The recent release of Intel’s Cedar Trail platform has caused quite a stir in the embedded community as designers scramble to take advantage of the improved graphics performance, lower power requirements, reduced component count, and overall lower costs. As I covered in part 1 of this series, Cedar Trail is based on the next generation Intel® Atom™ processor plus the Intel NM10 Express chipset for embedded computing. This new architecture offers seven year lifecycle support a...Read More
Last week I surveyed PC/104 standards and reviewed the pros and cons of the various standards. This week I’ll look at how PC/104 compares against another small form factor standard, COM Express*. To get things started, let’s review a few basics about PC/104 and COM Express . Both standards enable designers to build systems using commercial, off-the-shelf ( COTS ) boards and modules. The key benefit of the COTS approach is that it reduces hardware des...Read More
Embedded system engineers that contemplate a system design based on Intel® Architecture (IA) processors have a broad choice of both form factors and processor feature sets. The ever-increasing integration of more features on chip means that design teams can get the latest in processor technology in very small packages. Compact designs based on the latest Intel® QM57 Express Chipset can deliver advanced features such as video support for industrial-control applications or media-centric...Read More
I just got back from ESC 2010, and it was a great show. There was a renewed sense of optimism about the economy, and widespread excitement about new products and technologies. In this three-part series I’ll share my top picks from the show floor. Let’s start with a roundup of small form factor boards and modules, which were some of the hottest items at the show. Nearly every member of the Intel® Embedded Alliance had boards and modules based on the new Intel® Atom&...Read More
Harsh, demanding environments often typify many industrial computer applications. Remote sites can offer little or no protection from severe weather conditions or heat. Computers that are not designed to tolerate harsh conditions simply cannot be used in industrial applications. Such is the case with most consumer-grade PCs. Typical industrial standards call for an operating temperature range of 0 to 40 °C—far more rugged than called for in consumer computer applications. Consequentl...Read More