Low Power Intel Atom Z5xx Processor on a PC/104-Plus Form Factor
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www.smallformfactors.com On the cover: www.pc104online.com Embedded displays, interfaces, and infotainment applications increasingly are incorporating high- performance graphics, such as in the Arbor Technology M1857, Infiniti QX dash nav system, and Kodak G4 photo processing kiosk shown on the cover. In response, small form factor systems are evolving to take the added strain, Volume 15 • Number 2 using the latest processing engines, such as AMD's Fusion series of APUs. FEATURES COLUMNS Small Form Factor SIG 6 IT'S A SMALL (FORM FACTOR) WORLD New PC/104 CPUs smooth upgrades Commercial Infotainment By Paul Rosenfeld Small form factor infotainment 10 PC/104 Consortium 8 10 system designers integrate new PC/104: The original COM module graphics capabilities By Jim Blazer By Christine Van De Graaf, Kontron 14 Euro Small Tech 9 In-vehicle infotainment system 13 Flying like a bird comparison table By Hermann Strass By Monique DeVoe, Editor’s Insight 54 Assistant Managing Editor Oh, Microsoft ... what haven't you done? By Chris A. Ciufo The Big Yet Small Picture DEPARTMENTS Interfaces, displays, and connectivity 17 Editor’s Choice Products 52, 53 Special requirements challenge 14 By Monique DeVoe handheld computer designers for telemedicine applications RESOURCE GUIDE By Dr. Qi Chen, Arbor Technology Profile Index 23 Don't mistake small for delicate: 17 Bringing rugged computing Complete systems 24 to compact environments I/O boards 24 By Barbara Schmitz, Industrial automation 30 MEN Mikro Elektronik GmbH MIL-SPEC 51 Packaging 31 AMD Fusion architecture boosts 21 Processor boards/SBCs 32 21 ETX and XTX performance Services 51 By Ron Mazza, congatec, Inc. Storage 52 WEB RESOURCES EVENTS Subscribe to the magazine or E-letter Intel Developers Forum http://opensystemsmedia.com/subscriptions September 13-15, 2011 • San Francisco, CA Live industry news • Submit new products www.intel.com/idf http://submit.opensystemsmedia.com ESC Boston White papers: September 26-29, 2011 • Boston, MA Read: http://whitepapers.opensystemsmedia.com http://esc-boston.techinsightsevents.com Submit: http://submit.opensystemsmedia.com Published by: PC/104 and Small Form Factors www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1854269 2011 OpenSystems Media® © 2011 PC/104 and Small Form Factors All registered brands and trademarks used in PC/104 and Small Form Factors are property of their respective owners. ISSN: Print 1096-9764, ISSN Online 1550-0373 @sff_mag 4 ❙ 2011 Resource Guide ❙ PC/104 and Small Form Factors TS-WIFIBOX-2 A Complete Solution for 802.11g WiFi Applications Military & Aerospace Group Chris Ciufo, Group Editorial Director Joann Toth, Senior Designer [email protected] Steph Sweet, Creative Director Monique DeVoe, Assistant Managing Editor [email protected] David Diomede, Art Director qty 1 185 Jennifer Hesse, Assistant Managing Editor Brandon Lewis, Copy Editor [email protected] Sharon Hess, Assistant Managing Editor Christine Capuano, Web/Editorial Assistant [email protected] Matt Jones, Web Developer Terri Thorson, Senior Editor (columns) [email protected] Laura Arsenault, Media Assistant Hermann Strass, European Analyst Phyllis Thompson, Circulation/Office Manager [email protected] [email protected] Sales Group Dennis Doyle, Senior Account Manager International Sales Powered by a [email protected] Elvi Lee, Account Manager – Asia [email protected] Tom Varcie, Senior Account Manager 250 MHz ARM9 CPU [email protected] Ad Coordinator Rebecca Barker, Strategic Account Manager Joann Toth Low power (3.2 watts), fanless [email protected] [email protected] Power via 5-12 VDC, USB, PoE (opt.) Christine Long, Online Manager [email protected] Editorial/Business Office 64MB DDR-RAM Regional Sales Managers Barbara Quinlan, Midwest/Southwest 16626 E. Avenue of the Fountains, Ste. 201 256MB ultra-reliable XNAND drive [email protected] Fountain Hills, AZ 85268 Tel: 480-967-5581 Micro-SD Card slot Denis Seger, Southern California Fax: 480-837-6466 [email protected] RS-232, RS-485, CAN, RTC Website: www.opensystemsmedia.com Sydele Starr, Northern California [email protected] Publishers: John Black, Header with SPI and 11 DIO Michael Hopper, Ron Taylor, East Coast/Mid Atlantic 480Mbit/s USB, Ethernet, PoE option [email protected] Wayne Kristoff Vice President Editorial: Rosemary Kristoff Boots Linux 2.6.24 in < 3 seconds Reprints and PDFs Vice President Marketing & Sales: Patrick Hopper Un-brickable, boots from SD or flash Nan Holliday 800-259-0470 Business Manager: Karen Layman Customizable FPGA - 5K LUT [email protected] Optional DIN mountable enclosure 12 ACCES I/O Products, Inc. – USB embedded Ideal for gateway or firewall, protocol I/O solutions converter, web server, WiFi audio, 3 ADLINK Technology Inc. – Extreme rugged and unattended remote applications 55 AMD – AMD embedded G-Series processor 20 Advantech Corp. – Ruggedized solutions with RAF Male-Female Over 25 years in business Intel® AtomTM N455/D525 CPUs Never discontinued a product 2 Diamond Systems – Conduction cooling has Stacking Spacers arrived! Engineers on Tech Support 7 Excalibur Systems – Dragon Open Source Vision 19 Logic Supply – Genuine expertise Custom configurations and designs w/ 15 Parvus Corporation – Qualified to perform Use these precision-made components excellent pricing and turn-around time to build structurally secure standalone stacks. 5 RAF Electronic Hardware – RAF male-female Most products ship next day stacking spacers Compatible with more than 100 different 28, 29 LiPPERT Embedded Computers Inc. – Condition PC/104 ultra-compact bus board modules. monitoring by LEMT 5 Technologic Systems – TS-WIFIBOX-2 16 VersaLogic Corp. – This Tiger is as solid as a rock! Technologic SYSTEMS 11 WDL Systems – The power inside tomorrow’s technology We use our stuff. 56 WinSystems, Inc. – 1 GHz PC/104 SBC supports visit our TS-7800 powered website at networking and communications www.rafhdwe.com www.embeddedARM.com (480) 837-5200 SMALL FORM FACTOR SIG By Paul Rosenfeld, SIF-SIG President New PC/104 CPUs smooth upgrades mbedded system OEMs who have deployed custom cards if necessary. And should cost be of more impor- PC/104-based applications during the past 10 to tance than a future I/O upgrade, depopulating the SUMIT con- 15 years are periodically faced with a need to nectors might also be possible to reduce cost for high-volume upgrade their CPU as processors and chipsets have applications. gone end-of-life. Over the past three years or so, this upgrade has been particularly problematic as PC/104 with SUMIT Onboard CPUs serve EOEMs who want to step up to a third-generation PC/104 CPU new designs too to ensure the longest possible life are faced with decisions But suppose an OEM is looking to create a new application – regarding which of the myriad of solutions is the best fit for not upgrade an existing one. Much of the aforementioned still their application. To make matters worse, OEMs can feel as applies. As the search commences for I/O modules to stack on though they are lost in a maze, as vendors and trade groups the CPU to implement system I/O (analog or digital I/O, serial all tout new technologies and bus interfaces that might not be ports, CAN bus or avionics network controllers, GPS or wire- relevant to the OEM’s particular implementation anyway. less cards, and more), OEMs will find that the largest selection by far is available with only a PC/104 (ISA) connector. To take The need is quite simple: The system OEM wants to replace full and efficient advantage of the hundreds of proven cards of a CPU card with a PC/104 (ISA) connector with a new CPU the PC/104 ecosystem, they will need a CPU card that provides card with a PC/104 (ISA) connector – and have the software a PC/104 (ISA) connector right on the CPU card. As mentioned, work transparently. OEMs might not much care whether it is the last thing anyone wants is a PCI-to-ISA or LPC-to-ISA bridge an Atom, a Core2 Duo, a Fusion, a Nano, or a tyrannosaurus. card, adding to stack height, adding cost, and perhaps requiring It just needs to be reasonably priced and stay in production for BIOS customization. And PC/104 with SUMIT Onboard CPUs at least five to seven years. are the only third-generation PC/104-compatible CPU cards with an onboard PC/104 connector. ... OEMs can feel secure, SUMIT makes PC/104 upgrades pain-free So, OEMs shouldn’t get bogged down in the SUMIT versus knowing if they want to upgrade PCI/104-Express debate nor should they spend cycles trying to determine which third-generation solution provides the best their bus technologies in the implementation of bus technologies not even used in their application. OEMs should also avoid wasting cycles trying to future, the SUMIT interface is figure out which type is compatible with which type. A specifica- tion with more USB ports or more PCI Express lanes is irrelevant there for them. if it doesn’t support the OEM’s existing I/O cards and legacy software. The answer: PC/104 with SUMIT Onboard CPUs (otherwise Third-generation PC/104 expandable CPUs (including PC/104, known as SUMIT-ISM or SUMIT-104 CPUs) first and fore- EPIC, and EBX form factors) with onboard PC/104 (ISA) con- most provide a PC/104 (ISA) connector right on the CPU card nectors are available today from SFF-SIG members VersaLogic itself. PC/104 with SUMIT Onboard CPUs are the only third- and WinSystems. These CPUs provide the smoothest upgrade generation stackable CPUs (regardless of type) that offer a path for PC/104 and support the largest ecosystem of PC/104 I/O PC/104 (ISA) connector right on the CPU board. No bridge cards of any third-generation PC/104 CPUs. Plus, OEMs can feel cards required. No bridge cards means no increased stack secure, knowing if they want to upgrade their bus technologies in height, added cost, or increased software complexity through the future, the SUMIT interface is there for them.