Quantum3D/NVIDIA technology: Military Applications
Posted by
Hemos
on from the battle-of-the-video dept.
rask22 writes "FiringSquad has a interesting new article up discussing the changes at Quantum3D since the demise of 3dfx along with the current military applications of NVidia chipsets. Interesting to see how the US Gov is using all this technology coming out of the gaming sector."
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 1, Redundant
Overview
A year ago, we wrote an article about NVIDIA detailing its ?Adventures in 3D.? We started with the early NV1, waded through the tumultuous NV2, and finished with the account of the GeForce 2. Since then, FiringSquad has added the story of the GeForce 3 and GeForce 4, but there is still an element missing from the narrative. Throughout these articles, we?ve only talked about at NVIDIA chips as consumer or computing products used for gaming or professional digital art creation. 3D graphics technology such as hardware T&L, anti-aliasing, and texture filtering were just toys for our imagination and hearts.
Toys for the Pentagon
While we have enjoyed our 3D graphics technology for entertainment over the last few years, NVIDIA and its partner Quantum3D have also been developing embedded graphics technology in the same way ELSA has been producing workstation products. Embedded graphics technology has many applications, including industrial and medical imaging, but perhaps one of the most interesting products are those being developed for the United States? Department of Defense. We?re not talking about the use of NVIDIA GPUs to run team-building games such as Rogue Spear, but the use of actual NVIDIA/Quantum3D hardware in the field that helps our armed forces ?place steel on target? effectively. This partnership is called FARSIGHT nV and the first design win is a Quadro2 Go in the cockpit display of the F-22 Raptor air dominance fighter.
My first reaction was one of excitement on so many different levels? can you possibly imagine what the overclocking potential would be on a mil-spec Quadro2 Go? As my mind wandered towards Top Gun, my enthusiasm turned to skepticism. Sure, NVIDIA GPUs are fast, but was that 3D power actually necessary in a fighter jet? The targeting crosshairs in Top Gun didn?t seem too complex, and with cockpit LCDs being maybe 5 or 8 inches, wouldn?t the resolution be so low that fillrate wouldn?t matter?
When I had the opportunity to talk with the team from Quantum3D my very first question was how hot a mil-spec NVIDIA GPUs ran. They told me it wasn?t a mil-spec chip. Now my excitement and skepticism turned to curiosity.
Consumer-Off-The-Shelf Technology
Why weren?t ?mil-spec? GPUs used for the F-22? That was the very point. Traditionally, the computers that powered aerospace components such as cockpit displays relied on expensive custom graphics technology. When a new fighter jet or vehicle was designed, it wasn?t uncommon for $100 million to be spent on the research and development for a graphics chip created from scratch. In addition to the development costs, the cost to manufacture was also very high due to the small quantities. This may have made sense in the 80?s when consumer PCs were just in their infancy, but this gap continued narrow with time. In 1999, the Department of Defense decided that it was time to change the way graphics chips were being used in armored vehicles and aircraft. Why spend so much money developing your own chip, when you can take advantage of the huge budgets from companies such as 3dfx and NVIDIA, and economies of scale from mass production? Even after making the necessary modifications for military use, the savings would still be more than an order of magnitude per chip.
Enter Quantum3D
Quantum3D, a 3dfx spin off, had a wealth of experience with military virtual reality simulators that also gave them the business contacts they needed to expand into embedded graphics. It wasn?t a surprise that avionics companies such as Kaiser Electronics and Honeywell turned to 3dfx and Quantum3D for solutions. Indeed, while FiringSquad was giving first hand impressions of Voodoo 5 anti-aliasing in Quake3, VSA-100 graphics chips were being incorporated into the AH-64D Apache Longbow to provide pilots with high-resolution color displays of navigation maps, enact weapons guidance and perform other aircraft management functions. The VSA-100 would later earn a spot in the F-18 Super Hornet. These design wins validated the ability of taking modified consumer of the shelf hardware for military use.
On December 15, 2000 NVIDIA announced that it would purchase 3dfx. For a moment, the future looked uncertain. Quantum3D had just begun to build its reputation in the embedded graphics market, but now their graphics chip supplier would disappear. The military had obtained cost savings in the short term by going with consumer technology, but it was clear that gaming-orientated companies were more susceptible to the vagaries of the market. Fortunately, NVIDIA agreed to support Quantum3D?s legacy VSA-100 products as needed, and both companies made plans to mutually explore ways to bring NVIDIA?s technology and Quantum3D?s experience together.
In late 2001, this relationship between the two companies was officially dubbed FARSIGHT nV with the first announced design win being a Quadro2 Go powered Multi-Function Display in the F-22 Raptor. In 2002, Quantum3D now has products that can be used to retrofit the embedded training systems in the M1A1 Abrams tank, Bradley Armored Personnel Carrier, products that are currently being evaluated for use on the Crusader Howitzer and Bradley A3 programs, Quadro4 Go based solutions, and design wins on the Stryker Interim Armored Vehicle and Land Warrior Virtual Training System.
Embedded Training vs. Real-Time Information
When talking about 3D graphics out in the field, there are essentially two different categories for use, embedded training and real-time information.
Embedded Training
Embedded training platforms are the easiest to imagine. They?re almost like regular PC gaming machines, except they?re ruggedized for use in armored vehicles or wearable computers. They may even be running a Windows OS. Embedded training platforms are designed to help soldiers rehearse their mission and improve their skills while on the field. They can review the mission by looking at maps, images, or do precision gunnery and unit-level tactical training exercises while on the field. This may not seem particularly exciting, but you can never discount extra hours on a simulator, as practice makes perfect.
Real Time
Real-time information displays are more exotic. Here, 3D graphics can be used to provide standard radar and armament information to the pilot as well as ?synthetic vision? that improves safety in zero visibility conditions and a general improvement in situational awareness, reducing the risk of friendly fire casualties. Certainly, anyone who has seen Macross or any other sci-fi anime can imagine where this technology may lead to years from now. Since these are mission critical components, Windows is clearly not the operating system in use. Quantum3D has developed custom drivers for a number of real-time operating systems such as VXWorks.
Still, the question you probably have is what 3D features are actually being used in the cockpit. Is a Quadro2 Go overkill? What quality features are used? As you can imagine, line anti-aliasing is a very important feature for these AMLCD displays. What really surprised me is how much fillrate these cockpit displays require. The military has 5? AMLCD panels which run at 1280x1024, and on the horizon are 8? panels with 1920x1440 native resolutions!
Conclusion
So there you go. The next time you play Counter-Strike, you can tell yourself that the research that went into the anti-aliasing you?re using and into achieving the fill rate necessary for flawless framerates when smoke grenades are being thrown about is also being used in fighter jets and tanks. What?s next? Well, if I told you, I?d have to kill you.
Slashdot Mirror
Overview
A year ago, we wrote an article about NVIDIA detailing its ?Adventures in 3D.? We started with the early NV1, waded through the tumultuous NV2, and finished with the account of the GeForce 2. Since then, FiringSquad has added the story of the GeForce 3 and GeForce 4, but there is still an element missing from the narrative. Throughout these articles, we?ve only talked about at NVIDIA chips as consumer or computing products used for gaming or professional digital art creation. 3D graphics technology such as hardware T&L, anti-aliasing, and texture filtering were just toys for our imagination and hearts.
Toys for the Pentagon
While we have enjoyed our 3D graphics technology for entertainment over the last few years, NVIDIA and its partner Quantum3D have also been developing embedded graphics technology in the same way ELSA has been producing workstation products. Embedded graphics technology has many applications, including industrial and medical imaging, but perhaps one of the most interesting products are those being developed for the United States? Department of Defense. We?re not talking about the use of NVIDIA GPUs to run team-building games such as Rogue Spear, but the use of actual NVIDIA/Quantum3D hardware in the field that helps our armed forces ?place steel on target? effectively. This partnership is called FARSIGHT nV and the first design win is a Quadro2 Go in the cockpit display of the F-22 Raptor air dominance fighter.
My first reaction was one of excitement on so many different levels? can you possibly imagine what the overclocking potential would be on a mil-spec Quadro2 Go? As my mind wandered towards Top Gun, my enthusiasm turned to skepticism. Sure, NVIDIA GPUs are fast, but was that 3D power actually necessary in a fighter jet? The targeting crosshairs in Top Gun didn?t seem too complex, and with cockpit LCDs being maybe 5 or 8 inches, wouldn?t the resolution be so low that fillrate wouldn?t matter?
When I had the opportunity to talk with the team from Quantum3D my very first question was how hot a mil-spec NVIDIA GPUs ran. They told me it wasn?t a mil-spec chip. Now my excitement and skepticism turned to curiosity.
Consumer-Off-The-Shelf Technology
Why weren?t ?mil-spec? GPUs used for the F-22? That was the very point. Traditionally, the computers that powered aerospace components such as cockpit displays relied on expensive custom graphics technology. When a new fighter jet or vehicle was designed, it wasn?t uncommon for $100 million to be spent on the research and development for a graphics chip created from scratch. In addition to the development costs, the cost to manufacture was also very high due to the small quantities. This may have made sense in the 80?s when consumer PCs were just in their infancy, but this gap continued narrow with time. In 1999, the Department of Defense decided that it was time to change the way graphics chips were being used in armored vehicles and aircraft. Why spend so much money developing your own chip, when you can take advantage of the huge budgets from companies such as 3dfx and NVIDIA, and economies of scale from mass production? Even after making the necessary modifications for military use, the savings would still be more than an order of magnitude per chip.
Enter Quantum3D
Quantum3D, a 3dfx spin off, had a wealth of experience with military virtual reality simulators that also gave them the business contacts they needed to expand into embedded graphics. It wasn?t a surprise that avionics companies such as Kaiser Electronics and Honeywell turned to 3dfx and Quantum3D for solutions. Indeed, while FiringSquad was giving first hand impressions of Voodoo 5 anti-aliasing in Quake3, VSA-100 graphics chips were being incorporated into the AH-64D Apache Longbow to provide pilots with high-resolution color displays of navigation maps, enact weapons guidance and perform other aircraft management functions. The VSA-100 would later earn a spot in the F-18 Super Hornet. These design wins validated the ability of taking modified consumer of the shelf hardware for military use.
On December 15, 2000 NVIDIA announced that it would purchase 3dfx. For a moment, the future looked uncertain. Quantum3D had just begun to build its reputation in the embedded graphics market, but now their graphics chip supplier would disappear. The military had obtained cost savings in the short term by going with consumer technology, but it was clear that gaming-orientated companies were more susceptible to the vagaries of the market. Fortunately, NVIDIA agreed to support Quantum3D?s legacy VSA-100 products as needed, and both companies made plans to mutually explore ways to bring NVIDIA?s technology and Quantum3D?s experience together.
In late 2001, this relationship between the two companies was officially dubbed FARSIGHT nV with the first announced design win being a Quadro2 Go powered Multi-Function Display in the F-22 Raptor. In 2002, Quantum3D now has products that can be used to retrofit the embedded training systems in the M1A1 Abrams tank, Bradley Armored Personnel Carrier, products that are currently being evaluated for use on the Crusader Howitzer and Bradley A3 programs, Quadro4 Go based solutions, and design wins on the Stryker Interim Armored Vehicle and Land Warrior Virtual Training System.
Embedded Training vs. Real-Time Information
When talking about 3D graphics out in the field, there are essentially two different categories for use, embedded training and real-time information.
Embedded Training
Embedded training platforms are the easiest to imagine. They?re almost like regular PC gaming machines, except they?re ruggedized for use in armored vehicles or wearable computers. They may even be running a Windows OS. Embedded training platforms are designed to help soldiers rehearse their mission and improve their skills while on the field. They can review the mission by looking at maps, images, or do precision gunnery and unit-level tactical training exercises while on the field. This may not seem particularly exciting, but you can never discount extra hours on a simulator, as practice makes perfect.
Real Time
Real-time information displays are more exotic. Here, 3D graphics can be used to provide standard radar and armament information to the pilot as well as ?synthetic vision? that improves safety in zero visibility conditions and a general improvement in situational awareness, reducing the risk of friendly fire casualties. Certainly, anyone who has seen Macross or any other sci-fi anime can imagine where this technology may lead to years from now. Since these are mission critical components, Windows is clearly not the operating system in use. Quantum3D has developed custom drivers for a number of real-time operating systems such as VXWorks.
Still, the question you probably have is what 3D features are actually being used in the cockpit. Is a Quadro2 Go overkill? What quality features are used? As you can imagine, line anti-aliasing is a very important feature for these AMLCD displays. What really surprised me is how much fillrate these cockpit displays require. The military has 5? AMLCD panels which run at 1280x1024, and on the horizon are 8? panels with 1920x1440 native resolutions!
Conclusion
So there you go. The next time you play Counter-Strike, you can tell yourself that the research that went into the anti-aliasing you?re using and into achieving the fill rate necessary for flawless framerates when smoke grenades are being thrown about is also being used in fighter jets and tanks. What?s next? Well, if I told you, I?d have to kill you.