NEWS RELEASE

Release Date: 29 August, 1999

Editorial Contact: Bill Goodale, Macrolink Inc., ) 714.777.8800, Fax 714.777.8807

CompactPCI Serial I/O Card Has Lowest Cost Per Slot for High-Density Applications

Anaheim, CA, 8/29/99--- Macrolink, Inc. announces the availability of the MCCR Compact PCI Serial Communications controller. With 8 or 16 asynchronous serial ports, the 6U module supports individual line rates up to 12.5Mbps, and a maximum aggregate throughput of 30Mbps full duplex. Independent baud rates for each port and a wide variety of I/O interfaces allow developers, integrators and end-users to tailor the MCCR for their specific requirements.

Macrolink’s 4-port Serial Line Interface Conditioner (SLiC) modules allow each MCCR to handle diverse line level requirements. A single MCCR can be configured with any mix of RS-232, RS-422, RS-485, MIL-STD-188C and buffered TTL in 4-port groups. Up to 4 different SLiC modules can be installed with

up to 10 signal lines per port for full modem control. Options exist to route all serial line signals to either the front panel, to the rear via a standard 80mm deep I/O transition panel, or a combination of both. Macrolink supports a number of cable and connector options from this I/O transition panel to the external serial interfaces.

The standard MCCR is a single-slot 6U cPCIbus board with a PICMG 2.1-compliant Slave Interface. The sixteen port rear panel I/O version of the MCCR is priced at $795 in OEM quantities, and includes RS-232 SLiC modules. The MCCR utilizes the latest innovations in serial controller technology, with high-speed quad UARTs

that include an on-chip PCI interface and 128-byte FIFOs. Deeper FIFOs reduce interrupt overhead, and hence the load on the host computer, resulting in higher system performance and efficiency. In addition, FIFO depth can be read directly from the host computer. In this scenario, the interrupts from all of the channels are combined and presented as a single interrupt to the PCI bus. The interrupt handler deals with the entire card at one time. At interrupt time, the Host can read the depths of all of the FIFOs on the card and empty out any receive data that may be present. Interrupts occur only when FIFO depths cross the thresholds or the board reaches a receiver time out.

The MCCR can act as a full-service replacement for host-based serial ports, or for a low-density mezzanine board, and provides a low-cost-per-port alternative for existing legacy systems as well as emerging requirements. The low parts count used on the board results in significantly reduced MTBF and a lower board cost. Device driver support for VxWorks, Solaris, WindowsNT, as well as several other popular UNIX and Real-Time Operating System’s is available. A copy of this press release, as well as other product information, is available from our website at http://www.macrolink.com/press/mccr.htm .

Macrolink, Inc. designs and manufactures sophisticated board-level, mass storage and system products for the VMEbus, cPCI bus and other industry standard busses. These products include communications, specialized I/O, mass-storage, true Hot Swap SCSI, system modules, Rugged/MIL-STD/ATR enclosures and rugged laptop workstations. Founded in 1978, Macrolink is headquartered in Anaheim, California.

Contact Bill Goodale of Macrolink, Inc. for more information at:

Phone: (714)777-8800 X303

FAX: (714)777-8807

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