Curtiss-Wright Controls has introduced its first single board computer based on Freescale's latest eight-core QorIQ P4080 communications processor.
The board maker announced plans to design with the power efficient multi-core processor in May, and first products were announced this month.
"The performance, low-power operation and robust functionality of Freescale`s QorIQ P4080 device takes embedded multicore processing to entirely new levels,"
said Lynn Patterson, v-p and general manager at Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing.
The rugged 6U VPX general purpose SBC supports its eight 1.5GHz Power Architecture processor cores and the high-speed VPX backplane supports Gen 2 PCIe and SRIO for multi-Gbyte/s board-to-board data communications.
The other major market for the multi-core processor is next generation LTE mobile infrastructure. In March, Freescale upped delivery of QorIQ products in response to demand from wireless infrastructure equipment manufacturers.
At the time it revealed there were more than 12 customers designing in the eight-core proceesor. Volume production is expected to begin in 45nm at the end of the year.
The VPX6-187 also supports a rich I/O complement including (4) four Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports, USB, options for multi-function RS-232/422/485 serial ports, MIL-STD-1553, Serial
ATA, and TTL and differential discrete I/O to provide connectivity integration with other system elements independent of its two (2) PMC/XMC sites. The board’s dual mezzanine sites are suitable for the acquisition, processing, and distribution of high-speed sensor data such as video, radar, and sonar.
Offered in both air-and conduction-cooled rugged configurations, the VPX6-187 is also optionally available in a VPX-REDI (VITA 48) configuration to support applications that requiring
Line-Replaceable Modules (LRMs). VPX-REDI provides enhanced hardware protection including front and rear metal covers to support in-the-field maintenance and replacement.
Software support includes Wind River VxWorks and Linux Board Support Package as well as the firm's CSA firmware. There are also drivers supporting both SMP and AMP operating modes, MIL-STD-1553 software driver, and other operating systems.