Xiphos Systems Corporation (Xiphos) is a company that designs and manufactures innovative processing hardware solutions for use in satellite and space systems. The company has been focusing on space-focused computing solutions for over 25 years and provided reliable and resilient embedded processing solutions, powering over 80 space missions and constellations and supporting nanosat, cubesat, and lunar markets in the U.S. and internationally.
Xiphos Systems, founded in 1996, is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. With over 25 years of experience, Xiphos has delivered more than 1,000 processing boards for commercial, civil, and defense missions. Their core mission is to bring terrestrial computing techniques into the harsh environment of space, ensuring reliability, efficiency, and adaptability. Xiphos has established partnerships with leading organizations such as HawkEye 360 and GHGSat, showcasing its commitment to innovation and collaboration in the aerospace industry.
Space presents a wide range of challenges for electronic components, from intense vibrations generated during lift-off to exposure to ionizing radiation and extreme temperatures. If the devices are not capable of withstanding these and other harsh conditions that the space environment presents, they will either not function to the best of their capability or not operate at all. This leads to various issues such as signal degradation in satellite communications and severe loss of connectivity for critical applications like military and defense.
Technology & Innovation
Over the years, Xiphos has learnt to specifically address such issues by maximizing reliability and radiation tolerance, steadily increasing processing capability, while reducing power consumption, size, and cost. The company manufactures very small cards with some of the latest and most powerful processors available and incorporates Xiphos’ robust manufacturing and hardware design techniques to mitigate space-based challenges. The products that Xiphos particularly focuses on are processor boards, daughter boards, followed by other RF solutions.
Their Q-cards and daughter boards provide software-logic hybrid computation that has been optimized for size, weight, and efficiency. Xiphos’ solutions power spacecraft, launchers, landers, rovers, and payloads, meeting the most demanding challenges of hybrid, image, signal, and interface processing.
Xiphos Systems is renowned for its cutting-edge space computing technologies, which combine high performance with low size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements. The company’s flagship products, such as the Q7 and Q8 processor boards, leverage state-of-the-art commercial devices to deliver impressive processing, networking, and storage capabilities. These processors are designed to withstand the harsh conditions of space, offering radiation-tolerant designs and robust performance.
One of Xiphos’ standout innovations is its hybrid processing technology, which integrates CPUs and programmable logic to optimize performance for demanding algorithms. This approach ensures efficient computation for applications like image processing, signal processing, and autonomous navigation. The Q8 processor, for instance, features the Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC, providing advanced processing capabilities for Earth observation and satellite communication missions.
Xiphos also excels in developing custom solutions tailored to specific mission requirements. The company’s expertise in FPGA-based multiprocessors and advanced subsystems has enabled it to support a wide range of applications, from remote sensing to scientific research. Its commitment to quality is reflected in its AS9100 and ISO 9001:2015 certifications, ensuring reliability and excellence in every product.
Products & Services
Xiphos Systems offers a diverse portfolio of products and services designed to meet the needs of the space industry. The company’s Q7 processor board is a compact and efficient solution for small satellites, featuring dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processors and extensive programmable logic resources. It is ideal for applications like satellite imaging and autonomous navigation.
The Q8 processor board, another flagship product, is designed for high-performance missions requiring advanced processing power and flexibility. It includes a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 application processing unit, a dual-core ARM Cortex-R5 real-time processing unit, and an Xilinx Kintex UltraScale FPGA. This processor is widely used in Earth observation and communication satellites, offering unparalleled performance and reliability.
In addition to its processor boards, Xiphos provides custom daughterboards and application-specific solutions to enhance the capabilities of its Q-cards. These products are tailored to meet the unique requirements of each mission, ensuring seamless integration and optimal performance. The company also offers end-to-end support, including system design, testing, and deployment, to ensure mission success.
Key Features of Xiphos’ Space-based Computing Solutions
- Flight-Proven Processors: Space-hardened, COTS-based computing solutions deployed across hundreds of commercial, civil, and defense missions.
- High performance: Products offer impressive processing, networking, RF, and storage performance by leveraging state-of-the-art commercial devices.
- Cost-Effective Performance: Delivers high performance and reliability at a fraction of the cost of traditional space processors.
- Compact, Efficient, Flexible: Ideal for spacecraft, unmanned systems, and robotics requiring small size, low power, and adaptability.
- Certified Quality: AS9100 and ISO 9001:2015 certified; explore our FPGA-based multiprocessors, SoCs, and advanced subsystems.
