Dual RISC processors boost control plane designs

The EXS-6424 is the industry's first dual-processor PrPMC based on the Intel IXC1100 control plane processor.

The EXS-6424 is the industry's first dual-processor PrPMC based on the Intel IXC1100 control plane processor.

The EXS-6424 is the latest in a family of PrPMCs available from Radisys and adding the new product strengthens Radisys' position as the PrPMC performance leader.

Radisys designed the PICMG 2.15 compliant EXS-6424 to meet the demanding needs of mid-range control plane applications used in broadband access and edge service markets.

The EXS-6424 provides outstanding CPU power, in a small package, and is ideal for processor-intensive applications such as control plane processing for intelligent line cards and content and signalling blades for broadband access (intelligent DSLAM), metro routers, edge service switches (MSS/IP service switch) and 2.5/3G wireless (BTS/Node B, BCS/RNC, MSC, GGSN, SGSN).

"The EXS-6424 broadens our PrPMC family to include RISC processor architectures", said Venkataraman Prasannan, Senior Director of Marketing, for Radisys.

"Using the EXS-6424 OEMs have a modular, low power solution to address control plane processing for their broadband access and edge service products".

The EXS-6424 offers a single architecture for ultralow power and high performance.

EXS-6424 power consumption is extremely low, requiring less than 10W for a complete PrPMC complex delivering more then 2000MIPS.

A PICMG 2.15 and VITA-32 compliant PrPMC, the EXS-6424 is compatible with industry standard PrPMCs and PrPMC carrier cards.

The EXS-6424 features the same Intel XScale processors as the IXP2400 and IXP2800, which means development teams can leverage a common set of development tools and expertise.

With a form factor and electrical interface based on industry standards, the EXS-6424 provides a simplified system design and allows the use of a modular compute platform in compact packaging.

Radisys has modularised the CPU of an embedded design by placing it on an easily upgradeable mezzanine card.

In the past, single-board computers were all inclusive; made up of the processor, supporting chipset and memory, and all I/O functions on a single board.

Radisys' unique approach of confining the CPU complex to a separate mezzanine card allows OEMs to enhance processing power and memory without redesigning the complex I/O.

A simple swap of the mezzanine card is all that's required to upgrade processing power.

This saves time, maximises budgets and also protects the organisation's high-speed I/O investment.

The Radisys EXS-6424 was designed to support processor-intensive broadband access and edge service applications and features the Intel IXC1100 processor operating at 533MHz.The EXS-6424 offers two independent IXC1100 processors, each with up to 256Mbyte ECC SDRAM.

The PrPMC is available in either a single or dual processor configuration.

With two independent processors, the EXS-6424 provides significant processing capability and when combined with software, the processors can also be used in a soft symmetric multiprocessing configuration.

To maximise I/O bandwidth and enable OEMs to improve performance and time-to-market, the Radisys EXS-6424 supports two 10/100 BaseT Ethernet ports to the front panel and two 10/100BaseT Ethernet ports to the baseboard (as per PICMG 2.15), as well as 32bit/66MHz PCIbus connectivity.

The EXS-6424 supports a wide range of applications and system environments and is compatible with popular embedded operating systems including Linux and VxWorks.

The EXS-6424 is also compliant with the requirements of FCC Class B and CISPR B for deployment worldwide.

The EXS-6424 will be available in the fourth quarter of 2003.

The EXS-6424-D1100 (dual version) is priced at US $895 and the EXS-6424-S1100 (single version) is priced at US $540.

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