Acromag AcroPack AP730 Mini PCIe I/O module

Acromag has added a military-grade measurement and control module to its AcroPack series of ruggedised mini PCIe I/O modules. AcroPack modules are designed to improve mini PCIe architecture with a down-facing 100-pin connector that securely routes the I/O through a carrier card, eliminating loose internal cabling.

The AP730 multifunction I/O module performs analog input, analog output, discrete I/O and counter/timer functions. A variety of carrier cards can host up to four modules and are available in PCIe, VPX, XMC, CompactPCI-Serial and mini-ITX embedded computing platforms.

The boards are designed for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications in defence, aerospace and industrial systems to provide a high-density mix of I/O signal interfaces in compact computing environments. With the module’s single-module combination of analog and digital I/O functions, system integrators can use remaining carrier mezzanine slots for serial, Ethernet, avionics and CAN interfaces, or FPGA signal processing with other AcroPack modules.

Modules feature a high-density mix of 28 I/O channels and 32-bit counter/timers in a 30 x 70 mm card. Eight differential analog inputs (0–10 V, ±10 V ranges) feed a 16-bit A/D converter capable of sampling at nearly 800 kHz. Four analog output channels have individual 16-bit D/A converters with a 7.5 µS settling time.

Programmable I/O ranges, sequencing, interrupts, memory allocation and other controls are supported, as well as external triggering. The bidirectional digital I/O is configured as two 8-channel groups with TTL-compatible thresholds and programmable change-of-state or level interrupts.

Counter/timers perform quadrature, frequency and period measurement functions plus pulse width modulation and waveform generation operations. DMA transfer support efficiently moves data between module memory and the PCIe bus, unburdening the system CPU and increasing performance.

The compact, rugged AcroPack mezzanine is suitable for interfacing a mix of signals in tight footprint on PCIe servers, VPX chassis or small form factor computers.