AN UNMATCHED PORTFOLIO OF TECHNOLOGY AND DOMAIN EXPERTISE
Through a combination of talented engineers and timely acquisitions, Mercury has assembled an unmatched portfolio of innovative technology and domain expertise. By tackling some of the most difficult computing challenges, we are helping to define, refine, and extend technical standards that lead our industry to new levels of innovation.
Software Communications Architecture (SCA)
The SCA is a set of specifications that describes the interaction between the software and hardware components of a software defined radio (SDR). Developed under the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Program, with input provided by the SDR Forum, the SCA ensures that SDR devices from different manufacturers can effectively and efficiently communication with each other.
In January, 2006, the SDR Forum announced that Mercury has been chosen to develop a reference waveform for the SCA. The reference waveform is an example application that will help promote increased proficiency for designer and developer implementations of the SCA. Mercury is expected to complete the reference waveform by September 2006, at which time it will be available to Forum members for a period of six months and then released to the industry via the Forum’s website at www.sdrforum.org.
The MultiCore Plus™ Advantage
Multicore processors have arrived. All the major silicon manufacturers have included multicore processors on their roadmaps as they battle the barriers of physics. Along with the quantum leap in processing power and the extreme density of these chips come new programming, cooling, and optimization challenges. With our many years of experience developing and programming complex multicomputer systems, Mercury's expertise is ideally suited to assist you with these challenges.
The MultiCore Plus Advantage from Mercury employs sophisticated middleware that abstracts hardware capabilities and manages the distribution of data across multiple computing elements working in tandem. By leveraging the MultiCore Plus Advantage from Mercury, you can benefit from our patented cooling technologies, lightweight SOC management software, multicore implementations of key algorithms, visualization tools designed for clusters, algorithm tuning, and more.
Domain Expertise
Since the start of operations in 1983, Mercury has maintained a long-term focus on specific segments of the computing market. This focus has enabled us to attain an unmatched depth of expertise in computing technologies that include visualization, radar and sonar signal processing, diagnostic medical imaging, communications signal processing, and visual inspection.
Parallel Processing for Optimizing Complex Algorithms
Mercury engineers are experts in parsing the work of complex algorithms and massive streams of real-time data for distributed processing to dramatically accelerate their execution. At the individual processor level, hardware optimization techniques use SIMD (single instruction multiple data) instructions to accelerate the processing, and data reorganization middleware to manage the flow of data through the memory hierarchy.
To speed up the processing of a single complex challenge, algorithms are mapped across multiple processors. Our approach includes leveraging Mercury-contributed hardware standards like the RACE Series® and RapidIO® switch fabrics, and using either the MPI (message-passing interface) software standard or Mercury PAS™ (parallel acceleration system) software.
Heterogeneous Processors and Switch Fabrics
After many years of experience, our engineers often know which parts of an algorithm might run faster on different processors. So we can map that algorithm using the strengths of a variety of processors – field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), and multicore microprocessors such as the IBM® Cell BE processor.
To connect the hardware together and optimize the processor-to-processor I/O, we employ a variety of switch fabrics including RapidIO, RACE++®, switched PCI Express®, InfiniBand®, and Gigabit Ethernet.
Standards Development
Mercury partners with other companies to develop standards that allow interoperability and increase cost-effectiveness for our customers. We have contributed to hardware standards including VME64 and its follow-on VITA 46/48, AdvancedTCA®, and MicroTCA. And for getting sensor data into the collection of processors, we have contributed to the front-panel data-port (FPDP) protocol and Digital IF standards.
Advanced Visualization
Mercury’s advanced 3D visualization technology provides unmatched visual quality and manipulation of very large data sets at interactive speeds. Real-time ray tracing software for 3D image rendering combines high-quality physically correct results with the interactivity of conventional shaded-surface 3D graphics. By exploiting the latest graphics hardware and using advanced visualization techniques and powerful software modules, Mercury’s visualization technology enables you to unleash the full potential of your 3D data.