March 1997

RealTime PowerEngine!
VME/PCI Cluster Configuration High bandwith on VME or fast PCI Upto 19 SBCs		PowerPC Multiprocessor Capability Upgradability towards faster symmetrical multiprocessor architecture
High Connectivity Front Panel P2 64-bit PCI bus On-Board I/O devices I/O PMC	1 VME slot: Easy to integrate High-performance VME SBC with graphics and I/Os in one VMS slot Compact design allows use in severe environments with the CETIA Ruggedizer Low-power consumption and dissipation	Lots of OS and Development Solutions UNIX (AIX) and Real-Time (LynxOS, VxWorks,...) environments Compatibility with the CHRP standard

"The PowerEngine 4 confirms CETIA's position as the leading PowerPC SBC innovator," said CETIA president Yvon Peresse. "With the industry's first PPC SMP capabilities and the fastest processor-to-memory speeds, this board gives system designers a wider range of advantages than any other SBC on the market today."

A custom ASIC lets PowerEngine 4 processors access PowerPC memory up to 400 MB/second throughput, about 4 times the throughput achieved by most other PowerPC designs. A unique dual PCIbus design also provides a fast PCI interface between boards.

CETIA'S VME64-compliant PowerEngine 4 boards are available with single or dual 200 MHz or 266 MHz PowerPC 604e processors. Standard features for the first model of the board, the PowerEngine VMPC4a, includes up to 256 MBytes of DRAM; up to 1 MB of flash boot memory; 32 user flash memory; high-performance VMS64 interface ASIC; 2 serial ports and a parallel printer port; an Ethernet interface; keyboard and mouse interfaces; a Fast/Wide SCSI interface; and a PCI mezzanine card (PMC) site.

Dual PCI Architecture

Two separate onboard PCIBusses interfaces are at the core of the PowerEngine 4 Architecture. The first, a 50MHz PCIbus of 64 bits, provides an internal backbone which locally interconnects all onboard resources such as processors and memory offering a 264 MB/sec peak throughput (168 sustained). The second is a standard 33 MHz, 32 bit user PCIbus that accesses the onboard (I/O devices. The dual PCI architecture effectively doubles the board's aggregated throughput capabilities in an application setting.

For applications requiring additional PMC connectivity, CETIA offers the ICPMC, a PMC carrier card that provides three PMC slots in a single VME slot connecting directly to the adjacent PowerEngine 4 board's PCIbus.

Multiple P2 connectivity choices

The PowerEngine 4 is available with any one of three factory selected choices for connectivity to the VME P2 connector. The P2 connector can be connected to:

1. The board's PMC slot for intelligent I/O applications
2. The board's enhanced PCIbus for high-speed interprocessor connectivity between multiple PowerEngine 4 boards
3. Local I/O facilities such as SCSI, Ethernet, etc.

One of the board's unique capabilities is the routing of the PCIbus directly to the P2 connector, providing a low-cost high-speed bus connectivity for board to board and memory-to-memory communication. The result is a dramatically improved multiprocessor/cluster performance. The PCIbus mapped to P2 remains fully VME compatible.

Easily Ruggedized for harsh environments

For systems due to be deployed in harsh environments, the PowerEngine 4 series is available with The Ruggedizer, CETIA's add-on thermal drain that extends the board's overall operating range and mechanical strength.

Comprehensive software support

The PowerEngine 4 series supports a wide variety of operating systems and development tools running on the on-board PowerPC processors. IBM's AIX is certified on all CETIA SBCs and branded according to the IBM MultiVendor Platform, assuring compatibility with IBM RISC System/6000 commercial software.

The PowerEngine 4 is also supported by LynxOS from Lynx Real-Time Systems, and VxWorks from Wind River Systems. CETIA to provide extended tools and support for specific application requirements. The PowerEngine 4 series is compatible with the PowerPC common hardware reference platform (CHRP) specification, ensuring software compatibility with a wide variety of commercially available PowerPC servers, workstations, and target systems.

Benchmarks, price, and availability

The 200 MHz version of the PowerEngine VMPC4a has been benchmarked at 8 SPECint 95 and at 6.7 SPECfp 95. Starting at $5,900 for the 32MB version, the PowerEngine VMPC4a SBC will begin shipping in full volume in second quarter of 1997. The ICPMC at US list price of $1,700 and a VMPC4a version of the Ruggedizer at $3,000 US list are both available. Other products of the PowerEngine 4 series are expected to be announced throughout 1997.

For additional information on these products contact us.