WinSystems SBC includes low-power Vortex86DX

By Rick Nelson -- EDN, September 27, 2010

WinSystems announced its PCM-VDX-2-512, a PC/104-compatible 1-GHz single-board computer, at the Embedded Systems Conference Boston. 

Designed for headless space- and power-limited systems in medical, communications, security, transportation, utilities, Mil/COTS, and industrial test-and-measurement applications, it has two Ethernet, four USB 2.0, and four asynchronous serial channels plus expansion connectors for both PC/104 and Mini PCI I/O cards. The board measures 90 x 96 mm, draws 5.5W, and will operate from -40° to +85°C without a fan.

The PCM-VDX-2-512 is based on the DM&P ultralow-power Vortex86DX processor and is populated with 512 MB of soldered-on DDR2 SRAM plus a 1-MB SRAM that can be battery backed. Its x86 architecture runs Linux as well as other x86-compatible operating systems. This SBC is supplied with free downloadable drivers.

The SBC includes two independent 10/100 Ethernet controllers plus four USB 2.0 ports onboard. All of the USB ports have in-rush and over-current protection. All four independent, full-duplex serial channels support RS-232/422/485 levels and operate at data rates up to 115.2 kbps. Mini PCI and PC/104 connectors support expansion I/O cards for wireless networks and video.

The PCM-VDX-2-512 also has a PATA controller that will support a CompactFlash card and an IDE drive. Other onboard peripherals include 16 lines of TTL-compatible digital I/O, PS/2 keyboard and mouse controllers, LPT interface, real time clock, watchdog timer, activity LEDs, and a piezo speaker for audio annunciation of the BIOS status beep codes.

WinSystems can customize this SBC for OEM applications either by depopulating certain features or by adding soldered-on flash memory, a CF card retention clip, or a Mini PCI video card. The processor speed and amount of SDRAM can be reduced to lower the price and power consumption, as well.