AMBLER, Pa., 18 Jan. 2009. MEN Micro Inc. in Ambler, Pa., is introducing the F302 3U CompactPCI Ethernet switch with eight Fast Ethernet channels on the front via RJ45, M12 or D-Sub connectors, depending on the application, and an optional channel accessible through the rear J1 connector for communication within an embedded system.

A special service interface at the front configures the Ethernet channels individually via a hardware key, a Telnet command line interface, or SNMP, without opening the system itself.

The F302 complies with the EN 50155 railway standard and offers an operating temperature of -40 to 85 degrees Celsius, as well as soldered components to resist the effects of shock and vibration. The switch uses a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) that integrates the configuration firmware and keeps the entire board's power consumption to less than 7 Watts.

Front panel width is either three-slot (12 HP) with the standard RJ45 connectors or four-slot (16 HP) with M12 or D-Sub connectors. In either configuration, the card requires one CPCI backplane slot.

The device has built-in self-test mechanisms to increase the card's reliability. The switch restores itself on its own: if a link is temporarily unavailable, the F302 resumes operation after the disturbance without any restart or reset. For more information contact MEN Micro online at www.menmicro.com.