A pact inked between Quantum 3D and Radstone Embedded Computing will make Quantum's IData graphical interface development environment and tools available across the range of Radstone's graphics processors, including Screaming Eagle, Octegra3, and the PMCGA4 and PMCGA3 mezzanines.
The agreement means that Radstone will supply the technical support necessary to port IData software to the Radstone hardware environment. The two companies will promote the combined Quantum3D/Radstone solution, which can be used in various applications, such as simulation, cockpit display, and unmanned vehicle ground station.
Radstone's graphics products are the only COTS hardware platform that will support Quantum3D's flight-certifiable IData running on top of the Seaweed flight-certifiable OpenGL. Thus, the combination likely is of interest to customers for whom DO-178B software development is a key requirement in attaining aircraft certification.
IData is a suite of Human Machine Interface (HMI) tools developed by Quantum3D. It enables fast prototyping, development, and deployment of dynamic and interactive cross-platform 2D and 3D OpenGL-based HMIs for embedded systems, data display, and simulation applications. It's claimed to cut the development times and integration efforts associated with human/machine interfaces.
"Our strategy is to make Radstone hardware the platform of choice for all the leading graphics software vendors," says Simon Collins, product marketing manager at Radstone Embedded Computing, "and to allow customers the widest choice in selecting the optimum development and deployment environment for their graphics applications."
Andy Pinkard, director of Business Development for Quantum3D in the United Kingdom, adds that "This agreement with Radstone is exciting because the combination of Radstone's hardware and the IData software is a very persuasive one—one that we look forward to demonstrating to key organisations throughout the defence industry."
Radstone's graphics-processor/mezzanine family was extended with the unveiling of the Pentium M-based Screaming Eagle SE1, a dual-slot 6U VMEbus solution featuring the nVidia GeForce 7800GT chip set. Screaming Eagle complements the Octegra3 PowerPC, 7447A-based, single-board computer equipped with a 3Dlabs P9 VPU.