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Symmetric multiprocessing on PrPMC

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Apr 15, 2003

The PowerPMC-280 is the first symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) platform available on a PowerPC processor PCI mezzanine card (PrPMC).

The PowerPMC-280 is the first symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) platform available on a PowerPC processor PCI mezzanine card (PrPMC).

With options for single or dual MPC7447 G4 processors running at up to 1.3GHz, this AltiVec technology-enabled PrPMC provides capability for significantly higher system performance via scalability of embedded designs across multiple processors.

Implemented with a Marvell Discovery II system controller, the PowerPMC-280 is the most advanced of Force's intelligent processor modules, with enhancements such as PCI-X, integrated SRAM and a high-performance DDR-SDRAM controller making it particularly suitable for metro area network ATM/IP Layer 3 switches, high-density computing clusters, semiconductor test equipment and other industrial control, communications and benign defence and aerospace applications.

The new card offers superscalar G4s that allow four instructions/clock cycle and 128bit AltiVec technology for deployment on custom, CompactPCI, PICMG 2.16 or AdvancedTCA carriers in control/data plane uses.

Capable of monarch or nonmonarch operation, it integrates up to two MPC7447 processors with the multifunction Discovery II MV64360 system controller on a PrPMC form-factor for a compact, high-performance embedded platform.

Other features include: on-chip dual/independent Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) interfaces; up to 2Gbyte SDRAM and 64Mbyte Flash memory; 64bit/66MHz PCI and dual serial interfaces; Multiple I2C EEPROM board information/configuration devices; and Linux with SMP support and loosely coupled VxWorks operating system support.

For applications that require even higher bandwidth, the PowerPMC-280 has capacity for a third GigE interface that can be installed on a custom variant available through Force's Tailor Made programme.

Other OEM options include different Discovery II system controllers, such as the MV64362.

Force supplies functional building-block designs as soon as new technologies appear - prototyping and testing them so that OEMs can develop products with features their applications require - reducing time from concept to full functionality.

Certified in ISO9001 processes and supply-chain management, Force's low-risk, fast-track development/design method offers a "total pipeline" approach unequalled in embedded computing - enabling a one-stop service for cost-effective, high-level solutions from design to delivery.

PowerPMC-280s will be available through Force's Early Access Unit (EAU) programme in the second quarter of this year.

Lower power-dissipation and single-processor-only members of the product family (PowerPMC-240, PowerPMC-250, PowerPMC-260 and PowerPMC-270) are also available.