Advantech system on chip PC/104 CPU module

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A system on chip PC/104 CPU module driven by the ultra low power DM&P Vortex86DX 1.0 GHz processor with 256 MB of DDR2 SDRAM memory on board has been released.

The PCM-3343 has the standard dimensions of 96 x 90 mm in a fanless PC/104 architecture, supporting graphic output including VGA and 24-bit LVDS or TTL up to 1024 x 768 resolution.

It delivers ultra low power consumption of less than 5 W under full load and extended temperature support between -40~85°C. It is suitable for those applications which need only basic CPU performance but low power consumption.

The board is suitable for system integrators developing DOS, WinCE, WinXP Embedded and Linux-based OS applications in factory automation and industrial instrument fields as well as medical products and devices.

The module is designed as an ultra low power consumption platform with DM&P’s Vortex86DX 1.0 GHz x86 compatible processor. The CPU chip uses a 90 nm process, specially implemented as an ultra low power consumption solution and is supplied with hardware floating point unit and 256 KB of L2 cache.

Because the power consumption under full load is less than 5 W it can provide a passive cooling solution for highly enclosed embedded applications.

The device supports full legacy PC/104 (ISA) and ISA DMA support, which will be attractive to users with older existing carrier boards and PC/104 modules - an essential feature for electrical power stations and factory automation.

In response to backward compatibility support for DOS applications, it supports USB hot plugging to replace FDDs, as well as having an optional 4 MB of external SPI flash for boot disk and small storage. With older 386, STPC SoC, and GX1 X86-based platforms being phased out, the module will be the only alternative replacement offering backward compatibility with older embedded equipment.

At the component level, the device uses solid capacitors on a TG-150 PCB that are more stable and reliable in high temperatures. It has been designed with 256 MB DDR2 SDRAM that has been soldered down for vibration resistance. The company also provides a ruggedised package service that includes conformal coating and industrial-grade compact flash - SQFlash. The conformal coating service is offered to protect the PCB and components from dust, moisture, fungus, corrosion and vibration.

APIs are included for configuring I²C, watchdog timer, panel backlight on/off, brightness control and GPIO - all through a user-friendly GUI to make it easier and simpler to configure and integrate into applications.

The module is designed with ample IO ports and storage, including three RS-232, one RS-422/485, one IDE, four USB 2.0 and two 10/100 LAN ports, plus a single CompactFlash socket and 16-bit GPIO. Supported OS include DOS, Windows CE 5.0/ 6.0, Linux Ubuntu 9.10, QNX Neutrino 6.3.2, Windows XP and XP Embedded. Linux Ubuntu 10.04 and QNX Neutrino 6.4.1 are under development.