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Single Board Computers

SMARC-standard carrier board hosts latest Intel Atom processors

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DATA MODUL is expanding its carrier board portfolio in the embedded sector, bringing a universally applicable carrier board onto the market in the form of the eDM-CB-SM-IPCS. The new board is compatible with Intel’s latest Atom x6000E, Celeron, and Pentium (“Elkhart Lake”) processor platforms, as well as with future x86 generations and ARM platforms. Furthermore, the embedded motherboard offers a high degree of scalability and flexibility suitable for a wide range of applications owing to its SMARC standards.

The eDM-CB-SM-IPCS appears in the thin mini-ITX format and as a modular platform, offers an ideal starting point for customer-specific designs. It is easy to add or remove features, which can reduce the time to market and decrease the cost of the customer application.

A noteworthy feature is a V-by-One interface to operate high-resolution V-by-One displays with up to 4k resolution. The board can supply all displays with up to 60 watts via this interface and the backlight with up to 144 watts using a separate connector. Hence, large format and high-resolution HMI systems can be driven directly by this motherboard. In addition, displays with standard interfaces like DisplayPort or LVDS can also be connected. As another highlight, the carrier board has a USB-C port, which supplies external systems with up to 100 watts and supports DisplayPort including USB 3.1.

Further noticeable attributes include two GbE, three M.2 slots of types A, B, and M, four USB 3.0, and SATA 3 for external hard drives or SSDs. With the help of DATA MODUL’s Feature-Connector, the functionality of the eDM-CB-SM-IPCS can be further expanded.

In addition to the new carrier board, DATA MODUL has announced the launch of the eDM-SMX-EL, an in-house 2.1 SMARC module with the newest low-power Intel Atom x6000E processors. Outstanding features include its memory of up to 16 GB LPDDR4X, two USB 3.1 interfaces, and an onboard UFS 2.1 flash memory, which offers faster data transfer and greater storage capacity in comparison to the eMMC 5.1. Thanks to its small size and high performance, the new module is ideally suited for the IoT and multimedia platforms, as well as for real-time applications that require a low profile. Moreover, due to its extremely long operational lifetime of 10 years, even with 24/7 continuous operation, a very low maintenance cost is incurred.

The first samples of the eDM-CB-SM-IPCS will be available at the end of November. Further information is available here.

COM-HPC carrier board includes interfaces for programming, firmware flashing, reset

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Congatec introduces the first carrier board and cooling solutions building the foundation of the new ecosystem for the brand new PICMG COM-HPC standard. They are a major milestone for the COM-HPC integration and have been created to accelerate the utilization of congatec’s COM-HPC modules based on the latest 11th Gen Intel Core processors (code name Tiger Lake). The new COM-HPC standard impresses with a broad range of latest high-speed interfaces such as PCIe Gen 4 and USB4, a future proof high-speed connector, and a comprehensive feature set for remote management. The latter, in particular, is of utmost importance for all the emerging broadband-connected edge applications, which range from dedicated edge devices to rugged edge clouds and real-time fogs.

Utilizing COM-HPC for the design-in of 11th Gen Intel Core processors provides immediate benefits for developers: PCIe Gen4 compliant connectivity, full USB 4.0 bandwidth, 2.5 GbE, SoundWire, and MIPI-CSI. Those who expect to need more or higher-performance PCIe or Ethernet interfaces with up to 25 GbE should also give preference to COM-HPC. Besides, developers who want to scale their high-performance systems up to edge and fog server performance with only one standard are given a good argument for implementing everything in COM-HPC. Finally, the prospect of being able to use modules that offer more comprehensive remote management functions is yet another reason to buy and try the new evaluation platform for the COM-HPC standard.

Designed for evaluation purposes, the ATX compliant carrier board conga-HPC/EVAL-Client for COM-HPC includes all R&D interfaces required for programming, firmware flashing, and reset. The new COM-HPC carrier board also incorporates all interfaces specified by the new COM-HPC Client standard and supports the extended temperature range from -40°C to +85°C. The board supports the COM-HPC sizes A, B, and C and comes with a variety of LAN data bandwidths, data transfer methods, and connectors. It is offered in different flavors to provide maximum flexibility for customers, including Ethernet KR, up to 2x 10 GbE, 2.5 GbE, and 1GbE support. The board further features 2 massively performant PCIe Gen4 x16 connectors for the latest high-performance extension cards. Over mezzanine cards, the carrier can run even higher-performance interfaces up to 4×25 GbE making this eval platform a perfect fit for massively connected edge devices.

Economical desktop computer based on Raspberry Pi

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Newark announced the availability of the new-to-market Raspberry Pi 400 desktop computer. Available in ready-to-use kit form, the competitively priced Raspberry Pi 400 is an ideal desktop computer for use in the home or education. Raspberry Pi 400 can also be purchased on its own for use in industrial and commercial applications including point-of-sale terminals and thin clients.

Raspberry Pi 400 kit integrates the keyboard and electronic components into a fully-enclosed compact unit and offers a clock speed of 1.8GHz, 20% higher than Raspberry Pi. The kitted variants comprise a Raspberry Pi 400, pre-programmed SD card, power supply, mouse, beginner’s guide, and micro HDMI cable; all that is required to start using Raspberry Pi 400 is a television monitor.

The Raspberry Pi 400 provides high performance and a rich feature, including a 28nm Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 64-bit processor clocked at 1.8GHz, offering industry-leading performance and power efficiency; 4GB LPDDR4-3200 RAM, and a micro SD card slot for operating system, application, and data storage; dual-band 802.11ac wireless networking delivering real-world data rates of more than 100Mbps, Gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth 5.1. The two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports can be used to connect a wide range of peripherals; two micro-HDMI ports, supporting up to 4Kp60; customers can easily integrate Raspberry Pi 400 into embedded designs using the horizontal 40-Pin GPIO header

Raspberry Pi 400 is available in six keyboard languages for the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and North America.

SoM sports hardened 64-bit, multicore RISC-V MPU subsystem

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Sundance has launched PolarBerry, the first production and deployment-ready SoM with a hardened 64 bit, multicore real-time, Linux-capable RISC-V MPU subsystem to deliver an unparalleled combination of defense-grade security, low power consumption, and thermal efficiency for embedded systems development.

With Microchip Technology Inc.’s PolarFire SoC field-programmable gate array (FPGA) at its heart, providing a deterministic, coherent 64-bit RISC-V CPU cluster and a deterministic L2 memory subsystem enabling the implementation of secure Linux and real-time applications, PolarBerry is ideally suited to the development of embedded computing and real-time applications based on RISC-V processors as an alternative to ARM. Typical applications will be found in the defense/mil-aero, AI/ML, communications, automotive, industrial automation, and imaging markets as well as the Internet of Things.

PolarBerry’s compute engine delivers up to 50% lower power than alternative FPGAs, 250k logic elements (LEs), and features four high-speed, low-power transceivers from 250Mbps to 12.7Gbps. The PolarFire SoC FPGA’s power consumption is 12W maximum and power provided directly from the PolarBerry SoM to enable embedded solutions.

The PolarBerry SoM offers all the important attributes for strong SoC/FPGA design security including anti-cloning protection, device-level anti-tamper features, bitstream protection, key management, FPGA hardware access control, secure boot and physical memory protection (PMP) as well as supply chain assurance. It also features a 40 pin Raspberry Pi (RPI) interface to allow standalone operation and rapid application development by providing up to 26 GPIOs, 20 of which can be assigned to SPI, UART, CAN, or other interfaces. All RPI signals are 3.3V logic. Associated onboard PolarBerry SoM peripherals include 4GB of 32-bit wide DDR4 memory, 128MB SPI Serial NOR FLASH for storing the boot image, and programmable clocks to provide flexible clocking to the FPGA and high-speed transceivers. There is also an RJ45 Ethernet socket with a 100/1000Base-T interface, two CAN 2.0 physical layers, a JTAG interface for programming, and 4GB of eMMC non-volatile storage. Samtec connectors provide high-speed communication to a carrier board for powerful peripheral customization. The power consumption of the module is 16W with the power it can be applied via a PRI interface or carrier board.

The PolarBerry SoM measures just 55mm by 85mm and has an operational temperature range of 0°C and +70°C. It can also be installed on Sundance’s PCIe SoM carrier to provide access to an FMC and additional interfaces.

PolarBerry is part of Microchip Technology’s “Get Launched!” campaign and has been released now for early adaptors at a price of US$995 for delivery in January 2021. For more information about Microchip Technology’s “Get Launched!” campaign, visit https://www.crowdsupply.com/microchip/get-launched.

3U VPX SBC follow open systems architecture tech standard

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Aitech Systems now offers the U-C8770, a single board computer (SBC) that couples the Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) outlined by the US Department of Defense (DoD) with flagship performance and proprietary, hardware-based cybersecurity features.

Aligned with The Open Group SOSA Technical Standard, the new board is an adaptation of Aitech’s high performance, rugged C877 SBC, and retains the same key technical features and benefits, making it ideal for I/O-intensive data processing applications in the military and aerospace markets, such as RADAR, signal intelligence (SIGINT), electronic warfare (EW) and sensor signal processing. The U-C8770 is fully aligned with the SOSA 3U I/O-intensive SBC Slot Profile, supporting both PCIe 4x and 40GE data plane options for fast transport of large amounts of uncompressed video and sensor data.

The new U-C8770 also features AiSecure, Aitech’s innovative and proprietary cybersecurity framework that increases survivability and level of confidence by detecting and preventing unexpected attacks.  The inherent security features enable both firmware and data protection, as well as prevention of reverse engineering and tampering with system integrity while allowing secure transmission and storage of sensitive data.

The innovative Trusted Platform solution incorporates a sophisticated, distributed Boot Guard mechanism, based on a combination of trusted hardware and firmware that utilizes TPM 2.0, Intel TXT, enhanced Secure Boot, and FPGA-based firmware protection and integrity checks.  The onboard SSD supports write protection, secure, and quick erase in addition to disk data encryption using AES 256.  A battery-backed tamper detection signal ensures system level protection.

An optional large onboard Xilinx Zync UltraScale+ FPGA is also tamper-resistant, with bitstream authentication and readback protection. The FPGA allows users to integrate value-added features onto the SBC, in a power, and cost-efficient manner. Aitech plans to offer several optional add-on FPGA IP cores in the areas of networking and security in the future.

The scalable SBC combines an Intel Xeon-D processor and up to 1 terabyte of onboard security-protected SATA SSD.  It also employs a high-bandwidth bus architecture and offers versatile onboard I/O interfaces, with an XMC site for additional I/O options.  The U-C8770 includes 32 GB of DDR4 SDRAM in a dual-channel configuration with ECC, operating at 2133 MT/s.

Raspberry Pi compute module 4 boasts smaller footprint, more memory

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Newark launched the new Compute Module 4 (CM4) from Raspberry Pi. The CM4 brings the power of the Raspberry Pi 4 to the compute module family and is accompanied by two accessories, the Compute Module 4 I/O (CM4IO) Board and the Compute Module 4 Antenna Kit.

CM4 is a faster and more powerful System on Module (SoM) than previous models, offering a greater range of connectivity and memory options for design engineers building embedded solutions. Key features include a small form-factor, greater power efficiency, PCle support, and a variety of multimedia interfaces. The power and versatility of CM4 make it an ideal solution for Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and a wide range of home and industrial automation applications. Raspberry Pi products are increasingly being used in product design with an estimated 40-50 percent of Raspberry Pi boards now being sold to industrial customers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). As the highest volume manufacturing partner of Raspberry Pi, Newark has heavily invested in stock to ensure availability for volume orders, meaning that design engineers can integrate CM4 and other Raspberry Pi Compute Modules into new products with confidence.

CM4 is based on the acclaimed Raspberry Pi Model 4B single-board computer, with an updated form factor accommodating new interfaces such as dual HDMI, PCIe, and Gigabit Ethernet, in a reduced footprint. Access to the processor interfaces and GPIO pins is provided via dual 100 pin high-density connectors. For maximum flexibility, CM4 is available with different eMMC flash and DRAM density options, and with optional dual-band wireless connectivity. A “lite” variant is available without the eMMC fitted, making it an ideal solution for cost-sensitive applications.

The CM4 is packed with performance and connectivity features including Processor: a Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 64-bit processor clocked at 1.5GHz, offering industry-leading performance and power efficiency; Memory: from 1GB to 8GB of LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM and up to 32GB of eMMC Flash memory depending on the model; Multimedia: hardware codec support for H.265 (up to 4kp60 decode) and H.264 (up to 1080p60 decode and 1080p30 encode); Connectivity: optional fully certified radio module, supporting dual-band IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless networking and Bluetooth 5.0. An on-board electronic switch selects between an external or PCB antenna.

The CM4IO Board has been designed to simplify the development of new products using the CM4. It is suitable for the evaluation and prototyping of new products, serving as a reference design to interface external devices to the CM4, and can also be embedded directly into end products. The CM4IO Board can be used with the complete range of CM4 modules and features: Gigabit Ethernet connectivity with PoE support (requires separate Raspberry Pi PoE HAT); Two full-size HDMI connectors; Two USB 2 sockets, with a header for two more sockets; A micro-USB socket for updating the CM4 and a micro SD card socket for CM4Lite modules; A PCIe Gen 2 x1 socket

Also available, for use with CM4 variants with an on-board wireless module, is the Compute Module Antenna Kit. The Kit includes an external antenna which has been pre-certified or uses with the CM4, reducing additional compliance requirements when an external antenna is required within the design. It is supplied with a bulkhead fixture and a cable with a U.FL connector.

Newark stocks a market-leading range of SBCs from over 100 supplier franchises and offers 24/5 technical support to ensure customers can take advantage of the latest technology innovations for experiments and embedded solutions. Newark can also support customers as they take ideas from specification through to production with end-to-end product development solutions offered via the Avnet ecosystem.

The Raspberry Pi’s Compute Module 4 and accessories including the Compute Module 4 I/O Board and Compute Module 4 Antenna Kit are available from Newark in North America.

SBC drives four displays for graphic-intensive embedded apps

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Review Display Systems Inc. announced the availability of the Kontron D3713-V/R industrial specification SBC (single board computer). Able to drive four independent displays, with resolutions of up to 4K, the highly integrated Kontron D3713 is ideally suited for use in a wide range of embedded systems featuring graphics-intensive applications.

Designed by Fujitsu, and manufactured in Germany, the Kontron D3713-V/R mini-ITX motherboard series supports fan-less operation with AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 and R1000 series processors. The D3713-V/R provides exceptional graphics performance with the integrated AMD Radeon Vega GPU (graphics processor unit) providing support for up to four DisplayPort (DP V1.4), one embedded DisplayPort (eDP V1.4) and one dual-channel 24-bit LVDS display interface connections, and display resolutions of up to 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels).

Five D3713-V/R motherboard versions are available supporting a range of AMD Embedded Ryzen processors including the V1202B, V1605B, V1807B, R1305G, and R1606G, which enables the graphics performance of the board to be easily adapted for many varied applications such as process control, industrial automation, digital signage, medical imaging, public information kiosks, and facilities management systems.

Support for a wide range of embedded systems is enabled with an extensive range of on-board peripherals and interfaces including ethernet 10/100/1000, RS-232/422/485 serial comms, GPIO, USB 2.0 and 3.1, SATA III, Mini-PCIe interfaces, and HD audio.  The D3713-V/R can be uniquely configured with memory options of up to 32GB DDR4 3200 SDRAM in dual SO DIMM sockets.

The compact mini-ITX form factor of the D3713-V/R has mechanical outline dimensions of 6.7″ x 6.7″ (170mm x 170mm). A wide operating temperature range of 0°C to 70°C is supported.

The Kontron D3713-V/R SBC will operate with a Microsoft Windows 10 or Linux-64 operating system. Review Display Systems can create bespoke options for both firmware and OS support, such as custom embedded Windows system images, and exclusive configurations to provide corporate branding or logos on BIOS start-up splash screens.

Designing and delivering fully integrated embedded systems, Review Display Systems can provide turnkey solutions for the integration of computing hardware, high-resolution displays, touchscreens, interconnect, mechanical fixtures and fittings, firmware, and OS support.

The Kontron D3713-V/R mini-ITX motherboard series is available immediately from Review Display Systems, Inc.

Intel Atom-based SBC includes 8GB LPDDR4

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The COMeT10-3900′ from WINSYSTEMS optimally empowers embedded computing in such applications as unmanned vehicles, digital surveillance, transportation, Mil/COTS, industrial automation and medical diagnostics.

WINSYSTEMS today announced the first release in its newly debuting computer-on-module product line: the COMeT10-3900 COM Express Type 10 mini module.

The COMeT10-3900′ optimally empowers embedded computing in such applications as unmanned vehicles, digital surveillance, transportation, Mil/COTS, industrial automation and medical diagnostics.

Although WINSYSTEMS’ first entry in the rapidly expanding COM module marketplace, the COMeT10-3900 fully leverages the company’s 38 years of proven expertise in designing and manufacturing highly reliable embedded computing solutions. This new product line is a logical extension of WINSYSTEMS’ industrial single board computer systems largely driven by customer demand.

Leveraging the Intel Atom E3900 series System on Chip (SoC) processor, the COMeT10-3900’s performance optimally empowers embedded computing in such applications as unmanned vehicles, digital surveillance, transportation, Mil/COTS, industrial automation and medical diagnostics. It offers up to 8GB LPDDR4 2400 MT/s for lightning-fast system memory. Hardware security is provided via the module’s onboard discrete TPM 2.0 device for root-of-trust authentication.

The COMeT10-3900 module is designed specifically for rugged and industrial IoT environments. It delivers durability and reliability in operating temperatures ranging from -40C° to +85°C. It also offers a wide-range power input, accommodating 4.75V to 20V DC; onboard eMMC 5.x storage options that extend from 8GB to 128GB; as well as soldered LPDDR4 for shock- and vibration-sensitive applications. The module includes two display interfaces: one Digital Display Interface that can be converted to DisplayPort, HDMI or DVI on the carrier, and one embedded DisplayPort (eDP) LCD interface that can be optionally populated with a single-channel LVDS output. The COMeT10-3900 also supports build options for high-speed UARTs or legacy UARTs compatible with PC-style interfaces. The combination of TPM 2.0 with options for either legacy interfaces, or legacy-free eDP and HSUARTs, provides an updated path for existing carrier cards as well as a legacy-free solution for new designs.

The COMeT10-3900 COM Express module offers connectivity through four PCIe lanes configurable as 4×1, 2×1 + 1×2, or 1×4; two USB 3.1 Gen 1 and six USB 2.0 channels; along with one i210 1Gb/s Ethernet RGMII with IEEE 1588 support. HD audio signals and two SATA 3.0 channels are also available.

 

Rugged GPGPU AI supercomputer handles harsh conditions in mobile, remote, military, autonomous apps

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Aitech Systems has released an upgraded, qualified version of its high performance, compact A178. Designed for intense data processing in extreme environments, the rugged GPGPU AI supercomputer reliably operates in the harsh conditions found throughout mobile, remote, military, and autonomous platforms. The A178 system is ideal for applications such as training simulation, situational awareness, AI computing, image and video processing, moving maps, and much more.

Already one of the smallest of Aitech’s extensive AI SFF systems, the new A178 packs even more performance into a compact, rugged form factor. It uses the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier System-on-Module that features the Volta GPU with 512 CUDA cores and 64 Tensor cores to reach 32 TOPS INT8 and 11 TFLOPS FP16.

The upgrades to the A178 were designed to help meet the demand for standalone, compact, GPGPU-based small form factor (SFF) systems that are both rugged and SWaP-C-optimized. The low power unit offers a high level of energy efficiency while providing all the power necessary for AI-based local processing right where it’s needed, next to the sensors.

The advanced computation abilities of the new system include two dedicated NVDLA (NVIDIA Deep-Learning Accelerator) engines that provide an interface for deep learning applications, making it ideally suited for distributed systems. The system can accommodate up to three expansion modules, such as an HD-SDI frame grabber, composite frame grabber or NVMe SSD. A variety of expansion modules are available upon request.

Four high definition HD-SDI inputs and eight composite inputs handle multiple streams of video and data simultaneously at full frame rates. Interfaces include Gigabit and 10GB Ethernet, DisplayPort output handling 4K resolution, USB 3.0 & 2.0 as well as DVI/HDMI output, UART serial, and CANbus, among others.

Embedded SBC minimized developments risks for IoT applications

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Artila Electronics, which specializes in the development and manufacture of Linux-ready Arm embedded industrial computers, has announced the SBC-7530, an ARM-based Cortex-A7 turnkey single board computer, delivers stable, strong system performance in a low power platform; it’s designed specifically for applications which require multiple I/O connection, networking connectivity and high-performance graphic interfaces. With arm processor coupled and the open Linux operating system provides the backbone for innovative smart IoT solutions.

Artila brings SBC-7530 as a ready solution for industrial HMI, an ideal single board computer based on Arm cortex-A7 for different automation and display applications. The use of our turnkey single board computer systems minimizes development risks for reliable, rugged design with arm processor also it’s compact size allows to be embedded in devices where space is very limited. The computers are also very efficient, giving them an edge where saving on power is concerned. Artila’s SBC-7530 is self-contained that generally less capacity than a multi-board computer. It makes cost effective solutions for industry and because they are it is relatively easy to swap one out for the other if a computer needs to be replaced.

To fulfill all requirements for industrial applications, it supports one mini PCIe slot that easily deploys connectivity technology / RF modules to achieve wireless network communication and position. Such as LTE/4G, Lora both wired/wireless LAN. It is also equipped with 4 x UART ports with RS-232/485 support, 1 x CAN bus 2.0, 2 x OTG/HOST USB, 1 x SD card slot. SBC-7530 demonstrates it is not only the best hardware solution for industrial markets, but also flexible enough to be applied to various applications such as automation control, human-machine interfaces, industry controllers, and IoT device related applications.

With its high performance and rich I/O interface appeal, SBC-7530 is extremely power saving, with low power consumption and the reliable power circuit design, users can confidently develop the most solid, stable, and durable industrial applications.