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Mercury Computer Systems Launches High-Performance COTS Digital Receiver and Data Stream Processing Engine

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 May 2009, 10:06 CDT

Company pushes performance envelope in Echotek Series VXS modules combining Virtex-5 FPGAs with multiple I/O channels and flexible data paths

CHELMSFORD, Mass., May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY), a leading provider of high-performance, embedded computing solutions for image, sensor, and signal processing applications, announced availability of two new Echotek(R) Series products, both using three powerful Xilinx(R) Virtex(TM)-5 FPGA (field-programmable gate array) processors, two high-speed fiber transceivers, and two FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) sites for high-bandwidth I/O. As integrated components, they extend the functional range of Mercury's VXS and RACE++(R) Series systems with digitization and FPGA processing of sensor-based data streams.

Mercury's Echotek Series products lead the mixed-signal products industry in extracting clear signals from electronic clutter. The new Echotek Series DCM-V5-VXS digital receiver features the latest in A/D and D/A technology via converters mounted on the FMC sites, allowing for high-speed/high-resolution data conversion while still preserving the quality of the original signal. The module couples this data conversion capability with market-leading processing power delivered by a set of three Virtex-5 SX240T or LX330T FPGAs, which can be programmed by the end user for customer-specific application features. Moreover, these FPGA processors provide up to 3,156 DSP slices, enabling some of the most powerful signal processing capability available today.

Each Virtex-5 FPGA is accompanied by both DDR-II-SDRAM and QDR-II-SRAM chips and is connected by multiple high-speed data paths to the FMC sites, to the system backplane interface, and to two fiber transceivers. This set of flexible resources delivers unique capabilities such as multi-board coherency, which are especially well-suited for beamforming and direction-finding, as required by many radar, signals intelligence, electronics intelligence applications; as well as commercial applications such as infrared image processing for renewable resource management, image processing for quality control measurement, and particle accelerator control for scientific research.

A sister product, the Echotek Series SCFE-V5-VXS FPGA-based processing engine utilizes the same combination of FPGA resources and I/O capability, but includes FMC sites which are open and not populated by mixed-signal converters. This flexible configuration can be applied to the processing of high-bandwidth data streams in a wide variety of commercial and military applications. Both the DCM-V5-VXS and the SCFE-V5-VXS implement a bi-directional VXS (VITA 41) interface for high-speed data transfer within a switch fabric network, and a RACE++(R) Series interface for data communication within currently deployed systems.

"Our customers build systems with a critical need for computing resources that can deal with a high-bandwidth data stream, process it in real time, and deliver the resulting output data steam to multiple interfaces," said William Ceccherini, General Manager of Mercury's Echotek Product Group. "We anticipate that the performance, flexibility, and balance exhibited by these new products will allow customers to meet their most demanding application requirements."

The DCM-V5-VXS and SCFE-V5-VXS are both supported by Mercury's EchoCore(TM) firmware, an extensive library of FPGA cores which are optimized to maximize performance for a range of common operations. These cores are designed with straightforward interfaces for application-specific IP (intellectual property), enabling a rapid design development environment that reduces risk and speeds time to market.

The DCM-V5-VXS and SCFE-V5-VXS are available within 8-10 weeks after order receipt. For more information, visit www.mc.com/dcm-vxs or www.mc.com/scfe-vxs, or contact Mercury at (866) 627-6951 or info@mc.com.

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. - Where Challenges Drive Innovation(TM)

Mercury Computer Systems (www.mc.com, NASDAQ: MRCY) provides embedded computing systems and software that combine image, signal, and sensor processing with information management for data-intensive applications. With deep expertise in optimizing algorithms and software and in leveraging industry-standard technologies, we work closely with customers to architect comprehensive, purpose-built solutions that capture, process, and present data for defense electronics, homeland security, and other computationally challenging commercial markets. Our dedication to performance excellence and collaborative innovation continues a 25-year history in enabling customers to gain the competitive advantage they need to stay at the forefront of the markets they serve.

Mercury is based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and serves customers worldwide through a broad network of direct sales offices, subsidiaries, and distributors.

Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to the Echotek Series products described herein. You can identify these statements by our use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, including unforeseen weakness in the Company's markets, effects of continued geo-political unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, continued funding of defense programs, the timing of such funding, changes in the U.S. Government's interpretation of federal procurement rules and regulations, market acceptance of the Company's products, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, inability to fully realize the expected benefits from acquisitions or delays in realizing such benefits, challenges in integrating acquired businesses and achieving anticipated synergies, and difficulties in retaining key customers. These risks and uncertainties also include such additional risk factors as are discussed in the Company's recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.

Contact: Kathleen Sniezek, Public Relations Manager Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. 978-967-1126 / ksniezek@mc.com

Challenges Drive Innovation and EchoCore are trademarks, and Echotek and RACE++ are registered trademarks of Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. Other products may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

SOURCE Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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