Prepared Systems

Rack mount 19-inch wide systems

Based on the widely used 19-inch rack mount modules we can provide systems of 1U, 2U, 3U, 4U or 6U in height. Into these can be fitted the Spectrum M2i and M3i PCI/PCI-X or PCI Express cards, or the industry standard 3U PXI and 6U CompactPCI. Generally it is the higher profile units that provide room for the most number of cards, up to 20 is possible, each with multiple channels. Further racks units may be combined to provide a robust system encompassing hundreds of signal channels. Note that an important aspect is cooling and all of the systems below have this important aspect addressed.

PCI, PCI-X (enhanced PCI) and PCI Express

1U and 2U chassis Low profile rack mounting system High velocity forced air cooling The 1U chassis (shown) and 2U chassis are best suited to one or two full-length of PCI/PCI-X cards or PCI-Express format. Very low profile yet powerful in computing terms, these systems are best suited to a closed room environment due to the noise from the compact high-velocity cooling fans. Each comes equipped with a multi-core CPU, quality Supermicro motherboard, a heavy-duty power supply, plus much of th I/O commonly found on a desktop including USB, Giga-bit LAN, CD/DVDROM,plus DDRx RAM and a up to four SATA hard disk drives, everything chosen to meet your specific requirements. RAID is also possible for long term signal data capture or replay.

3U and 4U chassis Can hold several full length cards Quiet operation The 3U (shown above with access panel removed) and 4U chassis provides room for several full-length cards - depending on mother board chosen and available slots. Slot type can be PCI, PCI-X and PCI-Express. The latter slot is now most frequently used for multiple card installations as the slots do not share bandwith. Although requiring greater rack space these systems do have the advantage of using larger slower fans hence much quieter. Good cooling and a wide variety of motherboard options provide exceptional performance and flexibility both in terms of computing components and the configuration of installed cards. Ideal for mixed mode systems of analogue input, signal generation and digital I/O connections to external equipment using Spectrum M2i and M3i cards. Up to eight external easily accessible SATA HDD bays also provides massive storage potential for long term signal data capture or replay using RAID.

CompactPCI and PXI

3U Rack options for up to 20 PXI cards Cards can synchronised via backplane reducing front connections Ideal for high channel count industrial-based requirements The 3U PXI chassis allows large numbers of PXI cards to be integrated into the rack space, in the picture above is a 16 card system. When fully populated with 8 channel 16 bit MX.4700 series (for example), that's provides 128 analogue channels! Card types can be mixed including those of different functionality, such as digital pattern and waveform generators. With the PXI back-plane all the cards clock and trigger lines are connected allowing perfect synchronisation card to card and as the Spectrum cards have no front end multiplexors all channels are perfectly synchronised too.

Tower and modular stand alone systems

PC design of server quality tailored to meet requirements Large power supply and good cooling for multiple cards Up to eight externally accessible fast SATA HDD Suitable for full-length PCI/PCI-X and PCI Express cards The tower cased PC is a popular choice for Spectrum PCI/PCI-X and PCI-Express cards. We can take the guesswork out of choosing a good PC, as years of experience allows us to provide the most the suitable chassis complete with the most suitable power supply, CPU, motherboard, RAID controller and hard disk technology. This is particularly important for high-speed long period signal capture or replay, so let us ensure you have the most suitable signal streaming solution. Supplied systems include the Spectrum cards, text code programming drivers and SBench installed and tested. We can also supply third-party software drivers for LabView, MATLAB and VEE.

Compact stand-alone chassis for 3U PXI & 6U cPCI cards Integral CPU/computing module Ideal for mixing card types to create a multi-function system The PXI and CompactPCI chassis can be made very compact to house five to eight 3U or 6U cards (or indeed a lesser number), plus a CPU module, so providing a robust industrial computer system with instrumentation capabilities that takes up minimal space. The system in the picture houses a customers own card, with a Spectrum 3U PXI format MX.7000 digital I/O card communicating data and sending a trigger to a MX.3000 series A/D card to initiate acquisition of analogue signals at the appropriate time. It is the flexibility of functionality in all our systems that helps the end user obtain the best system to meet requirments.