One Stop Systems New PCI Express MicroATX Expansion System

 

Of all the high-speed switch fabrics that have been developed over the years to replace local PC buses such as ISA and PCI, the only one with which the public may be familiar is Intel’s (News - Alert) PCI Express, which started out years ago as a technology called Arapahoe. Arapahoe was reformulated and re-christened 3GIO, and then became PCI Express, with a 2.5 Gbps serial interface. Because of its high bandwidth, PCI Express has replaced AGPs (Advanced Graphics Ports) in most desktop PCs. PCI Express is adept at handling fast chip-to-chip and board-to-board connections in PCs and notebooks.

 

As for MicroATX, the term “embedded computer” usually brings to mind devices such as vending machines or web-accessible phones, powered by tiny baseboards in the PC/104, PC/104-Plus and EBX form factors. These boards are generally too small for applications demanding a half-size or even a full-sized motherboard (rather than an even larger passive backplane, as found in rackmount systems), such as routers, small switches, ATMs, firewall devices, and even 1U and 2U-high rackmounts. Such “real” motherboards are based on industry standard form factors such as ATX (a full sized board holding about four PCI and three ISA slots), microATX (slightly smaller than ATX), FlexATX (an inexpensive derivative of microATX that’s about 25 percent smaller still) and NLX (which allows for quick processor upgrades).

 

In the case of One Stop Systems and the PCI Express-infused MicroATX expansion system, the unit offers both x4 and x8 cable expansion and three PCIe x4 slots. The system is equipped with a PCIe x4 or x8 host cable adapter that installs into the PCIe connector on the host motherboard. A 3-meter PCIe cable allows access to the host system.

 

The MicroATX Expansion System lists for US$1,685 (P/N OSS-PCIe-EXP-mATX-xx) and is available immediately. OEM quantities can be quoted on request.

 

The MicroATX Expansion System is part of an entire family of PCIe-over-cable expansion systems. One of the larger systems of the expansion system family is the 20-slot expansion system. This 20-slot PCIe enclosure contains 1-SHBe (System Host Board), and 19 PCIe x4 slots with x16 connectors. The enclosure comes complete with a host cable adapter and PCIe cable.