New Industry Products

Curtiss-Wright Introduces New 3U OpenVPX Smart Power Supply

August 25, 2011 by Jeff Shepard

Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems (CWCES), a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls and a leading designer and manufacturer of rugged deployed subsystems for the aerospace, defense and commercial markets, has introduced a new 3U OpenVPX (VITA 62) and VPX (VITA 48.2) Smart Power Supply. This small form factor, rugged power supply module provides up to 279W of power to mission critical OpenVPX systems.

Designed for demanding deployed military applications, the CWCES Smart Power Supply includes advanced features such as an integrated Nuclear Event Detector (NED) and crowbar for radiation tolerant applications, and a holdup circuitry for full protection against MIL-STD-704 and MIL-STD-1275 transients. This open architecture smart power supply module speeds and simplifies the integration and maintenance of intelligent rugged power supplies into applications such as ground vehicles, fixed wing aircraft and rotorcraft, shipboard equipment, and integrated modular systems.

"Our new 3U OpenVPX power supply provides system integrators with a rugged, compact high performance power supply able to survive the harshest military environments, while providing all the benefits of the VPX backplane architecture," said David Dietz, Vice President and General Manager of Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Systems group.

The Smart Power Supply conforms to the 3U VPX (VITA 48.2/VITA 62) form factor and is offered in a 1.0" pitch single slot configuration. Fully rugged, the module is available in conduction cooled and Level 2 maintenance variants.

This fully-featured intelligent power supply supports Built-in Tests (BIT) and software programmability to enable rapid system development.

CWCES smart power supply performance features include: 3U VPX (VITA 48.2/62) form factor; up to 279W total rated power; 80% efficiency; 18-36Vdc input range; MIL-STD-704 and MIL-STD-1275 compliant; meets NAVSO P-3641 de-rating; internal holdup up to 50ms; EMI/RFI input filter (MIL-STD-461E); input transient (surge) protection; input reverse polarity protection; over/under voltage, short-circuit and under/over temperature protection; White Sand Missile Range (WSMR)-tested Nuclear Event Circumvention circuit; on-board ARM-based microcontroller; I²C communication; inline voltage/current monitoring and BIT; suitable for OpenVPX and VPX systems; and custom power sequencing.