Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - (Page 37)

boards This is the first COM Express platform built around Intel's Core 2 Duo processor. PCI/104-Express with CoreTM2 Duo PCI Express Applications with two displays video streaming HD-videos Figure 1 their efforts on their core competencies, helping to reduce project costs and time to market. As a result, the demand for these off-the-shelf small form-factor boards continues to grow rapidly in the embedded space. Today, small form-factor boards are available to ﬁt the unique requirements of almost every embedded application with more than 20 alternatives on the market and new offerings consistently looming on the horizon. With so many options and new standards emerging, designers can ﬁnd it difﬁcult to quickly determine which board will best meet their evolving application needs. Designers have the option to develop full custom mother boards, use standard SBCs in various sizes with add-ons and a backplane, and now with highly integrated CPU modules paired with customizable carrier boards, the latest advances coming in the form of ETX and COM Express. Each option has its advantages, which we’ll discuss here. Computer-on-a-module (COM) is suited for a broad range of embedded applications, including those where other form factors, such as add-on cards, can’t be used. Expanding and customizing the system is implemented on an application-speciﬁc carrier board. Together, the COM and carrier board deliver the functionality of an SBC. As the COM approach gained popularity, the need for standardization became more evident to provide designers with modular, off-the-shelf building blocks. To answer that need, the ETX Industrial Group developed the Embedded Technology eXtended (ETX) standard in 2000 to provide an open standard to meet the needs of embedded industrial applications with PCI and ISA. ETX modules are compact (95 by 114 by 12 mm), highly integrated COMs and offer a number of advantages including PC functionality, low cost, reliable connectors, and simple upgradeability and scalability. As technology has evolved, the ETX standard has undergone further development in scalability and performance. The latest ETX 3.0 speciﬁcation offers all of the beneﬁts of the original ETX standard while adding in 2x serial ATA connectors without changing any of the ETX pins, making new modules 100% pin-to-pin compatible with previous versions. This ensures long- MICROSPACE® MSM945 incl. SMX945 _ PCI/104-Express baseboard _ Intel® CoreTM Duo LV L2400 / Intel® Celeron® M ULV423 _ 1.0GHZ to 2x 1.6GHz _ i945GM-PCI Express chipset _ CRT, SDVO, 224MB VRAM _ KB/MS, FD, 1x P-ATA, 2x S-ATA 2x COM RS232, LPT1, 8x USB 2.0, 1x LAN 10/100 BASE-T, AC97-7.1 HDA _ DDR2-RAM 256 – 2048MB _ IDE _ Watchdog _ Power 5W / typ 10-20W _ Smart cooling concept _ -25°C to +60°C (Option -40°C to +70°C) DIGITAL-LOGIC AG offers reliable Embedded Computers in PC/104, 3.5”, EPIC, EBX, smartModule, COM Express and other formats. www.digitallogic.com www.embedded.com/europe | embedded systems design europe | AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2007 37 036-037-038-039_ESDE.indd 37 3/09/07 17:00:06 http://www.digitallogic.com http://www.embedded.com/europe

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007

Contents News Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market DSP Serves the Convergence Needs of Small Business Embedded Test Offers Unique Value for Serial I/O The Software Detective: First-Fault Data Capture Boards May Shrink But Performance Doesn't New Products Advertising Contacts

Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007

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