Embedded Systems Design Europe - June/July 2008 - (Page 35)

COM design been a suitable format for cle exactly how much power handheld or portable deis available and how best to vices. use that power to meet the With the introduction of performance requirements. the Atom processor, RadiSys When designing at the has been able to address modular level, for instance these historically limiting using single board computaspects of the COM module ers (SBCs), this choice has with a solution that is idebeen less relevant in the ally suited to a range of new past, because both the power applications, where power and performance paramand size are crucial design eters have been relatively considerations. predictable and stable for a The Procelerant Z500 given processor generation. COM module is available However, the increased with either Intel’s 1.1GHz emphasis on developing low or 1.6GHz Atom processor, power processing solutions in an 85mm x 70mm COM is creating a generation of The Procelerant Z500 COM module is available with either module (pin compatible to processors that, for the ﬁrst Intel’s 1.1GHz or 1.6GHz Atom processor COM Express Type 2, the time, will combine the best currently most-used variant of PC performance with the core frequency and voltage are dynami- of COM Express). RadiSys has a long latest power saving techniques. history of developing COM Express cally adjusted in response to demand. modules using Intel technology and it This, coupled with on-chip and LOW POWER BREAKTHROUGH off-chip thermal monitoring, allows the has used this experience to develop a The processor is Intel’s Atom, one compact, power efﬁcient yet powerful Atom to regulate its power dissipation of the smallest processors currently solution. depending on the current processing available from Intel and also one of its By way of comparison, RadiSys also demands. As such, it has been designed lowest power processors. Atom – the to appeal to the designers of low power, offers the Procelerant CE945GM2A picture left shows the die – represents COM Express module, which can be battery powered, fan-less applications. a completely new design, to address a speciﬁed with a range of Intel Pentium For example, the Atom Z530, new class of low power, portable declass processors, both dual and single which runs at a core frequency of up vices. to1.6GHz, has a Thermal Design Power core. This delivers desktop-like perThe Pentium M family of procesformance in a small proﬁle, making it (TDP) of 2.2W. The TDP ﬁgure shown sors was developed to address the lapapplicable to a range of applications top domain. Before Pentium M was de- in Intel literature is used to design the across the medical, industrial and netveloped, Intel had attempted to address processor’s thermal solution and represents the maximum theoretical power working sectors. this space with low power versions of However, the power requirements the processor generates. its desktop processors. However it was may limit its use in some applications, Although it is optimised for power, clear this didn’t meet the low power renot performance, the Atom Z5xx family not only portable or battery-powered quirements for the laptop market and, devices. features most if not all of the technolsubsequently, the Pentium M class was Now, with the Atom processor and ogy that Intel’s IA 32bit architecture ofdeveloped. Now, the same process has Procelerant Z500, those applications, been attempted for the ultra low power, fers in desktop devices, such as streaming SIMD extensions, virtualisation and which before may have been prohibited mobile and portable domain, using the from using modular based solutions, hyper-threading. Atom processor. can beneﬁt from the time to market The Atom family (comprising the and cost savings offered by standard, EMERGING MARKETS US15W system controller hub – SCH, off-the-shelf hardware. In the past, the use of x86 architectures and Atom Z5xx devices) has been deThe Procelerant Z500 integrates in SBCs has been popular for a range of veloped using Intel’s smallest transisall of the features needed to address tors to date, diffused using its hafnium- applications, but not necessarily suitapplications such as industrial control able for battery-operated equipment. based 45nm, Hi-K process. The Atom equipment, network diagnostic devices Z5xx family targets embedded comput- One of the most popular SBC formats or even consumer products, based available today is the COM Express ing applications and features several on various software platforms. Offermodule but, again, because of its size power saving methodologies, including ing support for a range of operating Intel’s SpeedStep technology, where the and power proﬁle, it has typically not www.embedded.com/europe | embedded systems design europe | JUNE – JULY 2008 35 http://www.embedded.com/europe

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Embedded Systems Design Europe - June/July 2008

Embedded Systems Design Europe - June 2008 Contents Work in Progress to Define Compact PCI Plus Power.org Demonstrates New Tools Project Supports Multi-core System Programming Altium Links Electronic to Mechanical Design PLDs Look to Cut Power Budget and Costs Project to Provide Coverage Analysis Tool Microsoft Details Windows Embedded Update Cover Feature: Leveraging Virtual Hardware Platforms for Software Allocating Memory in MATLAB-to-C Code MDD & IDEs: Making the Twain Meet in Embedded System Designs Debugging Mixed Signal Designs for Infrequent & Random Events Why Open Source is the Natural Choice for High-security Systems Bringing the Benefits of Low Power CPUs to Modular Design New Products Advertising Contacts

Embedded Systems Design Europe - June/July 2008

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