Lanner

Enhancing Armored Vehicles Intercommunication with Rugged In-vehicle Computer

Background

Reliable and agile intercommunication plays a crucial role in today’s military missions. In other words, communications across the command network coverage, from the commander to the frontline, must be prompt and stable. Therefore, military forces are adopting gateway systems inside combat and tactical vehicles to improve communication efficiencies in the fields.

Requirements

A system integrator located in Southeast Asia specializing in military electronics collaborated with Lanner to develop a robust in-vehicle communication gateway offering wireless connectivity and the right form factor to fit into the limited space of an armored vehicle. The co-developed system also meets the military-grade ruggedness to work stably in mission-critical operations. In order to optimize the intercommunications for tactical operations, the in-vehicle communication gateway shall meet the following technological requirements:

Antenna Extension

The antenna I/O of the vehicle computer must be extended to the outer side of the military vehicles in order to establish real-time wireless 4G/LTE communications in the fields.

Wireless Connectivity

The vehicle computer shall be equipped with mini-PCIe sockets that support mainstream RF frequencies such as LTE to communicate with other mission-critical vehicles, like police patrol cars, ambulance and fire trucks.

Military-grade Ruggedness

Rough surface and harsh environments are frequent in military operations. Therefore, the vehicle computer must meet military standard for shock, vibration and temperature requirements.

Lanner’s Solution

For co-development project, Lanner introduced its V3G, the next-generation rugged fanless vehicle computer, a highly integrated solution for local armored vehicles. Lanner’s V3G vehicle gateway controller works seamlessly as the intercommunication system for military and mission-critical operations.

V3G is powered by the new generation 14 nm Intel® Atom™ x7-E3950 SoC (formerly Apollo Lake). This processor consumes low volume of power and offers performance upgrade from previous generation of Atom™ processors, optimized for vehicle computing applications.

Since wireless network connectivity is one of the most critical requirements, V3G offers 2 x mini-PCIe sockets with swappable SIM slot supporting 3G/4G/LTE cellular communications. In addition, the compact system comes with built-in GPS for navigation and multiple antenna I/Os for extended receptions. As an in-vehicle computer, V3G boasts an abundance of I/O peripheral connectivity including 2 x serial COM ports, 2 x video output by DVI-D, USB and Digital I/O ports, and 2 x RJ-45 LAN ports to work with other components and subsystems in armored vehicles. For storage, V3G comes in SATA/mSATA storage options.

For military operations, V3G is compliant with E13 standard and has passed MIL-STD-810G shock and vibration resistance certifications to ensure proper operations when traveling on rough terrains. Since extreme operating temperature is often encountered in military operations, V3G is built to support wide temperature range, from -40 to 70°C.

Exit mobile version