Embedded Systems: September 2, 1996

Color camera has fast pan and tilt function.

Aimed at video conferencing, the EVI-G20 compact color camera offers highly responsive pan and tilt, as well as an auto-focus lens with 3× optical zoom. The camera's panning range is ±30° with ±15° tilt. Designed to fit on top of a computer monitor or in a group conferencing system, the EVI-G20 uses a ¼-in. CCD that produces high-resolution images with 380,000 pixels (764H×494V). Focus, zoom, and brightness settings are controlled through a supplied IR remote controller or an RS-232C port. The EVI-G20 video camera costs <$800 (OEM). Sony Electronics Inc, Image Sensing Products Division, Itasca, IL. (708) 773-7604.

VMEbus communications controller packs PowerPC 603.

The PowerCom MVME1300 communications controller for the VMEbus combines a 66-MHz PowerPC 603 processor and an MC68360 Quad Integrated Communications Controller (QUICC) chip. The PowerPC handles board-level protocol processing, and QUICC's on-chip intelligence controls the lower protocol layers. PowerCom comes in configurations of four, six, and eight synchronous/asynchronous serial ports. You can access the device through the front panel or through a VME P2 connector. Prices start at $3195. Motorola Computer Group, Tempe, AZ. (800) 759-1107.

System runs single, dual, or quad hyperSPARC CPUs.

Fully compatible with the SPARCstation 20, the CPU-20VT provides two MBus slots for as many as four 150-MHz hyperSPARC processors. The VMEbus-based board-level system is equipped with dual independent SCSI and Ethernet interfaces, as well as two SBus slots for graphics and I/O expansion. Symmetric multiprocessing under Solaris and SunOS enables scalable throughput for both computer and I/O intensive applications. The CPU-20VT also works with RTOSs, such as VxWorks. Prices start at $19,995. Force Computers Inc, San Jose, CA. (408) 369-6000.

STD 32 board uses DOS-based 486 SXLC CPU.

A rugged STD 32 computer board uses a low-power 3.3V 486 SXLC processor running at 50 MHz. The VL-486-3 comes standard with two DOS-compatible communication ports and one parallel port, as well as floppy and IDE interfaces. Onboard SOJ sockets hold as much as 8 Mbytes of RAM and as much as 1 Mbyte of flash memory. Serving as a dual master, the VL-486-3 allows simultaneous operation of two CPU boards in a single system without an arbiter card or additional hardware. The computer board costs $545 (OEM). VersaLogic Corp, Eugene, OR. (310) 374-1940.

Unix development tool permits interprocessor communication.

Talkinx is a development environment for building applications that require interprocess communications, such as client/server, peer-to-peer, and three tier. The software, which runs on multiple platforms, provides a six-function API and is accompanied by an object library that links to the application at build time. Talkinx is currently offered for Sun Solaris, SunOS, HP/UX, SGI Irix, IBM AIX, and OSF/1, with a Windows NT version to follow. The software costs $2995. Thomson Software Products, San Diego, CA. (619) 457-2700.

VMEbus card has three 10-, 100-Mbps Ethernet ports.

BajaNet, a multiport VMEbus communications controller, is equipped with both Ethernet and fast Ethernet interfaces. One of the controller's three ports is implemented as a PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC) and automatically senses between 10-Mbps Ethernet or 100-Mbps fast Ethernet data. The second port is a dedicated 10-Mbps interface that is accessed by a front-panel AUI connector. A PMC site accommodates the third port, which can be Ethernet, fast Ethernet, or a custom LAN or WAN interface. Configured with one Ethernet port, one fast Ethernet port, and 16 Mbytes of DRAM, BajaNet costs $5412 (100). Heurikon Corp, Madison, WI. (608) 831-5500.

Networking stack expands Ethernet device support.

Nucleus NET V2.1, a TCP/IP protocol stack that works with the Nucleus Plus operating system, allows embedded processors to communicate with any device that is also executing a TCP/IP stack. V2.1 fixes several bugs in V2.0 and moves closer to RFC compliance. In addition, two Ethernet controllers have been added to Nucleus Net's range of supported drivers: the Am79C90 (C-Lance) and NE2000. Supplied in source code, Nucleus Net starts at $10,995, and the Lance and NE2000 drivers each cost $3000. Accelerated Technology Inc, Mobile, AL. (334) 661-5770.

STD 32 card handles X.25 and frame relay communications.

A dual-port serial communications interface card for the STD 32 bus lets you transfer data over X.25 packet-switched data networks. You can also use the ZT 7743 for frame relay packet-switched transfers. Outputs are software-configurable for EIA-232, -422-A, -449, -485, -530, V.35, and V.36 operation. In its standard configuration, the ZT 7743 comes with X.25 software. Support for DOS, Windows, and QNX operating systems is also offered, as is frame-relay software. The board costs $1695. Ziatech Corp, San Luis Obispo, CA. (805) 541-0488.

Expansion backplane systems suit data acquisition.

A family of industrial enclosures comprises analog and digital backplanes for data-acquisition and -control applications. The line meets or exceeds European standards for EMC. A range of accessory termination and expansion boards complements the enclosures. Prices start at $750 for a half-sized enclosure with nine available expansion slots. Microstar Laboratories Inc, Bellevue, WA. (206) 453-2345.