The MerlinPXC fulfills high performance requirements for a complete multi-channel graphics solution commonly found in VxWorks, Linux, and Windows embedded systems.

The MerlinPXC automatically determines the XMC, PMC, or XMC/PMC footprint that it is plugged into and sets itself accordingly. In a dual-bus footprint, it defaults to XMC.

The MerlinPXC uses the AMD Radeon^TM E8860 Embedded Graphics Processor, which includes 640 shader processors, a 128-bit memory interface, and 2GB of GDDR5 on-chip memory. The E8860 provides hardware support for OpenGL 4.2 and DirectX 11.1 as well as H.264, VC-1, and MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video codecs. Multiple HD video streams can be decoded at once.

An IDT 24T6G2 PCIe switch arbitrates between on-board PCIe devices and the XMC x8 PCIe 2.0 port. For PMC, a Pericom 9X130 PCIe/PCI bridge supports PMC host-interfaces from 32-bit, 33 MHz PCI to 64-bit, 133 MHz PCI-X.

Screen resolutions up to 4K x 2K are available using the MerlinPXC DisplayPort outputs. The E8860 supports up to six active DisplayPort 1.2 channels.  As used on the MerlinPXC, four ports (A, B, D, E) are provided on the front panel and 3 ports (C, D, F) are for rear access (Port D is shared between front and rear).  The front panel uses industry-standard mini DisplayPort (mDP) connectors. Low-cost external in-line "dongles" can transparently convert the mDP to DVI, VGA, or NTSC/PAL.

The MerlinPXC also includes a Renesas uPD720201 four port USB 2.0/3.0 host controller. One port is allocated to the front panel, two to the rear (one each to Pn4 and Pn6), and one to the on-board BIST CPU (see below).

A PMC I/O Module (PIM) adapter is available for use with a VME, CompactPCI, or OpenVPX Rear Transition Module. Please see the MerlinPXC PIM page for more informatio.

Although not a conduction cooled design, the MerlinPXC is laid out in a Conduction Cooled PMC (CCPMC) compatible format with Primary and Secondary Thermal Interface area for easy use in all environments.

A unique feature of the Rastergraf AMD-based graphics boards is the inclusion of a true hardware-based Built-In Self Test (BIST) facility. The MerlinPXC's STM32F427 ARM CPU uses a combination of USB, ADCs, JTAG, I²C, and SMB to monitor and report board and E8860 temperatures, voltages, viability of major board devices, serial number, firmware revision, and other Vital Product Data (VPD). Communication with the ARM is via a dedicated on-board USB host controller port, a private USB port, or via an '427 debugger port.  

Rastergraf's support philosophy recognizes the lead-in and life-cycle requirements expected by the embedded computing market. Products designed 15 years ago are still available