The first two products in Concurrent Technologies’ new range of 3U VPX™ I/O boards include a multi-channel serial board and a multi-channel Gigabit Ethernet board.  These boards complement the extensive range of processor cards now available to aid system integrators construct solutions with lots of I/O channels to satisfy applications in the defense, transportation, test, instrumentation and industrial markets.  Both boards require a single 3U VPX™ slot and are available for both air and conduction-cooled applications.  

BA 2TR/501 supports up to eight serial communications ports for applications that require multiple serial ports within a single slot.  Up to five ports are available on the VPX connector for rear communication and three are available on the front panel in the air-cooled variants along with optional cables (with screw locking connectors).  The serial ports can be configured to support RS232, RS422 or RS485 standard interfaces which means they are suitable for use with most equipment that has a serial interface.  Despite being a legacy standard, RS232/422/485 is still extensively used in deeply embedded applications.

BA 2TR/502 supports a quad-port Gigabit Ethernet controller for applications that require additional network interfaces within a single VPX slot.  Up to four Gigabit Ethernet ports are available on the VPX connector for rear communication, alternatively the four ports can be routed to the front panel via standard RJ45 connectors for use in air-cooled applications.  The product is designed to suit the growing number command, control, communicate and compute applications in the military and aerospace markets that need additional network capacity.

Both BA 2TR/501 and BA 2TR/502 link to a host processor board via PCI Express and can be configured to work in a wide range of VPX backplane configurations.

Glen Fawcett, CEO of Concurrent Technologies, commented: “These I/O products complement our range of 3U VPX processors, switches, carriers and simplify the integration process for our customers.  In addition to these hardware products, we have increased our offering of firmware and software products, to provide extra security measures, networking capability, and virtualization support.  All our VPX products support wide operating temperature ranges and are available in rugged conduction-cooled variants to suit a wide range of applications.”