Nobody builds industrial automation systems the way they used to. Gone are the days when your in-house engineers could labor over the closely guarded secrets of a proprietary embedded computer. Now, it makes more sense to plug a high-speed Intel processor into your favorite bus and get on with it, especially when you know you need to move your next product out the door in months instead of years.
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Building an embedded computer is not a simple matter. Every automation application has special requirements, and any board factor you choose has unique demands. Worse, you have to figure out how to build something that works great now but won't be obsolete in six months. Work alone, and you'll face those problems by yourself. Work with RadiSys, and you'll be with people who have met and conquered those problems a hundred times.
What kind of special problems do you face? Harsh environments? Extreme temperatures? Odd board footprints? We've had experience in every one of those situations, and others even more bizarre than you can imagine.
We're comfortable around stand-alone SBCs, old standards like VME, or the new CompactPCI. And we're right at home with every sort of Intel x86 architecture, from Pentium IIIs all the way down to the 386. RadiSys also knows that there’s more to a board than an industrial bus and processor. When your application requires PMC, PC-104, or PC-104+ modules; Fieldbuses including DeviceNet, ControlNet, ProfiBus, LonWorks or CAN; and other features such as video, (SVGA, flat panel, PanelLink) and digital I/O, RadiSys will be there. There's almost no limit to what we can do around a CPU board.
Perhaps the most difficult challenge for today's OEM is figuring out who can be counted on for long-term parts availability. If you don't have the kind of insider information we get from companies like Intel, there's almost no way you can guess. Fortunately, we keep a close eye on the technology roadmap, so you can avoid the dead ends.
Avoid re-inventing the wheel
Our engineers like to brag that they've got your job 80 percent done before you even get here. That may sound like ego talking, but it's surprisingly close to the truth. Floating around in their heads (and safely catalogued in our library) is a gold mine of design information. We've got years of "been there, done that" experience with semiconductor equipment, robotics and machine automation and electronic assembly equipment. As a result, we can dramatically accelerate your time to prototype and your product's time to market.
Live long and prosper
Three words strike terror in the hearts of product line managers: End Of Life. We know that fear of critical parts becoming suddenly unavailable haunts your worst nightmares. RadiSys will help you sleep better.
Our close working relationship with Intel and their Embedded Microcomputer Division is one way we make that possible. No one understands Intel's technology roadmap better than RadiSys.
Beyond processors is an even more uncertain world of companion components. Research and experience in dealing with vendors help us anticipate who's going to honor their commitments and who might leave us waiting at the altar. To make the picture complete, we even design our own companion chips when support for popular processors reach its inevitable EOL.
Just like one of the family
For many companies, moving key components of product design to an outside vendor can be traumatic. RadiSys makes the move easier by integrating our engineering team into your company's product development staff — acting as your virtual division. We work for you and with you — keeping you in constant contact with the work in progress. Conference calls, emails and personal calls between product managers continue throughout the project, regardless of international date lines, time zones and distances. This close relationship continues for the entire life of the product, from design inception to a soft landing at EOL.
Delegating the work lets our team do the embedded computing tasks they know best, and allows your in-house developers to concentrate on their most highly-developed skills — systems and applications development.
Tailoring the perfect fit solution
Will an off-the-shelf computer be a perfect fit for your application? It's unlikely. You can probably make one work, but chances are you'll be doing without capabilities you'd like, or paying for more than you need. If one of our standard products comes close to your requirements, we can cut its cost by removing unneeded components or improve its fit by adding custom parts. If an off-the-shelf PC board doesn't have the exact features you want, or simply has too much on it, let's talk about designing the "Perfect Fit" board for your application. We can create completely custom embedded computers to fit the most demanding special requirements. Our design library includes solutions that will make your custom design simple and cost effective.
© 2001 RadiSys Corporation.