*** IRSN PRESS RELEASE ***
Tuesday March 3, 6:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Irvine Sensors Corporation
Irvine Sensors Receives $1.3 Million Order From Boeing
Developing System-In-A-Cube For Voice-Activated, Wearable Computer
COSTA MESA, Calif., March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Irvine Sensors Corporation (Nasdaq: IRSN, Boston Stock Exchange: ISC) announced today receipt of an approximate $1.3 million first phase of an expected $2.1 million subcontract from The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA - news) to develop a computer-in-a-cube using Irvine Sensors' proprietary chip-stacking technology. The cube is being designed to be the core of a wearable computer system approximately the size of a deck of cards. The system will utilize hands-free, voice-activated controls fully integrated with the human body, referred to as ''advanced humionics.''
The Boeing Company in Huntsville, Alabama is developing the wearable computer, dubbed the ''Independent Processor Module'' (IPM), for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Advanced Humionics Platform (AHP). The goal of AHP is to provide the future warfighter with the kind of integrated, portable suite of electronics and sensors needed to cope with a wide array of operational and support needs. To support that goal, the IPM is being designed to weigh less than one-half pound and to blend into the warfighter's clothing so it will not interfere with any other equipment.
''Wearable computers are key to integrated communications and information management systems for the next generation warfighter,'' said Michael L. Bailey, Boeing's AHP Principal Investigator. He added, ''We are combining advanced power management, aggressive miniaturization, and an innovative architecture to provide a revolutionary level of processing to our knowledge not available from any supplier in a wearable system. The use of chip-stacking techniques allow us to meet the program's goal for extreme miniaturization, while packing in the processing power of a high-end workstation. No other packaging approach evaluated could achieve the necessary circuit density or address the thermal issues.''
Irvine Sensors' processing cube will include memory, a microprocessor, interconnection logic, and communications interface for integrated networking within the AHP system. It also will include sufficient Flash memory for mass data storage, eliminating the need for a spinning hard disk drive. This entirely solid state design is expected to speed up data access by a factor of 1,000. The low power IPM is designed to be both scaleable and modular. This feature will allow it to host multiple operating systems and permit system expansion and reconfiguration as required.
''Boeing has done a great job designing this system and taking full advantage of our chip-stacking,'' said Keith D. Gann, Irvine Sensor's Director of High Density Electronics. ''We will provide them with fifty diverse integrated circuits stacked into about a half-inch cube with the ability to efficiently conduct the heat out of this small volume. This computer-in-a- cube approach allows them to architect a highly-reliable, one billion operations-per-second system. This type of collaboration with a system supplier opens a lot of product opportunities.''
Thomas A. Runner, Boeing's AHP Program Manager, said ''The AHP program will lead to the production of advanced technologies in significant volume, and the IPM could ultimately be used by all the Department of Defense (DOD) services and by many other government agencies. Commercial uses could very well emerge in law enforcement, industrial inspection, equipment repair and remote diagnostics.''
According to John C. Carson, Irvine Sensors' Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, ''This program is the culmination of a long history of development support from DARPA, the U. S. Soldier Systems Command, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, Armed Services, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) oriented toward our ultimate goal of embedding total systems completely in stacked electronics. Our recent success in the 'camera-in-a-cube' NASA development contract, our first foray into stacking different chips in the same cube, led to this collaboration with Boeing.'' Carson continued, ''Success of the Boeing development could open the door to even higher volume applications, particularly if the manufacturing economics meet our expectations.''
Boeing's contract, funded by DARPA, is being managed by the U.S. Army's Soldier Systems Command. Irvine Sensors is currently negotiating a follow-on contract for pilot production quantities of the processor cubes, worth an approximate $800,000, which it expects to receive in the second calendar quarter of 1998.
The Boeing Company (www.boeing.com), headquartered in Seattle, Washington, is the world's leading maker of commercial jet aircraft, and became the world's largest aerospace company following its 1997 acquisition of McDonnell Douglas. Boeing has annual sales of more than $45 billion and over 238,000 employees worldwide.
Irvine Sensors (www.irvine-sensors.com), headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, is primarily engaged in the development and production of high density electronics, image processing and sensing devices, and low power integrated circuits intended for diverse systems applications.
Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements that are dependent on risks and uncertainties including such factors, among others, as the development risks inherent in new technology, the impact of competitive technologies and the pace at which new markets develop. Further information on Irvine Sensors Corporation is contained in publicly-filed disclosures available through the SEC's EDGAR database (www.sec.gov) or from the Company's Investor Relations.
SOURCE: Irvine Sensors Corporation |
