SBC offers Pentium III or Celeron processor up to 1 GHz.
Press Release Summary:
Hot-swappable Model C165 CompactPCI SBC can operate as system or peripheral master. It includes 1 Gbyte of SODIMM main memory, 256 kbytes on-die cache, 2 PICMG 2.16-compliant Ethernet ports, 4 USB ports, 1 PMC site, and on-board 2.5 in. hard drive. Video subsystem supports standard RGB analog interfaces and screen resolutions up to 1600
x 1200 with 64,000 colors. Software support includes Windows 2000, Solaris x86, Linux, QNX and VxWorks.
Original Press Release:
General Micro Systems Announces First Sub-$1000 CompactPCI SBC
Pentium III or Celeron up to 1 GHz
Up To 1 Gbyte SODIMM RAM
High-performance on-board video
Four USB ports, one PMC site, 2 Ethernet Ports
PICMG 2.16 Ethernet Backplane
Integrated 2.5-inch hard drive
Rancho Cucamonga, CA. December 23, 2002. General Micro Systems, a leading supplier of VMEbus and CompactPCI board-level products and systems, announces the C165, the industry's first sub-$1000 CompactPCI single-board computer. Featuring a Pentium III or Pentium III Celeron processor operating at speeds of up to 1 GHz, the hot-swappable C165 can operate as a system or peripheral master.
The C165 is equipped with up to one Gbyte of SODIMM main memory and 256 kbytes of on-die cache, and features a high-performance AGP video subsystem, two PICMG 2.16-compliant Ethernet ports, four USB ports, one PMC site, and an on-board 2.5-inch hard drive. This combination of high performance and rich I/O functionality makes the C165 ideal for a wide range of cost-sensitive industrial applications, including telecom/datacom equipment, application-specific server blades, factory automation controllers, embedded medical instrumentation, and military/aerospace control systems.
"Today's OEMs face extreme cost-reduction pressure to maintain existing accounts and remain competitive in this "Lets Make a Deal" economic environment," said Randall Sucamele, vice president of sales and marketing for General Micro Systems. "The C165 flattens the cost curve and reduces ramp-up costs, giving OEMs pricing relief without compromising performance or functionality. Now, OEMs can transition to a Pentium III CompactPCI solution without committing to large volumes, gambling when markets will come back, and mortgaging their
future."
The C165's processing, memory, and I/O subsystems are partitioned to enhance parallelism and maximize overall system throughput. The board's 850-MHz Pentium III processor (one GHz
optional), equipped with 256 kbytes of on-die L2 cache, uses an Intel 440BX Northbridge to access main memory. The Northbridge also provides two 32-bit PCI local buses. One bus, operating at 33-MHz, provides access to local I/O, Ethernet subsystems. The second bus, operating at 66 MHz, connects to an AGP bus, which drives the high-bandwidth video display subsystem. Both the Pentium III processor and 440BX Northbridge/Southbridge are part of Intel's Embedded Roadmap, which guarantees a minimum five-year life cycle.
The C165 provides all the I/O, mass storage, and networking capability of a full desktop system. In addition to standard keyboard, mouse, and timer functions, the C165 provides four USB ports, two serial ports, four Mbytes of BIOS and user flash, and two IDE DMA-33 ports, one of which can be equipped with a 2.5-inch, hard drive, the other of which can be used to install an optional 32-Mbyte Disk-On-Chip flash drive on board. The C165 also provides two 10/100 Base-Tx Ethernet controllers. One controller is routed to the front panel. The second controller supports the PCIMG 2.16 Ethernet Packet Switched Backplane (cPSB), which provides a standard protocol for backplane communications between multiple boards or chassis.
The C165's video subsystem is based on Asiliant's 69030 video controller, which supports standard RGB analog interfaces. The video subsystem supports screen resolutions of up to 1600
x 1200 with 64,000 colors. Moreover, unlike competitive CPU boards, in which the video controller resides the main PCI bus, the C165's controller resides on a dedicated 66-MHz AGP (Advanced Graphics Port) bus. Through the AGP bus, which is tied to a dedicated PCI local bus port on the Northbridge, the 69030 can access the Pentium III and system memory directly without interference from I/O and networking devices that reside on the Northbridge's second PCI bus.
Software support for the C165 includes Windows 2000, Solaris x86, Linux, QNX and VxWorks.
The C165 equipped with an 850-MHz Pentium III Celeron CPU and 64 Mbytes of RAM costs $995 in single-piece quantity. For more information on the C165, please contact General Micro Systems, Inc. at 8358 Maple Place, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730. Phone: (909) 980-4863. Fax: (909) 987-4863. E-mail: sales@gms4sbc.com. World Wide Web site: www.gms4sbc.com
