FlexVNX+ Development Platform from Elma Offers Next-gen Testing Platform

­Elma Electronic has released the portable FlexVNX+ development chassis that accelerates the development and testing of VNX+ plugin cards (PICs) aligned to both VITA 90 and The Open Group SOSA™ Technical Standard.

The new VNX+ standard defines an extremely compact footprint that reduces per-slot size by up to 70% over 3U VPX, making it ideal for space constrained applications, especially in rugged environments. 

Ram Rajan, vice president engineering for Elma, noted, “This VNX+ development chassis will help developers design boards and systems based on the new small form factor. Ensuring that we deliver these next generation of test platforms will not only keep our customers on the cutting edge of system development, but save on engineering time and costs, as well.”

The benefits of VITA 90 standard, or VNX+, include high speed communications, with data rates up to 25 Gbps between modules per lane, within a scalable, modular architecture enables exceptional design flexibility for critical defense applications.

Specific uses of the new FlexVNX+ include mission control, secure communications, surveillance and data and image processing as well as weapons and navigational control, target tracking and display and threat detection.

Supporting up to 10GBASE-KX/40GBASE-KX4 Ethernet and PCI Gen 4, the system’s 8-slot backplane features six well-defined payload slots that can accommodate a range of PICs, one switch slot and a PSU slot. An internal power supply, Gigabit Ethernet switch, a VITA 46.11 chassis manager, maintenance port aggregator and extensive front panel I/O round out the chassis’ high-performance capabilities. 

The unit features ergonomic handles for easy transport, a five-degree tilted card cage and locking retainers to secure modules in slots against blind-mate connector spring forces. It uses directed air to cool modules either with or without metal enclosures, and offers built-in I/O, including unique external I/O (UEIO) direct device control without additional mezzanine cards.

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