Press Release

XMC and Conduction-Cooled PMC – New Mezzanine Cards Based on FPGA

• Individual functionality for mezzanine cards: XMCs, PMCs and conduction-cooled PMCs, M-Modules™
• FPGA development package for Cyclone™ II (Altera®)
• Own intelligence through Nios® softcore
• Robust, flexible and long-term available

Nuremberg, Germany – December 10, 2007. Right on time for Embedded World 2008 in Nuremberg MEN Mikro Elektronik is coming up with another two mezzanine cards with FPGA functionality. The two FPGA based modules introduced one year ago – the P599 PMC and M199 M-Module™ – are now getting company by a conduction-cooled PMC, P598, and an XMC module, P699. The USM™ Universal Submodule concept that this I/O family is built on implements the desired functionality as IP cores inside the FPGA of the mezzanine card, while the line drivers are located on a submodule.

Flexible I/O Configuration Thanks to FPGA Technology

The USM™ concept allows to realize even unusual I/O combinations on very small space for moderate volumes and at low cost. For this purpose, the P699 main XMC comes with a Cyclone™ III FPGA with 24,624 LE, and the conduction-cooled P598 main PMC features a Cyclone™ II with 33,216 LE. P699 and P598 get their specific function through the choice of the desired IP cores. This function can be changed at any time through the use of different IP cores, without any hardware modifications to the main module. The corresponding line drivers are implemented on a submodule which must be designed individually for each application and which is plugged onto the main XMC or main PMC. The main module also has 32 MB of DDR2 SDRAM main memory and up to 4 MB Flash memory in case the soft CPU, which is already implemented, is used.

Apart from enormous flexibility the usage of IP cores also has the benefit to provide independence from availability and allowed operation temperatures of components. This allows unlimited, guaranteed long-term delivery and application at up to -40 to +85 °C without any problems.

USM™ Development Package for Faster Time-to-Market

Using a comprehensive USM™ development package the user can turn his individual I/O requirements into production-ready products easily and quickly. The package includes a main PMC with a USM™ submodule, test hardware and an FPGA package with a Nios® CPU, memory control, connection to the PMC, Avalon®/Wishbone bridges and detailed documentation. For development of IP cores on the standard Wishbone bus the Wishbone Bus Maker tool from MEN is included. In order to use the Nios® core and to develop IP cores on the Avalon® bus you also need Altera®'s Quartus® II design environment including the SOPC builder.

For users who prefer a ready-to-use product MEN offers design and implementation of IP cores, design of the USM™ submodules as well as production of main modules and submodules.

MEN Mikro Elektronik – Profile and Mission

Since its foundation in 1982 our company designs and manufactures failure-safe computer boards and systems for extreme environmental conditions in industrial and safety-critical embedded applications. Our mission is to provide innovative solutions while maximizing reliability and flexibility.

With nearly 200 employees and subsidiaries in France and the USA we have an annual revenue of 28 million Euros with an export share of about 50%. Customized solutions make for more than half of our revenue. In addition the standard product range includes far more than 100 different computer boards with Intel® Pentium® and multi-core processors and PowerPC® with the corresponding BIOS, BSP and driver software, manifold I/O boards and completely configured systems based on:

• ESM™ Embedded System Modules and PCI-104 modules
• 3U and 6U CompactPCI®, CompactPCI® Express and VMEbus
• PMC, XMC and M-Modules™ as system-independent mezzanine I/O standards

The consistent use of FPGA technology gives us high flexibility when configuring customized and standard products.

Our products are used worldwide as control, measuring, test or simulation computers in all kinds of embedded applications. These comprise extremely safety-critical markets such as railways, including buses and commercial vehicles, aerospace technology or the medical industry, but also mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, telecommunications and the automotive industry. Computer systems in such applications are in operation up to 24 hours every day and often need to be available for 10 years and longer. Ideally no failures must occur to avoid costly downtimes of machines or danger to human life.

We are certified to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 in order to offer our customers the highest quality in products and services while considering environmental protection and occupational safety on the basis of a recognized quality management system. To meet the severe quality requirements in critical applications we are working on certification to AS 9100 (aerospace) and IRIS (railways).

Our aim is to constantly improve and to provide the highest technology and innovation level. Our business ethics is determined by the principles of the United Nations' Global Compact Initiative (human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption).

MEN press documents are archived on this web site for historical purposes. Information in the documents is accurate at the time of release. However, product specifications and other specific information may change over time. Some information about product pricing and availability may be limited to specific geographic areas and may differ in other areas. Information as stated in the document may or may not be in effect after the date of the release.
In addition, press documents may contain statements that are forward-looking. These statements are based on current expectations as of the date of a particular release. Actual results may differ materially from those projected because of a number of risks and uncertainties.