GreenSpring Computers

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GreenSpring Computers was a computer manufacturer founded in 1984 by Leonard and Henry Lehmann in Redwood City, California.

## History

[edit]

GreenSpring Computers was started in 1984 as VME Specialists. The original product focus was VMEbus cards for industrial automation. The company was founded by Leonard Lehmann and his father Henry Lehmann in Redwood City, California, United States.

Around 1988, the company changed its name to GreenSpring Computers. With the name change came a change of focus away from VMEbus specific products to industrial automation products. The company worked with Apple Computers and SuperMac Technologies to design and manufacture the first video cards for the new Macintosh II product family. With the new Macintosh computers came the vision that the embedded market was looking for alternatives to industrial PCs running DOS. The RackMac became the only industrial version of the Macintosh computer available. In addition to the main computer (RM1200) was a 14" monitor available with a touchscreen (RM1240 w/o touchscreen and RM1250 w/ touchscreen).

GreenSpring Computers was acquired by SBS Technologies in April 1995.[1] In 2006, SBS Technologies was acquired by GE Fanuc Embedded Systems.[2] The SBS headquarters in Albuquerque is now the headquarters for GE Fanuc Embedded Systems.

## Original product line

[edit]

Product name  | Product description

|

SBC1  | Motorola 68000/ Motorola 68010 based VMEbus CPU module
SBC2  | Motorola 68000/ Motorola 68010 based VMEbus CPU module with dual-ported memory
SBC3  | Motorola 68020 based VMEbus CPU module
DRAM 512/2M  | 512 and 2M VMEbus memory module. Memory was DIP and populated into sockets.
DRAM 4M  | 4M VMEbus memory module. Memory was ZIP (Zig zag inline package).
VME360  | VMEbus video card
VME490  | VMEbus RS232/422 serial card
VME620  | VMEbus SCSI interface
VME750  | Floating Point module for SBC1. Motorola 68881

## Mezzanine modules

[edit]

With the focus moving away from VMEbus only, Leonard brought on Kim Rubin to develop a bus independent module called IndustryPacks (IP). IndustryPack became recognized as an industry standard for mezzanine modules and was adopted by ANSI as VITA 4. These mezzanine modules are approximately the size of a business card (99mm x 45mm). Featuring a 16 or 32 bit wide I/O interface and 50 User defined I/O pins.

Original IPs

IP name  | IP description

|

IP-Digital24  | 24-channel TTL input and output, programmable bits, supports RMW, bit set/reset, 64mA sink

IP-Digital48  | 48 general purpose lines of bit I/O including a 24-bit timer
IP-DUAL PI/T  | Two MC68230s for timers/interface, 68230 includes two 8-bit or one 16-bit programmable port, two 24-bit timers
IP-488  | IEEE-488 Interface. Talker, listener, controller
IP-Serial  | Two Channel Serial, 2 multi-protocol RS-232/422/485, async/sync to 2 megabaud, SDLC, HDLC, X.25. Interrupts.
VME310  | VMEbus 3U A24/D16, IRQ1,3,4,6 selectable. Supports 2 IP's
VME610  | VMEbus 6U A24/D16, IRQ 1-7 selectable. Supports 4 IP's [1]
RM1260  | NuBus intelligent carrier. Supports 2 IP's
RM1270  | NuBus support Carrier. Supports 2 IP's

The big advancements for IPs was when Motorola adopted the standard for their MVME162 processor line (see Motorola Single Board Computers) based on the Motorola 68040. In a short time, there were multiple IP manufacturers and over 100 different IP modules available.

## Final product line

[edit]

Category  | Product  | Form  | Channels  | Description

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Analog Converters  | IP-16ADC  | IP  | 16  | High accuracy 16 bit ADC
Analog Converters  | IP-16DAC  | IP  | 3  | High stability 16 DAC
Analog Converters  | IP-AD12SS  | IP  | 8  | Simultaneous sampling 12 bit ADC
Analog Converters  | IP-AD16SS  | IP  | 8  | Simultaneous sampling 16 bit ADC
Analog Converters  | IP-DAC  | IP  | 6  | General purpose 12 bit DAC
Analog Converters  | IP-DAC-SU  | IP  | 16  | Simultaneous update 16 bit DAC
Analog Converters  | IP-HIADC  | IP  | 16  | "High speed, simultaneous sampling 16 bit ADC"
Analog Converters  | IP-OPTOAD12  | IP  | 16  | Opto-isolated 12 bit ADC
Analog Converters  | IP-OPTOAD16  | IP  | 16  | Opto-isolated 16 bit ADC
Analog Converters  | IP-OPTODA12  | IP  | 8  | Opto-isolated 12 bit DAC
Analog Converters  | IP-OPTODA16  | IP  | 4  | Opto-isolated 16 bit DAC
Analog Converters  | IP-PRECADC  | IP  | 20+2  | Resistive bridge driver and 12 bit ADC and DAC
Analog Converters  | IP-UL-ADC40  | IP  | 40  | General purpose 12 bit ADC with timer and strobe
Analog Converters  | IP-UL-AUDIO  | IP  | 2+2  | Audio 16-bit sigma-delta ADC and DAC
Analog Converters  | IP-UL-AUDIO-4  | IP  | 4+4  | Audio 16-bit sigma-delta ADC and DAC
Analog Converters  | IP-UL-DAQ200  | IP  | 2+2  | High speed 16-bit sigma-delta ADC and DAC with FIFO
Analog Converters  | PMC-UL-GPIO  | PMC  | 8+8  | General purpose 12 bit ADC and DAC with digital I/O
Audio  | P1-AUDIO  | PCMIP  | Stereo  | Soundblaster compatible audio I/O with amplifier
Audio  | PMC-AUDIO  | PMC  | Stereo  | Soundblaster compatible audio I/O with amplifier
Avionics Communication  | IP-1553  | IP  | 1  | Dual-redundant with ILC DDC module
Data Storage  | IP-FLASH  | IP  |  | Up to 8 MB Flash memory
Data Storage  | IP-NVRAM  | IP  |  | 1 MB battery-backed SRAM
Data Storage  | P-D64  | PCMIP  |  | 64 MB DRAM
Data Storage  | P-F64  | PCMIP  |  | 64 MB Intel StrataFlash
Data Storage  | PMC-PCMCIA  | PMC  |  | PCMCIA (PC Card) type I or II card socket
Data Storage  | PMC-USCSI  | PMC  | 1  | Ultra Wide SCSI to 40 MB/sec front/rear/SE/DIFF
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-ALTERA-TTL  | IP  | 32  | User-programmable FPGA
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG  | IP  | 24  | General purpose I/O
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-I  | IP  | 24  | General purpose I/O with interrupts
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-IO-12I12O  | IP  | 24  | Opto-isolated with interrupts
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-IO-24I  | IP  | 24  | Opto-isolated with interrupts
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-IO-24IO  | IP  | 24  | Opto-isolated with interrupts
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-O-12I12O  | IP  | 24  | Opto-isolated
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-O-24I  | IP  | 24  | Opto-isolated
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-O-24IO  | IP  | 24  | Opto-isolated
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-P  | IP  | 16  | Parallel transfers with hardware handshake modes
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-XILINX-BUF  | IP  | 24  | User-programmable FPGA
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | IP-XILINX-XX-BUF  | IP  | 24  | Two user-programmable FPGAs
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | P1-IO32  | PCMIP  | 32  | General purpose I/O with interrupts
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | P2-IO32  | PCMIP  | 32  | "General purpose I/O with interrupts, front panel I/O"
Digital I/O – Buffered TTL  | PMC-UL-GPIO  | PMC  | 16  | "Also includes ADC, DAC, and timers"
Digital I/O – Differential 422  | IP-ALTERA  | IP  | 20  | User-programmable FPGA
Digital I/O – Differential 422  | IP-UNIDIG-D  | IP  | 24  | General purpose I/O
Digital I/O – Differential 422  | IP-UNIDIG-I-D  | IP  | 24  | General purpose I/O with interrupts
Digital I/O – Differential 422  | IP-UNIDIG-P-D  | IP  | 16  | Parallel transfers with hardware handshake modes
Digital I/O – Differential 422  | IP-XILINX-422  | IP  | 24  | User-programmable FPGA
Digital I/O – Differential 422  | IP-XILINX-XX-422  | IP  | 24  | Two user-programmable FPGAs
Digital I/O – High-side (FET)  | IP-OPTO-DRV  | IP  | 16  | Opto-isolated
Digital I/O – Low-side (FET)  | IP-DRIVER40  | IP  | 40  | User-programmable FPGA
Digital I/O – Low-side (FET)  | IP-UNIDIG-HV-16I8O  | IP  | 24  | High voltage
Digital I/O – Low-side (FET)  | IP-UNIDIG-HV-8I16O  | IP  | 24  | High voltage
Digital I/O – Low-side (FET)  | IP-UNIDIG-IHV-16I8O  | IP  | 24  | High voltage with interrupts
Digital I/O – Low-side (FET)  | IP-UNIDIG-IHV-8I16O  | IP  | 24  | High voltage with interrupts
Digital I/O – Mechanical Relay  | IP-RELAY  | IP  | 8  | "Each is DPDT, latching"
Digital I/O – Opto-Isolated  | IP-OPTO-DRV  | IP  | 16  | Outputs only
Digital I/O – Opto-Isolated  | IP-OPTO-INT  | IP  | 8  | Supports interrupts
Digital I/O – Opto-Isolated  | IP-UNIDIG-IO-12I12O  | IP  | 24  | Inputs and outputs
Digital I/O – Opto-Isolated  | IP-UNIDIG-IO-24I  | IP  | 24  | Input only
Digital I/O – Opto-Isolated  | IP-UNIDIG-IO-24IO  | IP  | 24  | Programmable as input or output
Digital I/O – Opto-Isolated  | IP-UNIDIG-O-12I12O  | IP  | 24  | Inputs and outputs with interrupts
Digital I/O – Opto-Isolated  | IP-UNIDIG-O-24I  | IP  | 24  | Input only with interrupts
Digital I/O – Opto-Isolated  | IP-UNIDIG-O-24IO  | IP  | 24  | Programmable as input or output with interrupts
Digital I/O – Unbuffered TTL  | IP-ALTERA  | IP  | 8  | User-programmable FPGA includes EIA-422
Digital I/O – Unbuffered TTL  | IP-ALTERA-TTL  | IP  | 16  | User-programmable FPGA
Digital I/O – Unbuffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-E  | IP  | 24  | ESD protected
Digital I/O – Unbuffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-E-48  | IP  | 48  | ESD protected
Digital I/O – Unbuffered TTL  | IP-UNIDIG-I-E  | IP  | 24  | ESD protected with interrupts
Digital I/O – Unbuffered TTL  | IP-XILINX-ESD  | IP  | 24  | User-programmable FPGA
Digital I/O – Unbuffered TTL  | IP-XILINX-XX-ESD  | IP  | 24  | Two user-programmable FPGAs
Ethernet  | CP-3101  | CPCI 3U  | 2  | Dual 10BaseT/100BaseTX Ethernet with front panel RJ45
Ethernet  | IP-ETHERNET-10B2  | IP  | 1  | 10Base2 Ethernet when used with transition module
Ethernet  | IP-ETHERNET-10B5  | IP  | 1  | 10Base5 Ethernet when used with transition module
Ethernet  | IP-ETHERNET-10BT  | IP  | 1  | 10BaseT Ethernet when used with transition module
Ethernet  | P2-100BT-ER  | PCMIP  | 1  | 10BaseT/100BaseTX Ethernet with front panel RJ45
Ethernet  | PMC-100BT  | PMC  | 1  | Single 10BaseT/100BaseTX Ethernet with front panel RJ45
Ethernet  | PMC-3101  | PMC  | 2  | Dual 10BaseT/100BaseTX Ethernet with front panel RJ45
Industrial Busses  | IP-488  | IP  |  | GPIB IEEE-488 bus controller/talker/listener
Industrial Busses  | PMC-ARCNET  | PMC  |  | ARCNET with isolated 485 or traditional interface
Industrial Busses  | PMC-ECAN  | PMC  |  | Dual isolated CAN busses using Intel 82527
IndustryPack Carriers  | ATC30  | ISA  | 3  | Short ISA carrier
IndustryPack Carriers  | ATC40  | ISA  | 4  | Long ISA carrier
IndustryPack Carriers  | CPCI-100A-BP  | CPCI 3U  | 2  | Rear panel I/O via J2
IndustryPack Carriers  | CPCI-100A-FP  | CPCI 3U  | 2  | Front panel I/O via Champ50s
IndustryPack Carriers  | CPCI-200A-BP  | CPCI 6U  | 4  | "Rear panel I/O via J4, J5"
IndustryPack Carriers  | CPCI-200A-FP  | CPCI 6U  | 4  | Front panel I/O via SCSI-style connectors
IndustryPack Carriers  | FLEX104A  | PC/104  | 2  | Slightly larger than standard PC/104
IndustryPack Carriers  | IPOC-1747  | AB  | 2  | Allen-Bradley Open Controller
IndustryPack Carriers  | IPPC-2636A  | VME 6U  | 4  | Fits onto Motorola MVME 2300/2600 series CPUs
IndustryPack Carriers  | PCI-40A  | PCI  | 4  | Full length PCI slot size
IndustryPack Carriers  | PCI-60A  | PCI  | 6  | Full length ISA slot size
IndustryPack Carriers  | SPI-200  | ISA  | 4  | DSPLink3 bus provides access to modules
IndustryPack Carriers  | SPV-200  | VME 6U  | 4  | DSPLink3 bus provides access to modules
IndustryPack Carriers  | VIPC310  | VME 3U  | 2  | Front panel ribbon connectors
IndustryPack Carriers  | VIPC310-HD51  | VME 3U  | 2  | High density 51-pin connectors on front panel
IndustryPack Carriers  | VIPC310-TX  | VME 3U  | 2  | Twinax connectors for IP-1553
IndustryPack Carriers  | VIPC360  | VME 3U  | 2  | Carrier with MC68360 CPU
IndustryPack Carriers  | VIPC616  | VME 6U  | 4  | Ribbon cable connectors on front panel
IndustryPack Carriers  | VIPC618  | VME 6U  | 4  | Shielded SCSI-style connectors on front panel
IndustryPack Carriers  | VIPC664  | VME 6U  | 4  | I/O is via rear panel VME64x connectors
IndustryPack Carriers  | VIPC860-BP  | VME 6U  | 4  | Carrier with PowerPC 860 CPU and I/O via rear panel VME64x
IndustryPack Carriers  | VIPC860-FP  | VME 6U  | 4  | Carrier with PowerPC 860 CPU and I/O via front panel Champ50s
Motion Control and Measurement  | IP-ENCODER6  | IP  | 6  | 16 bit quadrature position encoder
Motion Control and Measurement  | IP-QUADRATURE  | IP  | 4  | Quadrature decoder with 24 bit resolution
Motion Control and Measurement  | IP-STEPPER  | IP  | 2  | Two-axis stepper motor controller
Motion Control and Measurement  | IP-SYNCHRO  | IP  | 2  | Synchro and resolver with 16 bit resolution
PC•MIP and PMC Carriers  | MC-101  | PCI  | 1  | PCMIP mechanical adaptor to short PCI slot
PC•MIP and PMC Carriers  | MC-101DB  | PCI  | 1  | PCMIP mechanical adaptor to PCI slot with debug headers
PC•MIP and PMC Carriers  | MC-303  | CPCI 3U  | 3  | Front and rear I/O for PCMIP
PC•MIP and PMC Carriers  | MC-607  | CPCI 6U  | 6  | Front and rear I/O for PCMIP
PC•MIP and PMC Carriers  | MC-804  | PCI  | 4  | Full length PCI slot PCMIP
Reflective Memory  | IP-FIBERIO  | IP  | 1  | 1 Gbit optical ring with 512 KB of shared memory and interrupts
Serial Communication Modules  | CP-6201  | CPCI 6U  | 16  | "General purpose async 232 to 115.2 k front and rear I/O, FIFO"
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-COMM360  | IP  | 4  | MC68360 CPU with TTL serial interfaces
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-COMM360-EN  | IP  | 4  | MC68360 CPU with TTL serial interfaces for Ethernet
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-COMM360-MH  | IP  | 4  | MC68360 CPU with TTL serial interfaces for E1/T1
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-MP-SERIAL  | IP  | 2  | High speed sync 232/422 with modem lines
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-MP-SERIAL-232  | IP  | 2  | High speed sync with modem lines EIA-232 only
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-MP-SERIAL-423  | IP  | 2  | High speed sync with modem lines EIA-423 only
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-OCTAL-232  | IP  | 8  | General purpose async 232 with flow control
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-OCTAL-422  | IP  | 8  | General purpose async 422
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-OCTAL-423  | IP  | 8  | General purpose async 423 with flow control
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-OCTAL-485  | IP  | 8  | General purpose async 485
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-OCTALOPTO  | IPDW  | 8  | General purpose opto-isolated 232/422/423/20mA
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-OCTALPLUS-232  | IP  | 8  | General purpose async 232 with flow control and deep FIFOs
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-OCTALPLUS-422  | IP  | 8  | General purpose async 422 with deep FIFOs
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-OCTALPLUS-485  | IP  | 8  | General purpose async/sync 485
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-OCTALPLUS-TTL  | IP  | 8  | General purpose async TTL with flow control and deep FIFOs
Serial Communication Modules  | IP-SERIAL  | IP  | 2  | General purpose async 232/422 with modem lines
Serial Communication Modules  | P1-OCTAL-232  | PCMIP  | 8  | General purpose async 232 to 115.2 k
Serial Communication Modules  | P1-OCTAL-422  | PCMIP  | 8  | General purpose async 422 to 480.6 k
Serial Communication Modules  | P2-HSS2  | PCMIP  | 2  | "High speed sync 232/422/449/530 with modem lines FIFO, DMA"
Serial Communication Modules  | P2-OCTAL-232  | PCMIP  | 8  | General purpose async 232 to 115.2 k front panel I/O
Serial Communication Modules  | P2-OCTAL-422  | PCMIP  | 8  | General purpose async 422 to 480.6 k front panel I/O
Serial Communication Modules  | PMC-HSSERIAL  | PMC  | 4  | "High speed sync 232/422/449/530 with modem lines FIFO, DMA"
Serial Communication Modules  | PMC-OCTPRO-232  | PMC  | 8  | General purpose async 232 to 115.2 k front and rear I/O
Serial Communication Modules  | PMC-OCTPRO-422  | PMC  | 8  | General purpose async 422 to 480.6 k front and rear I/O
Telecommunications  | IP-COMM360  | IP  | 4  | Synchronous serial and ISDN
Telecommunications  | PMC-8260-400  | PMC  | 4  | Quad intelligent PowerPC 8260-based E1/T1 with SCSA bus
Telecommunications  | VIPC860  | VME 6U  | 4  | High speed synchronous serial
Temperature Measurement  | IP-THERMISTOR  | IP  | 16  | 12 bit thermistor measurement for 2 or 4 wire devices
Timers  | IP-UL-ADC40  | IP  | 1  | Includes ADCs
Timers  | IP-UL-AUDIO  | IP  | 2  | "Includes ADCs, DACs"
Timers  | IP-UL-DAQ200  | IP  | 2  | "Includes ADCs, DACs"
Timers  | IP-UNIDIG-T  | IP  | 4  | "16-bit timers cascadable into two 32-bit, buffered I/O"
Timers  | IP-UNIDIG-T-D  | IP  | 4  | "16-bit timers cascadable into two 32-bit, differential I/O"
Timers  | PMC-UL-GPIO  | PMC  | 2  | "Includes ADCs, DACs, digital I/O"
Transition Modules  | TM-680  | CPCI 6U  | 6  | Rear panel I/O for MC-607
Transition Modules  | XM-360-16  | VME 6U  | 16  | VME-mounted with RJ45s for four IP-COMM360s 422 only
Transition Modules  | XM-360-4  | VME 6U  | 4  | VME-mounted with HD26s for IP-COMM360
Transition Modules  | XM-360-EN  | VME 6U  | 3  | VME-mounted with Ethernet for IP-COMM360-EN
Transition Modules  | XM-360-MH  | VME 6U  | 4  | T1 interfaces up to four IP-COMM360-MH
Transition Modules  | XM-664-60  | VME  | 4  | Rear panel IndustryPack I/O for VIPC664 and VIPC860-BP
Transition Modules  | XM-664-61  | VME  | 4  | Rear panel IndustryPack I/O for VIPC664 and VIPC860-BP
Transition Modules  | XM-664-80  | VME  | 4  | Rear panel IndustryPack I/O for VIPC664 and VIPC860-BP
Transition Modules  | XM-860  | VME 6U  | 4  | Rear panel serial I/O for VIPC860-FP
Transition Modules  | XM-LCD  | \-  | 1  | Power supply and connector for flat panel displays
Transition Modules  | XM-OCTAL  | 19”  | 16  | 19 inch rack mount bar for two IP-Octal series modules
Transition Modules  | XM-OCTAL-6U-D  | VME 6U  | 8  | VME-mounted with DB25s for IP-Octal series modules
Transition Modules  | XM-OCTAL-6U-RJ16  | VME 6U  | 16  | VME-mounted with RJ11s for IP-Octal series modules
Transition Modules  | XM-OCTAL-6U-RJ8  | VME 6U  | 8  | VME-mounted with RJ45s for IP-Octal series modules
Transition Modules  | XM-SYNCHRO  | \-  | 1  | Provides reference and connections for IP-Synchro
Video Displays  | IP-LCD  | IP  | 1  | SVGA CRT and LCD display 640x480
Video Displays  | P2-VIDEO  | PCMIP  | 1  | CRT display to 1024x768 with front panel output
Video Displays  | PMC-VIDEOPLUS  | PMC  | 1  | CRT display to 1280x1024 with front panel output

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "SBS ENGINEERING, INC. ANNOUNCES LETTER OF INTENT TO ACQUIRE GREENSPRING COMPUTERS, INC". The Free Library. 12 September 1994. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
2. ^ "GreenSpring Computers Adds Eight New Products and PC/104 Solution to IndustryPack Line". GE Automation. 14 February 1997. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* VMEbus International Trade Association (VITA)