New COM Express Type 10 Carrier Hosts Four AcroPack® mPCIe I/O Modules for a Mix of Processing Functions on a Mini-ITX Platform
Acromag’s newest carrier board interfaces four I/O module slots to an Intel® Atom® COM Express, CPU module on a Mini-ITX format for a variety of data acquisition and control applications.
Acromag broadens their family of rugged AcroPack mini-PCIe I/O module carrier cards with the new Model ACEX4041 which also hosts a COM Express® Type 10 processor module. The Mini-ITX form factor board interfaces four plug-in AcroPack I/O modules to an Intel Atom® E3950 (Apollo Lake) CPU module with provisions for both M.2 and SATA SSD data storage plus a variety of peripherals on-board. Ports for two RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0, two RS232, one Mini-DisplayPort, and audio connections are also included. The four AcroPack I/O slots provide a reliable PCIe mini card interface for a mix of analog, digital, serial, FPGA, avionics and other I/O functions. Four 68-pin VHDCI connectors securely route the field I/O to the AcroPack modules without any loose internal cables. AcroPack I/O modules support conduction-cooling and are rated for -40 to 85°C operation. Power is sourced from a 10-36V DC and/or ATX supply with redundant, auto-switch power capability. A development system package is offered to simplify evaluation and proof-of-concept engineering efforts in a lab.
Designed for defense, industrial, and mobile embedded computing systems, the ACEX4041 is ideal for small form factor (SFF) test & measurement, data acquisition & control, communication, avionics, simulation, and signal processing applications. It is well-suited for systems with size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) limitations. More than 25 AcroPack modules are available to perform A/D, D/A, discrete I/O, RS232/485, MIL-STD-1553, CAN bus, Gigabit Ethernet, and other functions. Third-party mPCIe modules are supported for use in the AcroPack slots. The COM Express Mini Size Type 10 slot can also host Intel Core™ i7 processors and other compatible computer-on-module processors on the market.
“This versatile SFF carrier card brings powerful modular embedded computing and flexible I/O signal processing capabilities to a standard Mini ITX platform that is easy to integrate within a custom system or mount in a rugged enclosure,” asserts Robert Greenfield, Acromag’s Business Development Manager
AcroPack mezzanine modules improve on the mini PCI Express architecture by adding a down-facing 100-pin connector that securely routes the I/O through a carrier card to its integrated external connectors thus eliminating internal cables and metalwork modifications. More than 25 models are available for data acquisition, signal processing, test & measurement, command/control, and network communication applications. Software tools support embedded applications running on Linux®, Windows®, or VxWorks® operating systems.