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Dual-core VMEbus SBC supports Linux

Feb 14, 2008 — by Eric Brown — from the LinuxDevices Archive — 1 views

Emerson Network Power (ENP) announced a dual-core VMEbus single-board computer (SBC) that runs Linux. The MVME7100 is based on a Freescale MPC8641D system-on-chip (SoC) with dual PowerPC e600 processor cores, and is ENP's highest performing VMEbus board to date, says the company.

Designed for industrial, medical, and defense/aerospace applications, the SBC is said to be the first VME design based on the Freescale MPC8641D, which in turn is Freescale's first SoC with dual PowerPC cores. Still common in military, government and industrial embedded applications, VME is a processor-agnostic 32- and 64-bit backplane bus standard maintained by VITA (VME Industry Trade Association).


ENP's MVME7100
(Click to enlarge)

The MVME7100 board features gigabit Ethernet, USB, and local I/O. It is also equipped with PCI-X, a PCI Express interface, and a 2eSST high speed VMEbus interface, providing independence of PCI buses with varying I/O requirements for each PMC site. This optimizes speed, says ENP, while simplifying part number maintenance, technical expertise requirements, and sparing.

Dual 33/66/100MHz PMC-X sites are available for expansion via industry standard modules with support for processor PMCs. The board also offers a MVME721A direct-connect rear transition module (RTM) for I/O routing. The board is said to be interoperable with ENP's MVME6100 and MVME3100 at higher bandwidths.


MVME7100 block diagram
(Click to enlarge)

The following are some key specs listed for the MVME7100:

  • Processor — Freescale MPC8641D clocked to 1.0- to 1.3GHz
  • Memory — up to 2GB of DDR2 ECC memory; 128MB Nor flash; 4GB or 8GB NAND flash
  • Bus support — 2eSST VMEbus; Dual 33/66/100MHz PMC-X sites; 8 x PCI Express expansion connector for PMC-X and XMC using Motorola XMCspan; rear transition module (RTM)
  • Networking — 4 x gigabit Ethernet
  • USB — 1 x USB 2.0 controller

Availability

The MVME7100 will be available in July, says ENP, with prices starting at $5,500. Board support packages will be available for Linux and VxWorks.


 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.



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