Functional Description

The Expansion Profile describes a class of supplemental boards designed to augment the capabilities of other profiles. These modules are not intended to operate standalone and will usually not have individual processing capabilities. Rather, these boards will be populated with components that allow for expanded capacity, expanded communications, or both.

The expansion module will be designed as a board with at least one primary connector (backplane, mezzanine, etc.) and the desired expansion capability.

The primary connector present on the expansion module is to provide the connectivity to a host profile. It is recommended that the host profile provide the processing capability to interface with any active components on the expansion module.

For boards with active components, power may be supplied through either the expansion connector or through an external connector on the module. Boards with only passive components may omit power connections, but shall still provide connectivity to system ground on the expansion module.

The following figure illustrates a number of options to extend the capability of a host profile by utilizing the Expansion Profile.