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VMEbus SBC meets extreme military demands

A Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, Video and Graphics product story

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Jul 20, 2005

A new rugged single board computer is designed for demanding military applications that require high performance VMEbus embedded computing in extreme environments.

Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing has introduced a new rugged single board computer designed for demanding military applications that require high performance VMEbus embedded computing in extreme environments.

The new PMA delivers up to 1.4GHz processing power in a single slot 6U VME/VME64x form factor while reducing heat dissipation through the use of a low-power microprocessor and advanced cooling hardware.

The board is powered by Intel's low-power Pentium M (Dothan) and is available configured with either ULV (1.0GHz at 5W) or LV (1.4GHz at 10W) versions of the processor.

The PMA simplifies the design of rugged military VME system by reducing the power consumption demands of the host processor board.

The PMA is designed for high reliability in high shock and vibration environments (it's rated to withstand up to 40g shock and 0.15g2/Hz vibration, per MIL-STD-810E) and temperature extremes (it's designed for use in operating ambient temperature environments as harsh as -40 to +71C).

The board, which is also available in an air-cooled configuration, can be optionally configured as an IEEE1101.2-compliant, conduction-cooled VMEbus module, featuring wedge locks and a full-board heatsink.

"The PMA is ideal for the harsh environments of defense applications", said Darwin Beckel, President of Subsystems, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing.

"Combining high performance with low power consumption, the PMA meets the demanding needs of today's mission-critical systems".

Support for the PMA's Pentium M includes 256Mbyte, 512Mbyte or 1Gbyte of 2.1Gbyte/s DDR-266 onboard memory.

This new SBC also features onboard graphics and advanced I/O and datacommunications, including a 64bit/66MHz PCI-X databus, support for PMC-X module expansion and ATA/100 and Serial ATA (SATA) data storage.

The board's 855GME graphics memory controller hub (GMCH) provides an integrated VGA/DVO interface.

The PMA's 6300ESB I/O controller hub (ICH) chipset provides the PCI-X expansion, ATA/100, and Serial ATA (SATA) support.

Additional I/O support on the board includes a DVI-I connector, dual USB 2.0 ports, a 10/100Base-TX interface, and a COM port, all accessible from board's front panel.

The PMA's primary ATA/100 DMA IDE interface is accessible from the VMEbus P2 connector.

A second IDE port is routed to the board's Type II-compatible CompactFlash to enable single-slot booting.

Two VITA 31.1-compliant, 10/100/1000Base-TX ports are routed to the backplane.

Conventional PC I/O is accessible with industry-standard connectors on optional rear I/O modules, as well as, SATA, VGA/DVO video, gigabit Ethernet and two more USB 2.0 ports.

One PMC-X site is provided for additional I/O expansion.

The PMA is supported with software drivers available for a full range of leading operating systems and real-time operating environments, including Windows NT, Embedded NT, XP, QNX, VxWorks, Linux, Solaris and pSOS+.

Pricing for the PMA single board computer starts at US $6433 in single unit quantity.