StarGen Unveils Partnership with Digital-Logic to Deliver PC/104 Board Solutions; Digital-Logic to Use StarFabric in Highly-Integrated Embedded PCs.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 2003 StarGen, a semiconductor company that supplies advanced serial switched interconnect solutions, today announced that it has partnered with Digital-Logic, a worldwide leader in embedded computing, to offer a PC/104-based, universally applicable, embedded computing solution. In addition to an integrated StarFabric interface, specific board features include flexible memory components, cost structure considerations, and high performance capabilities. The standard version of Digital-Logic's new board is an extension of its series of PC/104plus boards. It includes the SG2010 StarFabric Controller, providing two channels with 2.5Gbit/sec bi-directional interfaces. The PC/104plus StarFabric may work in a root or in a leaf mode. In the root mode, a PC/104plus CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. Board drives the StarFabric controller to interact with the connected (RJ-45 cables) StarFabric-nodes (in the leaf mode). The Digital-Logic's PC/104plus-based CPU products integrate the whole PC functionality (VGA (Video Graphics Array) The display standard for the PC. All PC display adapters support VGA, and Windows machines boot up in "VGA mode" before switching to higher resolutions. , LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. , HD, S/P S/P Status Post S/P Serial to Parallel S/P Policy Planning Staff S/P Sound Powered S/P Sharp & Pink (description of optic nerve in eye) , PS/2) on the size of 90 x 96mm with up to a Pentium-III processor with a memory of 256Mbyte. If the PC/104plus StarFabric board is working in the leaf-mode, then the board replaces all functions, normally performed by a CPU board (generating PCI-clocks, 3.3V supply, PCI-terminations, and others). As StarFabric is designed specifically for low power consumption, the new board makes applications possibilities ranging from navigation, telecommunications, peripheral computing, medical and measurement technologies, military and aerospace equipment, automotive electronics, and Internet terminals. "We've become a leader in our space by consistently examining the market and teaming up with the most innovative players," said Felix Kunz, founder and president of Digital-Logic. "StarGen offers a best-of-breed solution that is compatible with our commitment to provide high-performance, low-cost solutions to the embedded computing market." StarGen's StarFabric solution is a high-speed, point-to-point switched backplane An interconnecting device that has sockets for printed circuit boards to plug into. Passive and Active Although resistors may be used, a "passive" backplane adds no processing in the circuit. and chassis-to-chassis interconnect solution for scalable and highly available embedded systems Embedded systems Computer systems that cannot be programmed by the user because they are preprogrammed for a specific task and are buried within the equipment they serve. . StarFabric is currently in full production with tens of thousands of ports shipped to over 50 companies worldwide. "This relationship with Digital-Logic is our chance to reinforce our positioning in the global embedded market Refers to custom-designed, computer-based devices and applications that perform a fixed set of tasks. It may refer to cellphones and other handhelds, network appliances (routers, access points, modems) and myriad consumer electronics products. ," said Tracy Richardson, co-founder and president of StarGen. "Digital Logic's line of PC/104 boards is the perfect showcase for the benefits of StarFabric - namely the attributes of high performance, high flexibility, and high scalability." Digital-Logic's new PC/104plus StarFabric board will be demonstrated at the Embedded Systems Conference Boston (September 15-18 at the Hynes Convention Center The John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center located in Boston's Back Bay has 193,000 square feet (0 m) of exhibit space and can accommodate up to four concurrent events. ) as part of Advanced Digital Logic's booth #301. This is the first public demonstration of a PC/104 system utilizing StarFabric by any company globally. About Digital-Logic Luterbach/Switzerland-based DIGITAL-LOGIC AG, which is one of the world's leading companies in the embedded computer market, has been involved in the development, manufacture and international marketing of highly-integrated embedded PCs since 1992. The group has subsidiaries/partners in Germany and the USA, and currently employs more than 100 specialist staff world-wide. Digital-Logic AG has received many awards and knows how to be at the leading edge of technology with innovative, reliable products and realise economical PC solutions for demanding applications. The ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. 9001 certified company offers a comprehensive range of PC/104 and PC/104plus, EBX-Boards, smartModules (system on modules) and customer-specific embedded PCs from 386's to Pentium III's. With their system-on-module computer modules "smartModule" the company is setting new standards in the use of embedded PC's. About StarGen StarGen is a semiconductor company providing advanced serial switched interconnect solutions for compute and communications equipment. It is the leading designer of low-overhead, protocol-agnostic, open standards-based serial switched architectures, which enable system designers to bring new capabilities to their system while using existing standards-based parts. StarGen's currently shipping StarFabric product line benefits vendors of access communication platforms for voice, data, and video networks as well as vendors of embedded systems needing enhanced switched PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). capability. StarGen is also currently developing StarXpress, a complementary line of products built upon the Advanced Switching standard and compatible with PCI Express A high-speed peripheral interconnect from Intel introduced in 2002. Note that although sometimes abbreviated "PCX," PCI Express is not the same as "PCI-X" (see PCI-SIG and PCI-X for comparison). As a result of the confusion, "PCI-E" or "PCIe" is the accepted abbreviation. (TM). These products will be ideal solutions for blade server A server architecture that houses multiple server modules ("blades") in a single chassis. It is widely used in datacenters to save space and improve system management. Either self-standing or rack mounted, the chassis provides the power supply, and each blade has its own CPU, memory and , storage, and mid-range communications applications. StarGen's switched interconnect products provide a dramatic increase in equipment performance, scalability, reliability, and Quality of Service while maintaining backward compatibility See backward compatible. (jargon) backward compatibility - Able to share data or commands with older versions of itself, or sometimes other older systems, particularly systems it intends to supplant. to existing standards based hardware and software. StarGen (www.stargen.com) is headquartered in Marlborough, MA. Note to editors: PCI Express is a trademark of PCI-SIG. |
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