Ballard's Avionics BusBox 1000 Series is a small lightweight embedded computer with built-in interfaces for standard peripherals and for various avionics databuses. Under the direction of its application specific software, the Avionics BusBox 1000 Series can autonomously perform tasks that involve receiving information from some interfaces and processing and mapping the information into other interfaces.
Architecture
At the heart of the Avionics BusBox 1000 Series is a user programmable PowerPC® processor, which controls the various standard (serial, Ethernet, and USB) and avionics databus (MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429/708, etc.) interfaces. The high level of functionality implemented in the hardware interface circuitry gives the software application full use of the PowerPC processor.
Additional Features
The USB host port allows for the connection of a wide variety of devices. For example, a USB mass storage device could be used for transferring data to/from the Avionics BusBox 1000 Series, or an 802.11 wireless device could be attached as an alternative to the wired Ethernet port. Also included are serial ports and avionics level discrete I/O which can be used to interface with other devices.