Ultra-low-power processor XMC with PowerQUICC

It’s always a trade-off: a small board to fit into a small space but a reduced capability or horsepower because of limited real estate. The XMC mezzanine was designed to add high-speed PCI Express fabric I/O onto baseboards such as 6U VME or 3U VPX, as well as carrier boards. The Interface Concept IC-PQ3-XMCa balances size, performance, and power in an industry-standard form factor. Boasting a 1 GHz Freescale PowerQUICC III MPC8536E, the XMC targets high-rel markets including defense, telecom, and industrial. The processor itself is a veritable System-on-Chip, chock-full of 2x GbE, 2x SATA, 3x USB, eSPI, DUART, and GPIO. There’s also an 8-lane SERDES with both PCIe and PCI plus DMAC. Onboard memory to the XMC includes 1 GB of DDR2 with ECC, 128 MB of flash, and 4 GB of NAND flash. Interface Concept has also added a third GbE port and made the board available in standard, extended, and rugged grades. Typical full-power operation (1 GHz) is a mere 10 W, substantiating the company’s claim of “ultra low power.”