MEN Mikro Elektronik completes its 3U CompactPCI product range with F216, a new board with eight channels, for individual extension of COM interfaces within a system. Minimum availability for the next ten years guarantees that the user’s project is future-safe.

Rugged and long-term available

F216 is a CompactPCI board in a single Eurocard format, which is equipped with eight 16550D compatible UART channels. Since all channels are led to one 78-pin D-Sub connector, the card only needs one slot on the CompactPCI bus.

The two UART controllers of F216 each provide four full-duplex serial channels. The physical layers are integrated on the board, with each of the eight channels individually configured as RS232, RS422 or RS485. Depending on the physical interface type, data rates of up to 921,600 bits/s are possible. Each channel has its own 500V isolation.

The F216 was designed for use in rugged and mobile applications. With all its components soldered on, it is specified for an operation temperature of -40°C to +85°C, and is prepared for coating against humidity. Integration of the UART functionality in the FPGA gives the F216 a theoretically unlimited availability.