Emerson / Heurikon Nitro260 Scalable VME CPU Board

The Emerson/Heurikon Nitro260 is a VME64 CPU board built around the Motorola MC68060 processor running at 50 MHz, delivering superscalar performance with dual 4-stage integer pipelines for real-time multiprocessing applications. The board supports 8 to 64 Mbytes of 2-way interleaved DRAM and up to 3.5 Mbytes of user-accessible Flash Memory, making it suitable for I/O-intensive environments including communications, high-speed printing, video-on-demand, machine vision, and simulation workloads.

Technical Specifications Processor: Motorola MC68060 at 50 MHz with superscalar dual 4-stage integer pipelines Memory: Configurable DRAM from 8 to 64 Mbytes (2-way interleaved); up to 3.5 Mbytes Flash Memory VMEbus Interface: VME64 with 64-bit data path and 32-bit addressing. Block transfer rates: 49.48 MBytes/sec (read), 51.39 MBytes/sec (write) for 2K D64 transfers. Supports 64-bit and 32-bit block transfers via local DMA, master/slave operation, mailbox interrupts, and 4-level arbitration. VIC64 interface chip implemented as custom ASIC. Corebus: 32-bit address and data bus mezzanine interface supporting 106 Mbytes/sec 4-word burst transfers at 33 MHz on synchronous intelligent modules Serial Communications: Two front-panel console ports; up to seven additional channels via Motorola MC68360 QUICC controller. Standard configuration routes four QUICC multi-protocol ports through VME P2 connector. Interfaces: ANSI SCSI II (fast/wide), on-board Ethernet with DMA support Software Support: VxWorks and Microware OS-9 compatible

Key Features

Scalable architecture with configurable memory configurations

Local DMA engine for efficient block transfers

Multi-protocol serial communication via QUICC controller

Flexible Corebus expansion for custom module integration

System-level VMEbus controller with CPU interrupt, reset, and lock functions

Typical Applications Communications, high-speed printing, video-on-demand, machine vision, industrial simulation, and embedded real-time systems requiring sustained multiprocessing performance.

Compatibility & Integration Fully compatible with Nitro240 (MC68040 at 33 MHz) and Nitro40 (MC68040) variants. VME P2 connector integration with standard VMEbus infrastructure. DS1286 Dallas chip for system timekeeping.