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 mission-critical parameter retention across power cycles.