The BT-101A – Acme Embedded Solutions

BT-101A Embedded Controller

Low Power Controller Module for Embedded Applications

The BT-101A is a small form factor control module supporting popular I/O interfaces for embedded control applications. Based upon the well supported PowerPC architecture, the BT-101A offers very high levels of integration and I/O flexibility in a small, low power and cost effective package.

Features:

Freescale PowerQuicc MPC8247 at 400 MHz
Up to 512 Bytes SDRAM in 144-pin SODIMM
Two independent FLASH banks up to 256 Mbytes each
Optional EEPROM
Battery Backed RTCC
Two Independent 10/100 BaseT Ethernet I/F
Three RS-232 Serial Ports
SM-722 Video Controller supports dual displays
Selectable RGB, TTL, or optional LVDS I/F
Video input port for optional overlay capability
Five high speed USB 2.0 ports
PMC interface with 32-bit/33 MHz capacity
AC-97 compliant stereo audio CODEC
I/O via PMC interface JN4 for flexible connectorization
Linux support standard

Applications:

Optimized for embedded control in a networked environment
Allows flexible video display to standard CRT’s and flat panel displays in user display applications such as information kiosks, point of sale, or machine control
Ethernet and USB connectivity allows interface to a wide variety of common peripheral devices such as card readers, pointing devices, printers, or other peripheral
Very low power (~3 watts) allows for simplified power supplies and cooling provisions
Dual Ethernet for local area/backhaul separate networks for enhanced security applications such as wireless

In a 3.5″ x 6″ double sided form factor, the BT-101A offers a complete processing solution including video displays, Ethernet, USB, Audio, and I2C interfaces in a single robust low power module.

The BT-101A is powered by the Freescale MPC8247 PowerQuicc II processor. A System-On-Chip device, the MPC8247 provides a PowerPC 603e embedded core, along with a RISC based Control Processor Module (CPM) to manage I/O activities. At a maximum speed of 400 MHz, the processor provides up to 315 MIPS performance.Supporting to PowerQuicc is a memory subsystem, Video Controller, and USB Root/Hub controller.

Supported by all popular software development tools, the PowerPC 603e core offers excellent performance including 16 Kbyte primary instruction and data caches, full memory management unit, and floating point. Separate local bus for memory and PCI bus for peripheral access allows for concurrent program execution with I/O operations.

I/O For Your Application:

Slightly larger than an IEEE 1386 standard PMC module, the BT-101A is designed as a compute node supporting common processing I/O on card. The local I/O interfaces are presented to an IEEE 1386 standard PMC interface on the bottom of the module, and a video interface on the top side. Most applications will require a custom adapter module for either or both of these interfaces to match the I/O requirements precisely. The PMC interface allows custom I/O devices to be interfaced directly to the processor through the familiar PCI bus, while on card I/O’s are available at the JN4 connector. Add Serial, Ethernet, and USB connectors and go! On card interfaces include one Ethernet, one USB, and one analog video, with the remainder on the PMC or top side interface connectors.

Ethernet Interfaces:

BT-101A supports two independent 10/100 BaseT interfaces for networking. On board MACs allow interface through the JN4 connector with a standard transformer and LEDs residing at the physical connector. Included in the PowerQuicc Ethernet controllers are extensive support for a variety of communications security protocols and encryption systems, allowing the BT-101A to support a variety of wireless networking prototcols.

Ethernet Interfaces:

The BT-101A not only uses fewer watts, it extends the life of your system because of the reduced power consumption.

ACME has been designing “Green” for over 20 years.

Video Display:

The BT-101A uses the Silicon Motion SM-722 video controller adapter, interfaced via the on card PCI bus. The SM-722 supports one or two independent displays, configurable from 320×200 up to 1280×1024 resolutions. A single RGB output DAC is standard, a second is optional. Through the optional Top Side video adapter, the SM-722 pixel bus is available, allowing interface to virtually any LVDS flat panel via an appropriate encoder. PanelLink is supported standard by the SM-722.

USB:

The BT-101 includes a high speed USB2.0 root/hub interface for up to five USB devices. Intended for use in peripherals as well as mass storage (USB FLASH) applications, the interfaces are capable of operating at high speed 480 Mbps USB rates. One USB interface is available on the BT-101A with a connector, one on the top side video interface, and three on the PMC interface.

Serial Ports:

Three serial ports from the MPC8247 are available on the PMC interface, supporting RS-232C standard interface levels. The MPC8247 offers support for a wide range of protocols and data rates, independently selectable for each port. The flexible serial port controllers in the MPC8247 support a wide variety of current and legacy serial port protcols, complete with on chip DMA and interrupt management

Audio:

The BT-101A includes an AC-97 compliant stereo CODEC. Audio line level input and outputs are available at the PMC connector.

Software Support:

The BT-101A standard firmware includes comprensive power on diagnostics, as well as boot directly into the Debian release Linux Kernel. USB interfaces support FLASH drives for code load and data storage in the standard realease, as well as typical video display options and user interface devices. QNX and VxWorks board support packages are planned to address real time application requirements.