Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New I/O Standard Bids To Replace Mini PCI Express

Posted by kdawson on from the lame-name dept.

DeviceGuru writes "LinuxDevices reports that a group of companies today unveiled — and demonstrated products based on — a tiny new PCI Express expansion standard. Although it's somewhat larger than the PCI Express Mini Card, the tiny new 43mm x 65mm FeaturePak card's high density 230-pin edgecard connector provides twice the number of PCI Express and USB 2.0 channels to the host computer, plus 100 lines dedicated to general purpose I/O, of which 34 signal pairs are implemented with enhanced isolation for use in applications such as gigabit Ethernet or high-precision analog I/O. While FeaturePaks will certainly be used in all sorts of embedded devices (medical instruments, test equipment, etc.), the tiny cards could also be used for developing configurable consumer devices, for example to add an embedded firewall/router or security processor to laptop or notebook computers, or for modular functionality in TV set-top-boxes and Internet edge devices." The president of Diamond Systems, which invented the new card, said "Following the FeaturePak initiative's initial launch, we intend to turn the FeaturePak specification, trademark, and logo over to a suitable standards organization so it can become an industry-wide, open-architecture, embedded standard" (but to use the logo you have to join the organization).

11 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. Good luck with that by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think PCIe is here to stay just because of its use in the desktop market. It is fast becoming the only standard for desktop components (there are now motherboards with no old style PCI). Ok well the benefit to having a laptop standard the same as the desktop standard is obvious. All the chips work the same, you don't need a new chip design or a bridge chip for the different standards. You just put the stuff in a different package and go.

    1. Re:Good luck with that by Enleth · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Unless I'm reading wrong, this *is* PCI-Express all right, just a different physical interface with an additional (most likely optional) lane and some new, fancy I/O lines.

      But why USB 2.0? That would be a perfect place to include 3.0, wouldn't it?

      --
      This is Slashdot. Common sense is futile. You will be modded down.
    2. Re:Good luck with that by Gouru · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think EISA is here to stay just because of its use in the desktop market. It is fast becoming the only standard for desktop components (there are now motherboards with no ISA). Ok, well the benefit of having a compact standard the same as the desktop standard is obvious. All the chips work the same, you don't need a new chip design or a bridge chip for the different standards. You just put the stuff in a different package and go.

      --
      Insert pre-emptive Hitler comment here.

    3. Re:Good luck with that by unitron · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Unless I'm reading wrong, this *is* PCI-Express all right, just a different physical interface with an additional (most likely optional) lane and some new, fancy I/O lines.

      But why USB 2.0? That would be a perfect place to include 3.0, wouldn't it?

      Well, first they have to sell as many with 2.0 as they can, and then come up with something that needs 3.0 to work right so that everybody has to buy new ones to replace the 2.0 ones so that they can sell twice as many as they would have otherwise.

      And then it's time to change the physical interface on new products so that when you upgrade anything you can't use either the 2.0 or the 3.0 versions and have to start buying new stuff again. Don't you understand how computers really work? : - )

      --

      I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.

  2. Totally useless by ultrapenguin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    General consumers won't have any use for 100 gpio pins, the fragile 240-pin connector will not last on any kind of multiple-insertions application, and in general, is there even any demand for this kind of stuff? bringing more pci-e lanes = only useful for graphics, anyone who needs more than 1x out of a laptop will be buying a desktop instead.

  3. Derivative, hopelessly derivative... by butlerm · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is a new form factor and interface connector for a couple of industry standard buses with a couple of twists thrown in. That is not to say it won't be a minor boon for the people who can make use of such devices, just that this sort of change is sort of thing to be expected out of most market segments every eighteen to thirty six months. Not "hopeless" (that was a joke) but certainly derivative.

    1. Re:Derivative, hopelessly derivative... by marcansoft · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's not even a new connector. They use the MXM connector used for laptop video cards. Looks like they just replaced all of the video I/O pins with an incompatible free-for-all and made the card somewhat shorter.

  4. Just a poorly specified MXM derivative by marcansoft · · Score: 4, Insightful

    MXM is the connector used for modern laptop video cards (essentially PCIe x16 + video/monitor out)

    Let's see: FeaturePak uses the same connector, FeaturePak uses PCIe, FeaturePak has a bunch of undefined IO pins. Sounds to me like MXM, except they replace the video-card-specific but mostly standardized video out signals with totally unspecified "put whatever you want here, including power" signals. Great.

    This doesn't look like it's aimed at laptops at all (unlike Mini PCI Express, which is the form factor used for small PCIe modules such as video capture cards and WiFi). This sounds like it's more suited to small form factor embedded platforms for industrial/medical/etc use.

  5. Nothing to see here. Move along. by Tiersten · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They're just saying it may potentially enter the consumer market just for something to say. The fact it has general purpose IO lines on it means it is aimed specifically at the embedded device market like SBCs.

    The connector is physically bigger than the equivalent one in a mini PCI Express system. Manufacturers aren't going to switch to this new interface if it means allocating more space inside their laptop/tablet/netbook. It doesn't add anything extra that would be useful in those situations.

  6. "Twice the number" by marcansoft · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just found out that "the number" is one: FeaturePak features (no pun...) two PCI-Express lanes and two USB buses (and hosts only have to implement one of each anyway). Color me unimpressed.

  7. FeatureCpak by shivamib · · Score: 2, Funny

    FeaturePak specification, trademark, and logo over to a suitable standards organization so it can become an industry-wide, open-architecture, embedded standard" (but to use the logo you have to join the organization).

    Specifically, the terms and conditions you are asked to agree to in the MOU are:

          1. Recipient acknowledges Diamond Systems Corporation as present owner of the FeaturePak trademark and logo.
          2. Recipient may only associate the FeaturePak logo with products that conform to the FeaturePak specification.
          3. Recipient may only use the FeaturePak logo in accordance with the logo use guidelines.
          4. Recipient may not use a name, trademark, or logo similar to FeaturePak's name, trademark, or logo for any substantially similar purpose.
          5. *Resistance is futile*