featurepak-brochure0 pages

World’s Smallest PCI
Express Open Architecture
Embedded I/O Standard
Key Features
♦♦
Compact,

low profile form-factor—0.6x the size of a credit
card!
♦♦
Single low-cost connector integrates all host and external
I/O signals
♦♦
Provides up to 100 I/O points per module
♦♦
Leverages industry-standard buses such as PCI Express,
USB, and SMBus
♦♦
Host form-factor and processor agnostic
♦♦
Coexists with PC/104, SUMIT, Qseven, ETX, XTX, COM
Express, etc.
♦♦
Multiple FeaturePak modules may be present within one
system
♦♦
Rugged and reliable
♦♦
Open industry standard

FeaturePak is an exciting new embedded system
expansion standard, originated by Diamond Systems,
that provides a compact, low-cost method of adding
I/O to board-level embedded computers. FeaturePak
modules can be used as snap-in customization modules
for commercial, off-the-shelf single-board computers
(SBCs) and computer-on-module (COM) baseboards, or as
functional blocks on fully-custom embedded electronics.
This new mezzanine-style embedded I/O expansion
standard is highly synergistic with existing and emerging
bus-, I/O-, chip- and board-level technologies. It leverages
the latest high-speed serial expansion standards—such
as PCI Express and USB —and is compatible with a wide
range of current and future processors, including both x86
and RISC architectures.

Key Benefits
♦♦
Shortens

time-to-market
board-level development costs and risks
♦♦
Simplifies system design
♦♦
Eliminates cables, resulting in higher reliability, lower cost,
and faster assembly
♦♦
Enables scalable and reconfigurable system design
♦♦
Enables easy product upgrades
♦♦
Protects from component obsolescence
♦♦
Encapsulates intellectual property
♦♦
Suitable for SBCs, baseboards, and proprietary all-in-one
hardware designs
♦♦
Ideal for rapid-prototyping through high-volume
applications
♦♦
Ideal format for silicon vendor reference designs
♦♦
Open standard increases market acceptance
♦♦
Reduces

FeaturePak on COM Express baseboard

FeaturePak modules Enable Faster and More Flexible Baseboard Design
With their compact size and standardized connector,
FeaturePak modules are easy-to-use macrocomponents
that target a wide range of embedded applications.
Embedded computer design can be greatly simplified
by treating complex I/O subsystems as components,
just as various types of COMs (computer-on-modules)

Diamond Systems Corporation | www.diamondsystems.com

allow designers to treat the core embedded
computing functions as a plug-in building block. This
macrocomponent approach greatly accelerates design
cycles, and also enables the creation of reconfigurable
and upgradable products.