on a reducedfootprint embedded personal computer and all personalitymodule/interface cards purchased/fabricated will have acorrespondingly reduced footprint in order to maintain amigration path toward a compact, rugged flight-ready device.Small, embedded operating systems (OSs) for the PC will beevaluated and the software written during the Phase I effort willbe ported to the new environment. Additional bridge softwarewill be written extend the Phase I capabilities to form acomplete lab-ready product. Finally, although the Phase IIdevice will be implemented as drivers/applications running on theembedded personal computer, the viability of a reduced-cost,increased-durability FPGA "logic only" solution will also bedetermined.BENEFITS: The bridge device developed under this SBIR will enable all branches of the armed services to leverage the substa