SBCs offer PC/104 expansion

Kontron has released three new speedMOPS single-board computers for use with the wide range of PC/104 expansion modules on the market.

Kontron has been rated as the worldwide market leader in PC/104 CPU boards by the market research institute VDC for several years and has now released three new speedMOPS single-board computers (SBCs) for use with the wide range of PC/104 expansion modules on the market.

On these PC/104plus-compliant SBCs, the processor is located on the outside of the "sandwich" footprint of the PC/104 form factor, which facilitates optimal cooling of the high-performance CPUs.

All existing and upcoming PC/104 I/O expansion boards meet the PC/104 spec fully, including ISAbus.

The three new speedMOPS for PC/104-compliant expansion modules are equipped with the new Intel Pentium M Class processors.

Variants have: a passively cooled, cacheless 800MHz Intel processor, a passively cooled 1GHz Intel Celeron M 373 or an actively cooled 1.8GHz Intel Pentium M 745.

Every speedMOPSlcdPM is equipped with the 855 GME/ICH4 chipset.

In cost terms, the cacheless design fits into or under the price band of the VIA Eden, thanks to Intel's progressive pricing policy.

The special cacheless 800MHz version offers numerous features, including dual screen and USB 2.0, and underscores the increasingly close collaboration between Kontron and Intel and the customer benefits that are flowing from it.

Prototypes of the new speedMOPSlcdPM variants will be available soon.

The start of mass production is planned for Q1 2006.

The speedMOPS CPU boards fit into low-cost standard 3.5in housings.

They guarantee OEMs and users optimally cooled high performance (IntelR PentiumR 4) for PC/104 expansion modules as well as the long-term validity of the PC/104 I/O specification including the ISA bus.

Kontron is also negotiating for an extension of the PC/104 specification for PC/104 CPU boards because speedMOPS has a slightly larger form factor that benefits only high-performance PC/104 designs.

3.5 and 5.25in PICMG, ePCI, PCI-X, ISA and PISA SBC cards that support the newest high-performance processors do not have PC/104 ISA extension sockets and so are not compatible with the numerous PC/104 ISA extension boards currently available speedMOPS boards however are compatible.

A further advantage is that all cables used with MOPS PC/104 boards are fully compatible with speedMOPS modules and complete cable reuse is possible.

The new speedMOPS is the most powerful member of Kontron's MOPS PC/104 product family.

With 29 CPU boards currently available, the (speed)MOPS PC/104 product family is the world's largest demand-oriented, scalable product line in the embedded PC/104 world.

It includes processors ranging from 386 right up to the mobile Intel Pentium M.

The (speed)MOPS modules are characterised by having a common pinout for keyboard, COM1 and COM2 as well as 44-pin IDE, LPT and LAN1.

These standard features simplify upgrading within the Kontron (speed)MOPS PC/104 product family.

Connecting displays to the boards is straightforward thanks to the JILI or JIPA interface, which automatically recognises the attached display and then sets video parameters accordingly.

All (speed)MOPS PC/104 boards are therefore plug and work-compatible, which considerably reduces the time to market.

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