Embedded Webblog

Taking advantage of the latest small form factor announcements, ADLINK Technology just introduced the CoreModule 730 single board computer combining the SUMIT (Stackable Unified Module Interconnect Technology) standard expansion interface from the Small Form Factor Special Interest Group (SFF-SIG) with the newly defined ISM (Industry Standard Module) form factor. The new embedded computer is based on the low power Intel Atom Z510 and Z530 processors and packs multiple PCI Express lanes, USB interfaces, LPC (Low Pin Count) bus, I2C (Inter IC) bus, and SPI (Serial Peripheral Interfa...Read More

With the proliferation of Wi-Fi networks embedded designers are turning to wireless interfaces to eliminate the expensive wiring and installation costs for commercial and industrial sensing applications. The major challenge has been the relatively short battery life for remote sensors interfaced through the wireless network. RF Monolithics recently announced a potential solution with their new Wi-Fi sensor networking module. The WSN802G is a low-power, low-cost, 802.11 b/g module suitable for wireless sensor networking applications due to its ability to operate for years on battery power. To achieve its low power consumption and long battery life, the WSN802G combines 1 Mb/s and ...Read More

Although FPGAs have taken center stage in the fight on obsolescence, another approach to extending the expected life of an embedded product is to allow users to easily update plug in modules to reconfigure the hardware. For example, General Micro Systems recently announced the VS275, codenamed Maritime, a new VMEbus single board computer that combats end of life problems by enabling seamless upgrades and new functionality with five different expansion modules. Maritime utilizes the GMS P70 Nucleus processor module that supports either the ultra low-power Core 2 Duo operating at 1.5 GHz or the Core 2 Duo at 2.16 GHz with 4 MB of L2 Cache and a 667 MHz front side bus. Plug-in configura...Read More

Targeting updates to legacy applications, CyberResearch recently introduced a new line of motherboards that provide one PCI Express x16 slot, four PCI slots, one ISA slot plus one more slot that supports either PCI or ISA expansion boards.  The new MXGE motherboards come with a Core 2 Duo or Pentium 4 CPU and 1 GB of DDR2 RAM. In addition to the legacy and current interface slots, the motherboard includes plus six serial ports, four USB ports, and two gigabit Ethernet ports. The MXGE motherboard provides middle to high-range computing power with your choice of a 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU with 800 MHz front-side bus or a 2.1 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU with 10...Read More

While system manufacturers strive to deliver a steady stream of reliable products in the mist of constantly changing technology, there is always a concern that system components may become out-dated and discontinued. Addressing these concerns, WinSystems recently announced a PC/104-Plus compatible, single board computer based on the low power, AMD LX 800@0.9W CPU which has product availability through at least 2015. The PPM-LX800-G module includes the 500 MHz Pentium-class proces...Read More

As embedded designers confront the latest transportation, avionics, industrial automation, and medical instrumentation applications, the main challenges are to deliver a system that meets the high performance and low power requirements while surviving a hostile environment. MEN Micro simplifies this task with their latest generation of ESMexpress system-on-module (SOM) products based on the Intel Core 2 Duo SP9300 processor with a clock frequency of up to 2.26 GHz. The new XM2 is equipped with the Intel GS45 graphics controller that provides a x16 PCI Express graphics l...Read More

To meet the higher performance and density requirements for many of the newer defense applications, embedded system designers are turning to VMEbus-based VPX (VITA 46) technology with built-in support for high-speed serial fabrics. One of the latest examples is the XPedite5170 from Extreme Engineering Solutions, a 3U single board computer featuring Freescale Semiconductor’s dual-core MPC8640D processor. The module delivers PowerPC performance with AltiVec technology and dual e600 cores running up to 1.25 GHz. Memory options include two channels of 1 to 4 GB of DDR2-533 SDRAM, up to 4 GB of NAND flash and 256 MB of NOR flash. Serial ...Read More

Predicting a new era in wireless connectivity, ZeroG Wireless recently announced a series of “Wi-Fi I/O” development kits for Microchip Technology’s PIC microcontrollers. The ZeroG development kits are based on the standard Microchip PICtail and PICtail Plus daughter-board connectors, allowing a designer to plug Wi-Fi connectivity into a variety of Microchip development kits. The PICtail daughter board-based kits contain a ZeroG Wi-Fi module mounted to a PICtail daughter board, along with software drivers. As a result of the joint development by ZeroG and Microch...Read More

With economic conditions shrinking development budgets, system designers are turning to reconfigurable technology to minimize custom hardware and ease future product updates. FPGA-based products allow designers to create multiple system configurations plus future updates without hardware changes. For example, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing recently announced a new I/O mezzanine card that combines a user-programmable FPGA and configurable I/O in a PMC/XMC form factor suitable for applications such as imaging, system control for radar, software defined radio, and signal intelligence platforms. The XMC-FPGA05D includes an on-board Virtex-5 FP...Read More

With major parts of the industry in an economic slowdown, a growing number of embedded system suppliers are focusing their new product development efforts on military applications. Although most of the products must survive rugged and harsh military environments, there are plenty of high-performance, state-of-the-art projects that appeal to embedded designers. For example, Aitech Defense Systems recently released a 6U VME single board computer targeting applications in radar and sonar communications, vehicle protection subsystems, mission management computers, and heads-up display controllers. The new C160 computer features the latest ...Read More

Targeting the rugged, communication-intensive applications found in transportation and other mobile environments, MEN Micro recently introduced a new 3U CompactPCI (CPCI) managed Ethernet switch. The F302 features eight Fast Ethernet channels on the front panel via RJ45, M12 or D-Sub connectors, depending upon the application, and an optional channel accessible through the rear J1 connector for fast and secure communications within an embedded system. A special service interface at the front provides a number of options to configure the Ethernet channels individually via a hardware key, a Telnet command line interface, or Simple Network Management...Read More

Robot technology is appealing to embedded designers not only because of the mechanical control aspect but also because of the potential it has to shield humans from dangerous and even life threatening situations. Targeting the high end of this technology, Roboteq recently introduced an intelligent dual channel DC motor controller capable of directly driving up to 120Amps on each channel at up to 60V. The AX2860 should appeal to designers of mobile robotic vehicles including Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV), Underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs), and mobile robots for exploration, hazardous material handling, and military and surveillance applications.

The controller accepts commands fr...Read More

Targeting high performance applications in medical imaging, gaming, test, and industrial automation, ADLINK Technology recently announced the ETX-AT single board computer as the newest member of its Computer-on-Module (COM) family. Measuring 3.7 x 4.9 inches, the module is based on the ETX (Embedded Technology eXtended) 3.02 form factor standard maintained by the ETX Industrial Group. A very low power consumption of below 10 watts makes the ETX-AT suited for fanless or deeply embedded systems. The module features the 45nm Intel Atom Processor N270 with 512 kByte L2 cache and supports up to 2 GB of&n...Read More

A new Piccolo family of microcontrollers from Texas Instruments (TI) offers real-time embedded designers a higher level of integration by combining the CPU and memory with a series of built-in peripheral modules including a 12-bit analog to digital converter, enhanced pulse width modulators (ePWMs), on-chip oscillators, analog comparators, communication interfaces, and general purpose I/O. To simplify development of Piccolo-based projects, TI just announced the $39 controlSTICK evaluation tool in a USB stick form factor. The controlSTICK comes with a 32 KB limited Code Composer Studio Integrated development Environment (IDE) plus example projects that walk thro...Read More