CompactPCI for embedded applications

The embedded development solution features standards-based versatility and performance

BY DAVID PURSLEY
Kontron America, Poway, CA
http://us.kontron.com

There are many things to like about CompactPCI for embedded systems. Its attributes include being standards based, having high performance, and featuring a small form factor with highly ruggedized connectors and a software platform based on the very familiar computing PCI bus.

CompactPCI has been a popular embedded computing solution for military and aerospace designs, with systems deployed across a range of applications including submarines, naval ships, aircraft systems, and ground vehicles. But designers in other, nonmilitary embedded markets — such as medical imaging, industrial control, infotainment and transportation — are also realizing the benefits of CompactPCI to enable quick time to market.

With the space-saving 3U form factor to proven 6U implementations, CompactPCI gives designers a small high-performance computing option that meets the high-availability, easy-upgrade-and-maintenance, low-power, and cost-effective needs of many embedded applications.

Big processing power in a rugged small footprint

It is no secret that the trend for embedded systems is in the development of smaller, lower power designs. However, smaller doesn’t change the critical need for ever-increasing computing power. CompactPCI’s role for these applications continues to grow due to its robust construction and high-performance PCI-Express computing blades. CompactPCI delivers distributed high processing capabilities and tremendous I/O throughput. The latest generation of CompactPCI 6U products incorporates Intel Core2 Duo processors with 45-nm technology, increasing data throughput significantly. In combination with the latest Intel chipsets, data throughput can be up to 8.5 Gbytes/s, and the multicore 45-nm technology enables stable thermal characteristics.

Adding to system ruggedness is the CompactPCI connector, which is more robust due to its pin-based design versus card-edge or slot-based connectors. CompactPCI boards use a gas-tight, high-density pin and socket connector that features low inductance and controlled impedance for minimizing signal reflections. The strength of the 2-mm connector is gained through its 47 rows of 5 pins per row, for a total of 220 pins. A large number of ground pins increases reliability by providing shielding and low ground bounce.

Simplified software development, maintenance, and upgradeability

CompactPCI solutions enjoy an extensive range of software. Most designers, even newer software engineers, are familiar with PCI-based programming. Newer features such as trusted platform module (TPM) are being integrated, delivering additional security critical to movement of data for portable medical devices or sensitive industrial apps.

With higher-performance processor technology, newer CompactPCI boards unlock applications that existing technologies have not been able to address and offers the prospect of upgrading and extending the life of deployed systems. For instance, an existing system that uses 10 CompactPCI 2.16 single-core, single-slot boards could possibly reduce the number of boards to one dual-slot quad-core board.

CompactPCI’s ability to deliver rear I/O in a smaller 3U form factor is a plus. Rear I/O offers developers easy installation and maintenance access to serial outputs.

CompactPCI versatility shown in various applications

The versatility of CompactPCI-based solutions is demonstrated in a broad range of applications. The following examples highlight the benefits designers have realized in working with a proven application-ready platform.

Ethernet-based infotainment . CompactPCI systems are used to manage in-flight entertainment systems on-board today’s passenger aircraft. A single 3U CompactPCI board controls the plane’s entertainment database and provides the bandwidth to deliver fast access to entertainment choices. The broad range of processors available means that developers of embedded systems can choose just the amount of computing power they need for a particular app.

A CompactPCI-based system to manage in-flight entertainment.

CompactPCI can work with fiber optics throughout the aircraft. Multiple CompactPCI boards make up a centralized system server connected via fiber optics to each passenger seat. The server can provide DSP and I/O boards as necessary and provide secure communications via Gigabit Ethernet to allow for credit-card transactions. Larger planes with 200 or more seats would require seven or eight CompactPCI systems functioning together as one entertainment server.

CT ultrasound imaging . The medical industry continually searches for ways to improve the accuracy and speed of screening procedures to help keep ever-spiraling health costs down and improve patient care. Traditional ultrasound is a frequently used option, but ultrasound images can be quite fuzzy.

Kontron’s Ready-to-Go CompactPCI System.

Medical-imaging company TechniScan produced the highest-quality 3D images in its Ultrasound CT Breast Imaging System. This application requires immense computational power to process a huge amount of data quickly. A typical scan can generate about 30 Gbytes of data. The final image is only about 4 Mbytes.

Kontron provided the CompactPCI CP6012 single-board computer using a single Intel Core 2 Duo processor T2500 at 2 GHz with 2 Gbytes of memory. Under test conditions, Kontron was able to get up to 120-Mbit/s throughput.

Open-cast mining . CompactPCI-based boards were deployed to control automated systems in open-cast mining operations. Eickhoff Bergbautechnik uses shear loaders with a computing control system to excavate lignite, a fossil fuel often called brown coal. Crunching and grating, bucket wheels the size of a delivery van burrow into the black cliff.

In the summer, the temperature in the operator’s cabin, suspended just a few meters away, is almost unbearable. A constant, powerful 5-Hz vibration shakes the cabin incessantly. The air in the cabin is thick with fine, black coal dust that deposits itself as a thick greasy layer on sweating skin.

Because of the complexities of the mining operation, a high-performance embedded computing automation solution that could withstand the rigors of the harsh mining environment and provide a reliable, long-term deployment was needed.

Eickhoff chose a 3U CompactPCI solution for the space-constrained system. The 3U board provided the high processing power to drive the automatic operation, data transfer control panels, and the computing intelligence needed to adjust the shear loader to geological conditions.

It also tested well during high-shock-and-vibration operations and provided the ability to use nonvolatile memory as an acceptable form of battery backup in the explosive mining environment. With the modular construction of CompactPCI, an I/O or fieldbus card can be expanded, dropped in, or changed at any time.

Other apps may not fit so well

For applications such as next-generation telecommunications systems that need multi-gigabit bandwidth across the backplane, CompactPCI is probably not the optimal solution with only two 1-Gbit connections. The ATCA standard or MicroTCA would better solve the bandwidth needs of these apps.

Also, the 3U and 6U CompactPCI form factors may be too large even for some blade-based embedded systems. In this case, a computer-on-module (COM) solution would fit the space-constrained needs of smaller systems. ■