The CMN-ETH is a miniature Ethernet controller, housed on a PC•MIP mezzanine module. The PC•MIP electrical characteristics are derived from the well known PCI specification. With respect to the mechanics, PC•MIP modules represent an improved successor to the PMC- and M-Module technology. Up to 6 PC•MIP modules can be mounted on a single CompactPCI® carrier board for a maximum of functionality at low cost, thus making the system integration easier.

The CMN-ETH is provided with an RJ45-style jack for direct attachment to any 10Base-T and 100Base-TX based LAN by common CAT5/6 twisted-pair patch cables, with distances beyond 100m. The CMN-ETH supports auto-negotiation and is full-duplex capable, leading to a maximum data throughput of up to 200Mb/s.

The Ethernet controller CMN-ETH is a type II, single-size PC•MIP Module. The circuitry is based on the Intel 82559ER, a single-chip solution integrating both the MAC and PHY layers. Due to its improved reliability and cost advantage the CMN-ETH outperforms traditional two-chip based networking interface controller designs. The 82559 is implicitly supported by most recent disk operating systems. Furthermore, Intel offers drivers for download for a wide variety of environments.

Albeit typically connected to the LAN by an Ethernet switch or hub, the CMN-ETH Ethernet controller can also be used for direct point-to-point communication between two computers. This method can be recommended for distributed multi-processor systems, especially with real-time demand.

With no doubt beeing the most popular networking standard, Ethernet can also replace vintage device I/O interfaces, e.g. RS-232 and parallel ports. A recent powerful trend is Ethernet in fieldbus environments. By means of affordable Ethernet switches, the structure of the LAN can be scaled exactly to the needs of the application. If managed appropriately, the switching technology can emulate point-to-point connections at full bandwidth with predictable response times. This is an important improvement over older Ethernet LANs with a simple bus topology, where all nodes had to share the available bandwidth.

Beginning at the actor/sensor module, up to the process control system, forward to the management database - Ethernet offers total connectivity for all areas of an enterprise. The TCP/IP protocol, implemented in most Ethernet based LANs, opens the door to the worlds largest network - the Internet.

The CMN-ETH controller module makes it easy to integrate any embedded system into existing Ethernet LANs. The PC•MIP mezzanine module can be combined with any passive or intelligent CompactPCI® carrier board from EKF, either 6U or 3U form factor. The image below shows the intelligent CM1-COMBO with 4 PC•MIP Module slots.

Your application needs to be Intra- and Internet ready instantly - no problem with the CMN-ETH.