Embedded system engineering magazine 2005.11,12

Compact COM

Express

Kontron is introducing Compact COM Express based on the PICMG COM Express standard.

A pure PCI version will be the first available with PCI Express later. (ETX, which was defined in 2000, offers PCI but does not support the latest processors and bus speeds). ADlink and Evalue are already committed to the new Compact COM Express form factor. Kontron will launch under the brands microETXexpress (for PCI-Express) and microETX (for PCI only).

The physical design of the new 95x95mm form factor differs from the COM Express standard only in size and the addition of one extra mounting hole in the top right corner. The X1 and X3 ETX connectors remain in the same position in relation to the baseboard.

The pin out for PCI and PCI Express will be on different interfaces. However, the other interfaces for peripherals, network, and storage – such as PCI, IDE, 10/100LAN, and 6x USB 2.0 – are mapped identically so that when changing from PCI to PCI Express or to a combination as little as possible needs to be changed in the baseboard layout. Users can design PCI Express and SATA into their baseboards and make use of these features just when needed, simply by exchanging modules.

The specification, documentation, and manuals will be available under a Non-Disclosure Agreement

from Q4 2005. The official design guide will be published as an open standard in January 2006.

www.kontron-emea.com

PC/104 with onboard memory and data acquisition

Diamond Systems Corporation has announced the availability of the Elektra embedded CPU with data acquisition.

Elektra integrates a Pentium-II class CPU running at 200MHz, 128MB memory, Ethernet, and a professional-quality analog and digital I/O circuit with autocalibration onto a single PC/104 board. Linux, DOS, QNX, and Windows CE operating systems are supported.

Elektra consumes 5.5 watts and operates over the -40 to +85ºC extended temperature range without a fan.

www.diamondsystems.com

Large display for mobile applications

The NEC NL8048BC24-01 screen is a nineinch TFT display with a contrast ratio of 500:1 and a typical screen brightness of 400cd.m.

Screen resolution is 800x480 pixels with an angle of 80 degrees left to right, 80 degrees up and 70 degrees down. It is designed for mobile applications displaying both VGA and video.

The operating temperature is from -10° to 70° C, overall package size is 220mm x136mm x11mm and power consumption is just 5.9 W at full brightness.

Interface controller boards for VGA, Video

Celeron-based PC

GE FANUC Embedded Systems has introduced the Talon 8400, a small self contained PC with an Intel Celeron M processor. It is

designed to be low power over an operating temperature range of 5° C to 40° C, optionally extended to -20° C to 50° C.

It has three PC/104-Plus expansion sites, a robust aluminium housing, and can be DIN rail, panel, or table-top mounted. A UL 1604 option is available for hazardous locations.

It is intended for applications including remote monitoring, industrial automation, military and aerospace, and communications.

<Fax back> E162

THIS YEAR’S ESS was bigger and betthere was a bigger conference, there more exhibitors and there were visitors. The total visitor number

was 2672, up by more than 20% from last year. According to the exhibitors, many of those visiting had live projects and were looking for immediate solutions. All this suggests that the embedded industry is in much better health than it was last year.

Alongside the show and conference, companies were launching new products to the press, and this is some of the more interesting stories

FPGAs

The FPGA community were out in force, with a two day thread aimed at developers organised by the IEE as part of the conference with exhibition presence. The announcements they made are part of our in-depth FPGA coverage, beginning on page mm.

Nallatech was briefing on their new generation of its COTS FPGA computing range. These combine the processing and I/O performance of Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGAs with enhancements to Nallatech’s DIME-II architecture, for High Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC) applications including surveillance and reconnaissance, software defined radio and signal intelligence.

Nallatech’s announcement includes the BenNUEY-PCI-X, a PCI-X DIME-II motherboard with on-board Virtex-4 FX FPGA and three DIMEII expansion sites.

Bluetooth

Ezurio has launched a new Bluetooth module designed specifically for rugged equipment. The embedded Intelligent Bluetooth Module is a complete Bluetooth solution with a highly optimised RF section and integrated multi-layer ceramic antenna. The module is designed for direct surface mounting on a mother board. The antenna is separated from the main section of the module, allowing it to protrude through a slot in an equipment housing, or for the main electronics section of the module to be potted. The temperature range supported is -40ºC to +85ºC.

Nohau were showing a new range of Bluetooth modules from connectBlue. Based on

the Philips Semiconductor BGB203 SiP, they provide support version 2.0 of the Bluetooth specification, for improved co-existence with 802.11 (W-LAN) networks and shorter connection time. The latest OEM Serial Port Adapter modules support the Serial Port Profile and the Dial Up Networking Profile and can be used as either master or slave in a Bluetooth connection.

Middleware

Objective Interface was talking about their new PCSexpress, communication middleware for security-critical systems. PCSexpress is the first product to conform to the MILS (Multiple Independent Levels of Security) architecture, a commercial and US government consortium based on Objective Interface technology.

Partitioning Communications Systems (PCS) separates data throughout the network. PCSexpress works over ordinary network hardware, allows sharing of data among different communities of interest and allows the user and administrator roles to be separated in legacy systems.

Also talking about communications middleware was RTI (Real-Time Innovations). Their NDDS (Network Data Distribution Service) is middleware for real-time networking conforms the OMG’s Data Distrobution Service (DDS) v1.0. RTI announced a software framework for managing distributed data systems. SkyBoard infrastructure software for real-time information management combines the Oracle/TmesTen inmemory database, distributed database synchronisation technology and NDDS. This provides a data-centric publish-subscribe database system that operates across an extendable network.

Development tools

Cyan has released a new version of their CyanIDE

trollers.

ing includes GPRS

on the GSM

is aimed location Green

environment VxWorks MULTI pilers have version of

Links

www.cyantechnology.com

www.digi.com

www.enea.com.

www.ezurio.com/products

www.ghs.com

www.nallatech.com

www.nohau.co.uk

www.ois.com

www.rittal.com

www.rti.com

Twenty years ago FPGAs were measuring their gates in tens and then in hundreds. They were seen initially as a replacement for glue logic, mopping up

small blocks and tidying the system design and simplifying the PCB. Today gates are numbered in millions, speed has increased dramatically, power consumption has fallen both relatively and absolutely, and so has cost.

With these changes, the FPGA manufacturers are seeing the embedded market as one worth addressing, and engineers are seeing FPGAs as useful tools. Even in the first FPGAs, designers didn’t work totally from scratch, using small logic building blocks such as flip-flops or MACs. Today it would be a very unusual project that started from a blank sheet of paper and didn’t bring in large chunks of IP. And the buyers guide tables

show just how much IP is available.

Validating the IP, integrating IP on the device and verifying the design is still not as simple as working with Lego blocks and taking advantage of the ability to place multiple processor cores, both homoand hetero-geneous still presents programming problems. Some of these issues are addressed in the features in this issue, others will be covered later this year.