COREMODULE 420 PROVIDES 10/100BASET ETHERNET IN PC/104 SBC.

Ampro Computers, Inc., is an inventor and supplier of PC/104 and EBX single board computers for non-backplane embedded systems, today announced the CoreModule 420 PC/104 single board computer (SBC) as the next step in its roadmap that keeps 486- based embedded systems in production through 2010. Manufacturers of medical, military, transportation and industrial systems are not forced into expensive re-design and qualification projects for high-performance CPUs now that Ampro has a simple resolution to their 486 end-of-life (EOL) notices. The new CoreModule 420 is the best value for space-constrained embedded applications that require four serial ports (two of which support RS485), 10/100BaseT Ethernet, and video on a single board. Details are available at http://www.ampro.com/html/CoreModule_420.html.

"The PC/104 market continues to demand long lifecycle embedded PCs compatible with processors that left the desktop 10 years ago," said Paul Rosenfeld, CTO of Ampro. "Because of the wave of 486 EOL notices from SBC vendors, thousands of embedded OEMs worldwide must re-qualify a new CPU solution or re-design systems that they had expected to build unchanged for years. The CoreModule 420 addresses the 486 PC/104 SBC demand with extra serial ports and general-purpose I/O normally not found in a single PC/104 module."

The CoreModule 420 is specially designed to be a migration product. The I/O addresses and IRQ mappings allow it to be easily configured to match the setup of many different legacy solutions. The memory hole is configurable to enable the use of legacy PC/104 (ISA bus) peripheral cards originally used with 386 and 486 systems having very small memory configurations. Ampro has also designed in 768kB of on-board Flash memory which is accessible to the user and bootable, which means that some types of applications do not require additional Flash memory in the system in the form of CompactFlash or DiskOnChip. Finally, with on-board Ethernet and video, two RS232/485 ports, and two more RS232-only ports, the CoreModule 420 also replaces up to three cards in a PC/104 stack.

Pricing and Availability

The CoreModule 420 is priced at under $400 in single quantities, and under $300 each in moderate volumes.

About the CoreModule 420

The CoreModule 420 PC/104 single board system is based on ST Microelectronics' STPC Atlas microprocessor running at 133 MHz. CoreModule 420 provides four RS232 serial ports, two of which support RS485, along with eight general-purpose I/O (GPIO) pins, EPP/ECP parallel port, one USB 1.1 port, PS/2 keyboard and mouse interfaces, floppy and Ultra/DMA 33IDE disk interfaces, 10/100BaseT Ethernet interface, and a high-resolution 2D video controller with CRT and TFT flat panel interfaces. CoreModule 420 provides 64MB soldered SODIMM DRAM along with a bytewide socket for a DiskOnChip 2000 bootable flash drive and Type II CompactFlash socket.

About Ampro Computers, Inc.

Ampro Computers, Inc. is a global provider of modular embedded computing solutions for OEM applications. Ampro's mission is to provide time saving solutions for embedded systems designers that accelerate the product deployment process. Ampro pioneered the embedded PC industry creating the popular PC/104 and EBX standards. The EnCore family is a Computer-on-Module (COM) which enables designers to obtain all the benefits of an off-the-shelf CPU solution while maintaining the flexibility of a full custom design. In addition to EnCore, Ampro offers three product lines; PC/104-compatible CoreModule CPUs and MiniModule expansion products, and EBX form factor LittleBoard single-board computers (SBC). Ampro was awarded Electronique magazine's "Electron d'Or 2002" for subsystems for the EnCore M2 product.

Ampro Computers can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.ampro.com/.

For more information, call 408/360-4324.