SATA-based computer boards in 3U CompactPCI form factor for rugged systems introduced by Aitech
CHATSWORTH, Calif., 9 Sept. 2009. Aitech Defense Systems Inc. in Chatsworth, Calif., is introducing single-slot 3U CompactPCIcomputer boards for rugged systems that offer as much as eight gigabytes of onboard SATA flash disk storage.
The 3U CompactPCIcomputer boardand its advanced Pentium architecture, rugged configuration, and advanced power management, coupled with industry-standard real time operating systems or Linux, make the single board computer suitable for embedded systems and harsh environment applications such as deeply embedded, stand-alone, real time, rugged controller subsystems, smart grid power management, and intelligent vehicle power distribution, as well as networked compute-node clusters with optional man-machine (display/keyboard/mouse) interfaces.
The C800's CPU board I/O capabilities include automatic system/peripheral detection, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two serial communication ports, two USB 2.0 interfaces, one SATA II interface, a high definition stereo audio output and as much as eight single-ended general purpose discrete I/O channels that are independently configurable as input or output. An industry-standard PMC slot further extends the board's I/O functions.
The design of the single board computers reduces the need for external flash-based or mechanical disk drives, making the system's PMC site available to add user specific I/O.
The C800 combines low-power Intel Core 2 Duo technology with data processing capabilities of 1.67 GHz or 2.20 GHz and Intel's Speedstep dynamic frequency switching that provides several lower power and cooling options with integrated on-chip L1 and L2 caches as well as the Intel GM965 Express Graphic Chipset. The featured 1.67 GHz version draws as little as 30 Watts.
In addition to the 32 kilobytes data and 32 kilobytes on-die instruction L1 caches as well as the 4 MB L2 cache, the computer boards has extensive DDR and Flash memory arrays to provide large volatile and non-volatile memory resources to support the processor and meet the needs of specific applications. These arrays include up to 2 gigabytes of fast DDR2 SDRAM operating at 667 MHz and up to 2 MB of flash BIOS.
The onboard, high speed 8 gigabytes SATA Flash disk (SSD), controlled directly from an ICH8M I/O Controller Hub, hosts the operating system and application. Additional virtual SATA SSDs can be added via the onboard PMC/SATA site or via the external USB ports.
The C800 computer board is available in five 100 percent software compatible versions including a commercial air-cooled version for lab development, two extended temperature air-cooled formats (per PICMG 2.0 Rev. 3.0) and two extended temperature, rugged conduction-cooled formats(per ANSI/VITA 30.1-2002). The conduction-cooled versions use a metal thermal management frame coupled with a custom heat sink for optimal heat dissipation and higher reliability. Two temperature sensors monitor the board and provide data to the user application software.
For more information contact Aitech online at www.rugged.com.
-- Posted by John Keller, [email protected]. www.milaero.com.
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