Following the announcement of the VITA 93 (QMC) architecture for embedded system design, The embedded I/O company announced a QMC starter kit available later this year.
The kit includes a single size QMC module with a multiprotocol RS232/RS422/RS485 transceiver. The air-cooled modules operates at -40°C to +85°C.
There is also a dual QMC carrier, a low profile PCIe card with two QMC slots and a VHD68 front I/O connector. This has the same operating temperature range.
A cable kit consists of a 68-pin terminal block and a 1.8 m cable with VHD68 SCSI-V male and HD68 SCSI-3 male connectors.
There is also a device driver for Linux for applications to access to the UART QMC module. The kit will also include a user manual and example code.
The VITA 93 standard can be used for either conduction- or air-cooled applications. Jan Zimmerman, general manager, Tews Technologies, explained to Electronics Weekly, that an air-cooled QMC can be converted to a conduction-cooled version by adding a skyline heatsink.
Traditionally mezzanine cards (e.g., XMC and PMC) have a fixed mounting height but VITA 93 defines four stacking heights of 9mm, 11mm, 14mm and 16mm. The carrier card defines the height to ensure all QMC cards fit regardless of the height chosen. This allows more freedom of design for the use of the PCB area under the QMC. “The design is up to the carrier designer, allowing for more internal creativity,” said Zimmerman.
