Technical Information C41-CFAST • CFast™ Card SATA USB Mezzanine Module
Short Description
Available as a mezzanine add-on expansion
board to the PC1-GROOVE, SC1-ALLEGRO and
successor CPU carrier cards, the main purpose
of the C41-CFAST is to provide a CFast™ host
connector for attachment of a CFast™ storage
card, as a rugged and fast mass storage media,
which can be easy replaced. Basically, the
C41-CFAST is designed to fit into the 4HP
(20.32mm) envelope of a CompactPCI
®
CPU
carrier board, so that another 4HP pitch
mezzanine expansion board can be stacked
above the CPU/C41 assembly in addition.
Further more, the C41-CFAST can be optionally
equipped with an USB Silicon State Drive (SSD)
module
1)
, or an USB type A host receptacle
1)
.
In addition, two SATA connectors (latching
headers) are optionally available on the
C41-CFAST
1)
, for attachment of system internal
drives by ordinary SATA cable harnesses.
Industrial grade CFast™ cards are widely
available. While compatible to the classic
CompactFlash card with respect to its
dimensions, the CFast™ card uses the SATA
signal interface for fast data transfers. The
newly defined CFast™ docking connector
protects from erroneous insertion of classic
CompactFlash cards. Installation of an
operating system to the CFast™ card, and
system boot from this media is straightforward.
With ruggedized systems in mind, the CFast™
card can be fastened by means of a screw
locked retainer on the C41-CFAST module PCB.
Low profile USB SSD modules (2.00mm
connector pitch) have also become popular in
embedded systems. Such a module
1)
can be
optionally mounted on the C41-CFAST, either in
addition to the CFast™ card, or as alternate
mass storage.
1)
Some of the population options mentioned may exceed the 4HP total stack height for the CPU
carrier board and C41-CFAST assembly. Please read carefully the respective notes (subchapters
'P-UFD1', 'J-USB3', and 'P-SATA2 P-SATA3'. For some EKF expansion boards slight violations of the 4HP
envelope may be tolerable. Furthermore, some of the C41 stuffing options are exclusive to each other,
due to space restrictions on the C41-CFAST (see table below).
C41-CFAST Stuffing Options
CFast™ Card
4HP Envelope Maintained
USB SSD Module
4HP Envelope Slightly
Exceeded
USB A Host Receptacle
4HP Envelope Slightly
Exceeded
Latching SATA Headers
4HP Envelope Exceeded
with SATA Cable Assy
1 x CFast™ Card
1 x SSD
-
with or w/o SATA headers
1 x CFast™ Card
-
1 x USB
with or w/o SATA headers
© EKF -7- ekf.com
