THE MAGAZINE FOR COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
Circuit Cellar Online offers articles illustrating creative solutions
and unique applications through complete projects, practical
tutorials, and useful design techniques.

EXPO MUSINGS

by Tom Cantrell

Start • Bye-Bye VME, Hello PC • Build a Better Box • Wire Fires • I Want My PCTV • Sources 

BUILD A BETTER BOX

I’ve always had mixed feelings about PC/104, PMC, and other mezzanine, board-stacking schemes. On the one hand, there’s no doubt they achieve formidable packing density (i.e., MIPS per cubic inch). But, when it comes to packaging and installation, it’s time to pay the piper. The thought of trying to cable and terminate the 3D conglomeration of headers and sockets composing a multiboard stack makes me shudder. Enter Arcom, with the ACEpc, pictured in Photo 6.

Photo 6—Arcom’s ACEpc is available in low- (81 mm) and high- (110 mm) profile versions that can handle up to four and eight PC/104 boards, respectively.

Under the hood, notice how the PC/104 boards plug like chips into adjacent sites on the baseboard. The idea is that the PC I/O boards (serial, parallel, VGA, etc.) plug in next to the end plate, which is available in various configurations of standard PC I/O connectors. Application-specific I/O (i.e., digital or analog) boards plug in next door and use a simple 50-pin to 5 x 10–pin ribbon cable to connect to the screw terminals and the outside world.

With a built-in power supply and easy wall-, panel-, and DIN-rail mounting, the ACEpc brings a dose of sanity to what might otherwise be a packaging nightmare.