General Micro Systems, has officially secured two 2024 Military + Aerospace Electronics (MAE) Innovators Awards for its X9 Spider Workstation I/O and X9 Spider Server solutions.
According to certain reports, the company’s X9 Spider Workstation I/O, built on a modular, scalable and distributed architecture, was recognized as an “excellent innovation” which improves upon previous methods employed in its space. On the other hand, MAE recognized the X9 Spider Server as a platinum honoree for “superb innovation, characterized by a groundbreaking approach to meeting a need, and/or a new level of performance, efficiency, ease-of-use or other beneficial quality.”
In case you weren’t aware, both X9 Spider Server and the X9 Spider Workstation I/O solutions hail from GMS’ assortment of palm-sized X9 Spider modules (6” x 4.75” x2” and 2.1 pounds) capable of reducing barriers in the development of applications that require rugged high-performance computing, high-definition video, sensor processing, artificial intelligence (AI), battlefield edge processing, storage, display and Workstation I/O in a rugged enclosure with unprecedented performance per dollar per watt.
More on the same would reveal how all X9 Spider products bank upon the GMS Thunderbolt™ 4 technology and a patented LightBolt™ 40Gbps connection in copper or fiber, with optional 100W per port power for up-/down-stream sensors and system expansion.
Talk about each solution on a slightly deeper level, we begin from X9 Spider Server, which brings forth ultra-small, high performance CPU board, I/O bandwidth (455Gbps) and unique stackable mechanical design to enable the X9 modules to be configured into any system imaginable. With over 26 patents pending, the stated server solution provides you an Intel® Xeon® D processor and an NVIDIA’s flagship GPU RTX-A4500 MXM module.
Next up, it features dual 100GigE ports for RDMA data transfers from sensors or between X9 Servers. Joining that would be a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, each providing 40 Gbps of I/O to displays, network and peripherals that can be daisy chained, while simultaneously providing 100W to power to peripherals such as displays, disc drives and I/O up to 50 meters away.
Another detail worth a mention regarding this solution is rooted in its patented RuggedCool™ technology which delivers four-sided cooling for balanced heat transfer and low thermal gradient for full operation at up to +85°C.
Turning our attention towards X9 Workstation I/O, it is an integral function of the X9 system architecture. To understand the significance of such a solution, we must acknowledge how a user interface with features such as displays, network, input devices, local dedicated secure storage, and custom application specific I/O is always needed, no matter whether they are on battlefield, lab or control stations. On top of that, those I/O ports must also accommodate industry standard connectors, and yet at the same time, be rugged, sealed, dust, and waterproof to withstand the rugged environment for years of reliable operation.
In response, X9 WSIO conceives a setup where it is connected to the X9 Spider Host computer via a Thunderbolt 4 interface and may be powered directly from the Host up to 50 meters away. Furthermore, these WSIO workstations may be daisy chained to an unlimited number of stations.
Moving on, users can come expecting here a wide-ranging expansion I/O that provide up to twelve expansion sites for added I/O and sensors. Next up, when using WSIO, they can also leverage what would be a single removable U.2 storage device which will be a 2.5” NVMe™ drive, SATA, 2x M.2 or a secure NSA approved SSD. The stated drive may be encrypted and can be easily removed to archive the data.
Among other things, there would be two Thunderbolt 4 ports for daisy chain and for user I/O and system expansion. Markedly enough, the user interfaces are one 10GBase-TX via a sealed RJ-45 connector, mini display port, five USB-C (3.2) ports each with 10Gbit/s data transfer, and up to 15W (5V @ 3A) of power delivery to the peripherals.
