Mercury Computer Systems Announces Broad Range of Products Compliant With New V1.0 OpenVPX Specification

Founder of Open VPX Working Group First to Deliver New Products with Improved Flexibility and Scalability for Wide Range of Applications

CHELMSFORD, Mass.—October 19, 2009 -- Mercury Computer Systems, Inc., (Nasdaq: MRCY), a leading provider of embedded, high-performance computing systems and software for image, sensor, and signal processing applications, and the founder of the OpenVPX™ Industry Working Group, an alliance of 28 leading-edge defense prime contractors and embedded computing systems suppliers, today announced availability of a broad range of OpenVPX products, which are designed to be compliant with the new V1.0 OpenVPX and draft VITA 65 Specifications.

The OpenVPX System Specification mandates interoperability at both system and board levels to reduce customization, cost, and risk.  It is a clear response to the recent edict stated by a wide range of government officials and agencies that promotes performance migration towards open solutions, and away from proprietary, closed architectures.  Mercury’s response to this mandate was to initiate an industry working group to develop specifications to meet the new federal demands.  In support of these new specifications, the company is today introducing the Ensemble 3000 Series 3UOpenVPX and Ensemble 6000 Series 6UOpenVPX product lines, which deliver rugged solutions for high-density, high-performance computing, suitable for use in radar, EO/IR, and electronic warfare applications on ship-borne, ground-based, and both manned and unmanned airborne platforms.   Mercury's innovative multi-plane architecture can support these sensor-based applications with advanced networking and embedded smart-processing capabilities, while adhering to the new OpenVPX System Specification. 

With a rich set of fully compatible modules that can be scaled and combined in a variety of configurations, Ensemble 6000 6UOpenVPX solutions feature many board types, including single-board computers (SBCs), switch and I/O modules, and high-compute density (HCD) boards.  Similarly, the Ensemble 3000 Series 3UOpenVPX systems combine flexible, high-performance architecture with scaleable processing capabilities.  Ensemble 3000 systems are constructed from various types and quantities of boards, including compute node modules, processing modules, system controller hubs, data plane switch modules, and carrier modules.

Both the Ensemble 6000 and the Ensemble 3000 product families feature extensive system flexibility, including multi-plane architecture to isolate control functions from data movement, and application partitioning across multiple types of processors.  Finally, a common software environment exists between the two product lines, providing software investment protection and easy application portability.

Complying with VITA 46 and 48 standards, all of Mercury’s OpenVPX products are fully capable of deployment in harsh environments, including extreme ranges of temperature and humidity, high levels of shock and vibration, and poor air quality.  All modules are compatible with OpenVPX system architecture design principles, and are available in air-cooled, conduction-cooled, and spray-cooled formats.

“The extensive Ensemble 3000 and 6000 families of 3U and 6U OpenVPX-compliant products underline Mercury’s commitment to the OpenVPX standard”, stated Scott Brazina, vice president and chief marketing officer for Mercury Computer Systems.  “Combining interoperability, ruggedness, and performance accelerates our customers’ time-to-market and ensures robust deployment.”

For more information, please visit www.mc.com/openvpx .

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.,

Mercury Computer Systems (www.mc.com, NASDAQ: MRCY) provides embedded computing systems and software that combine image, signal, and sensor processing with information management for data-intensive applications.  With deep expertise in optimizing algorithms and software and in leveraging industry-standard technologies, we work closely with customers to architect comprehensive, purpose-built solutions that capture, process, and present data for defense electronics, semiconductor equipment manufacturing, commercial computing, homeland security, and other computationally challenging markets.  Our dedication to performance excellence and collaborative innovation continues a 25-year history in enabling customers to gain the competitive advantage they need to stay at the forefront of the markets they serve.  

Mercury is based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and serves customers worldwide through a broad network of direct sales offices, subsidiaries, and distributors.