Advantech Launches 3U CompactPCI PlusIO SBC

System architects can leverage the MIC-3328 in a staged technology upgrade approach, re-using well qualified hardware and software in hybrid CompactPCI PlusIO systems helping them to optimize their R&D budgets, meet their time to market objectives and mitigate risk.
Targeting a broad range of cross-industry applications the MIC-3328 offers the advantage of a successfully field-tested and proven core design already deployed by Advantech customers in other form factors. The board is designed for mission critical operations with up to 8GB DDR3 ECC memory soldered on board higher reliability, up to 32GB soldered flash for data logging and Intel AMT 8.0 including KVM for remote troubleshooting and recovery.

The board fits in a standard 4HP slot and provides front panel connectivity to VGA, two USB 3.0 ports and two RJ-45 gigabit Ethernet ports. Legacy 32-bits 33MHz PCI is ensured by a PI7CX110 bridge connecting the board to the CompactPCI J1 connector while the new Ultra Hard Metric J2 connector transports the high-speed serial signals from the onboard Mobile Intel QM77 Express Chipset to the CompactPCI Serial peripheral slots on the backplane or a rear transition module.

High speeds signals such as PCI Express, Gigabit Ethernet, SATA 3 and USB, allow expansion from a growing base of 3rd party boards in order to implement interfaces requiring higher bandwidth or to upgrade PCI components at the end of their lifecycle. The SATA signals on the backplane now allow for RAID systems to be built-in, while USB facilitates the integration of off the shelf wireless modules like WiFi or cellular network mezzanines for applications such as M2M.

In addition a series of three extension modules are available which expand onboard I/O in an 8HP form factor. For industrial display or workstation applications, a graphics-centric XTM routes two HDMI ports from the PCH for triple display support, adds 2 COM ports for data acquisition and control plus a PS/2 and 2.5” SSD. A second XTM offers additional expansion including Mini-PCIe, SATA 2.0-based Flash storage, USB 2.0, Dual COM ports and PS/2. For customers considering or deploying XMC mezzanine card technology, a third XTM is available which adds XMC expansion with front panel I/O connectivity for further high-speed extensions.

At RTS Embedded Systems, the MIC-3328 is being showcased in a Schroff 3U chassis with a CompactPCI PlusIO compliant backplane. The backplane makes use of the rear I/O pins available on CompactPCI system slots in order to support high-speed serial signals without interfering with legacy PCI signals. This allows interoperability with all other PICMG CompactPCI 2.xx standards which do not use these pins. The MIC-3328 is connected to the system slot which incorporates the UHM connector, allowing connectivity to existing 32-bit boards as well as supporting differential signals up to 5 Gb/s per pair.