Modified COTS

Harness the Power of MCOTS

Save Money, Reduce Risk, and Accelerate Time to Market

Modern embedded computing applications require the latest advanced and SWaP-optimized processor, networking, and I/O technologies to be delivered within increasingly shorter development schedules at minimal NRE cost. This expedited schedule and the need to minimize costs create challenges for system integrators who must build modern technical solutions quickly while staying on budget. Utilizing COTS hardware saves time and money and reduces risk. However, if the program has unique requirements not built into the original COTS hardware or needs a specifically tailored solution, the impact on the program's bottom line becomes a concern. Developing a custom solution can become a hassle and might cost integrators valuable time that is not available.

When architecting the perfect solution becomes necessary, Curtiss-Wright's Modified COTS (MCOTS) program addresses all development requirements – ranging from the design and manufacture of custom boards, board support software packages and drivers, and providing rapid subsystem pre-integration capabilities - offering a competitive edge.

How Can MCOTS Assist?

Modifying COTS solutions at the card or system level to suit unique requirements will:

• Save money - save 40 to 60% or more on project costs by leveraging IP investment and COTS development infrastructure.
• Reduce risk – ensure program longevity with longevity of supply and technical support services.
• Accelerate time to market - begin application development immediately using COTS products and save 4 to 8 months of overall development time.

MCOTS Capabilities

Curtiss-Wright provides two types of MCOTS capabilities – card modification and subsystem design/pre-integration services.

MCOTS Card Modification
At times, an application might require cards with a custom pinout, an extra I/O interface, or a particular configuration not available on the standard variant of a COTS board. Curtiss-Wright's engineering team will carefully analyze system requirements and modify the chosen card to meet unique needs.

MCOTS Subsystem Design and Pre-integration Services
Embedded systems comprise various parts, ensuring those parts function properly together can be daunting. Instead of dealing with the hassle, risk, time, and cost issues associated with pre-integrating various COTS hardware and software components into the subsystems, taking advantage of a modular, scalable hardware offering expansion capabilities makes sense. Rapid pre-integration of subsystems to specific platform needs can be done, delivering a turnkey solution - with all the applicable drivers, modules, I/O interfaces, and data storage needed - with qualification testing and interoperability analysis already complete. Generally, this service can be provided without traditional high Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) costs. A highly reliable system becomes available quickly and affordably.

The MCOTS Advantages

Regardless of the MCOTS experience chosen, the following can be expected from the MCOTS team:

• In-depth requirements capture, definition, and specification generation and review.
• Detailed design processes, including critical design reviews and highly flexible development and manufacturing options.
• In-depth and thorough mechanical engineering development and analysis, uniquely tailored to support highly ruggedized product design and testing.
• Comprehensive board support package (BSP) software development, porting and testing.
• Optimal software driver integration.
• Experienced safety/security certification and artifact generation.
• The best COTS longevity of supply and obsolescence management services available. 
• Effective long term product re-engineering and cost reduction strategies.