Rugged Solutions
Conduction-cooled solutions with extended temperature range

To address the tactical military needs for operation in harsh environments, Spectrum has designed products like the PRO-4600 and XMC-3321 from the "ground-up" to support conduction-cooling, extended temperature range, and increased shock and vibration immunity. This is achieved through the use of the following:

• Industrial-grade components
• Embedded stiffening and thermal mechanical structures including heat sinks and wedge locks
• Conformal coating with a sealant for protection against high levels of humidity and other environmental contaminants
• Software readable temperature sensors are included to monitor temperature on hot components

All Spectrum cards designed for ruggedization follow the same design methodology, resulting in a scalable, rugged product offering, flexible to meet the needs of a diverse set of fielded applications.

Modified COTS (MCOTS)

While Spectrum's portfolio of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products meets many of our customers' requirements from initial design to deployment, some customers may require modifications for their specific deployment platform. Spectrum supports independent hard and soft real-time communications fabrics in its products that allow rapid re-spin through the use of custom data-routing techniques. Using the modified COTS or "MCOTS" process, Spectrum works with its customers to provide an optimized solution while substantially minimizing the time-to-deployment. Based on reference designs, Spectrum is able to quickly turn-around the product design to optimize the size, weight, power, cost and/or ruggedization characteristics of fielded applications.

Key benefits for MCOTS:

• Product is immediately available
• Product will be customized and optimized prior to production phase
• Product lifecycle management is outsourced without losing control
• Customized solution can be retained exclusively if required
• Supply chain management is simplified
• Royalty income arrangements are possible

For more information on the benefits of Spectrum’s MCOTS process, please contact Spectrum Sales.

RoHS Directive

The European Union’s RoHS regulations (specifically EU Directive 2002/95/EC) ban placement of electronic products on the EU market after 1 July 2006 if they contain more than allowable thresholds of certain restricted substances, specifically (Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd), Hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), flame retardants PBB (Polybrominated biphenyls) and PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl ethers)) in electronic components and devices.

Spectrum has established processes for the review, monitoring and modification of products to comply with RoHS and similar legislation, as required, and as requested by Spectrum’s customers. We work closely with our suppliers, both component suppliers and contract manufacturers, to ensure we meet the needs of our customers, whether those needs be for the commercial or the defense markets. The term "RoHS 0 of 6" has been adopted for products that may contain any of the 6 restricted substances. The term "RoHS 5 of 6" has been adopted for products that contain Pb but do not contain the other 5 substances banned by the directive.

For more information on this, please contact Spectrum.