Next Generation CompactPCI Solutions
Using Advantech CompactPCI PlusIO solutions provides a backward compatible migration path for your proven CompactPCI solutions to newly designed, high speed serial peripherals based on CompactPCI Serial.
CompactPCI is a field proven technology with a 15 year history of providing a robust foundation for industrial, medical, telecommunications, aerospace, measurement and transportation applications. The original architecture used a parallel bus to connect a system slot to seven peripheral slots and was a rugged, modular, low power, low cost solution for an ever growing list of applications. Based on the PICMG 2.0 standard, CompactPCI (CPCI) attracted a large ecosystem of vendors providing off-the-shelf products further cost-optimizing the CPCI-based solutions and expanding its market.
Technology Drives New Standards
Over the years, the PICMG 2.0 standard was extended to meet new requirements and include new technologies and standards. Examples include Hot Swap (PICMG 2.1), Telephony signaling (PICMG 2.5), Management (PICMG 2.9), and Multicomputing (PICMG 2.14). The original parallel bus architecture was also extended to include a packet-based switching architecture (Switched Ethernet, PICMG 2.16) on top of CPCI.
With technology advances, vendors began to include high speed serial point-to-point connections to standard interfaces such as PCI Express, SATA, SAS, USB and Ethernet. Originally, serial point-to-point connections were realized using user-defined pins on one of the CPCI connectors. This led to compatibility problems within the CPCI ecosystem and drove the need for 2 new PICMG standards:
- CompactPCI PlusIO (PICMG 2.30) to standardize the peripheral interconnect (eliminate the user-defined pin problem).
- CompactPCI Serial (PICMG CPCI-S.0) which includes support for serial point-to-point fabrics such as PCI Express, SATA, Ethernet and USB in the CPCI form factor.
Key requirements for the new standards included
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COMPATIBILITYMaintain compatibility with legacy systems. For example, support the migration from current standards to the newer, faster serial connections by allowing hybrid configurations that include traditional and new elements.
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EVOLUTIONAccommodate most current I/O technologies, including PCI Express, SATA, SAS, Ethernet and USB.
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COST-OPTIMIZEDMaintain emphasis on low-cost solutions. For example, support architectures that do not require bus interfaces and bridges.