New Power Architecture® based Kontron VPX board fulfills demanding embedded computing requirements

Kontron’s new 3U VPX board with quad-core Freescale™ QorIQ™ CPU supports hypervisor technologies to consolidate multiple applications into a single platform

Eching, Germany, May 28, 2013 – Kontron introduced today, its latest 3U VPX PowerPC® processor board, tailored for rugged embedded systems that need to process compute-intensive applications using the lowest possible power consumption. To meet this requirement, the Kontron 3U VPX processor board VX3240 features the new, power optimized Freescale™ P2041 QorIQ™ quad-core processor. The headless VPX design has four 1.2 GHz Power Architecture® e500mc cores, which helps engineers to successfully meet current and future challenges of Size, Weight & Power and Cooling (SWaP-C) requirements for constrained environments in the military, aerospace and transportation markets. Moreover, the integrated hypervisor support enabling the use of low level safety critical virtualization technologies from companies such as Wind River, RTS or Sysgo, makes the VX3240 the ideal SBC for consolidation of multiple applications into a single platform, further improving the SWaP-C balance.

Network-centric applications also benefit from the data path acceleration architecture (DPAA), which offloads packet handling tasks from the core, providing increased processor performance for critical tasks while the secure boot feature of the CPU can be used for trusted boot implementation, allowing only authenticated code to run on the board. Applications for the new Kontron 3U VPX processor board VX3240 include, C4ISR, software defined radio and networked applications that require rugged OpenVPX™ designs to operate in the most demanding environments. Safety-critical railway applications also benefit from this architecture.

Its wide range of I/Os, including Gigabit Ethernet, GPIOs, USB, SATA and serial interfaces, simplifies integration in new, data- intensive, low-power system designs. Furthermore, an on-board PMC/XMC slot offers engineers a space-saving extension option to integrate dedicated I/O, field bus or storage modules without occupying an additional VPX system slot. The multi-core processor is also designed to execute application code written for legacy PowerPC® versions, enabling simple upgrades of existing installations without the need to change the code basis. Backed up by Kontron’s Long Term Supply Program, the Kontron VX3240 is an ideal fit for long-term projects, providing 20+ years secured availability.

The Kontron VX3240 in detail
The Kontron VX3240 is based on the 1.2 GHz quad-core Freescale™ QorIQ™ P2041 processor with up to 8 GB soldered DDR-3 SDRAM. An optional XMC/PMC slot enables application specific customization by adding specialized PCIe or PCI based expansion boards, saving a valuable system slot. Additional VPX boards can be connected over the backplane via four PCI Express lanes. For networking and peripherals there are two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB 2.0, two serial interfaces and 6 GPIOs. Storage media are connected via one SATA 2 port over the backplane. An on-board soldered SATA NAND-Flash up to 32 GB is optionally available to host OS and application code for a rugged and space-saving system layout in mission critical applications.

The new Kontron VX3240 can be ordered as a stand-alone platform or as an integral part of the multi-mission rugged computer system, ApexVX, for the rapid deployment of a broad range of military and avionics applications. The new Kontron VX3240 is available with standard air-cooling or conduction-cooling operating at an extended temperature range of -40 to +85°C. It supports Linux and VxWorks.

For more information, please visit the Kontron 3U VPX PowerPC® VX3240 product page.

More information about VPX can be found here.

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About Kontron
Kontron is a global leader in embedded computing technology. With more than 44% of its employees in research and development, Kontron creates many of the standards that drive the world’s embedded computing platforms. Kontron’s product longevity, local engineering and support, and value-added services, help create a sustainable and viable embedded solution for OEMs and system integrators. Kontron works closely with its customers on their embedded application-ready platforms and custom solutions, enabling them to focus on their core competencies. The result is an accelerated time-to-market, reduced total-cost-of-ownership and an improved overall application with leading-edge, highly-reliable embedded technology.

Kontron is listed on the German TecDAX stock exchange under the symbol "KBC". For more information, please visit: http://www.kontron.com/

Media Contacts

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Norbert Hauser
Kontron
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Michael Hennen
SAMS Network
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michael.hennen@samsnetwork.com

Americas
Richard Pugnier
Kontron
Tel:+1 (858) 623-3006
richard.pugnier@us.kontron.com

Annette Keller
Keller Communications
Tel:+1 (949) 640-4811
annettekeller@sbcglobal.net

APAC
Richard Pugnier
Kontron
Tel:+1 (858) 623-3006
richard.pugnier@us.kontron.com

Michael Hennen
SAMS Network
Tel: +49 (2405) 45267-20
michael.hennen@samsnetwork.com


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