European business
The Embedded Systems Show (ESS) in London draws about 3000 visitors each year. The two-day event, held May 14-15, is the UK’s largest event for system design and embedded software development. The technical conference program presented technology seminars, including an analog system design and mixed signal track, as well as a double session on "High-Speed Bus Architectures."
A new conference with tabletop exhibition was held May 21 in Munich. It is called "Boards & Solutions," like the magazine that organized this event. There were approximately 100 attendees at this one-day conference and a similar number of visitors to the exhibition. The event will be held again next year around the same time.
"Embedded Systems Conference in Munich" will be held from November 11-14 at the Munich Fairgrounds, in conjunction with "Productronica 2003." The Embedded Systems Conference will once again be organized by CMP Media from the USA.
European VME products, projects, and technology
Data Respons (Norway), with offices in all Scandinavian countries, is now setting up a German office. Data Respons is a distributor and systems expert with long-term experience in real-time applications. Their product lines include VMEbus and other hardware from Motorola, SBS, and N.A.T. of Germany, as well as real-time operating system (RTOS) software from Wind River Systems. Additionally, Data Respons is a solutions consultant and system integrator to industrial customers.
Force Computers (Germany and USA) has broadened its line of SPARC-based VMEbus single-board computers (SBCs) with the CPU-56 SBC, which includes dual Gigabit Ethernet, hard disk, a great number of standard interfaces, and a powerful, fast, and low-power SPARC processor (UltraSPARC IIi). Conformal coating is optional.
HARTING Electronics and Comtel (Germany) are partnering to distribute interconnect devices from HARTING in Israel, through the Comtel subsidiary in that country. HARTING originally designed the 5-row DIN connector for VME64 and VME64x standards. Comtel designs and produces backplanes mostly for VMEbus OEM customers, as well as many other technologies. The cooperation includes distribution of some very popular connector types, including IEC 61076-4-101 (2 mm), IEC 61076-4-113 (five-row DIN), and the original three-row DIN connector (DIN 41612 = IEC 60603-2) that is used in VMEbus and many other applications.
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MEN (Germany) saw a healthy demand for VMEbus systems based on x86 architecture. Their VMEbus-PC A13 (see Figure 1) is a 6U card available with a choice of either a Tualatin Pentium III at 933 MHz or an ultra low-voltage Tualatin Celeron at 400 MHz for temperature-aware computing in a temperature range between -40°C and +85°C. It is a complete PC with the standard interfaces. It is also equipped for individual configuration options with sockets for two M-Modules (ANSI/VITA 12) for industrial I/O, with three PCoMIP (ANSI/VITA 29) sockets for computer I/O, or with two PMC sockets for telecom I/O. All mezzanine I/O signals are available either through front or rear connectors. Software support is available for Linux, QNX, VxWorks, and Windows.
N.A.T. (Germany) focuses on communication applications based on VMEbus and other technologies. They produce a range of their own specialized boards for maximum efficiency, some of which are 3U and 6U VMEbus Ethernet cards as well as carrier cards for PMC and M-Module mezzanines. Their 3U and 6U telecom boards with SCSA (ANSI/VITA 6 and 6.1) interfaces route a major part of European mobile phone traffic in various countries. PMC modules for E1/T1 and ISDN lines are also available from N.A.T., including BSPs for VxWorks and pSOS.
Polyrack (Germany) designed a new generation of VME64x subracks that is part of their "Futur" series of enclosures. A 10-layer backplane with specifically low-reflection bus traces is part of the new subsystem. It includes an Automatic Daisy Chain (ADC) that can be used electronic active or with jumper settings. The in-board termination is implemented using SMD technology. The subsystem can be individually configured with a full width, 21-slot chassis and an 800W open-frame power supply that is fully system tested and ready to use.
Schroff (Germany) completely revised and modernized their line of VMEbus chassis, which is part of the Microcomputer Packaging Systems (MPS) europacPRO program. Special care has been taken to shield against EMI. The chassis are available in heights of 3U, 4U, 7U, 8U, and 10U in VME or VME64 variants. Power supplies are available in versions from 200W to 1000W.
TEWS Technologies (Germany) introduced a new 6U VME64x carrier board (TVME220) that can accommodate up to four IndustryPack (IP) mezzanine modules. I/O signals are routed via P0 and P2 connectors on the VMEbus backplane.
Thales Computers (France) supports Wind River System’s Tornado 2.2 Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with an extensive board support package (BSP). Thales also introduced the new PowerEngine7 series of SBCs based on the latest IBM PowerPC 750 FX. The PowerEngine7 provides 50 percent more performance with 25 percent less power consumption, as compared with competing boards.