Kontron releases its premier turnkey COTS rugged Modular Embedded Computers designed for use in defense, aerospace and avionics applications

Today Kontron unveiled at Eurosatory ´08 the Kontron MEC-PPC-AV1 - a completely rugged Modular Embedded Computer (MEC) specifically targeted towards avionics applications.

The Kontron MEC-PPC-AV1 is a low-cost 3U CompactPCI rugged COTS subsystem designed to exceed requirements through its compact dimensions, low-power dissipation, and real-time software with a very large I/O offering.

“The Modular Embedded Computer architecture meets customer’s requirements by proposing a very cost-effective COTS subsystem with a wide range of options to cover all specific avionic needs,” said Norbert Hauser, Vice President Marketing at Kontron.

The Kontron MEC-PPC-AV1 is targeted towards the avionics market because of its ATR footprint dimensions, 28 VDC power supply, lightweight structure in aluminium, conduction cooled dissipation, MIL-STD-1553 links, MIL-C-38999 connectors and a very low power consumption of less than 17W.

The Kontron MEC-PPC-AV1 hosts a Kontron 3U CompactPCI Single-Slot PowerEngineC7 Embedded Computer, a low-power dissipation and high performance processor board already embedded in major avionics programs. The Kontron PowerEngineC7 design is a result of the combined expertise of Kontron and a leading provider of airborne mission computers. The Kontron PowerEngineC7 is based on the PowerPC G3 750FX RISC CPU, which includes 512 KB internal L2 cache, and the Marvel Discovery III MV64460 Integrated System Controller. It offers an extensive range of standard functions and expansion options including: one processor clocked at 700 MHz, onboard user memory of 512 MB with ECC, two onboard asynchronous serial lines and two 10/100BASE−T Ethernet channels, 64 MB of System Flash memory, 128 MB of User Flash memory, 128 KB of nvSRAM with real−time clock, a 32−bit CompactPCI bus and one 32−bit 33/66 MHz PMC module. The PowerEngineC7 can be used both as a system slot or a peripheral slot processor board.

The Kontron MEC-PPC-AV1 Modular Embedded Computer offers a large range of I/Os such as Ethernet, general purpose I/Os, serial lines and MIL-STD-1553 links thanks to the Kontron CPMC-1553-R PCI Mezzanine. The Kontron CPMC-1553-R is a redundant MIL-STD-1553B interface with 2 channels. Each channel has an ILC-DDC BU-61688 Advanced Communication Engine and 8 KB dual port RAM. The Kontron CPMC-1553 supports the Bus Controller, Remote Terminal, or Monitor Terminal operating modes. The PMC module has a 32 bit, 33 MHz PCI interface and a parallel 8 bit TTL I/O port.

Kontron boards inside the MEC-PPC-AV1 allow for full control of the product life cycle, short lead time, optimized architecture and fast support. The boards also permit customizable interface configurations to suit application specific requirements.

The Kontron MEC comes as a turnkey system with preloaded VxWorks 6.2. Kontron’s VxWorks BSPs are all released according to WindRiver BSP coding and packaging rules and are certified by Wind River.

The Kontron MEC-PPC-AV1 products are covered by Kontron’s long term supply program. This guarantees defense customers a multi-year supply of the product beyond its active life.