EnCore® Wins EDN Innovation of the Year Award

Ampro Computers, the inventor of PC/104 and EBX form-factor systems and leading supplier of standards-based embedded computers, has been selected from a field of hundreds of candidates as a winner in the EDN 2000 Innovation of the Year award competition. This exclusive awards program, sponsored by EDN Worldwide magazine, is dedicated to honoring outstanding engineering products in the electronics industry.

Products/technologies qualifying for a 2000 EDN Innovation awards must have been introduced and commercially marketed from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 200. Thirteen major product/technology areas were eligible for consideration plus Innovator of the Year. A panel of EDN's technical editors selected finalist products in each category. Ampro Computers had its EnCore Embedded CPU Module selected in the Computers, Boards and Buses category.

EnCore serves to provide a fundamental architecture and methodology for the easy incorporation of 32-bit and 64-bit microprocessors into embedded systems. EnCore defines an interface standard for a family of modules that provide core-level computing functions, including CPU, memory subsystem, basic I/O functions (serial, parallel, USB, floppy and IDE) and advanced functionality such as 10/100 BaseT Ethernet, high performance 3D graphics with video and flat panel interfaces, and sound. The EnCore Platform eliminates the need to implement a custom CPU design for each model of an embedded system, enabling a complete product line to be brought to market from a single engineering effort.

EnCore also serves as a proven host for popular, off-the-shelf embedded operating systems, eliminating the need to port an operating system to each new custom CPU design. By combining all core I/O with a CPU into a single, proven element, designers can move directly to the development of drivers for specific custom logic, and the integration of application code without the messy adaptation of an operating system kernel to a specific processor/IO combination.

The EnCore 500 Module is the first product based on Ampro's new EnCore Platform. It is high-integration Pentium-based CPU designed to plug into your application-specific logic board. Based on the 266 MHz Intel Mobile Pentium (Tillamook) processor, the EnCore 500 provides the functionality of a complete embedded CPU in a 100x145mm format. To speed baseboard design, Ampro offers two sample reference designs in EBX and 3U CPCI form factors.

The EnCore 500 is fully compatible with PC hardware and software standards assuring seamless integration with popular operating systems, application software and peripheral devices and delivered with Tornado 2- and Tornado 3-style BSPs with WindML support.

Winners of the 2000 Innovation/Innovator of the Year awards were chosen by EDN's readers through an online ballot of the EDN Access web site (www.ednmag.com) We encourage you to visit the EDN Access web site to review the magazine's comments of the EnCore Embedded CPU Module. Winning products were announce at EDN's black-tie awards banquet on April 9th at the Pan Pacific Hotel in San Francisco and will appear in the April 26, 2001 issue of EDN.

Ampro Computers, Inc., 5215 Hellyer Avenue #110, San Jose, CA 95138-1002 . Tel: 408-360-0200; Fax: 408-360-0222.