CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA   July 20 2010   GE Intelligent Platforms today announced the SBC612 rugged 6U OpenVPX single board computer. Featuring the 8-core QorIQ P4080 processor from Freescale™ Semiconductor, the SBC612 marks the latest iteration of GE’s expanding VPXtreme6 family of 6U VPX platforms and delivers a substantial step forward in performance for applications including ISR, electronic warfare and mission computing. For many legacy applications based on Power Architecture™, the SBC612 will allow a multi-slot configuration to be reduced to a single slot, saving size and weight. As its power envelope is equivalent to that of previous dual core processors, it can also permit the addition of new functionality without exceeding the application’s current power envelope.  For new applications, the SBC612 enables the development of compact, low weight solutions with significantly more performance than has previously been possible.

“Power Architecture has long been at the heart of embedded computing applications and, for many customers, represents a tried and trusted technology on which to base mission-critical applications,” said Richard Kirk, product manager at GE Intelligent Platforms. “The SBC612 provides a straightforward, cost-effective migration path for those applications, delivering a major uplift in performance without impacting the power envelope.  The throughput and flexibility it offers will be no less attractive to new customers looking to achieve sustainable competitive advantage from the unique combination of GE’s experience and expertise and Freescale’s QorIQ P4080 eight core processor.”

At the heart of the SBC612 is the latest Freescale QorIQ P4080 processor, with eight e500mc cores operating at up to 1.5MHz. These eight cores offer outstanding flexibility to the system designer, with both symmetric and asymmetric multiprocessing architectures being supported, and with the possibility of hosting multiple operating systems on the same device. This flexibility is ideal for re-hosting legacy multi-board applications within a new OpenVPX system architecture.

In addition to offering 8-core performance within the 30 watt power envelope of earlier dual core processors, the QorIQ P4080 offers a number of innovative features. Among these is its ‘Trust Architecture’, a series of processor technologies that help customers meet their information assurance goals, providing them with additional security functionality that prevents loss of control of system functionality, loss of data to an unauthorized party and loss of Intellectual Property through reverse engineering. 

“Our QorIQ product family, with its unique combination of performance, power efficiency, flexibility and security, has generated  tremendous response from the embedded computing industry,” said Preet Virk, marketing director for Freescale. “Having world-class companies such as GE Intelligent Platforms extend their continued commitment to Freescale's embedded multicore products underscores the adoption and acceptance that our QorIQ technology has enjoyed to date.”

With four x4 Serial RapidIO® links and four x4 PCI Express links, the SBC612 supports up to 8GBytes of dual channel DDR3 memory. It provides a uniquely flexible I/O set that includes Gigabit Ethernet, fast serial COM ports, USB 2.0, SATA and GPIO. Further incremental system resource expansion is provided by two mezzanine sites, both of which are XMC/PMC capable, and offer the option of having XMC I/O and/or PMC I/O routed to the VPX backplane connectors.  In addition, an AFIX (Additional Flexible Interface eXtension) site is available for even more plug-on system expansion. The AFIX site not only allows access to the current range of standard AFIX modules (graphics, SCSI, 1553, digital I/O, Flash memory) but also offers the opportunity to add customer-specific features at minimum cost and in the shortest timescales.

Designed specifically for harsh environments, the SBC612 is available in five air- and conduction-cooled ruggedization levels. It also offers VITA48 formats for two-level maintenance (2LM) requirements. The SBC612 is fully supported by comprehensive Deployed Test Software (BIT and BCS) with operating system support implemented for VxWorks®, and Open Source Linux®. Support for other operating systems, including INTEGRITY™, is planned.

For more information:   www.ge-ip.com/products/family/vpx-powerpc

About GE Intelligent Platforms

GE Intelligent Platforms is an experienced high-performance technology company and a global provider of software, hardware, services, and expertise in automation and embedded computing. We offer a unique foundation of agile and reliable technology providing customers a sustainable competitive advantage in the industries they serve, including energy, water, consumer packaged goods, government & defense, and telecommunications. GE Intelligent Platforms is headquartered in Charlottesville, VA. For more information, visit www.ge-ip.com.