Simulation Associates, Inc.

Developed in response to the simulation community's growing demand for a low-cost expandable system capable of delivering supercomputer performance, the ARTS System is specifically designed for high-performance real-time Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulation in a wide range of applications.

ARTS is an open system, providing a standards-based, user-friendly, full-featured hardware/ software environment optimized for the simulation of dynamic systems, and utilizing a scaleable architecture. Models involving nonlinear characteristics, stiff couplings, wide-ranging time constants ("stiff systems"), switching transients and multivariable functions are all handled with ease and efficiency. Because of the open systems" design, newer, faster processors can be utilized as developed, increasing system power while preserving software investment.

A block diagram of a six node ARTS system is shown in Figure 1

ARTS with STARLIGHT Accelerator is shown in Figure 2

ARTS FEATURES

• HIGH PERFORMANCE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE SYSTEM OPTIMIZED FOR LARGE HIL SIMULATIONS
• OPEN SYSTEM (COTS) ARCHITECTURE USING 6U VME PROCESSORS AND BOARDS IN MULTIPLE VME BUCKETS
• SCALEABLE ARCHITECTURE - HOST PROCESSOR, UP TO 4 REAL TIME PROCESSORS AND UP TO 8 STARLIGHT VLIW ACCELERATOR MODULES
• UNIX SYSTEM V WITH X-MOTIF
• ACSL COMPATIBLE WITH REAL TIME EXTENSIONS
• VLIW STARLIGHT ACCELERATOR FOR FRAME TIMES IN THE TENS OF MICROSECONDS
• DATA BROADCAST SYSTEM (DBS): POINT-TO-POINT NETWORK CONNECTING UP TO 16 VME NODES - 400 MBITS/SEC SERIAL LINK
• REAL-TIME LINKAGE SYSTEMS ( VME 9U AND STARLIGHT )
  • A/D, D/A USING 16 BIT, 6 MICROSEC CONVERTERS
  • DIGITAL INPUT, DIGITAL OUTPUT
• ACSL COMPATIBLE HIGH LEVEL SOFTWARE FOR AUTOMATIC & TRANSPARENT ASSIGNING OF I/O BETWEEN MULTIPLE DERIVATIVE REGIONS
• INTEGRATION WITH OTHER SOFTWARE / HARDWARE SYSTEMS
  • GRAPHICAL BLOCK DIAGRAM PROGRAMMING AND ANALYSIS SOFTWARE
  • THIRD PARTY VME BOARDS
• EASY MIGRATION FROM EARLIER SIMSTAR SYSTEMS