The Curtiss-Wright/VMETRO Vanguard-cPCI Bus Exerciser is a specialized hardware tool for comprehensive testing and validation of CompactPCI systems. It simulates cPCI bus traffic, monitors system responses, and diagnoses issues within cPCI backplanes and peripheral cards. The device plugs directly into a cPCI slot and enables engineers to stress test embedded systems used in industrial, defense, and telecommunications applications.
Technical Specifications
Bus Interface
• Bus Type: CompactPCI (cPCI)
• PCI Compliance: PCI Local Bus Specification Revision 2.2
• Bus Speed: 33 MHz and 66 MHz
• Bus Width: 32-bit and 64-bit PCI data paths
• Supported Transactions: Memory reads/writes, I/O reads/writes, configuration cycles
Exerciser Capabilities
• Programmable traffic generation for stress testing cPCI backplanes and connected devices
• Real-time monitoring of bus signals, transaction details, and error conditions
• Error injection for fault tolerance testing
• Bus state visibility including master/target roles, arbitration status, and interrupt requests
• Performance measurement tools for latency, throughput, and transaction completion times
Hardware
• Form Factor: cPCI board with standard cPCI connectors
• Status Indicators: LEDs for activity monitoring
• Power: Direct backplane supply
Software and Control
• Host control via dedicated software interface and API
• Supplied software suite for test configuration, execution, data acquisition, and analysis
• Custom test scripting for automated scenarios
• Driver support for host operating system integration
– Key Features
• Hot-swap capable with full cPCI arbitration support
• Ability to inject specific bus errors to validate system error handling
• Automated test scenario creation and execution
• Real-time bus event monitoring with detailed transaction reporting
– Typical Applications
• cPCI backplane signal validation
• System integration and acceptance testing
• Fault tolerance verification
• Performance characterization of cPCI-based embedded systems
– Compatibility & Integration
The Vanguard-cPCI integrates into existing cPCI backplanes without modification. Host control requires appropriate OS drivers and uses standard API interfaces for test automation and data retrieval.
