3U VPX time and frequency card has on-board GPS/IRIG to address drift
Integrated systems manufacturer, VadaTech has released the VPX337. The embedded boards, software and application-ready platform provider, says th VPX337 provides a complete GPS/PTP (1588)/IRIG/NTP bus-level timing solution to a VPX system.
The local oscillator can be disciplined by the on-board GPS receiver, or 1PPS, or Inter-Range Instrumentation Group (IRIG) input, to cancel out any oscillator drift or ageing. Precision UTC timestamps and GPS location/time/status are all made available via PCIe registers to the host CPU/application. Time trigger output and time event interrupts synchronised to GPS UTC are available under host control. GPS location, time, status data is broadcast/unicast out via backplane Ethernet with selectable bonding or failover behaviour.
The VPX337 can demodulate IRIG amplitude modulated (AM) signals and receive/transmit IRIG DC level shift (DCLS) signals. The disciplined clock, 1PPS, divided-down clocks, IRIG DCLS, and time trigger may all be output in any combination to the dual clock options on the VPX backplane channels (P0_REF_CLK+/- and/or P0_AUX_CLK+/).
The card also acts as a grand master clock/clock bridge between GPS/PTP (1588)/IRIG/NTP to provide more design opportunities for system design. The board also supports synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) to eliminate clock drift at the Ethernet PHY level.
Additionally, a back-up battery or SuperCap provides non-volatile storage of the Almanac, Ephemeris and last position data to enable rapid “warm start” re-acquisition, usually within 35 seconds. The module’s console is available via front serial or SSH via Ethernet, and locking/holdover status is available via IPMI sensors. A secondary serial port enables GPS NMEA data in/out. The module also interfaces to the backplane via multiple options such as dual GbE to Ports 14 and 15, dual PCIe x4 to Ports 0-7, or 10GbE (XAUI) to Ports 0-7.
VadaTech provides embedded computing from board-level products, chassis-level platforms, to configurable application-ready systems. The company has a focus on AdvancedTCA, MicroTCA, VPX and PCIe and offers a combination of electrical, mechanical, software, and system-level expertise. VadaTech says it provides customised commercial or rugged computing to meet the most complex customer requirements.
VadaTech also offers specialised products for VME, CompactPCI and other architectures. A member of PICMG and VITA, VadaTech has headquarters, design and manufacturing facilities in Henderson, Nevada, USA with design, support and sales offices in Europe and Asia Pacific.
