General Micro Systems Frames PCI Video Mezzanine Card
In what it claims is an industry-first, General Micro Systems (GMS; Rancho Cucamonga, CA) is offering embedded systems developers a high-resolution video display and graphics module for VME Bus boards equipped with PMC (PCI Mezzanine Card) expansion slots. Dubbed DaVinci, GMS's PCI product supports display resolutions of up to 1280 x 1024 pixels with 16 million colors.
GMS's DaVinci thrust is significant for developers of embedded industrial and military applications in factory automation, telecommunications, imaging, and pre-press industries, to name a few. Embedded applications in these kinds of industries use single-board computers or VMEbus card cage systems that often require a rugged high-resolution video display--and sometimes more than one.
The DaVinci PMC answers that need. It can be plugged into virtually any baseboard or motherboard that provides a PMC expansion slot. Of course, if you're already a user of General Micro Systems board-level products, the PMC will fit the firm's own family of VMEbus CPU boards without any fuss. In any case, DaVinci provides an inexpensive means of adding high-resolution video to baseboards.
Adding A Second Port
The DaVinci can also add a second video port to baseboards already supporting video. This option supports applications such as CAD, video editing and telemetry that typically use two monitors. In a CAD application, for example, designers typically use one monitor to work on their drawing, and another to display CAD tool menus. Similarly, in a video editing application, one screen is typically used to display an editing toolbox, with the other used to display the source footage and output. These are perfect applications for the DaVinci mezzanine plug-in.
It Meets IEEE Specs Too
Meeting all IEEE-P1386 specs for single-slot operation, the DaVinci PMC features a 64-bit BitBLT graphics engine equipped with either two Mbytes or four Mbytes of RAM. It's 32-Bit PCI Bus interface also supports bus mastering. The DaVinci PMC also includes a standard 15-pin DIN video connector, which eliminates the need for making up custom cable assemblies.
To further simplify integration with the VMEbus baseboard, General Micro Systems equips the PMC as a ready-to-run product complete with an on-board video BIOS. It also packs drivers for Windows NT, as well as VxWorks, QNX, and the Real I/X realtime operating systems. To further ease integration in your embedded system, the product also complies fully with the VESA standard for monitor timing. Last, but not least, it also operates from a single +5 V power supply.
You can get a DaVinci PMC for less than $300 (at time of publication) in single-piece quantities. For more information, contact General Micro Systems, 8358 Maple Pl., Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730. Phone: (909) 980-4863. Fax: (909) 9874863. Email: sales@gms4vme.com.