Nuremberg, Germany, SPS/IPC/DRIVES, November 23, 2010 * * * congatec AG, a leading manufacturer of embedded computer modules, announces CAN (Controller Area Network) bus support on the conga-QA6 small form factor (SFF) Qseven module. This is the first congatec Qseven module to support this interface.
The CAN bus is an asynchronous serial bus system that has been primarily used in the automotive industry but now is gaining a foothold within the automation industry. The new conga-QA6 is equipped with the Intel® Atom™ E600 processor series and the Intel® Platform Controller Hub EG20T that provides the CAN bus interface.
For many automation engineers, the CAN bus forms an integral part of the X-86 architecture and has become indispensable for many applications. The CAN bus has now been defined in the pinout of the Qseven specification revision 1.2 to meet today's small form factor demands. Previously reserved pins of the pinout have now been designated to the CAN bus interface.
The advantages of the CAN bus show up in a diverse range of applications in the automation sector. Similar to a data network at an industrial level, I/O modules, sensors, motors and controllers can be connected with the embedded computer. Only one line is required to connect all participants in a system; as a result it is possible to design very compact control systems.
The new conga-QA6 Qseven module with dimensions of just 70 x 70 mm and a power consumption of typically <5 watts is ideal in this situation. In addition to the CAN bus, it provides fast, differential interfaces such as PCI Express and SATA. In detail, the conga-QA6 provides 6x USB 2.0, 2x SATA, 1x SDIO, 3x PCIe, LPC bus, I²C bus, Gigabit Ethernet and high-definition audio. All components of this design are specified for the industrial temperature range of -40 to 85° C. The much enhanced internal graphics performance provides a particularly suitable basis for user-friendly applications in the automation industry.
