CompactPCI system takes (industrial) control

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Jul 5, 2007

3U cPCI system is billed as a low-cost and feature-rich alternative to a standard industrial PC.

Acal Microsystems reckons the latest 3U cPCI solution from Adlink Technology is a low-cost and feature-rich alternative to a standard industrial PC.

The system is based on the 3U cubic cPCIS-2500 CompactPCI six-slot chassis, which has a side handle for portability, a base for desktop applications and a kit for wall mounting.

For 3U CompactPCI cards without rear I/O ports, the cPCIS-2500 series offers a PICMG 2.11 standard 47-pin modular power supply, bottom access removable intake fan for easy maintenance and a built in cooling fan.

The other component of this kit is the cPCI-3915, an SBC that offers a choice of a low-power-consumption Intel Pentium M processor with 2Mbyte L2 cache (up to 2.0GHz), or an Intel Celeron M processor with up to 1Mbyte cache.

Other features of the cPCI-3915 include dual PCI-Express gigabit Ethernet ports, and multiple storage interfaces, including Serial ATA, IDE and CompactFlash.

The board supports high-resolution dual-channel multiple display interfaces: CRT (up to 2048 x 1536), DVI (up to 165Mbyte/s) and LVDS (18bit/pixel).

With five additional slots available for other 3U cPCI boards, moving applications to a 3U cPCI chassis provide several advantages over an industrial PC architecture, such as: easier maintenance, faster repairs, higher reliability, a smaller physical footprint, expanded modularity and a mature ecosystem of compatible platforms.