Posted to News on 19th Sep 2013, 17:19
Embedded motherboard speeds development of ARM-based SFF designs
With its new low-power embedded motherboard for the extended temperature range, Kontron is accelerating the development of especially robust and energy-saving ARM-based SFF designs. The Kontron motherboard KTAM33874/pITX is equipped with the Ti Sitara 3874 processor and provides tablet PC-class performance and a comprehensive range of standard and embedded computing interfaces. With its Pico-ITX compliance it offers OEMs the possibility to realise cost-efficient SFF embedded appliances based on a standardised form factor.
OEMs can now exploit the whole ecosystem which to date has been used for x86 technology. This helps to significantly reduce hardware development costs in comparison to full custom designs and increase long-term availability. If no individual hardware adjustments are required, then the board, which supports Linux, Android and Windows WEC7, is application-ready and can be immediately deployed. Furthermore, Kontron offers in-house hardware-related software services, so that individual driver implementations and configuration-specific images can be provided at speed.
The Kontron Pico-ITX board based on the ARM Cortex A8 single-core processor boasts a low TDP (Thermal Design Power) which makes it suitable for compact, fanless applications. It is also the first Kontron motherboard designed from scratch for the extended temperature range of -40degC to 85degC. It is therefore fit to cope with even the most adverse environmental conditions. Examples of application areas for the new Kontron Pico-ITX motherboard are autonomous battery- or solar-powered outdoor systems, or mobile or stationary dual-display applications like Box PCs, HMIs and thin clients. The target markets include building and home automation, industrial automation, digital signage and transportation as well as medical and military. With the Kontron Pico-ITX Motherboard KTAM33874/pITX OEMs can now realise even the most demanding types of appliances, which in the past needed a full custom design, in a fast, simple and reliable manner by using a commercially available standard component.
For the KTAM3874/pITX with energy-efficient ARM processor technology Kontron has announced a minimum of 7 years long-term availability. On its 100 × 72mm sized standard small form factor this highly integrated motherboard offers everything that developers need to realise complete systems: an extensive range of interfaces and on-board Flash memory mean that there is no need for OEMs to source any additional components. That further helps to speed up both the time needed for development and in turn the time-to-market. A SIM card slot and the low average power consumption of less than 5W even facilitate the development of appliances in self-sufficient continuous operation in environments without power supply or network lines.
The feature set in detail
The new Kontron embedded motherboard KTAM3874/pITX is available with the single-core Texas Instruments Sitara 3874 microprocessor (MPU) for the extended temperature range with 800MHz Cortex A8 technology. In terms of graphics, it offers 3D graphic acceleration and supports up to two independent displays both with resolutions of 1080p (full HD) connected via HDMI 1.3a and 24-bit dual channel LVDS. Sound is provided by analogue audio in- and output. An additional loudspeaker port (1W) can drive smaller loudspeakers directly - i.e. for making acoustic acknowledgement or for speech output - which can make a separate amplifier superfluous. For OS and application data there are up to 16GB NAND Flash memory on-board plus a microSD slot. Hard disks or DVD players can be connected via 1× SATA and 1× mSATA. Beside two Fast Ethernet interfaces with an optional switch, it also offers 2× CAN bus as well as a SIM card slot for MiniPCIe modem cards. Peripherals can be connected by the 5× USB 2.0, 2× RS232 or 1× RS435. 26× GPIOs, I ²C, UART and SP output round off the feature set.
The Kontron motherboard KTAM3874/pITX with Linux, Android and Windows WEC7 support and a minimum of 7 years long-term availability is available now. For further information please visit the Kontron product page KTAM3874/pITX.
