Kontron first to offer VITA 38 Standard

Variable computing capacity for VME ecosystems

Eching, Germany, April 22, 2008 – Kontron provides VME ecosystems with a unique feature: variable computing capacity. Implementing now VITA 38, the IPMI standard in a VME envelope, Kontron’s PENTXM2 and PENTXM4 6U VME multi-core CPU boards with Intel® Xeon® processors can populate a complete VME rack with some being maintained in stand-by mode and later powered up under application control. The standard out-of-band IPMI command infrastructure is used to implement this feature.

Often seen as the best answer for long-life mission profiles with scarce power budget, variable computing capacity allows minimal power consumption while the system operates in surveillance mode, switching to maximum computing capacity in battle mode. Variable capacity is also the best solution for a VME system to deploy spare boards with minimal impact on the power budget. The power cost of spare boards maintained in standby mode while the rack is powered up, is minimal.

Kontron’s implementation, unique on the market, is the first to provide defense integrators with variable capacity computing in 6U VME form factor, and is available in our maximum ruggedization levels (-40° to +85°C). Only available until now in other form factors such as CompactPCI, IPMI and its management infrastructure are featured by Kontron’s PENTXM2 and PENTXM4 dual and quad core SBCs, for the full benefit of innovative computing concepts that can also retain 6U VME compatibility as existing VME64x racks can be used.

“The modern battlefield will be populated with UAV and other data gathering equipment deployed autonomously with operational time limited by battery power. In this field, only a few products offer simultaneously intelligent power management and massive parallel computing performance, and until now none of them have been VME.” declares Norbert Hauser, Vice President Global Marketing at Kontron.

“The elegance of our 6U multi-core VME implementation and its compatibility with the already deployed VME infrastructure opens a new world of opportunities to system designers“ adds Vincent Chuffart, product manager for HPEC computers at Kontron. “To top that, the simplicity of the software interface enables fast implementation in most cases. Our hardware is also a Red Hat Enterprise certified platform and on top IPMI and HPI are supported via standard software packages that are already available in this distribution and many others.”

Product Pricing and Availability
Kontron PENTXM2 and PENTXM4
Pricing: OEM pricing upon request
Availability: Now.

For more information, please visit http://www.kontron.com/VME/