VMEbus technology products and projects
Several unique products were released at CAEN (Italy) including low cost serial interface boards for USB 2.0 (VMEbus card V1718), and two versions of an optical link board (V2718 and V2818) that act as a PCI extension (PCI-to-VME bridge). All three boards are usable without a boot operation. A V2818 board can daisy chain up to eight V2718 boards. The boards are used individually or as part of the chainable optical network. All boards also feature Ethernet, RS-232, a network-interface module, and TTL I/O. Status is shown on the front panel dataway display with LEDs for 32-data and 32-address bits, and LEDs for all of the significant VMEbus control signals. Equivalent APIs are used for Windows and Linux-based environments. Ready-to-use Virtual Instrument software is available for the LabVIEW software suite from National Instruments.
Interface Concept (France) announced an additional VMEbus card in their communications line of products. The ComEth4100 VMEbus board provides up to 10 Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet ports (10/100/1000Base-T) (see Figure 1).
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One port can be equipped with an LX or SX port. The ports are available on the front or rear panel. The board may be used simply as an I/O board or in a VITA 31.1 configuration. A CompactPCI version is also available. The non-blocking Ethernet switch matrix may be used in virtual local area networks applications (IEEE 802.1Q). An optional PowerPC processor can improve performance significantly, if needed. The conduction-cooled VMEbus board version is available for use in ruggedized systems. The low-power board can be managed and configured locally, by program, or via a web browser.
Radstone Technology (UK and USA) offers a liquid-cooled chassis variant within its Air Transport Rack (ATR) chassis line. The chassis can be connected to an existing cooling system using a variety of coolant liquids, or it can be equipped with its own pump and heat exchanger. The liquid-cooled chassis can remove up to five times the amount of heat compared to forced air cooling. This allows for considerable space reduction.
Business information
Boards & Solutions 2004 was held in Reading, UK in March. The one-day conference and exhibition attracted more than 100 delegates to its conference section where attendees chose from presentations in three parallel tracks. A number of VMEbus manufacturers and resellers from the UK and Continental Europe presented products or applications during the sessions. The next two events in this series will be held on June 23 in Duesseldorf, Germany and on June 30 in Munich, Germany.
The Hannover-Messe 2004 Exhibition and Conference will be held in Hannover, Germany from April 19 to April 24. Close to 6,000 exhibitors will exhibit their products. This year, the world’s largest industrial trade fair includes the Interkama Show (process control and chemical industry automation), the Factory Automation Show, and the Digital Factory Show.
Applications using VMEbus technology
Local Interconnect Network (LIN) is an extremely low cost serial fieldbus which is mostly used in car applications. It is approximately 50 percent less expensive than the Controller Area Network (CAN), or the J1890 bus system which is widely used in cars, SUVs, or trucks. Common applications are mirror control, window movement, seat adjustment, air conditioning, and door locking. ETAS (Germany), the former electronic control division of the Bosch group, has developed a VMEbus-based analyzer (ES1223.1) that provides four LIN, two CAN, and two RS-232 interfaces. The interfaces are galvanically separated (potential-free). The VMEbus board provides all power for all the interfaces and for the onboard CAN-LIN gateway. If used together with a VMEbus host (ES1130) in an ES1000.2 chassis, this analyzer becomes part of a “Rapid-Prototyping System.” Software tools are available for the ASCET-SD development environment from ETAS.
Mektron (UK) and Miltron (USA) specialize in the design, development, and manufacture of turnkey, bus-based system enclosures or subsystems for commercial and military applications. Several patented features and processes make it possible to comply with some of the most extreme weight, cooling, and Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) requirements. These features include the lightweight, high tensile strength extrusions that are used in their patented “High Integrity Frame.” This includes thermal and EMI protected hermetic gasket channels. Carbon fiber panels and structural elements, including carbon fiber air ducts, are used when an extremely lightweight solution is required. A unique patented air-to-air heat exchanger is used when a great deal of heat has to be removed in a space constrained environment. In a chassis with indirect forced air cooling there isn’t any contamination from dust, gases, or moisture. Mektron’s Crush-Fold technology provides a cost-effective, high strength, and superior EMI seal which requires a minimum of fasteners. Customized versions of these card cages for extreme cooling and EMI requirements are used in military “rapid-deployment systems” for “in-the-field” testing and analysis of airborne or land-based electronic systems and subsystems. For applications where hard disk usage is required, Mektron has fitted the hard disks with 3D shock-protected mounting to survive extreme shock and vibration conditions. In addition, Mektron supplies customized backplanes based on VMEbus or other technologies.