PC/104-Plus Module incorporates PowerPC.

Press Release Summary:




Series PP01 SBC, with temperature range of -40 to +85°C, suits industrial automation and control applications in harsh environments. Freescale Semiconductor's MPC5200 microprocessor, with 384 MHz frequency, provides 760 MIPS and consumes less than 850 mW. Microprocessor includes built-in telematics communications unit as well as floating point unit, memory management unit, DRAM controller, and BestComm/DMA I/O controller that drives industrial I/O interfaces supported by device.



Original Press Release:



Low-power PC/104-Plus module features PowerPC



Dallas, July 7, 2004 - A new PC/104-Plus single-board computer designated the PP01 by MEN Micro, Inc. (www.menmicro.com) brings the processing power of the MPC5200 PowerPC to industrial automation and control applications in harsh environments. The PP01 is one of the first open platforms to utilize the MPC5200 from Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. The MPC5200 is a low-power processor specifically designed for the automotive/telematics market. With an extended temperature range of -40 to 85 degrees C the PP01 is well suited for a wide variety of industrial and transportation applications.

"The PP01 packs a lot of functionality within the small confines of the PC/104-Plus form factor. In addition, the PP01 operates quite effectively under the challenging environmental conditions that are often encountered in industrial applications," said Ernest Godsey, president of MEN Micro. "With the processing capabilities of the MPC5200 and its full complement of input/output interfaces, the PP01 is particularly well suited to mobile systems in trains, planes, ships, commercial vehicles and automobiles."

The MPC5200's 384 MHz frequency translates into 760 million instructions per second (MIPS) while consuming less than 850 milli-Watts (mW) of power. The microprocessor includes a built-in telematics communications unit (TCU) as well as a floating point unit (FPU), memory management unit (MMU), DRAM controller and the BestComm/DMA I/O controller, which drives the industrial I/O interfaces supported by the device, including two CAN ports, USB, Fast Ethernet, two RS232 ports and SPI.

The Fast Ethernet and the optically isolated RS232 interfaces are routed to rugged D-Sub connectors on the PP01. The two CAN and one USB channels are available on the PP01 via MEN's SA-Adapters.

On-board memory includes 32 megabytes (MB) of SDRAM, eight MB of Flash and 64 kilobytes (KB) of non-volatile static memory (FRAM). Memory on the PP01 is soldered directly to the printed circuit board, thus improving its ability to withstand excessive shock and vibration. A real-time clock and watchdog monitor are also included on the PP01.

The PP01 supports Linux and VxWorks. Its CANopen firmware is based on a protocol stack from Vector Informatik.

Pricing and Availability

The PP01 is available now from MEN Micro, Inc. Pricing starts at $424.80 for single units. Availability of the PP01 is assured for a minimum of 10 years. In the United States, MEN Micro products are sold through a national network of technical manufacturer's representatives. For sales information, call 972 939-2675, send faxes to 972 939-0055 or email sales@menmicro.com. For more information on the PP01, this press release, a product photo and collateral materials are available at men.de/products/press.

About MEN Micro

MEN designs, manufactures and sells board-level industrial real-time and embedded computer products. The flexibility inherent in MEN's standard products allows system platforms to be custom configured for a wide range of applications. In addition, the company develops custom boards and systems for OEMs, end users and system integrators. MEN's products include Embedded System Modules (ESM), VMEbus and CompactPCI compute platforms with Intel Pentium, Motorola 68000 or PowerPC processors, and a wide selection of M‑ Module or PC·MIP mezzanine I/O modules. The MEN product lines support the most widely used operating systems, including Windows NT, VxWorks, OS-9, QNX and Linux.

MEN was founded in 1982 in Nürnberg, Germany, as MEN Mikro Elektronik GmbH. The company has subsidiaries in France, MEN Mikro Elektronik SA; the United Kingdom, MEN Micro, Ltd., and the United States, MEN Micro, Inc. A network of technical distributors services and supports the rest of the world.

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