SAM™ I/O Modules

SAM™ I/O MIL-STD-1553 Controller

Since the inception of the single board computer (SBC), users and suppliers have been faced with a major challenge regarding how to satisfy the I/O needs of a system using a common SBC platform in order to minimize inventory and increase functionality. These needs have led to many standard and non-standard solutions that provide the SBC with expansion I/O sites and allow the user to pick and choose which I/O subassemblies will be added to the SBC.  A few such I/O modules are Industry PAC (IP), PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC), and Express Mezzanine Card (XMC).

The primary design objective for an I/O expansion can be summarized in two goals:  To minimize the real estate that the I/O module takes away from the baseboard for interconnect and profile and to maximize the flexibility of the interface. For example, the PMC/XMC standard dimensions (per IEEE1386.1) that are 74 mm x 149 mm  (11,026 mm2) take away 5180 mm2 of real estate from the base board for connectors and keep-out area, leaving an area of only 5846 mm². Therefore, instead of doubling the space by utilizing a mezzanine, it increases the real estate by only 50%. Additionally, because of the complex interface and connector costs, it is not a good expansion option for most slow-to-medium speed I/O modules. For applications like MIL-STD- 1553, ARNIC-429, CanBus, ProfiBus, Analog to Digital Convertor (ADC), Digital to Analog Convertor (DAC), and many other serial I/O, the PMC/XMC are overkill, and the user pays for it. Furthermore, this is simply no longer a viable approach at all for small form factor systems where the system is actually smaller than the PMC/XMC.

General Micro Systems has made addressing the I/O expansion issue a major design goal in each SBC and system product. GMS’ approach to this expansion has led to many innovations in the industry, including the SAM™ technology. SAM™ modules, unlike PMC/XMC, provide over 90% space efficiency. They also provide the same functionality of the I/O mentioned above in a 30 mm x 51 mm, which is less than 1/7th of the space of a PMC/XMC. Therefore, with the same amount of real estate as a PMC/XMC, a GMS system can provide six independent I/O expansion sites at a lower cost than a single PMC/XMC site.

The SAM™ I/O sites on GMS systems provide three independent interfaces for expansion.  The most popular and the fastest is an x1 PCI Express lane. This interface allows the user to connect additional I/O with I/O bandwidth of 500 MB/Sec, which is comparable to a 66 MHz/64 Bit PMC site.

The second bus on the SAM™ module is a SATA 2/SATA 3 interface. The SATA interface is used to add Solid State Drives (SSD), up to 1TB, which is comparable to commercially available 2.5” SSD drives using just a fraction of the space. The GMS SAM™ SSD modules are available as a fixed drive or as an optional sealed removable module (nDrive™), both of which are hot pluggable and fully sealed when removed from the system. In addition, security functions such as write protect, secure erase and drive keying are available on all capacities.

SAM™ I/O WiFi/Bluetooth

The third interface on all SAM™ I/O sites is a USB port. This interface is ideal for adding devices such as GPS for position and time stamping, WiFi, Bluetooth and many other low-cost options that utilize this interface.

For extreme performance I/O requiring more I/O speed than USB or x1 PCI Express, GMS supports the SAM™-HS. The SAM™-HS utilizes a slightly larger module, (82 mm x 70 mm for small and 82mm x 105mm for large modules). This SAM™ module utilizes an x16 PCI-Express interface and provides additional power and ground pins, as well as high-speed I/O pins.  This interface is used for adding ultra-high-speed video modules from AMD, as well as HD-Video Capture, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Digital Signal Processing (DSP), 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports, and many others.

Perhaps the best part of the SAM™ I/O module is that it is an open standard and royalty free. The SAM™ interfaces and form factor are commercially available to anyone who wishes to develop their own modules and are based on the industry standards of Express Mini cards and MXM cards. GMS provides full design support for the customer’s custom development, as well as full turnkey solutions.

VIEW SAM™ I/O MODULES

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