Embedded SBC boasts express communications

Kontron Embedded Computers has used the PCI Express bus (PCIe for short) for communication with peripherals on its new PICMG 1.0-compatible Kontron PCI-955 single board computer.

Kontron Embedded Computers has used the PCI Express bus (PCIe for short) for communication with peripherals on its new PICMG 1.0-compatible Kontron PCI-955 single board computer.

The new Kontron PCI-955 SBC is based on the Intel Pentium M processor 760 and the Mobile Intel 915GM Express chipset.

It provides 250Mbyte/s full-duplex communication with each PCIe interface so that onboard communication is no longer restricted by the bandwidth of other components.

In addition to delivering PCIe capabilities, the Kontron PCI-955 also boasts significantly improved graphics performance, thanks to the Mobile Intel 915 GM Express chipset with integrated graphics, based on the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 architecture.

The Kontron PCI-955 supports the power Intel Pentium M processor 760 running at 2.0GHz or, alternatively, the Intel Celeron M processor 320 running at 1.3GHz.

The Kontron PCI-955 supports also up to 2Gbyte of DDR2-SDRAM memory.

Interfaces include two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, four SATAs and six USB 2.0s, as well as two serial and one parallel interface.

"The Kontron PCI-955 board is ideal for existing performance-hungry PCI expansion cards such as frame grabber cards, which have to save images locally and simultaneously transmit them via Ethernet, because it doesn't require expensive server chipsets with multiple PCIbuses", says Dr Rudi Wieczorek, CTO at Kontron in Germany.

"The latest Intel Pentium M processor coupled with the Mobile Intel 915GM Express chipset offers many benefits for embedded market segments such as improved performance in a smaller form factor", said Doug Davis, Vice President, Digital Enterprise Group, General Manager, Infrastructure Processor Division, Intel Corp.

"This high performance, low power platform offers support for PCI Express and allows companies like Kontron to bring new levels of performance and innovation to embedded applications".

Typical applications for the Kontron PCI-955 include high-end industrial applications, datacommunications, data storage, server applications, image processing and medical applications.

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