OnTime Networks Arms European Systems Integrator

By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, TMC

A leading European systems integrator has tapped OnTime Networks to supply its CR-6224F4-MIL series Gigabit/10 solution. This offering will be used in a new wheeled ground combat vehicle program. It will provide switching capabilities for vehicle onboard communications and computing subsystems. Shipments will begin early next year.

"The CR-6224F4-MIL is the first fully rugged Ethernet switch and router solution which introduces High-availability Seamless Redundancy capabilities for aerospace and defense applications,” said OnTime Networks CTO Pål-Jørgen Kyllesø. “HSR is a new network protocol for Ethernet that provides seamless failover against failure of a network component. HSR is suited for applications that request high availability and no switchover time, where the recovery time of commonly used protocols such as the Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol is too long."

The Cloudberry CR-6224F4-MIL version of this OnTime Networks solution is a ruggedized, military-grade gigabit Ethernet switch and router. It provides Layer 2 and 3 switching. It also has an Intel (News - Alert) Atom-powered router board. That can either be equipped with the OnTime Networks router package, to deliver speeds of up to 800 megabits per second. Or users can opt for the Cisco (News - Alert) 5921 Embedded Services Router Advanced Enterprise router package, delivering routing speeds of up to 500 megabits per second.

It has 24 Ethernet ports. Twenty of them are 10/100/1000 BASE-T ports. The other four are 10/100/1000 BASE-SR ports.

CR-6224F4-MIL also offers power supplies based on the U.S. military standards MIL-STD-704F and MIL-STD-1275D for aircraft and ground vehicle use. It also has MIL-STD-461F EMI/EMC (News - Alert) filtering to help reduce electromagnetic interference.

This solution was designed to work in very demanding environments. So, it’s completely sealed, power efficient, and rugged. It does not require active cooling. It has MIL-DTL-38999 connectors. And it is otherwise able to perform in situations involving dirty power, dust and water exposure, extreme shock and vibration, high altitude, high temperatures, humidity, and noisy EMI.

OnTime Networks' CEO Øyvind Holmeide commented that this deal "highlights the benefits of our modular and flexible design approach, which was particularly applicable to the unique requirements of this program. Today, advanced vehicle network infrastructures are critical to the success of our armored vehicle warfighters, as these systems help to provide the right level of situational awareness, as well as to communicate and navigate more easily on the battlefield.”