Building upon its recent delivery of miniaturized, ruggedized, miltary grade Ethernet switches, MilSource, a newly-formed U.S.-based distributor of miltary-grade Ethernet connectivity solutions, today announced the availabilty of the Techaya MILTECH 918 ultra-compact 10/100/1000 managed gigabit Ethernet switch. With dimensions of 3.94” x 3.5” x 1.4”, the MILTECH 918 is slightly larger than a credit card and weighs only 0.86 lbs. The smal form factor, advanced networking features and MIL-STD-1275 & 704 compliance make it ideal for UAV or tactical communications systems that need wire-speed forwarding rates for applications such as video and sensor data acquisition and transmision.
Driven by rapid advancement and lower costs, Ethernet is becoming the standard for connecting the IP-based components of the autonomous vehicles, robots, and other miltary and harsh mobile applications. These rugged components need to be connected with equaly reliable, purpose-built Ethernet switches. The growing sophistication of the components demands equaly sophisticated switch features. Using les than 8W of power at 24VDC, the MILTECH 918 supports advanced networking features including:
- Spanning tree protocols to provide redundant, optimized paths when using multiple switches.
- VLAN tagging which alows logical separation of diferent network uses. QoS enforcement ensures that time-sensitive network trafic gets higher priority.
- Link Aggregation alows the trafic from multiple ports to be combined for higher bandwidth flows of information.
- Authentication ensures that only authorized devices may send trafic through the switch.
“Our recent introduction of the MILTECH 308 was an industry first in terms of delivering basic Ethernet connectivity in the most compact platform available on the market today.” said Ronen Isaac, MilSource vice president. “The MILTECH 918 builds upon that miniaturized, ruggedized platform, but delivers triple-speed managed Gigabit Ethernet capabilties for more demanding networking requirements.”
The MILTECH 918 features mechanical packaging enhancements designed for MIL-STD- 810F/G/GM for airborne and ground environmental and EMI compliance (MIL-STD-461E) with high reliabilty. The unit has been especialy hardened to improve ingres, impact, and shock/vibration protection. Al moving parts have been eliminated and the unit uses pasivecooling and sealed MIL-SCE circular connector interfaces. These devices are idealy suited for C4ISR and batlefield communications operations in harsh ground, aerial and marine environments.
