Powerful PowerPC CPU in small form factor board

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 24, 2000

PEP Modular Computers has launched a 3U CompactPCI PowerPC CPU that utilises Motorola's latest "Kahlua" MPC8240 processor and provides a high computing performance to power dissipation ratio

PEP Modular Computers has launched a 3U CompactPCI PowerPC CPU that utilises Motorola's latest "Kahlua" MPC8240 processor and provides a significantly high computing performance to power dissipation ratio not normally associated with such a small form factor board.

The rugged low power design and the high level of performance distinguish this CPU as being ideal for military applications.

It is especially suitable for mission critical applications and comes with a well established software board support package.

The CP320 is a comprehensive computing platform conceived as a lean CPU design with only those functions required for basic industrial calculation tasks.

It addresses the need for increasing computing capacity while reducing the number of system components and taking up less space.

The MPC8240 is a highly integrated microprocessor containing an internal PowerPC MPC603e core with a floating point unit that starts at 250MHz.

Anticipating the CP320's use in data critical applications, the memory data path contains a selectable in-line Error Correction Code (ECC) controller which can provide SDRAM single bit error correct or double bit error detect at 100 MHz synchronous access to the direct soldered SDRAM of up to 128MBytes.

For boot code and ROMable RTOS, 8MBytes of direct soldered Flash is provided.

For mass data transmission a dual channel DMA controller is provided.

Data can thus be moved from PCI to memory or vice versa, memory to memory, or PCI to PCI.

Two memory expansion sockets allow the addition of Flash (single chip or DiskOnChip() and / or SRAM (chip or NVSRAM) The 64-bit 33MHz CompactPCI interface supports all necessary signals to allow Hot Swapping of peripheral boards.

The PCI / PCI bridge is routed to a 100-pin PCI expansion connector that can be used to add further functionality to the CP320 without occupying additional CompactPCI backplane slots.

One or two PMC expansion I/O modules can be plugged together and stacked with the CP320 resulting in a total package of either 8HP or 12HP.

Rear I/O option is available with the 32-bit CompactPCI interface version.

The CP320 offers a range of options including the low power, space efficient i82559 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet controller with an integrated 10/100 Mbps physical layer device for the control of the 10Base-T/100Base-TX Ethernet interface.

Two software configurable serial ports, RS232 and RS485 with opto-isolation are controlled by the 16C2550 dual UART and supports baud rates up to 1.5 Mbps.

There are two serial 64Kbytes EEPROMs, one for board default settings and one for user settings as well as a rotary coding switch with 16 binary values to assist in identification.

A rear I/O version is available as an option with all I/O functions at the CompactPCI backplane (J2 connector) instead of at the front panel, reducing the CPU service and maintenance costs by allowing rapid replacement.

The modular and scalable design of the CP320 permits it to be used as a single slot solution or as 8/12 HP versions with various I/O connections.

This robust design is ideally suited for harsh and rugged industrial environments with -40(C to +85(C extended temperature options.

The CP320 employs an operating system independent boot loader that enables the loading of any Operating System (OS).

This boot loader makes an update of the Flash contents and accomplishes an automatic download from Flash to DRAM before booting the Operating System.

There is intelligent hardware monitoring in the form of on-board temperature and voltage supervision and for applications where safety is critical a battery-buffered real-time clock and a watchdog are provided.

The CP320 supports most off-the-shelf operating systems including the popular VxWorks with PCI 'Plug and Play' functionality.