The trend toward more flexible I/O via FPGAs continues. The 3U CompactPCI MEN Micro F215 Universal Interface Board tasks an Altera Cyclone FPGA with I/O handling chores (see the figure). An intelligent configuration can be had using a NIOS soft-core processor. A pair of universal SA-Adapters with front-panel connectors handles I/O buffering. Additional adapters can be handled via ribbon cables. A standard predefined configuration includes two CAN interfaces, two UARTs, and an eight-channel I/O interface. An optional 32 Mbytes of DDR2 SDRAM is available. Pricing starts at $419.
MEN Micro