Kontron / Thales / Cetia VMPC6a-450-256 PowerPC VME64 Single Board Computer

The Kontron/Thales/Cetia VMPC6a-450-256 is a PowerPC VME64 single board computer engineered for industrial, transportation, and defense applications demanding high reliability in harsh environments. This 6U VME card delivers dual-processor capability with integrated PCI/VME bridging, extensive memory hierarchy, and multiple I/O interfaces for complex control and signal processing tasks.

Technical Specifications Processor & Performance

One or two PowerPC 750 microprocessors at 450 MHz per processor

Approximately 820 MIPS per processor at 450 MHz

Over 21 SPECint95 and over 13 SPECfp95 per processor Memory Architecture

1 MB L2 cache per processor (backside, 1:2 clock ratio) with dedicated cache bus - up to 3× performance improvement versus prior designs

32 KB instruction + 32 KB data cache per processor

Onboard SDRAM: 64, 128, 256, or 512 MB with ECC

System Flash EPROM: 512 KB + 1 MB (boot/OS)

User Flash: up to 32 MB

8 KB NVRAM with battery-backed RTC Interfaces & Connectivity

VME64 compliant via ALMA64 PCI/VME bridge

Internal PCI: 32-bit, Rev. 2.0 (local device interconnect)

External PCI: 64-bit, Rev. 2.0, 33 or 66 MHz operation, 5V or 3.3V signaling (fixed at manufacturing)

Dual concurrent PCI buses supporting one PMC mezzanine card

On-board Ethernet

SCSI interface for mass storage

Two RS-232 serial ports at up to 115.2 kB/s

Keyboard/mouse interfaces Power & Thermal

Single processor: 6.0 A @ +5V (+5%, −2.5%)

Dual processor: 8.2 A @ +5V (+5%, −2.5%)

Low-power architecture with minimal dissipation Form Factor & Ruggedization

Single VME slot, 6U height

SA (standard commercial), RA (rugged air-cooled, −20°C to +65°C), and RC (rugged conduction-cooled) configurations

Key Features

Dual-processor scalability with shared L2 cache infrastructure

Concurrent dual-PCI operation for parallel I/O throughput

Modular memory options with single-bit error correction

PMC expansion capability for application-specific functions

Typical Applications Defense and avionics systems, transportation control modules, industrial process automation, embedded signal processing, harsh-environment data acquisition.

Compatibility & Integration VME64 backplane integration via standard ALMA64 bridge. PCI Rev. 2.0 compliance ensures interoperability with standard mezzanine cards. Battery-backed RTC and NVRAM support parameter retention across power cycles.