Saturday 27 July 2013

SIL 4 Certification via MEN Micros Rugged CompactPCI PlusIO SBC


Ambler, Pa. (PRWEB) November 15, 2012

MEN Micro Inc., a world-renowned provider of embedded computing and I/O solutions for mission-critical industrial, mobile and harsh environment applications, offers a new safe CompactPCI PlusIO SBC that integrates three Intel Atom E680T processors on one card. The F75P features two redundant CPUs with independent RAM and Flash memory for increased system safety as well as a third processor that controls the I/O interfaces.

Designed for critical railway applications, including positive train control (PTC), safety management and signal control, the board is certifiable to SIL 4 (safety integrity level), but the F75Ps functional safety characteristics make the board useful in a variety of rugged embedded applications. These include traffic signal control, industrial control and medical environments.

Independent supervisor units monitor the environmental conditions of the two control CPUs and put the system into a safe state if proper operational parameters are not met. The board offers both fail-silent and fail-safe architectures. For example, the fail-silent architecture provides that if a processor provides a faulty output, the information is not passed through the system. Fail-safe ensures that the complete system shuts down, as in the case of an error requiring, for example, the train to stop.

Using two Intel Atom E680T processors, each with 512 MB DDR2 RAM and operating at 1.6 GHz, the F75P combines the benefits of a redundant multiprocessing system with the ruggedness and flexibility of the CompactPCI PlusIO standard on a single card.

The third Intel Atom E680T, featuring 1 GB DDR2, controls the I/O, passing on the commands sent by the two control CPUs to the interfaces across an internal, FPGA-based Ethernet link.

The new F75P offers multiprocessing capabilities on one SBC, providing a small footprint, low-power solution that saves board space, integration costs and system weight, while providing flexibility for various application environments.

For even more system reliability, two F75P SBCs can be clustered. If one card fails, the second can take over from hot or cold stand-by, and operation can continue. An event logger allows tracing and simple read out of any hardware and application events.

Standard front I/O includes one VGA interface, two Fast Ethernet and two USB, while the rear provides access to one PCI Express port, four USB, one SATA and two Fast Ethernet.

Every F75P-based system can be certified up to SIL 4; a corresponding certificate from T


SIL 4 Certification via MEN Micros Rugged CompactPCI PlusIO SBC

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