About the Kontron DIMM-PC format

Introduction

Traditional PC/104 based systems are fine for products with low volume production. PC/104, whist very compact, is not really suited for medium to high volume production environments where a customer would use a custom baseboard. In such cases customers find that they expend a great deal of money in using a larger PCB and using multiple connectors/cables for transferring the I/0 to the baseboard. This is where the DIMM-PC fits in. The DIMM-PC uses a single connector from which the entire I/O is brought out. The connector is a 144 pin SO-DIMM connector as found in notebooks for DRAM. This allows customers to incorporate a single connector to which they insert the core logic for their system. The CPU based DIMM-PC's can be interchanged so if you need to upgrade or even downgrade your CPU module, no PCB rework will be required.

Example DIMM-PC application showing DIMM-PC socket and customer specific circuitryon a single board

The DIMM-PC approach has many advantages:

• Tremendous size decrease by saving connector space.
• Major cost reduction by smaller form factor and lower manufacturing costs.
• Lower material costs due to connector savings.
• TTL I/O for external flexibility and cost reduction.
• Fully functional complete PC.
• Maximum flexibility with external I/O devices.
• Mass storage on board (FLASH).
• Reduced EMI problems through minimum trace length.
• Standard low cost 144 pin SODIMM connector.
• High system reliability (only one connector) no cabling.
• ISA bus with embedded extensions (I²C, prog /CS).
• Long term commitment from supplier promising plug in replacements for 5 years.
• 386 & 586 based models available.
• Ethernet, serial, ISDN, VGA, Bluetooth and modem DIMM'S available

Specification

The specification (rev 2.1, 399kB) for the DIMM-PC can be downloaded free of charge by clicking here.
The older specification (rev 2.0, 125kB, for reference only) can be downloaded free of charge by clicking here.
The older specification (rev 1.9, 123kB, for reference only) can be downloaded free of charge by clicking here.

Other Files

To download a copy of the schematics for the evaluation baseboard in PDF format (344kB), click here.
To download a copy of the schematics for the evaluation baseboard in Protel 3.0 format (63kB), click here.