Today, high performance image generators can be built utilizing Commercial, Off-The-Shelf (COTS) PC hardware,
graphics cards and operating systems, leveraging custom software at several system levels. Image generators (IGs)
based solely on COTS PC technology and custom software produce impressively powerful simulations within the
COTS constraints on memory size, processor speed, processor algorithms, multi-threading, and PC graphics video
outputs. This technology is being employed for fast-jet training for the F-35 “Lightning II� Joint Strike Fighter
(JSF), FAA/EASA level D, ground warfare, part-task trainer, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and dismounted
infantry applications.
Purpose-built rendering hardware also delivers impressive and powerful simulations by employing COTS Field-
Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology to create targeted rendering solutions that exactly meet specific
simulation and training requirements. Considering baseline hardware costs, these systems are expensive (today), but
deliver higher quality imagery and more effective training scenarios because they are uninhibited by third party PC
graphics card constraints. Today, this technology is being delivered on various devices, including those requiring
FAA/EASA level D fidelity, weapons and targeting simulations in various sensor domains, and for multi-crew
tactical helicopter training devices like the Apache Longbow Crew Trainer for the pilot and copilot gunner stations.
PC graphics technology, largely driven by the video game industry and its variants, is here referred to as
gameCOTS. FPGA technology, when delivering purpose-built image generation systems, is here referred to as
simCOTS because it specifically emphasizes simulation training requirements. This paper compares and contrasts
these two innovative rendering approaches to highlight the need for the simulation industry to employ a broad
variety of solutions in effecting world-class training solutions, across the training spectrum, that remain squarely
positioned on the cost-value curve.