Using the same cable for both power and data means that power can be delivered to devices without having to wire new circuits or requiring a separate transformer that converts AC power to DC.

Despite the current budget woes of defense departments, the demand continues for delivering more performance and improved functionality from rugged computers and communications subsystems to fulfill mission requirements.

This white paper explores how some of the use-case considerations and technological advances are driving system integrators to pursue a distributed over a consolidated system architecture and visa-versa.