QMC modules follow the VITA 93 standard for
small form factor (SFF) mezzanine modules. Two
high-performance 80-pin connectors provide an I/O
interface and a host interface supporting high-speed
serial data links. Modules are deployable on a variety
of carrier card platforms including 3U/6U Eurocards
such as VPX and CompactPCI, VNX+ SFF cards, PCIe
expansion cards, and many other architectures. The
rugged design is well-suited for use in aerospace,
defense, industrial, and laboratory applications.
QMC modules can support a variety of I/O functions.
Mezzanine modules are commonly used to provide
analog input/output operations with A/D and D/A
conversion. Other popular I/O functions include
measurement and control of discrete events, serial
communication, high-speed Ethernet, and signal
processing capabilities. The ability to combine
sensor and actuator interfaces with FPGA and GPU
processors, plus avionics and industrial protocol
transceivers offer unlimited possibilities.
QMC modules have a much smaller footprint than
PMC/XMC modules. Single-width QMC modules
are only 26 x 78.25mm which facilitates mixing and
matching of multiple functions on a single carrier
card for high-density I/O solutions. Their compact
size and flexibility make QMCs ideal for embedded
computing systems with strict size, weight, power
and cost (SWAP-C) limitations.
Typical applications involve monitoring sensors and
controlling equipment levels in deployed systems or
for lab test and simulation projects. Other common
operations include signal or protocol conversion,
image processing, adaptive filtering, and sensor
fusion. With powerful FPGAs, GPUs and other
processors, QMCs can provide artificial intelligence
and machine learning capabilities.
An Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)
facilitates system management of field replaceable
units (FRU). An EEPROM on the QMC stores module
information and sensor data. Smart carrier cards with
an IPMC controller can read the EEPROM over an I2C
interface to manage the modules and access sensor
data such as temperature and voltage levels.
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