VMETRO, a leader in embedded computing solutions based on standards such as VXS and XMC that utilize multi-gigabit serial interconnects, today announced two new 6U VPX-REDI products. The MPE730 is a 6U VITA 46/48 Quad-Core PowerPC™ Multi-Processing Engine that integrates dual Freescale Power Architecture™ MPC8641D processors and Serial RapidIO® fabric connectivity. The SBC731 is a 6U VPX-REDI Single Board Computer (SBC) that supports a single MPC8641D processor and the Serial RapidIO fabric. For demanding, deployed multi-core applications such as radar, sensor, and signal processing the MPE730 is well suited. The SBC731 is targeted at host boards applications such as mission and control processors.
Both of these COTS products utilize powerful processing and high-speed interconnect technology. The MPE730 supports two single or dual core 1.0/1.33/1.5GHz Freescale MPC8641D processors for up to four PowerPC processors with up to 1 GB of DDR2 memory per processor core for a total of up to 4 Gbytes of memory. The SBC731 also supports a single or dual core 1.0/1.33/1.5GHz MPC8641D processor with up to 1 GB of DDR2 memory per processor core. Both boards incorporate PCI Express™ and Serial RapidIO switches for on-board interconnects as well as backplane communication with support for Serial RapidIO on the P1 fabric connector and a single x8 or dual x4 PCI Express (PCIe) connection(s) to the P3 connector, providing for multi-processing systems and expansion I/O.
To meet a wide range of application needs, there are two XMC/PMC sites on both the MPE730 and SBC731. Each site supports PCI/PCI-X up to 64-bit/133MHz, PCIe x4/x8, and Serial RapidIO x4. Each XMC/PMC site also supports VITA 46.9 I/O connections through the Jn4/6 connectors, providing maximum I/O density and flexibility in a 6U form factor.
Additionally, both boards provide access to commonly required I/O. The MPE730 supports two front-panel Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) ports and two GigE ports to the backplane; the SBC731 support one GigE port to the front-panel and one GigE port to the backplane. Both boards support RS-232/422 serial ports. To provide interoperability with legacy VME boards, the boards provide VME 2eSST interfaces.
For system control and chassis management, the boards utilize a Xilinx® Virtex™-5 LX FPGA known as the System Control Node (SCN) that controls power and temperature monitoring, bit stream encryption, and routing of I/O.
“VMETRO has leveraged our expertise in COTS products utilizing PowerPC, high-speed serial interconnect, and ruggedized VXS and VPX technologies to add a Multi-Processing Engine and Single Board Computer. We have significantly enhanced our ability to solve our customers diverse digital signal processing problems with the addition of these products to our existing line of FPGA-centric and I/O products,” says Thomas Nygaard, Chief Technology Officer for VMETRO. “One of the biggest obstacles facing our mil-aero/signal processing customers today is functional density often measured in GFLOPs/watt/slot. The MPE730 has been optimally designed to balance this consideration, while also increasing I/O functionality and flexibility.”
The MPE730 and SBC731 are based on the VPX (VITA 46) and VPX-REDI (VITA 48) standards, an evolution of the VME64 specification. The key advantages of VPX-REDI are the amount of bandwidth for board-to-board communication, the large number of high-speed user defined rear I/O, and the environmental enhancements that REDI provides. VPX boards can be used alongside VXS and VME64 boards using suitable backplanes to leverage existing proven technology.
VxWorks and Linux support is provided on the MPE730 and SBC731 boards. To support programs from development through to deployment, the MPE730 and SBC731 will be available in a number of environmental build options ranging from air-cooled commercial to rugged conduction-cooled.
VMETRO continues to build VPX momentum with these products announcements. Additional major VPX product announcements are planned for the coming months.