VME CPU exploits latest PowerPC processor

Kontron has released the world's first 3U VME CPU board based on the Freescale MPC8541 PowerQUICC III RISC processor.

Kontron has released the world's first 3U VME CPU board based on the Freescale MPC8541 PowerQUICC III RISC processor.

The PowerPC board with a maximum clock rate of 660MHz boasts outstanding performance (1520MIPS at 660MHz) with reduced energy consumption (10W at 660MHz), and also offers two integrated gigabit Ethernet ports.

The board is perfectly tailored to the demands of today's applications where increasing software complexity requires ever higher computer performance, and increased networking raises the demands on network bandwidth and security.

The latter is covered by the hardware security engine, which is integrated into the processor and supports encryption in accordance with IPSec, DES, 3Des and AES.

These features, along with the very fast DDR-SDRAM, make the VMP3 a universal processor card for computing-intensive real-time applications in, for example, automation, transportation and military technology.

The 100 x 160mm board has up to 256Mbyte of directly soldered DDR-SDRAM, 16Mbyte Flash, 1Mbyte buffered SRAM, and EEPROM for user and configuration data.

A slot for CompactFlash memory cards is optional.

The two gigabit Ethernet ports are supplemented by a Fast Ethernet interface and a serial port.

A JTAG/BDM interface is provided for debugging and onboard programming.

Additional features include watchdog, real-time clock and a temperature sensor.

The VMP3 is designed for a temperature range from 0 to 60C, and optionally available for the extended range from -40 to +85C.

Available software support includes an operating system-independent boot loader with network support, as well as a Linux and VxWorks board support package.

The VMP3 will be available from March 2005.

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