Lago Vista, TX, November 21, 2005 – MEN Micro (www.menmicro.com) and SYSGO AG of Mainz, Germany, have formed a strategic relationship to provide Linux solutions for PowerPC platforms in embedded industrial applications.
SYSGO’s ELinOS (version 4.0), a Linux operating system, has now been integrated with a board support package for MEN’s EM1 and EM1A, which are Embedded Systems Modules (ESM) based on the PowerPC MPC5200. With integrated Linux support and the MPC5200, MEN’s two ESMs are particularly well suited to embedded mobile systems such as automotive, rail cars and other transportation applications.
“This is really a complete solution that enables system designers to get a very fast start on development,” said Ernest Godsey, MEN Micro’s president. “With support in the OS for our ESMs, the design team doesn’t have to worry about the details of hardware and software integration. It’s already there, both from the OS for the hardware and from the hardware platform for the OS.”
MEN’s ESMs are small-footprint systems-on-modules (SOM) that can be quickly adapted to a wide variety of applications through carrier cards. These carrier cards can conform to an open bus standards such as CompactPCI, VMEbus or others; or the carrier card can be designed as an application-specific carrier. The EM1 and EM1A feature a 384 MHz MPC5200 processor that delivers 700 MIPS but still consumes less than 1 Watt. Both ESMs are specially equipped for embedded applications in challenging environments. They operate over the entire industrial temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C and feature DRAM, Flash, SRAM and graphics memory soldered onboard.
The only difference between the EM1 and the EM1A is the location of I/O connections. The EM1 has I/O on the front panel while the EM1A has a DIN connector for its I/O that delivers it to the rear of the carrier card. Thus, the EM1A can be used on open bus carriers to provide require rear I/O. Both EM1s have two Fast Ethernet ports, a serial RS232 port and a USB interface. And the MPC5200 processor supports two CAN controllers. Because both EM1s include a field programmable gate array (FPGA), additional functionality such as graphics, serial communications channels and other functional logic can be loaded into the FPGA and changed dynamically while the system is operating.
The recently introduced ELinOS 4.0 includes SYSGO’s Eclipse-based Codeo tool chain, which includes tools for both low-level system software as well as high-level application tools such as the Cognito system browser that analyzes system run-time behavior.
“With 4.0 of ELinOS, we’ve optimized our software project management tools,” said Susanne Kämpgen, SYSGO’s marketing manager. “We’ve redesigned the entire tool chain and integrated all of the tools as one integrated development environment (IDE) under Codeo. In addition, ELinOS now is integrated with PikeOS for cross-platform value that protects investments in software development and reduces design costs on a long term basis.”
Pricing and Availability
MEN’s EM1 and EM1A with ELinOS are available now from MEN Micro, Inc. Pricing for the hardware starts at $648 for single units. In the United States, MEN Micro products are sold through a national network of technical manufacturer’s representatives. For sales information, call 512-267-8883, send faxes to 512-267-8803 or email [email protected]. More information on the EM1 or EM1A, this press release, a product photo and collateral materials are available at www.men.de/products/press.
About MEN Micro, Inc.
MEN designs, manufactures and sells board-level industrial real-time and embedded computer products. The flexibility inherent in MEN’s standard products allows system platforms to be custom configured for a wide range of applications. In addition, the company develops custom boards and systems for OEMs, end users and system integrators. MEN’s products include Embedded System Modules (ESM), VMEbus and
CompactPCI compute platforms with Intel Pentium, Motorola 68000 or PowerPC processors, and a wide selection of M Module or PC•MIP mezzanine I/O modules. The MEN product lines support the most widely used operating systems, including Windows NT, VxWorks, OS-9, QNX and Linux.
MEN was founded in 1982 in Nürnberg, Germany, as MEN Mikro Elektronik GmbH. Today the company has subsidiaries in France, MEN Mikro Elektronik SA; the United Kingdom, MEN Micro, Ltd., and the United States, MEN Micro, Inc. A network of technical distributors services and supports the rest of the world.
Press Contacts:
Bob Greenfield Ernest Godsey, P.E.
G&A PR MEN Micro, Inc.
Phone & fax: 972 254-2887 Phone: 512-267-8883
[email protected] Fax: 512-267-8803
[email protected]
– 30 –
Trademarks
Windows and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. OS-9 is a trademark of Radisys Corporation. VxWorks is a trademark of WindRiver Corporation. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.