ADLINK ETX-Proto - Manual (Page 7)

Page 7 ETX-Proto User’s Manual
1 Introduction
The ETX approach of custom carrier combined with off the shelf system core is an excellent
solution when you need to customize but lack the time or quantity for a complete redesign. It fits
most system integration projects with production volumes from 500 to 10,000 pcs per year. The
ETX concept has a great many advantages over full custom designs. It reduces engineering
complexity, lowers the threshold for total project quantity and last but not least brings your
product to the market in no time. The average time to design a carrier board is less than half the
time of a full custom OEM board.
ETX-Proto is a standard ATX size carrier board.Together with the ETX module of your choice and
off the shelf add-on cards, you can quickly emulate the functionality of your desired end
product for software development and hardware verification.
To build a functional prototype of your target system you will need:
f ETX module
f ETX-Proto
f ISA, PCI or Mini PCI add-on cards
f Storage or Flash disk solution
ETX Proto supports up to 4 PCI add-on cards and 3 ISA cards.
In addtion to the functions on the ETX module, ETX-Proto adds the following:
f Secondary I/O for COM3/4 and LPT2
f Secondary hardware monitor
f PCI based debug display for POST code readout
f I2C based GPIO
f Audio amplifier