CANADA, Markham, May 28, 2020 – Amfeltec Corporation announced today the latest Enterprise-level addition to its Squid family: the one-slot-wide, half-height(2U) PCI Express Gen3 Carrier Boards that supports up to two M.2 or GSFF(NF1) PCI Express SSD modules.
This is the first board on the market to support two M.2 or NGSFF (NF1) modules with a width of up to 32 mm & length up to 110 mm in 2U form factor; this is possible due to Amfeltec’s patented design (U.S. Pat. 9,996,494 and 10,664,431). The board is compatible with any motherboard (does not require bifurcation), and has real-time performance and temperature monitoring capability.
In the SSD market, this carrier board promotes the current trend of the M.2 form factor while addressing the well-known limitation of the module’s width-to-length ratio: though compact, an M.2 module’s narrow design is often inconvenient for component placement & tracing.
Increasing the number of layers (to accommodate tracing requirements) is not an option with the thin (0.7 mm) M.2 module. With Amfeltec’s support for a wider module, this is no longer an
issue – this carrier board accommodates modules with the much better width-to-length ratio of 32 mm by 110 mm.
“This problem is also evident outside the SSD market, in sectors where there is an interest in volumetric computing,” says Michael Feldman, President and CTO at Amfeltec Corp. “We see demand for larger modules from customers in multiple sectors, including automotive, smart vision, machine vision, data centers; they’re all interested in how much AI acceleration can they get in a confined volume. To maximize their resources, they need to be able to mount bigger
modules.”
This carrier board provides 12V of power to the module(s) in addition to the standard 3.3V. In combination with the improved size ratio, this feature makes it the ideal platform for development & utilization of advanced modules (e.g., AI acceleration).
The upstream PCI Express connection from the carrier board to the motherboard is done via exchangeable male x8 or x4 PCI Express adapters. This allows the carrier board to be inserted into a motherboard’s x4, x8 or x16 PCI Express connector without encountering well-known limitations, and to be used in half-height servers as well as in embedded systems. An easily detachable cooling fan comes with the board; it is useful in a computer chassis where there is
inadequate cooling air flow.
The Squid Carrier Board™ product line now has two Enterprise-level products.
– Full-size six-module board https://www.amfeltec.com/pci-express-gen-3-carrier-board-for-6-m2-or-ngsff-nf1-pciessd-modules/
– Half-height (2U) two-module board https://www.amfeltec.com/pci-express-gen-3-carrier-board-for-2-m2-or-ngsff-nf1-pciessd-modules/
About Amfeltec Corporation:
Amfeltec is a Canadian company, incorporated since 2005. It is a leading provider of complex and innovative solutions for the world’s diverse electronics markets. Amfeltec specializes in electronic engineering, with emphasis on high-speed interconnect technologies, a large variety of computer hardware expansion products, telecommunications connectivity products, and testing & production tools.
All Amfeltec products are manufactured in Canada, and most are covered by one or more United States patents.
Contact Information
Peter Suslik
T: 1.905.604.6438 x112
F: 1.905.604.6439
p.suslik@amfeltec.com
www.amfeltec.com