Kontron VX6124 - A new Arm®-based VPX Computing Node

Kontron extends its 6U VPX portfolio of COTS Computing Nodes for HPEC applications

Toulon, France, June 10, 2020 – Leveraging years of rugged computer design and thermal expertise, Kontron, a leading global provider of IoT/Embedded Computing Technology (ECT), announces VX6124, its new Arm^®-based High End VPX Computing Node for next generation HPEC applications.

Acknowledging the growing success of the Arm^® architecture in the signal processing domain, Kontron extends its 6U VPX portfolio of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Computing Nodes segment with a new Arm^®-based architecture dedicated to HPEC applications. The newly announced VX6124, a 6U VPX 200k+ DMIPS processing blade features 40G/100G Ethernet connectivity, enabling powerful HPEC architectures for the next decade.

"Our HPEC customers have been looking to leverage the unique computing performance per watt offered by the Neon^™ SIMD Arm technology coupled with the outstanding I/O performances offered by the VPX backplane. We are very pleased to have collaborated again with NXP^® so as to offer their Layerscape^®  LX2160A  processor in this first 6U VPX product, the VX6124.” says Vincent Chuffart, VPX Product Manager at Kontron.

"The next generation of high-performance applications for IoT gateways, transportation and 5G networks will require new levels of processing power,” says John Heinlein, Vice President, High Performance IoT Business at Arm. "Kontron’s new VPX Computing Node will allow developers to build intelligent, high-performance devices efficiently and quickly, building on the computing performance delivered by the Arm Cortex^®-A72 processor and software libraries such as Arm's Compute Library.”

“Kontron’s expertise in delivering reliable and ruggedized board solutions is an ideal complement to NXP’s product longevity program, focus on security, and the extended operating temperature ranges offered for the Layerscape LX2160A,” says Jeff Steinheider, GM Industrial Edge Processing Product Line for NXP Semiconductors. “The VX6124’s performance, efficiency and reliability, coupled with the fast time-to-market of a VPX platform provide a solution that the industrial, transportation and defense markets need.”

The VX6124 NXP Layerscape LX2160A processor is coupled with up to 32GB DDR4 memory and XMC slot. The design has been especially designed to best support the main CPU and optional XMC mezzanine such as Kontron XMC-GPU91 Radeon^™ E9171 running at their best. In the case of the XMC-GPU91, the XMC adds 12TFlops via eight compute units to the already massive computing power offered by the main CPU.

The design of the VX6124 makes it easily adaptable to a 3U form factor compliant with the SOSA intensive profile SLT3-PAY-1F1F2U1TU1T1U1T-14.2.16. , providing the necessary I/O capabilities onboard and outstanding flexibility by supporting XMC and M.2 storage mezzanine cards.

VX6124 for Signal Processing Architectures: offering 40GBaseKR and 10GBaseKR on the backplane connectors, the VX6124 is a perfect fit for integration into systems for Airborne Radar. In a configuration with multiple VX6124 interconnected with a Kontron VX6940 switch, each board communicates the bulk of the signal data via a 40G Ethernet data plane while synchronizing complex radar modes and processed data via 10G Ethernet control planes. In this type of architecture, Kontron’s VX6940 40G/100G Ethernet Broadcom^® BCM56760 switch handles the I/O traffic with ease while offering 100GETH interfaces to the system required to handle massive data flows coming from antenna arrays. It can also be equipped with the Kontron APPROTECT-Security Chip, which prevents reverse engineering of executable codes, while enabling a strict, hardware enforced control over the copies of the program allowed to run on any VX6124.

The Kontron Arm processor product family also includes:

• VX3106: a general purpose 3U VPX single board computer based on the NXP LS1046A, a quad Arm Cortex^®-A72 based SoC.
• VM6103: a power and cost effective 6U VME board computer, pin compatible with all Kontron deployed VME products, based on the NXP LS1023, a dual core Arm Cortex-A53 based SoC.

For more information, please visit: https://www.kontron.com/products/boards-and-standard-form-factors/vpx/6u-processor/vx6124.html

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About Kontron – Member of the S&T Group

Kontron is a global leader in IoT/Embedded Computing Technology (ECT). As a part of technology group S&T, Kontron offers a combined portfolio of secure hardware, middleware and services for Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 applications. With its standard products and tailor-made solutions based on highly reliable state-of-the-art embedded technologies, Kontron provides secure and innovative applications for a variety of industries. As a result, customers benefit from accelerated time-to-market, reduced total cost of ownership, product longevity and the best fully integrated applications overall. For more information, please visit: www.kontron.com

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For further information please contact:

Eleonore Arlart
Kontron S&T AG
Tel: +49 (0) 821 4086 274
eleonore.arlart@kontron.com

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