Kontron expands VPX ecosystem with 2nd generation Intel(r) Core(tm) i7 processor support

Eching/Nuremberg, Germany, March 01, 2011 – Kontron today expanded its VPX ecosystem with the new Kontron 3U VPX CPU board VX3035 based on the 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor. Integrating the Intel® Core™ i7 2655LE processor, Intel® HD graphics and features such as Intel® Turbo Boost technology and Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (Intel® AVX), the new 3U VPX CPU board defines a new performance class for SWaP (size, weight and power) optimized high-performance embedded computing applications.

OEMs will benefit from the Kontron 3U VPX CPU board VX3035 due to its outstanding versatility and x86 technology, coupled with high vectorial and parallel computing power. System developers can develop extremely compact and light applications with high parallel computing power, such as video and image processing, radar, sonar or signal processing in software-defined wireless equipment. The new VPX board also supports established APIs such as Open CL, which simplifies and speeds up application development. With the support of Kontron VXFabric™, the new CPU board facilitates inter-board communication in VPX/OpenVPX designs, since the socket interface standardizes inter-board communication. By decoupling the application software from the low-level silicon management via a set of ready-to-use libraries and kernel modules, the Kontron VX3035 and Kontron VXFabric™ further simplify and accelerate application development.

In connection with Kontron’s long-term supply program, the new Kontron 3U VPX CPU board VX3035 is predestined for the most varied long-term projects in the areas of defense technology, aviation and all other markets that rely on long-term available, rugged COTS platforms. In addition, the Kontron VX3035 is designed as a drop-in replacement of the Kontron VX3030 based on the Intel® Core™ i7 processors 620 LE or 610E, which can be ordered for serial production. Developers can start directly with the development and delivery of their applications and later upgrade to the second-generation platform. This helps OEMs to significantly reduce their time-to-market and increase the availability of their applications. Like all Kontron VPX products, the Kontron VX3035 is compliant with the OpenVPX™ specification (VITA 65).

The Kontron VX3035 in detail

The Kontron 3U VPX CPU board VX3035 is based on the highly integrated and extremely energy-efficient Intel® Core™ i7 2655LE processor with integrated Intel® HD graphics and the Intel® QM67 controller hub. This CPU architecture will also be available as a 6U VPX dual CPU solution. It supports up to 8 GB dual channel 1333 SDRAM with ECC and is available in three designs: standard air-cooled (0 °C to + 55 °C), rugged air-cooled (-40 °C to + 70 °C) or rugged conduction-cooled (-40 °C to +85 °C) for extreme environmental conditions. Customers can adapt the board exactly to the ambient conditions and benefit from an optimized total cost of ownership, regardless of the demanding conditions.

In addition, the Kontron VX3035 and the Kontron VX3030 integrate an extensive range of interfaces. On the backplane, along with PCI Express x4 (configurable via software also to 4x PCIe x1), it also implements 4x SATA II, 3x Gigabit Ethernet, 4x USB 2.0 and two serial interfaces (EIA232/EIA485). On the front panel, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x USB 2.0 and a serial port are available, along with a VGA output. An on-board USB/SATA connection offers support for standard USB/SATA FlashDisk modules. On the lower side, a PCIe x1 interface allows expansion with application-specific I/O mezzanines.

The Kontron 3U VPX CPU board VX3035 supports Windows Embedded Standard 7, Linux as well as VxWorks. For rapid prototyping and software development, Kontron will soon offer the EZ3-VX3035, a turn-key 3U VPX system based on the new Kontron VX3035. OEMs and system developers benefit from a flexible and simple system build that requires no hardware skills. With these development tools, application developers can concentrate on their core competencies to improve time-to-market and application quality.