Bustronic Releases New and Improved VME64x Backplane With Stiffeners.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2000

BUSTRONIC Corporation, an industry leading designer and manufacturer of high performance backplanes, today announced the release of a VME64x backplane with board stiffeners. The new vertical stiffeners offer increased reliability and durability to the backplane for improved operating efficiency.

"The stiffeners are truly a beneficial addition to an already successful product," said Fred Hirsch, general manager of BUSTRONIC. "The new stiffeners on the VME64x backplane show BUSTRONIC's commitment to continually developing competitive products that are more efficient for customers."

By preventing the board from bending, the stiffeners improve connector mating and signal integrity, creating a more secure board. The integration of the stiffeners into the board eliminates the need to build in additional components or stiffeners on the chassis, thereby reducing the system manufacturing cost in volume production.

The BUSTRONIC VME64x is designed to fully comply with the ANSI/VITA 1.1-1997 VME extensions standard. The backplane features 160 pin VME64 extension connectors in J1 and J2 (the P0 connectors are 19 position, 2mm hard metric), all defined ground pins connected to a ground plane, routing and termination of all VME and VME64x bussed signal lines, geographic address pins, and distribution of +5V, +3.3V, +/-12V, +/-V1, +/-V2 and VPC.

Additional features include onboard EDC (electronic daisy chaining) of IACKIN - IACKOUT and BGIN - BGOUT lines that allow the backplane to bus signals past vacant slots -- freeing the operator from manually jumpering the vacant slots or reconfiguring boards to keep the system running. BUSTRONIC's built-in EDC provides enhanced plug-and-play capability for VME64x users at no extra cost. The backplane also features onboard and inboard termination, distributed high frequency capacitors for each slot, distributed low frequency capacitors, five signal layers, and five power and ground planes.

The 21 slot VMEX64x backplane with stiffeners is currently available for shipping. The 7, 9, 12 and 15 slot backplane with stiffeners will be available by June. Pricing has not been disclosed.

About BUSTRONIC:

Founded in 1989, BUSTRONIC Corporation specializes in the design and manufacture of high-performance backplanes in its Fremont, California facility. BUSTRONIC has a complete line of industry-standard backplanes, including VME64x, VME320, VME, CompactPCI, H.110 CTEL, ISA + PCIbus, and VXI. BUSTRONIC's custom design service combines creative engineering, highly sophisticated computer simulation and modern design techniques to offer customized backplanes that meet the most specialized system requirements. BUSTRONIC is a member of the ELMA Electronic group. ELMA, based in Wetzikon, Switzerland and Fremont, California, is a global leader in electronic enclosures and components with facilities or representatives in over 22 countries and is publicly traded on the Swiss Stock Exchange. BUSTRONIC is a member of PICMG(TM) and VITA and can be found on the World Wide Web at: www.bustronic.com.