About Kontron ETX Technology - Diamond Point International

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About the Kontron ETX format

Introduction

In order to stay close to state-of-the-art computer technologies of the desktop PC market, the ECT business (Embedded Computer Technology) demands adequate processor performance for many applications. There are many standards for CPU ETX Headers boards with a lot of advantages or restrictions. Unfortunately non of these products care about the increasing customer specialisation and 'disstandardisations'. A board, which fits exactly into a system is nearly impossible to find. Only a customized module will fulfil all requirements. But away from standard products, a customer has to tolerate long development cycles and costly problems with quick replacements or easy upgrades. The way out of this situation has to join two apparent opposites. The task is to create a customized PC board out of standard parts. Obviously the solution has to be modular. The answer of Kontron : The ETX concept.

The ETX Concept

ETX means Embedded Technology eXtended and offers many new possibilities for ECT designs as well as the introduction of the ATX standard for mainboards. Which features should be included in this ETX concept?

Quick integration and standard PC technology

The ETX CPU modules are complete Pentium ® PC's with standard interfaces including USB and additional options such as sound capabilities and 100 MBit Ethernet. The easiest adaptation is a baseboard with the necessary interface connectors. With this simplicity even unusual applications can be realized in minimal time spans.

ETX Diagram

Smallest Dimensions to meet smallest space requirements

With 17.7 inch² (114 cm²) the ETX uses only 50% of space compared to a current slot CPU, which needs 33.9 inch² (219 cm²). But the most surprising fact is the module height. Without heat sink the ETX cards measure only 0.4 inch (10 mm)!

How about the ISA bus?

The signals are accessible the same way as the PCI bus via plain SMT headers. So well proven 8 or 16 bit ISA cards can be used further on.

There must be replacements or upgrades for future requirements

Kontron will expand and improve this innovative and handy ETX concept. New PC technologies will be obtainable the same way as in other Kontron product families. By the way, the ETX specification is for free. It is even possible to develop a module on your own.

No cables or adapters needed!

An ETX board does not force you in excessive and expensive cabling. Only the really demanded interfaces are linked to the corresponding connectors. The decision is up to you, which one you call for or which one to skip.

The application requests low power Pentium ® performance.

Don't worry about that. Depending on OS and used options, the ETX processor consumes between 5 to 15 Watts only! Finally the system passed all the tests and now? Nothing special, just start mass production. Kontron ® knows about the short life cycles of PC products. Therefore we secured by suitable methods, that longevity is one of the most excellent characteristics of the ETX family. ETX concept

A range of ETX boards is available, from the low power 500MHz AMD LX800 CPU used on the ETX-LX to the high end 1.8GHz Intel® Pentium M CPU on the ETX-PM.

Where do I start?

Designing an ETX backplane is simple. Reference designs are freely available for the Kontron ETX-EVAL backplane (see below) so there should be no problems integrating ETX to your system.