Europe, Middle East & Africa
CompactPCI
The requirements are obvious
Today‘s requirement on industrial PC technology is far more than standard motherboard technology can offer. Those designs are optimized for production cost, but not for longevity and reliability and miss in solutions for intelligent cabling, EMI shielding or optimized cooling.
CompactPCI is the answer
Industrial PCs traditionally focus on improved mechanics to overcome the limitations posed by the standard PC set-up. This changed dramatically with the invention of CompactPCI, the fully industrialized version of desktop PC technology. In the past, price played a very important role when deciding to invest in a PC based system.
Today price still plays a decisive role, but experience shows us that the ultimate deciding factors are the availability of off-the-shelf standard software and the low MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) connected with CompactPCI based technology. CompactPCI provides solutions for high density packaging, excellent EMI shielding, optimized cooling and reliable, serviceable, robust and high available systems.
Kontron integrates all those characteristics into a wide offering of CompactPCI products with advantageous features:
CompactPCI Details
Robustness
The industrial stability of 19-inch technology and the Eurocard form factor make CompactPCI an outstanding technology. The combination of pin and socket connectors, card guides, and front panel retaining mechanisms results in superior support and ruggedness for all system boards. CompactPCI boards are inserted and removed from the front of the system without affecting rear I/O connections or neighbouring cards. These mechanical characteristics, combined with hot swap circuitry and management software, increase reliability and serviceability while paving the way for high availability systems.
Passive backplane
The active motherboard associated with today‘s PCs contains bundles of cabling and many active components that make the system impossible to service without shutting it down. Replacement can be time consuming and difficult, and it often requires dismantling of the system. CompactPCI hot swap capabilities allow for board changes without removing the power, and, in the case of peripheral boards, without affecting the system‘s operation.
PICMG 2.16
Additionally, new switch-fabric architectures, such as the PICMG 2.16 packet switch backplane, increase systems reliability by eliminating single point of failures in board interconnectivity. PICMG 2.16 or CompactPCI Packet Switching Backplane is one of the newer specifications issued by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG). PICMG 2.16 is an extension of the PICMG 2.x family of specifications that implements a packet-based switching architecture (based on Ethernet) on top of CompactPCI.
Upgradeability
As CPU technology improves, typically at a much faster rate than I/O subsystems, system controllers can be re-placed without altering any existing I/O. Because CompactPCI is an industry-supported open standard, long-term functional replacements for system controllers and peripheral boards are readily available.
Thermal effects
Electronic devices generate significant heat that needs to be dispersed to ensure product longevity. Uneven cooling can lead to poor performance and, ultimately, system failure. Warped PCBs, resulting in bad connections and broken traces, are one example of possible consequences of overheating. This is the typical scenario associated with commercial systems used in harsh environments. CompactPCI systems are designed with a clear, even passage of airflow over all heat producing boards and devices. Such systems have forced cooling that guarantees a minimum level of airflow. Gas-tight connectors avoid connection errors due to polluted cooling air. To increase reliability and serviceability, this forced cooling is done at the system level so that cooling devices can be field replaceable, allowing for passive-cooled CPU boards and superior MTBF.
Kontron‘s extended temperature expertise
Computers used in an environment with changing ambient temperature need to withstand more heat and cold than office devices. In 1975, PEP Modular Computers, now Kontron Modular Computers, began designing industrial computers with versions for extended temperature ranges, supplying market segments where extended temperature resistance is needed such as transportation, unattended outdoor systems, mobile measurement systems and special vehicles.
Kontron peripheral boards
To complete your CompactPCI solution, Kontron offers different kinds of I/O boards, One example out of this board range is the 3U Fast Ethernet Switch CP930. With its five ports it provides abundant possibilities to connect to CPU´s in your application to one Ethernet fabric. Harsh environment like extended temperature are no issue for the cost efficient CP930.
The Kontron CompactPCI Value Line systems of Kontron offer the comfort and features of the CompactPCI systems for the price of standard PCI computers. Our customers receive the most possible comfort for standard-prices and a high protection of the investments. Furthermore, the modularity makes it possible to tailor the processor performance and the I/O-design to the actual requirements. In this manner it is possible to scale the systems according to the customer demands. The Advantages:
- Perfect cost/performance ratio
- Best quality and reliability
- High-Class and innovative solution
- High protection of the investments
- High scalability