Impacs: Integrated Multi-Processor Aircraft Simulation System

Current and future military aircraft projects are making increased use of airborne digital computing, particularly in the areas of flight control, cockpit displays and weapon aiming. The Development Simulator at Warton, which includes an air-to-air Combat Dome and an air-to-ground cockpit, has recently updated its computing facilities to cater for the future requirements of pilot-in-the-loop simulation. The new system architecture is centred on four Array Processors which provide the high speed computing required to achieve representative aircraft and undercarriage dynamics. Two multi-port shared memory systems provide a communication network for up to 12 separate PDP 11 processors with minimal system software overheads.