Equipped for applications with high data rates and high bandwidth, MEN’s new CompactPCI® PlusIO SBC also offers many new Intel® features. Based on the Intel i7-2715QE quad-core processor, the F21P supports 2nd-generation PCI Express® and 3rd-generation SATA, faster TurboBoost, improved AMT (Active Management Technology) as well as four genuine or eight virtual cores via HyperThread, and a faster monolithic graphics core.

The 2nd-generation Intel Core™ i7 64-bit processor sports a base frequency of 2.1GHz and reaches up to 3GHz due to TurboBoost. Its excellent graphics and high computing performance make the F21P a good match for applications in the industrial area, in avionics and space technology, medical engineering and transportation or for demanding graphics applications in general.

The F21P makes full use of the possibilities opened by the CompactPCI PlusIO specification, and leads four PCI Express, four USB and four SATA channels as well as one Ethernet channel to the backplane, to control four CompactPCI serial peripheral cards (PICMG CPCI-S.0).

This lets you set up hybrid systems based on standard backplanes which control both parallel peripheral slots complying with PICMG 2.0 and serial peripheral slots complying with PICMG CPCI-S.0.

As the backplane connectors of CompactPCI and CompactPCI PlusIO are mechanically identical, the board can also be used as a system slot in a common CompactPCI® 2.0 system.

The front of the board makes VGA graphics, two Gigabit Ethernet and two USB 2.0 available. Additional functions like digital video interfaces via DVI, a multitude of UARTs, USBs, SATA or HD audio can be attached through the connection of extension cards. The front-panel layout and also the uniform pin-out and placement of its extension card connector makes the F21P backwards compatible with all predecessor models complying with PICMG 2.30 (F19P) and PICMG 2.0 (F18, F17, F15, F14) and consequently is also available long-term and can be used in the same flexible way.

The DDR3 DRAM memory with a size of up to 8GB and ECC functionality is firmly soldered against shock and vibration. In addition, an mSATA disk and a microSD™ card connected via USB give the board almost unlimited memory for each application.

Different watchdogs for monitoring the processor and board temperature complete the functionality of the F21P, which is shipped with board support packages for Windows® and Linux. Equipped with special components of the Intel Embedded Line, the F21P has a guaranteed minimum availability of seven years.

With its robust design, the 3U CompactPCI PlusIO computer cuts a good figure in extreme environmental conditions. All components are soldered to withstand shock and vibration and are prepared for conformal coating against humidity and dust.