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OPEN
RUG
GED
RLON
G L
IFE
ORIG
INAL
TS-TPC-7990
Touch Panel PC
7” High End i.MX6 Mountable
Panel PC with Dev Tools Such
as Debian GNU and QTCreator
$299Starting at
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$99
Computer on Module
Industrial High Performance
i.MX6 Module with Wireless
Connectivity and Flash Storage
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Single Board Computer
Low Power Industrial
Single Board Computer with
WiFi and Bluetooth
$159
AUTOMATED
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THINGSINTERNET OF
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Starting at
April 20162
FROM THE EDITOR
COTS Tech Companies Continue to Blur Rugged, Defense SystemsEmbedded tech used in civilian applications continues to affect
rugged systems to the point that it’s hard to tell the old players from
the upstart wannabes. That adds up to choice for the market.
Used to be that if a COTS supplier
built rugged boxes, guaranteed its
system over -40 ºC to +85 ºC, and had a
“quality manual,” then that vendor was
a bona fide “Rugged COTS Supplier.” I’m
talking about 20+ year veterans Curtiss-Wright, GE
Intelligent Platforms (now Abaco), Aitech, General
Micro Systems, Mercury Systems, Pentek and a handful
of others. They are longtime members of VITA, build
conduction-cooled boards to IEEE-1101.2, have a list
of “ilities” a mile long (e.g. reliability, maintainability,
survivability…etc.), and stuff their line replacement
units (LRUs) in ATR-style boxes.
The companies I just named still do (most of) those
things, and they’re just as credible as ever. Yet many of
them now also build boards in other form factors you
wouldn’t recognize. As well, there are new companies
that build 6U or 3U VPX and CompactPCI boards just
as credibly as the good old boys—yet these upstarts
(Extreme Engineering and Creative Electronic Systems
come to mind) had been mostly unfamiliar to me until
the last couple of years. What’s going on in this market?
COTS CONTINUESYet again, civilian embedded (COTS)
technology is the great equalizer. With it,
new-to-me vendors are taking aim at the
rugged defense and aerospace markets—
while the tried-and-true stalwarts are
finding ways to solve old problems in new
ways. Let’s start with that ATR chassis I men-
tioned above. While still the preferred way
to bring extreme ruggedness to deployed
vetronics and avionics systems, rugged
small form factors that may or may not
follow an industry standard are creeping in.
These typically tiny, hardened boxes—what
I’ve long called “rugged shoeboxes”—are
typically smaller than a cigar box.
The company Parvus of Salt Lake City
made a name for itself ten years ago by
quasi-ruggedizing COTS technology then
surrounding it in a decent box encased with
all kinds of crazy looking rubber bumpers
(Figure 1). This was not unlike what an
Otterbox does today for your smart-
phone—except Parvus had neon-colored
bumpers in blue, orange and green. Today,
Parvus is owned by Curtiss-Wright Defense
Solutions and it’s a given that Parvus’s
packaging innovation will spread across
Curtiss-Wright’s product portfolio. This
expands CW’s traditional VME and VPX
product line into many other form factors.
Similarly, now-defunct SBS Technologies
had its own really rugged, but completely
non-standard, shoebox. In fact, SBS was
nearly one of the “good old boys,” choosing
to uprate commercial-temp tech when
possible and then testing the end result
to “guarantee by test” (as opposed to by
design). SBS was acquired by GE Intelligent
Figure 1: Example of Parvus bumpers called “Bumper Beans” used for contemporary PC/104 chassis. (Courtesy of Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions.)
By Chris A. Ciufo, Editor, Embedded Systems Engineering
Embedded Systems Engineering is published by Extension
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Copyright © 2016 by Extension Media LLC. All rights
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3 www.embeddedsystemsengineering.com
Figure 2: Aitech’s COM Express shoebox “Rugged Compact PC” (RPC) is deployable but isn’t a traditional ATR-style box. (Courtesy: Aitech Defense Systems.)
Figure 3: General Micro Systems rugged low-profile shoebox with removable drive. (Courtesy: General Micro Systems.)
Platforms (now Abaco)—and the scrappy SBS “can do” COTS attitude
lives somewhere inside of Abaco. Interestingly, from a recent article
I wrote about Abaco and from its website, the company is reasserting
its “ilities” and bona fides in the defense space. Yet, after chatting
with Abaco CEO Bernie Anger, the underlying current at the com-
pany is hard-core military with an emphasis on “get it done right and
meet the customer needs.” This was precisely the SBS mantra, and I
expect to see new form factors emerging from Abaco while it stays
true to its rugged roots.
Not to be outdone, the one guy that has always been hardcore DoD
and conduction-cooled is rad-hard supplier Aitech. After all, its stuff
has to survive both low-earth orbit (LEO) and deep space, ionizing
total dose radiation and being blasted to the heavens bolted to a mil-
lion pounds of thrust. So knock me down with a feather when Aitech
recently announced a small form factor shoebox based upon COM
Express. Its low profile A172 fits the bill for a shoebox, and while it is
based upon a PICMG standard, it sure doesn’t look like a traditional
ATR box (Figure 2).
Another company deviating from its roots is General Micro Systems.
While still building VME and VPX LRUs, the company devised a pro-
prietary computer-on-module (COM) approach that allowed modular
SBCs and I/O to be stacked and cooled while sandwiched in a small
form factor box (Figure 3). In this form factor the company has also
moved into the rugged router, switch and server market, with plans
to enter the rugged rack-mount server space as reported by COTS
Journal in January.
COTS CATALYSTSIn all of the cases mentioned above, it’s the changing face of commer-
cial off-the-shelf that allows evolution. Curtiss-Wright might never
before have considered deploying non-VME or –VPX modules in
defense platforms, but clearly the Parvus approach worked for count-
less programs. Rubber bumpers, uprated components and whatever
else is in the Parvus “secret sauce” clearly has value—Curtiss-Wright
bought the company.
Extreme Engineering, a group of engineers and managers from the
old Heurikon Corporation, decided first to build rugged products for
the defense industry regardless of the form factor. Today, Extreme
Engineering builds products in myriad form factors. From discussions
I’ve had with the company at trade events, it is an “engineering first”
company with no pre-defined favorite technology. That is: the form
factor matters not.
And Abaco and General Micro Systems (GMS), for example, rely
heavily on proprietary thermal cooling technology partly inspired
by the commercial market. Abaco has access to thermal intellectual
property (IP) from General Electric (see article “Taking the Heat”).
On the other hand, it was what wasn’t available commercially that
inspired GMS to create its RuggedCool technology which is today the
cornerstone of the company’s rugged box strategy.
COTS technology continues to change. Recent processors from Intel,
including the 6th Generation Core (code named “Skylake”) and the
new server-class Xeon D CPU will bring new performance, density
and I/O to these rugged systems. As well, ARM and AMD embedded
announcements from Germany’s Embedded World promise more
choice than ever.
Editor’s note: the editor has currently, or has had previously material asso-ciations with the companies listed in this article.
April 20164
IN THIS ISSUE
CONTENTS
PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
Departments
From the Editor COTS Tech Companies Continue to Blur
Rugged, Defense Systems
By Chris A. Ciufo, Editor, Embedded Systems Engineering 2
Features
Enterprise-class Printers Deliver
Top-notch Performance by Leveraging Combined CPU and GPU
By Dave Bursky, Technology Editor 6
Getting to Large-Scale Deployment of Profitable IoT Devices
By Vincent Perrier, MicroEJ 10
Five Reasons Thin/Zero Is In
By David Lippincott, Chassis Plans 13
Product Showcases
PC/104 & Embedded SFF
CPU or Single Board Computers
EMAC, Inc.
Equipment Monitor and Control 28
Hardware Products
System Enclosures
ADL Embedded Solutions Inc.
MIL-STD 810 ADLRHD-1650 Removable Hard Drive Assembly 29
Last Word IoT: Powering Small Devices
By Venetia Espinoza, BrightVolt 30
On the cover: Port of Hamburg, container terminals at night
Demand Grows for Compact, Rugged Industrial IoT Embedded Hardware
By JC Ramirez, ADL Embedded Solutions 18
Modular SFF Enclosures Can Do More than Just Corral ComponentsBy Walter Podbelski, Elma
21
Q&A: Bet on Tiny By Anne Fisher, Managing Editor
23
The Little Boards That CouldBy Dave Bursky, Senior Editor 25
April 20166
SPECIAL FEATURE
Enterprise-class Printers Deliver Top-notch Performance by Leveraging Combined CPU and GPUThe use of accelerated processing units that combine a high-performance multicore CPU and highly
parallel graphics processor on a single chip let 2D and 3D printers deliver market-leading performance.
High-performance multi-function printers and
copiers are designed to provide print-on-demand
services and deliver print speeds ranging from 50 to
many hundreds of pages per minute. Such systems
have, in the past, often required custom application-
specific ICs (ASICs) or field-programmable gate arrays
(FPGAs) to deliver the high computational throughput
needed to scan the image, print the image, and manage/
move the paper through the system. However, that is
changing as high-performance graphics processors and
general-purpose CPUs combine their compute capabili-
ties to deliver leading-edge performance while lowering
system costs.
SIMPLER SYSTEM PROGRAMMINGThe inner workings of a legacy multi-function printer
can loosely be grouped into four subsystems—a control
CPU that manages task scheduling, a scan controller
(usually an ASIC or FPGA) to manage the scan image
pipeline, a print/scan control engine that handles all the
mechanics of printing and paper movement, and a print
controller (typically an ASIC or FPGA) that prepares
the image for printing (Figure 1). Since each section
is optimized for the
function it performs,
the printer designers
will often have to deal
with different, pos-
sibly custom processor
architectures, and
multiple program-
ming languages. The
multiple engines thus
make programming
the system a chal-
lenge, since a change
in one engine’s soft-
ware could affect
how the other engines react, thus requiring software updates to all
subsystems.
To reduce the software overhead and simplify the printer subsystems,
graphics engines programmed using OpenCL or other languages
can replace some of the custom compute blocks and simplify the
programming through the use of a high-level language rather than
assembly-level or register-transfer language (RTL) coding typically
required by a custom compute block. Additionally, thanks to advances
in integration and in CPU and graphics-engine performance, the
entire processing pipeline can now be reduced to just a chip or two.
The integration of the CPU and graphics processor onto a single chip,
coupling them together through the implementation of the recently
released heterogeneous system architecture specification (HSA 1.0),
allows a single instruction stream to control both processors, thus
dramatically simplifying system programming.
SCALAR AND PARALLEL TEAM UPThe goal of companies implementing HSA is to create applications that
seamlessly blend scalar processing on the CPU with parallel processing
on the GPU or other parallel processing units—using high-bandwidth
shared memory access, thus enabling greater application performance
and lower power consumption. The HSA Foundation is defining key
interfaces for parallel computation utilizing CPUs, GPUs, DSPs, and
other programmable and fixed-function devices, thus supporting
a diverse set of high-level programming languages and creating the
next generation in general-purpose computing. In fact, as reported by
AnandTech and other sources, there is now a C++ compiler that’s HSA
compliant. (For more about HSA go to www.hsafoundation.com.)
The use of multicore CPUs closely coupled with highly parallel graphics
engines such as those found in the G- and R-series accelerated pro-
cessing units (APUs) from Advanced Micro Devices and eventually
from other HSA organization members will greatly reduce system
complexity. The APUs can function as the control CPU as well as
integrate partial or full image scan and print functionality thanks to
the high-performance GPU compute elements. Thus, only a small, low-
cost ASIC or FPGA might be required to handle the analog front-end
functions for the scan and print operations (Figure 2).
Figure 1: A typical enterprise-class multi-function printer can be divided into four main electronic subsystems—a control processor, a scan controller, a print/scan control engine, and a print controller.
By Dave Bursky, Technology Editor
April 20168
SPECIAL FEATURE
Figure 3 shows a scan image processing pipeline
for a 2D printer. The pipeline, now implemented
inside APU, takes output from the analog front
end and performs filtering, scaling, and color-
space conversion to correct the image. The
filtering operations executed in this section
typically include 3x3, 5x5, or 7x7 filters to reduce
image noise and scaling for image enlargement or
reduction. Both the filtering and scaling are best
done on GPU due to its highly parallel architec-
ture. Similarly, the color-space conversion from
the input format to CMYK is also best executed
on the GPU (Figure 3).
The next portion of the pipeline performs various
image enhancements such as tone reproduction
curve (TRC) adjustment and halftoning. The TRC adjustment modifies
the CMYK format to compensate for non-linear tone reproduction.
This operation can be handled by the
CPU portion of the APU or can be
accelerated if the algorithms are run
on the GPU. Halftoning algorithms
perform error diffusion to create
smooth transitions and sharp edges.
Such algorithms are usually propri-
etary to each printer vendor but are
readily executed on the GPU portion
of the APU. Lastly, the image data is
compressed and stored in memory
(either RAM or on the system’s hard-
disk drive). Lossless compression
saves memory space, and by using the
GPU the compression and decompression operations have no impact
on printer performance.
The printer’s print pipeline processes image data in memory to create
a printed page (Figure 4). The APU’s CPU can take over and manage
the print pipeline, working with data using Postscript, Adobe PDF,
or PCL3 print languages. The first step in the sequence performs
vector image processing, which consists of parsing the data, creating
an object list, and then rendering the objects. Parsing is basically the
lossless decompression of compressed vector data, and it is a mostly
serial process, which would best be done on the CPU. Similarly, the
object list generation is typically combined with the parsing operation
and is also best done on the CPU.
The rendering operation can leverage the highly parallel architec-
ture of a GPU, which significantly speeds up the calculations when
programmed using OpenCL or other
compute languages. The combined CPU-
GPU workload and large image sizes
makes this rendering step an excellent
workload for the HSA architecture.
When printing large documents, the
printer will often include a compres-
sion-decompression block that allows it
to store long documents. Lossless com-
pression and decompression executed
on the GPU ensures that the documents
can be held in the system memory with
no loss in quality. The last major block
in the chain processes the raster image,
performing color processing including
color separation and possibly other
image enhancement steps. This stage
can readily leverage the GPU and help
keep CPU load to a minimum.
Figure 2: The use of an application processor unit, such as the APU offered by AMD, simplifies the printer system architecture by combining a multicore CPU and high-performance graphics engine on a single chip.
Figure 3: The image capture pipeline leverages the highly parallel GPU portion of the APU for most, if not all, of the image correction and enhancement algorithms.
Figure 4: The print pipeline parses the image data, turning it into an object list that will be rendered, then stored and finally converted into a raster image that can then be printed.
Figure 5: GPU compute based 3D printer architecture starts with a 3D CAD model on a host PC, and that model is then sliced into layers using the APU and then printed layer by layer.
3D PRINT PIPELINEThe 3D printing industry is going through a revolution.
3D printers are being used to print everything from toys,
mechanical prototypes, anatomical models, and more. The
3D printer pipeline takes a 3D model of an object and slices it
layer by layer to parameterize the model. The sliced model is
then printed one layer at a time by a low-cost microcontroller
that manages print-head motion as well as melting/deposi-
tion of the material used by the printer.
Today the 3D slicing operation is typically done on a PC
before sending data to the printer, thus making the process
of 3D printing tedious and slow. The 3D slicer, which is well
suited for GPU compute acceleration, can be integrated with
data management and error control in an APU. This move to
APU based software architecture for 3D printers can enable
faster printing of 3D models and reduce manual intervention
(Figure 5).
CONCLUSIONThe use of the GPU and the HSA architecture allows printers
to deliver top-notch performance while simplifying the
programming model through the use of OpenCL and other
high-level compute languages that support the HSA imple-
mentation. Additionally, processor suppliers such as AMD
provide a large library of compute and control functions for
printing applications in the form of a vertical development kit
(VDK) that will simplify the implementation of the printer
software. The move to GPU based software architecture can
provide OEMs the scalability and flexibility for faster and
economical improvements, thereby reducing the cost of own-
ership for consumers.
Multicore processors such as the AMD R-series provide
designers with two or four CPU cores as well as multiple
GPU compute engines to deliver the throughput needed to
deliver print speeds of over 100 pages/minute for enterprise
class printers. For less-demanding printer requirements, the
company’s G-series of embedded processors can provide a
lower-power cost-effective solution.
April 201610
SPECIAL FEATURE
Getting to Large-Scale Deployment of Profitable IoT Devices The business and technical Case for a new IoT software platform.
The legacy Internet of PCs has been largely built
on two dominant operating systems: Microsoft
Windows and open source Linux. Those operating sys-
tems provide software platforms that offer a standard
foundation upon which a full software ecosystem and
industry has emerged on the client and server sides.
Similarly, the mobile Internet of tablets and smartphones has also
been built upon two dominant software platforms: Apple iOS and
Google Android. Furthermore, the mobile Internet has set a new stan-
dard for usages and business models based on mobile applications and
their associated services in the Cloud(Figure 1).
In order to enable smartphone-like app-driven business models and
usages for the things that are connecting to the Internet, a specific
dominant software platform has to emerge. This new platform has
to be deployed on the billions of devices connected to the Internet of
Things (IoT). There are two main reasons for that:
1. The devices comprising the IoT may or may not have direct interac-
tions with humans, but most will require the capability for on-field
download of applications from the Cloud, whether apps come from
the OEMs (device manufacturers) or third parties.
2. The key to large-scale deployment of app-driven usages and busi-
ness models is the emergence of a strong and large community of
application developers. All applications have to target the same
platform so that they can be deployed across various devices/
things (from the same or different OEMs).
One could think that mobile operating systems like Android could
power those IoT platforms, but such operating systems do not match
the economic—and resulting technical – constraints that drive the
IoT space. Just as Windows and Linux PC operating sys-
tems could not scale down to the mobile space, iOS and
Android mobile operating systems cannot scale down to
the IoT space. Table 1 shows the reasons for this.
The things in the IoT are expected to be deployed in
the range of billions of units, with much lower capital
and operational expenditures than PCs and tablets/
smartphones.
Today’s costs of hardware and software platforms for PCs and smart-
phones/tablets do not allow the deployment and exploitation of
billions of devices in a profitable way.
As Table 2 indicates, in order to match the economic equation of the
IoT, devices deployed on the Internet have to run on smaller, slower,
cheaper hardware and software platforms. Such platforms are typi-
cally powered by microcontrollers (MCUs) that can cost down to $1
per unit (compared to as much as $100 for high-end CPUs).
Figure 1.
By Vincent Perrier, MicroEJ
Estimated Numbers PC Tablets/Smart-phones
IoT
Number of units Hundred millions Hundred millions Billions
Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) High Medium Low
Operational Expenditure (OPEX) High Medium Low
Average Selling Price (ASP) Hundreds of $$800
Hundreds of $$200-600
Tens of $$10-200
Bill Of Materials (BOM) Hundreds of $> $400
Tens of $$100-400
$$10-100
Table 1: IoT Economic Considerations.
11www.embeddedsystemsengineering.com
SPECIAL FEATURE
Table 2: IoT Technical Considerations
PC Tablets/Smartphones IoT
Computing capabil-ity
High Medium Low
Computing engine PC architecture Intel 64-bit CPU Multicore> 1 GHz
Mobile architecture Intel/ARM 32/64-bit CPU Dual/quad-core> 1 GHz
Embedded architecture Various 32-bit MCU Single core< 1 GHz
Connectivity Wired Always-on Wireless Intermittent Wireless
Communications bandwidth High Medium/high Medium/low
Disk/Flash Hundreds of GB
Tens of GB KB/MB
Screen Large high-res
Medium high-res None/Small low-res
RAM Tens of GB GB KB
Power source Plugged/battery Battery Battery/network
Power consumption High Medium Low
CLOUD CONNECTION CHASMHowever, in order to enable smartphone-
like app-driven usages and business models
for the IoT, devices have to connect to and
interact with Cloud-based infrastructures
and services, and thus support technologies
and practices coming from the IT world.
That includes business services, protocols,
standards, middleware, software program-
ming languages and development tools.
Supporting those technologies and standards
is especially important for interoperating
with business services in the Cloud. It is also
key to building a significant community of
application developers, as the large majority
of software programmers are in the IT world
(approximately 10M developers).
MISSION-CRITICAL I/O SOLUTIONS
Alphi Technology designs and manufactures board level products.
PCIe-Mini-1553/ARINC 429 PCIe-Mini-CAN-USB PCIe-Mini-AD8200 PCIe-Mini-FastDAC-4
Designed and manufactured in the USA. | 480.838.2428 | www.AlphiTech.com | [email protected]
April 201612
SPECIAL FEATURE
Figure 2: The only way to get to large-scale deployment of profitable IoT devices and services is to preserve the power and efficiencies offered by IT-world solutions while adjusting their use and deployment to the cost constraints and resource limitations of embedded.
Unfortunately, there’s a gap between IT-level software technologies
and deeply embedded legacy technologies mastered by a smaller com-
munity of experts (approximately 100K developers). These legacy
technologies are often specific to each hardware—and associated
software—bring-up environments. The IoT promise of billions of
devices connected to the Internet implies that mainstream software
technologies and practices from the Cloud and mobile Internet be suc-
cessfully adapted and applied to the deeply embedded world.
Vincent Perrier is in charge of products and marketing at MicroEJ, an independent
software vendor of cost-driven solutions for the smart digital world. He joined Mi-
croEJ as Chief Marketing Officer in 2015 after 20 years of international experience
in the USA and Europe with high-tech software vendors in the embedded system
and electronic design automation (EDA) fields, and with semiconductor vendors.
In 2003, Vincent founded CoFluent Design, a fast growing startup, where he was
CTO until Intel acquired the company in 2011. Vincent continued to drive Intel
CoFluent technology for four years as site director in France. Prior to that, Vin-
cent was in charge of the marketing of innovative product lines with Wind River, a
world-leading provider of embedded solutions. Vincent holds a Master of Science
degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
13eecatalog.com/PC104
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
Five Reasons Thin/Zero Is InNew thin/zero client workstations and data center servers running virtual instances
of application software are replacing traditional desktop PCs in installations
where security must rule, but that’s not the only reason thin is in.
T he data breach by Edward Snowden and network
penetration by various nation state-sponsored
hackers highlight the need for security in the military
computing space. President Obama’s budget proposal
for 2017 includes $19B for cyber security, an increase of
$5B over 2016. The White House is proposing $5.5B in
cyber spending for the military for each year for 2016
through 2020.
Driving the military conversion to secure thin and zero
client computing, the U.S. Army released a 72-page
document, “U.S. Army Thin/Zero Client Computing
Reference Architecture, Version 1.0, 14 Mar 2013,”
which promotes the conversion away from desktop and
laptop computers to centralized servers and thin/zero
client architectures.
Gary Blohm, Director, Architecture Integration Center,
Army Chief Information Officer, named five reasons
“the Army will implement a centrally managed, thin/
zero client end-user computing technology that will
standardize the end-user computing experience, back-
end management and control.” According to Blohm,
implementation will result in:
1. Improved security
2. Standardization of the end-user experience
3. Increased transparency
4. Enhanced accessibility
5. Reduced costs
MOTIVATING THE MOVE TO THIN/ZEROThin/zero workstation clients don’t run the applica-
tion software directly, nor do they store the data itself,
improving security. The applications run on the server
and the data is stored in managed mass storage. Only
keystrokes and screen refreshes are transmitted over
the internal network.
Clients are connected to a managed internal network with central
auditing, not directly to the Internet, affording protection against
cyber-attacks (Figure 1). What’s more, it’s possible to block transfer
of data from the data center to the client for offloading to a USB stick
or other mass storage device.
Software applications are standardized on the server so that all users
are on the same version, which lessens the need for IT support and
makes collaboration on team projects easier. And, as Gigabit Eth-
ernet increasingly takes hold, the thin/zero client user experience is
improving. Gigabit Ethernet provides higher bandwidth, allowing
faster and more responsive screen updates on the zero client.
SMALL FORM FACTORNow, let’s examine the differences between Thin Clients and true Zero
Clients.
Both zero clients and thin clients are small form factor and are
typically attached to the back of the display monitor, freeing up desk
space. They are also fairly simple to install, not requiring the massive
task of locally loading all the application software during the initial
installation. They are also very low power.
Thin clients are end point devices with some type of skinny, locked
down operating system such as Linux or Windows Embedded,
typically stored in flash memory. They use more traditional hardware
such as CPU boards and graphics cards and run such applications as
browsers, e-mail clients and PDF viewers. The application is rendered
at the terminal and provides for user interaction with the program
running on the server. This makes it almost impossible to get a virus
or other malware. Configurable and ideally suited for multi-protocol
environments, thin clients are more flexible than zero clients and
offer more peripheral support.
With no operating system, zero clients rely instead on a specifically
designed processor or ASIC controller that runs a specific protocol.
The image is rendered on the host server and only the raw pixels and
keystrokes are transmitted over the network. This reduces the band-
width required on the network as dedicated hardware codecs on the
host server compress the pixel data before sending it to the client. This
offers exceptional video performance but is less flexible as it cannot
support various protocols.
By David Lippincott, Chassis Plans
April 201614
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
Zero clients also rarely require any software updates/patches and
are completely immune to viruses. With the single purpose of
image decompression and decoding, the PCoIP processor eliminates
endpoint hard drives, graphics processors, operating systems, applica-
tions and security software. With no operating systems, no codecs and
no software to maintain, zero clients offer a straightforward approach
to managing endpoints.
AN EXAMPLE VDI INSTALLATIONThe key vendors dominating the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
space are: VMware, Inc., Oracle Corp., Microsoft and Citrix Systems.
The U.S. Army had proposed a sole-source $1.6B contract with
VMware in 2015, which was retracted after protests by other VDI
vendors. It can be construed the Army prefers VMware, given this
proposed award and subsequent smaller contracts, though that is
not its official position.
The point of a VDI (Figure 1) is to centralize the processing with
remote zero or thin clients providing access to virtual desktops for
applications running on the server. As mentioned, the advantages to
this architecture are increased security, centralized data and simpli-
fied deployment.
At the core of a VDI installation is a software suite, which is the foun-
dation for delivering virtualization-based distributed services to IT
environments. The server provides a robust virtualization layer that
abstracts processor, memory, storage and networking resources into mul-
tiple virtual machines that run side-by-side on the same physical server.
The virtualization suite installs directly on the server hardware, or
“bare metal.” This software partitions a physical server into multiple
secure and portable virtual machines that run on the same physical
server. Each virtual machine represents a complete
system—with processors, memory, networking,
storage and BIOS—so Windows, Linux, Solaris and
NetWare operating systems and software applications
run in virtualized machines without any modification.
The VDI suite allows connection to the centralized
server(s) via a variety of methods including PCoIP
and proprietary protocols. The remote client can be
a dedicated zero or thin client or a desktop or laptop
computer running a client application. Connection can
be via a dedicated PCoIP link, network connection or
the Internet.
For the purposes of this article, examining a military
installation where security is foremost, the preferred
interface is via a hard-wired Ethernet connection with
PCoIP. This precludes WiFi and the Internet.
User interface to the server applications is via a thin or
zero client connected through Ethernet to the server to
display the virtualized desktop. An available solution is a
Teradici powered PCoIP host card providing PCoIP to zero
client end-point terminals. This configuration provides
high bandwidth, low latency display of the VDI application
pixels on the end-point terminal without the requirement
to run software on the end-point. An important feature
of a VDI installation is the bit stream is encrypted with
AES-level security—for data to the thin and zero clients
and for keystroke/mouse inputs back to the server.
While zero client implementations for office and non-
rugged installations typically consist of a small zero
Figure 1: Connection to a centralized server within a Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) in a military installation.
15eecatalog.com/PC104
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
client box attached to the rear
of an office-grade monitor, mili-
tary installations demand more
robust solutions. Military thin/
zero client implementations
must be capable of operating in
harsh environments that office-
grade systems would not be
appropriate for. An example of
a military-centric system would
be one that offers an integrated
15.6-inch LCD and Power over
Ethernet (PoE) for tethered
single-cable connection.
One such system is the Chassis
Plans’ CPZ-156T Rugged Zero
Client (Figure 2). Utilizing the
industry standard PCoIP Pro-
tocol (Teradici Chipset), Chassis
Plans’ Zero Clients are designed
to be compliant with currently
available Desktop Zero Clients
but in a rugged form factor for
deployment abroad.
Adopting a security first and
foremost approach, the Chassis
Plans’ CPZ-156T is powered through the IEEE-
802.3at PoE connection. This means a single push-pull
connector is all that is required to lose all display
information on the Ruggedized Client. As in all true
zero client architectures, no information is ever con-
tained on the client, it is just an encrypted rendering
of the actual Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure
(VDI) on the server.
Because no information is stored on zero clients and
there are no vectors for malware or system intrusion,
system security is significantly improved versus the
use of desktop or laptop computers. Unplug a zero
client and all displayed data is deleted. The USB ports
can only be used for interface devices such as mice
and keyboards, not USB storage media such as thumb
drives. There is no local non-volatile memory or disk
storage, so there is no security risk associated with
losing a zero client.
Use of Power over Ethernet has the advantage of sim-
plified cabling by removing the necessity of providing
Figure 2: A military-centric zero client system that integrates a 15.6-inch LCD and Power over Ethernet. (Photo courtesy Chassis Plans.)
access to AC mains power with associated power cords, transformers,
power strips, etc.
David Lippincott is Chief Technology Officer, Chassis Plans. He founded
Chassis Plans to provide custom industrial and military computer de-
signs allowing customers to have these computers manufactured locally.
The company morphed from an engineering design firm to a full-service
manufacturer designing and manufacturing highly regarded rugged
computer and LCD display systems to all branches of the military as well
as all the prime contractors and leading industrial companies. Chassis
Plans is the vendor of record in many high-profile programs within the
military as well as transportation infrastructure. An example is Chassis
Plans is providing the rugged computers for the persistent surveillance
aerostats for the upcoming Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Copyright © 2016 RTD Embedded Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective companies. RTD is AS9100 and ISO9001 Certified, and a GSA Contract Holder.
Intel Atom E3800-Based SBCsThe CML24BT is an advanced PC/104 single board computer and controller
with a PCI/104-Express stackable bus structure. This Intel Atom E3800-
based CPU is exceptionally suited for intelligent systems requiring low power
consumption in harsh thermal conditions. The CML24BT-series CPUs are
available in quad-core, dual-core, and single-core configurations. Surface-
mount Type 2 PCI Express connectors enable users to stack multiple
peripheral modules above and below the CPU. All models include 4GB
surface-mount single-channel ECC DDR3 SDRAM and a 32GB industrial
grade surface-mount SATA flash drive.
PCI/104-Express stackable bus structure
Available in modular, rugged enclosures and eBuild systems
Intel Atom E3800 Series Processor
Clock Speed: 1.33 GHz, 1.46 GHz, and 1.91 GHz options
Max. Core Temperature: 110°C
4GB Single-Channel DDR3 SDRAM (Surface-Mounted)
Robust Error Code Correction (ECC)
32GB Surface-mounted industrial-grade SATA flash drive
4 PCIe x1 Links, 1 SATA Port, 4 Serial Ports, 7 USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet, Analog
VGA, Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) 1.3 with Audio, on-board advanced Digital I/O
-40 to +85°C standard operating temperature, passively cooled
Pre-Confi gured HiDANplus®
-40 to +85°C standard operating temperature, passively cooled
Designed for high ingress protection in harsh environments
Milled aluminum enclosure with integrated heat sinks and heat fins
Rugged Intel and AMD-based Single Board Computer Options
High-performance, synchronized power supply 2.5 inch SATA card carrier
RTD’s standard HiDANplus® embedded computer system provides
a robust Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) solution enabling rapid
uptime for mission-critical applications. The system includes a rugged
SBC, power supply, SATA card carrier, and room for an additional
peripheral module. Without increasing the enclosure size, functional
upgrades can include high-performance data acquisition, versatile
networking options, or enhanced capabilities from a variety of
special-purpose add-in modules. Additional configuration options
include a removable SATA drawer.
The milled aluminum enclosure with advanced heat sinking delivers passively-cooled performance from -40 to +85°C. Integrated tongue-
and-groove architecture with EMI gaskets create a watertight solution with excellent environmental isolation. Keyed cylindrical connectors
offer easy cable connections while maintaining the integrity of the environmental seal.
RTD’s Embedded Systems and EnclosuresRTD’s full suite of compatible boards and systems includes high-reliability single board CPUs, data acquisition modules, network cards,
and peripherals. Whether you need a stack of modules, or a fully enclosed system, RTD has a solution for you. Call us to leverage our
innovative product line to design your own embedded system that is reliable, flexible, expandable, and field-serviceable.
AS91
00 - ISO 9001
CERTIFIED
Managed Scalable GigE SwitchesThe LAN35MH08HR is an 8-port 10/100/1000 Managed Ethernet switch. This
switch module has a total of 10 ports: eight ports are provided to I/O connectors,
one port is available to the host CPU through a x1 PCI Express GigE controller,
and one port is used as a stacking switch expansion port allowing full compatibility
with RTD’s managed and unmanaged StackNET™ Ethernet switch family.
Additionally, this allows the CPU to use the switch without the need for external
cables. The LAN35MH08HR can also be used as an expandable, standalone
8-port Ethernet switch.
The onboard CEServices Carrier Ethernet switching software provides a rich
Layer 2 switching solution with Layer 3-aware packet processing. All of the
industry-standard Managed Ethernet Switch features found in an enterprise
rackmount switch are provided, such as VLANs, Spanning Tree, QoS, and SNMP.
The CEServices software also provides features for carrier and timing-critical
networks such as OAM, Synchronous Ethernet, and IEEE 1588. The switch may
be configured via a web GUI interface, or a command-line console via USB,
Telnet, or SSH. These robust swithces are passively cooled, and operational from
-40 to +85°C. Like all of RTD's board-level products, these GigE switches are
with a variety of options.
High-Performance Multi-Core DSPsBased on the Texas Instruments TMS320C66x, RTD’s SPM34CP dspModules are
high performance fixed/floating point embedded DSP controllers designed around
the PCIe/104 stackable bus structure. The onboard DSP chip supports high-
performance signal processing applications such as mission critical, imaging,
test, and automation. Deterministic processing enables the DSP to outperform
general purpose processors for time-critical applications. The C6678 platform
is power-efficient and easy to use. The C66x CorePac DSP is fully backward
compatible with TI’s existing C6000 family of fixed and floating point DSPs.
The DSP chip has several high-speed data connections to the outside world such
as PCI Express, Serial Rapid I/O, and Gigabit Ethernet. Onboard flash permits
true stand-alone operation of the DSP without a host, while the PCI Express
connector alternatively permits the DSP to act as a co-processor to a PCIe/104
Type 2 host cpuModule. Visit www.rtd.com/dsp to learn more.
April 201618
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
Demand Grows for Compact, Rugged Industrial IoT Embedded HardwareIoT Cloud applications have reached to the network edge, where it can be too hot, too cold, too harsh and
too squeezed. So rugged, wide-temperature-range, compact IoT-ready products are coming to the rescue.
W ith more than 900 exhibitors and 30,000 plus
visitors spread over the three days, Embedded
World 2016 continued the success of this popular
international embedded tradeshow. Internet of Things
(IoT) continued to be the dominant theme at Embedded
World this year as evidenced by anchor companies such
as Intel Corp., but also well represented were hardware,
software and sensor manufacturers throughout the
various exhibit halls.
The keynote speaker Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of
Kaspersky Lab, spoke at length on a number of topics
related to IT security in the era of IoT. With the
increasing convergence of IoT hardware and data with
IT infrastructure, the topic of IT security is particularly
relevant and timely. As well, the Embedded Award
for innovation in hardware, went to KEOLABS IoTize
product. The French government is now funding KEO-
LABS, a company whose focus is on secure smartphone
connectivity, to ease the upgrade of existing IoT hard-
ware and software for optimal data security.
TOLLBOOTH TO OFFSHORE RIG TO FACTORY FLOOR TO …At the opposite end of the IoT spectrum from software,
one focus for embedded hardware vendors is the extension
of intelligent IoT solutions to the very edge of the net-
work, where rugged and harsh industrial environments
often exist. This means, for example, putting increasingly
smaller embedded computing hardware directly onto or
nearby machinery and equipment in non-benign areas
such as those associated with transportation, the factory
floor, oil and gas platforms (both offshore and land-based)
and exposed environments including traffic control, toll
booths and border crossings, etc.
There is a need for increased levels of control intelli-
gence at the machinery and equipment level. Enabling
the efficient gathering and analysis of local sensor
data and piping of that data to the cloud in a secure
fashion is also necessary. Increased control intelligence
makes possible efficient reconfiguration of factory
floor machinery and equipment in a “plug and play” fashion as well
as increased autonomy and local decision-making for key pieces of
equipment. From an IoT perspective, local data needing to be ported
to the cloud requires sufficiently advanced hardware to incorporate
the necessary hardware and software security features.
Many of the new rugged Industrial IoT-ready embedded PC and
gateway products take advantage of Intel Corp. E3800-series proces-
sors with their vastly expanded operating junction temperature of
-40 ºC to +110 ºC, making them ideal for use in extended temperature
applications.
Also coming to market are IoT-ready embedded solutions based on
the Intel E3800-series Atom and packaged in compact and palm-
sized rugged enclosures. For example, the compact ADLEPC-1600
embedded PC from ADL Embedded Solutions (Figure 1), features dual
E3827 and quad E3845 Intel Atom processors in a rugged, milled
Figure 1: ADL Embedded Solutions ADLEPC-1600 IoT-Ready, Embedded PC
By JC Ramirez, ADL Embedded Solutions
“This means, for example, putting increasingly smaller embedded computing hardware directly onto or nearby machinery and equipment in non-benign areas such as those associated with transportation....”
#iotdevcon
Find us on:
*FREE to qualified attendees
Register* Nowwww.iot-devcon.com
May 25-26, 2016 Santa Clara CA
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Devoted to Implementing IoT
Technology in Embedded Systems
April 201620
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
Figure 2: ADL Embedded Solutions Rugged, Palm-Sized Embedded PC
aluminum casing with enough I/O connectivity for most equipment
and sensor needs, Wifi and LAN cloud connectivity, and enough pro-
cessing power for use as an intelligent controller, gateway appliance,
or general-purpose computer in rugged, harsh machinery and equip-
ment environments.
The smaller and more compact embedded IoT hardware becomes, the
higher the level of customer interest becomes. Ultra-small, ARM-
based industrial vendor products have proven popular in the recent
past at Embedded World, including this year with its line of Nvidia
Tegra COM modules and customizable SBCs. At the system level, ADL
Embedded Solutions’ palm-sized E3800-based embedded PC (Figure
2), was perhaps the most popular booth product with most customers
finding its ultra-small size particularly compelling.
EASIER IIOT DEPLOYMENTSoftware support for IoT hardware also featured prominently at
Embedded World 2016 with Intel Corp. promoting software building
blocks for Intel IoT gateways and open environment software stack
and board support packages (BSP) for Intel Quark SoC and the above
mentioned Intel Atom E3800-series processors as well as IoT gateway
development kits. Intel BSPs primarily feature Wind River Linux 5
OS with Microsoft pushing Microsoft Azure for end-to-end IoT cloud
applications and services with hardware support for iOS, Android,
Linux and Windows. Embedded World 2016 also featured a plethora
of smaller software companies providing IoT-specific software devel-
opment and consulting services both exhibiting and booth-to-booth
visitation. And with OPC-UA
continuing to grow as a vendor-
independent, international
interoperability standard for
secure data and information
exchange, deployment of Indus-
trial IoT end-to-end solutions is
easier and more affordable than
ever.
PC/104 CONTINUES TO KEEP PACEA number of new product intro-
ductions make clear that the
rugged, PC/104 form factor
continues to keep pace with new
technology. Peripheral compa-
nies Connect Tech and Rigel
Engineering have announced
PCIe/104 10G LAN boards which help address the issue
of data-offloading and communication in small form
factor (SFF) embedded systems. For rugged, SFF vision
systems Euresys has introduced the first PCIe/104
Coaxpress framegrabber (6Gb/s per channel) for next-
generation framegrabbing. As well, cameralink vendor
EPIX has continued to innovate with the introduction
of a new family of low-profile mPCIe cameralink mod-
ules that make it easier to add cameralink functionality
in a variety of SFF design scenarios.
SUMMARYDemand for compact and rugged IoT-ready hardware
products is strong and growing. This is a direct result of
growth in IoT Cloud applications now extending their
reach to the network edge, which often resides in harsh
factory environments or remote locations exposed to
the elements. As a result, these products need to be
IoT ready, rugged, compact (or even ultra-compact) and
capable of working in a wide temperature range. The
viability of these products is greatly enhanced with IoT
software building blocks and IoT enterprise software
from companies like Intel and Microsoft and an army
of other companies and consultants.
JC Ramirez is Director of Engineering at ADL Embedded Solutions, Inc. and is the current vice-president of the PC/104 Consortium. Ramirez, BSEE, MBA, has a technical background that includes Navy nuclear plant supervision, nuclear instrumentation, semiconductor product develop-ment and embedded systems engineering.
y gg p p
21eecatalog.com/PC104
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
Modular SFF Enclosures Can Do More than Just Corral ComponentsThe term SWaP-C – size, weight, power and cooling – is now commonly used to describe the
thermal challenges of housing electronics. Today’s enclosures are viewed as a much more integral
part of the overall system—not just a means to keep all the components protected and in place.
Every design element must be analyzed to see how
it can positively contribute to the system’s opera-
tion and protection. And as components have shrunk,
embedded systems have made their way into more
mobile applications. Systems need to withstand more
intense vibration, shock and EMI parameters and still
function effectively. All of this affects the ruggediza-
tion of enclosures.
Another critical area where designers look to optimize
the enclosure is heat dissipation. Just as shrinking
electronics have made it possible for systems to be
used in more compact environments, the number and
density of the actual components have increased dra-
matically. More power is needed to run the system;
more integration is required to enhance functionality;
more shielding is mandated to protect the electronics.
Increasing electronics density and faster data
throughput places tremendous amounts of heat into
smaller packages, making the demand for proper
cooling a priority (see example in Figure 1). And as more
systems are designed for mobile use, they are faced with
tougher thermal challenges, often having to survive
outdoors, where dust and moisture can be an issue.
So, the electronic enclosure must meet the demands of today’s applica-
tions in terms of size, weight and power as well as cost. Fortunately,
enclosure design has kept pace with changing application demands.
This is seen most notably in flexible sizing parameters that enable sys-
tems to fit into a wider variety of spaces and keep costs down on small
volume applications as well as enclosure design that better mitigates
environmental elements, especially heat.
COST-EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENTOften, a designer must develop a highly customized design to meet
a specific application. Balancing this custom enclosure design with
low volumes for prototypes and small projects can be a daunting task.
While the goal is to maximize packaging density and performance,
the typically high costs, particularly during prototyping, for tooling
has prevented the development of cost-effective, custom-tailored
enclosures.
And historically, custom enclosure design significantly increases time
to market and incurs more risks, with single sourcing and obsoles-
cence of custom parts tops on the list.
Figure 1: An example of an enclosure optimized for air ventilation. (Photo courtesy Elma Electronics)
Figure 2: Tailor-fit case design based on a modular approach. (Photo courtesy Elma)
By Walter Podbelski, Elma
“Properly designing an enclosure requires smart thinking at many levels, and heat dissipation is merely one aspect, albeit an important one.”
April 201622
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
Figure 3: A right-sized enclosure design example. (Photo courtesy Elma)
But a modular approach to enclosure design provides endless, and
cost-effective, design possibilities that account for speed, flexibility,
load and a host of other factors critical to system operation. For
example, when the enclosure incorporates a standard mechanical
board form factor, the board and component standoffs and retainers
can be installed before shipment. The engineer gets a tailor-fit case at
a low cost and in smaller volumes—customization usually reserved
for high volumes, yet without the typical higher development costs.
HOT IT IS NOTNew cooling technologies, such as liquid or vapor are emerging,
but forced air using fans or blowers is still the dominant method.
Although tried-and-true, this cooling method is not without its pit-
falls that can easily be addressed from the onset of system design.
First and foremost is understanding total power dissipation and local-
ized “hot spots” of the embedded system.
There are some simple ways to mitigate these challenges and achieve
an optimum enclosure design:
Employ air baffles or plenums to optimize air flow and eliminate
hotspots.
Minimize airflow restrictions by avoiding radical bends that will
impede air movement.
To optimize incoming air and ensure it is properly directed, keep
air leakage in the fan mounting area low.
There are some other common practices in forced air cooling that are
beneficial, no matter the custom dimensions of the enclosure. For
instance, the air flow cutout on a fan mounting plate should be larger
than the inlet diameter of the fan, and objects in the air inlet area
should be located more than 1/2” from the fan diameter.
Since fans and blowers are measured in static pressure, a good rule of
thumb is to select a model that will perform at greater than 60% of its
“free air” maximum, based on estimated static pressure.
As in any system design, certain tradeoffs need to be made when
considering cooling parameters. An air filter designed to protect
electronics can hinder airflow, yet may be needed to protect certain
electronics and noise attenuation, which can conflict with maximizing
airflow. When considering EMC, the system may require a honeycomb
filter that allows more than 90% airflow at the opening, but is far more
expensive than simple perforations.
But options exist, and can easily be integrated into a modular design.
For example, variable speed temperature regulated fans can be
employed to reduce noise and tachometer output fans can monitor fan
fail conditions and increase system operation.
The answers are found not only in hardware options, but in software,
too, through thermal simulation, which enables the designer to input
all of the variables into a program and verify that the cooling is ade-
quate prior to system fabrication. Better yet, if time and budget allow,
building and testing a thermal “mock up” will provide even deeper
insights into how well the cooling structure performs.
SMART DESIGN FOR OPTIMUM OPERATIONTo satisfy the demands of any given environment—and especially
as electronics get increasingly smaller—an engineer must consider
myriad design elements from mechanical constraints, cooling require-
ments and power distribution, to system monitoring, reliability
(MTBF) and maintainability (MTTR).
Addressing any one of these issues can be a difficult design task, but
balancing these requirements—while hitting a specified cost target
under time-to-market pressures—illustrates the importance of expe-
rienced packaging design.
Properly designing an enclosure requires smart thinking at many
levels, and heat dissipation is merely one aspect, albeit an important
one. Modular dimensions means there is no one-size-fits-all and
denser electronics put more pressure on cooling techniques. But by
relying on proven design principles that incorporate a whole system
view, designers can produce custom-tailored enclosures for modern
electronics applications, while keeping design costs to a minimum.
Walter Podbelski is the director of Enclosures & Components group at
Elma. He has holds 30+ years in the electronic packaging industry.
Previously Podbelski was with Mupac (now Atrenne Comp Sol). His
MBA is from Oregon State University.
23eecatalog.com/PC104
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
Q&A: Bet on TinyThe IoT, drones, glaciers and CubeSats are among the places you might find
yourself if you are a tiny device with a full implementation of Linux.
Gumstix recently announced its first Raspberry Pi
Compute Module custom expansion boards in the
Geppetto Design-To-Order (D2O) platform. The com-
pany’s president and CEO, W. Gordon Kruberg, M.D.,
spoke with EECatalog about the announcement.
EECatalog: Where are you seeing the most interesting
ideas incubating?
W. Gordon Kruberg, M.D., Gumstix Inc.: In two
categories: First, in corporations where electrical engi-
neers following traditional career paths are designing
the next great devices for consumer and industrial or
medical markets. And second, within the maker com-
munity, a vast number of designers working from their
homes, garages, and small offices—what we would call
SOHO or Small Office Home Office. These are designers,
who love making electronic devices, who’ve got a sol-
dering iron and some cool components.
EECatalog: What are you seeing happening within the
maker community?
Kruberg, Gumstix: More often than not, we see
makers contributing some compelling insight and
great software running on hardware that they have
prototyped in-house. These makers invariably have
discovered an application, written some valuable code
that requires a specific hardware format, and are con-
tributing new IoT devices and looking for ways to push
those to market as rapidly as possible.
EECatalog: Where does Gumstix come in?
Kruberg, Gumstix: Our Geppetto design to order
[D2O] system’s support of Raspberry Pi is about filling
in the blanks for the maker with what it takes to go from
prototype or garage-level prototype to a production-
ready product in one easy to use online application.
Geppetto is really a one-stop design to order tool that
provides a maker a rapid and simple path to market.
Hardware is hard! What we’ve tried to do is to use every available
software trick that we know to automate every aspect of hardware
development. [At Gumstix] we’re software engineers with a deep
understanding of architecturally how to go about putting together
software systems. Hardware is the content on which we operate.
And the Geppetto system is the visible culmination of the idea that
we can use software tools in the hardware design and engineering
environment. While our Geppetto system is the front end for this,
there are also many back end suites that cover all the different aspects
of getting a hardware product to market. We originally did this for
ourselves; Geppetto makes it available to all of our customers.
EECatalog: Please take us through some of the highlights on the
timeline that we might call “Making Tiny Devices Where Control Mat-
ters” and tell us where Gumstix and Raspberry Pi fit in.
Kruberg, Gumstix: When [the first] Gumstix [products] came out
in 2004, the alternative was a $1500 or $2500 development kit for
PC/104-sized devices. When we launched Gumstix, the market’s atti-
tude was “Why would anybody need anything smaller than a PC/104?”
Our bet was that tiny mattered. With a price point of $150 to $200
when we launched, we were at the front end of the curve for cost and
power until around 2012. Then Raspberry Pi came out with a 35-dollar
product. It wasn’t quite as powerful as ours, but for 35 dollars, some-
body could get something that ran a full implementation of Linux.
It really blew out the market. Think of who might spend $250 to drive
an experiment compared to how many people might spend $35
knowing they might need to go back to the drawing board —it’s a
whole different market.
So the Raspberry Pi launch was a really important turning point in
the development of the Internet of Things [IoT] today: Innovation now
comes from the garage. The software that people write for Raspberry
Pi can be advanced because it’s well supported by open-source tools,
toolchains and processes from Linux.
Innovation is now happening at the edge of the Internet, where a Rasp-
berry Pi might sit in a garage and communicate with the rest of the
Internet while running cool software—with interesting sensors, detec-
By Anne Fisher, Managing Editor
April 201624
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
tors and actuators. There is amazing stuff
going on.
[The introduction of] Raspberry Pi
expanded the community of innovators
with something to take to market. This
is where our Geppetto D2O support for
Raspberry Pi specifically helps makers
who do not have experience in bringing
a hardware product to market.
With Gumstix’ Geppetto design-to-
order (D20) tool, users have access to
the entire process of design, supply
chain integration and manufacturing
automation with one online resource.
EECatalog: You are probably not able to
predict what will be done with Gumstix
development tools in all cases.
Kruberg, Gumstix: Most of the time,
Gumstix develops a particularly inter-
esting or new piece of technology or
hardware specifically to support software
on a tiny device. In house, we are all soft-
ware engineers and know what we would
like to see running on a piece of hardware.
Once we put such a tool in the hands of
makers or University labs, we have no way
to predict what will be invented.
Over the course of the last dozen years we
have been incredibly surprised by what
people do with the devices we create.
Two different projects in England during
2004 and 2005 serve as great examples
of unforeseen endeavors. First, Owen
Holland at the University of Essex
designed a tiny little helicopter with a
Gumstix that communicated wirelessly
with a desktop computer in the lab. That
was a forerunner of the drone revolution.
At the time we thought, “Who is going to
use this little indoor helicopter?”
[Yet] it was because our computers were
very tiny and ran a full implementation
of Linux that we afforded very high-level
control in a very small device—that really
revolutionized what was going to happen
over 2004 in the field of tiny electric-
powered autonomous aerial vehicles.
Second, James Coxon was an undergrad
student at Oxford in 2005 who wanted to
design a weather balloon. At the time, the
life cycle of a weather balloon involved
launch, ascent, “pop” and return to earth
where, with luck, someone might find it
and read the little piece of paper inside
that said: “If recovered, please call____.”
James connected a Gumstix to a camera
and cell phone. The weather balloon went
straight up, hit 80,000 feet and took a
whole lot of really beautiful photos from
the edge of space. When it came down,
as soon as it got within cell distance, it
texted the GPS coordinates and he was
able to go out and retrieve it. At the time,
2004, that was revolutionary for a couple
of hundred dollars to put that together.
Big picture? We created a tiny full imple-
mentation of Linux so that somebody
could do whatever they wanted in the
tiniest form factor.
Today, we are pleased to be involved in
satellites by providing a low cost alterna-
tive to an otherwise $100,000 rad-hard
computer. By running three Gumstix in
parallel for fault tolerance, Gumstix is
out in space on tiny little CubeSats doing
research.
We’ve had these opportunities because
we’re focused on being really tiny, being
really supportive of software develop-
ment and taking the hardware risk out of
the equation. By providing this powerful
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focus on all the magic that is theirs, in
the application and the industrial design.
25eecatalog.com/PC104
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
The Little Boards That CouldThanks to advances in integration and updates to the PC/104 standard, the small-format
computer boards continue to take on a wide range of industrial and military applications.
In the computer industry, it’s rare for a product to stick
around for 25 years. However the small computer
boards that follow the PC/104 standard have done just
that. First developed in 1987 by a company called Ampro,
and standardized by the PC/104 Consortium in 1992,
the PC/104 standard for CPU and I/O boards is rapidly
approaching its 25th anniversary and is still a viable
solution to many embedded computing applications.
A LITTLE BOARD HISTORYThe original PC/104 standard defined a 3.6-in. by 3.8-
in. board that employs the personal computer ISA bus
for I/O expansion. The physical board format included
vertical ISA bus connectors on two opposing sides and
four mounting holes. The connectors allow additional
boards for I/O and other functions to be stacked on top
of the CPU board. By standardizing the position of the
mounting holes, stand-offs between the boards keep
the stacked boards rigid and keep a constant distance
between the CPU board and the additional boards
stacked on top of the CPU. That mounting arrangement
reduces flexing due to shock and vibration and is thus
more reliable than the traditional PC motherboard and
vertically inserted cards plugged into a backplane.
A typical PC/104 “stack” might
consist of a CPU card, a power-
supply board and additional I/O
cards from a variety of vendors
for serial or parallel interfaces,
displays, Ethernet ports, data
acquisition subsystems, digital
signal processors, or other
functions. The CPU boards,
predominately based on an
x86 processor, could also run a
variety of operating systems—
Microsoft Windows, Linux, or a real-time operating system. However,
due to the relatively low level of integration possible in the early
1990’s, the CPU board was just the CPU, and specialized I/O functions
required multiple additional boards.
STANDARD UPGRADES KEEP PACE WITH PERFORMANCE DEMANDSFor about five years, the 1992 standard allowed designers to create
a wide array of CPU and support boards. However as performance
demands increased, an update to the standard in 1997 (PC/104-Plus)
supplemented the ISA I/O interface with the parallel PCI bus to allow
for higher-speed data transfers. The PC/104-Plus CPU boards can use
both the PCI and ISA buses, and can thus transmit signals to both
ISA and PCI peripheral cards. On PC/104-Plus peripheral boards, the
original ISA connector is simply a passive feed-through connector to
pass signals to boards higher in the stack. Only the PCI connector
is used for communications to other PCI-based boards in the stack.
Thus, a PC/104-Plus peripheral card will not work with a PC/104
CPU board. Alternately, a PC/104-Plus CPU board can be used with a
PC/104 peripheral board.
A further evolution of that standard removed the ISA bus from the
board, thus freeing up some board space, but also making the boards
incompatible with previous-generation boards. This PCI version of
the standard, PCI-104, was further upgraded by adding a PCI Express
interface (PCI/104-express). And, just over a decade later, in 2008, the
standard was again updated by eliminating the parallel PCI interface
and adding multiple lanes of PCI Express (PCIe) for still higher speed
I/O transfers (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The PC/104 board standard has gone through multiple updates to provide higher speed I/O capabilities with the I/O interface moving from the original PC ISA bus to PCI to PCI Express. (Image courtesy of the PC/104 Consortium)
By Dave Bursky, Senior Editor
“…allowed the board vendors to increase the functionality of the CPU board, in some cases
reducing system complexity to a single board.”
April 201626
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
Figure 2: Two expanded board formats, the EPIC (top) and EBX (bottom) boards provide room for designers to implement a full single board computer but still leverage the PC/104 CPU module and stacked I/O boards. (Images courtesy of PC/104 Consortium).
A 156-pin surface-mount connector provides the signal
interface for the PCIe lanes. Some of the connector pins
are also dedicated to additional connectivity buses
such as USB, SATA and LPC. There are two configura-
tions defined for the connector: Type 1 and Type 2. The
Type 1 configuration provides four x1 PCIe links, two
USB 2.0 ports, and one x16 PCIe link. Type 2 also has
the four x1 PCIe links and two USB 2.0 ports, but adds
two PCIe x4 links, two USB 3.0 ports, two SATA ports,
and one LPC port.
Along with the higher speed I/O interfaces, the CPU function also
went through many upgrades as the CPU vendors integrated more
functionality and increased clock speeds to deliver higher computa-
tional throughput and reduced the number of components needed
for the basic CPU. The higher level of integration allowed the board
vendors to increase the functionality of the CPU board, in some cases
reducing system complexity to a single board.
Two larger board format standards, EPIC and EBX (and EPIC express
and EBX express), provide designers with additional board space for
custom single-board computers. The board sizes, listed in Table 1,
include a mounting area for a PC/104 board and space for additional
functions. The EPIC board is about 4.5 by 6.5 inches, while the EBX
board measures 5.8 by 8 inches (Figure 2). Both EPIC and EBX boards
support the stackable PC/104, PC/104-Plus, PCI/104 Express, and
PCIe/104 variations and provide headroom for larger heatsinks.
Figure 2: Two expanded board formats, the EPIC (top) and EBX
(bottom) boards provide room for designers to implement a full single
board computer but still leverage the PC/104 CPU module and stacked
I/O boards. (Images courtesy of PC/104 Consortium).
A LOOK AT THE PC/104 ECOSYSTEMThe longevity of the PC/104 standard comes with a large ecosystem,
with over three dozen board and software suppliers providing a wide
range of CPU and I/O support boards, enclosures, operating systems,
power supplies, and other functions. One recently released single-
board computer is the Fox VL-EPM-19 from VersaLogic (Figure 3).
The board contains up to 1 Gbyte of soldered-on DDR DRAM, multiple
system interfaces including dual Ethernet ports with network boot
capability, four USB ports, four serial ports, a microSD socket for
removable flash storage, a SATA interface that supports high-capacity
rotating or solid-state drives, and a trio of general purpose timers.
The board also supports simultaneous video outputs—both LVDS and
analog VGA ports are included.
Designed for low-power applications, the board consumes just 5.5 W
thanks to its use of a static-logic x86 processor, the Vortex86DX2 from
DMP Electronics Inc. The Vortex system-on-a-chip can run at 933 MHz,
and contains a 32kbyte L1 cache, a 256kbyte L2 cache, integrated PCIe
interface running at 2.5 GHz, a DDR2 memory controller, ISA, I2C,
and SPI interfaces, and an internal peripheral controller. Additional
resources on the chip include a DMA controller, interrupt timer/
counter, dual Ethernet ports, serial UART with FIFO buffer, multiple
USB 2.0 host ports, and an IDE/SATA controller.
Name Primary Purpose Dimensions Usable Board Area
PC/104 Stackable PC 3.550 x 3.775 inches (90.17 x 95.89 mm) 13.401 in2 (86.46 cm2)
EPIC SBC 4.528 x 6.496 inches (115.00 x 165.00 mm) 29.414 in2 (189.75 cm2)
EBX SBC 5.750 x 8.000 inches (146.05 x 203.20 mm) 46.000 in2 (296.77 cm2)
Table 1: Board sizes for PC/104, EPIC and EBX
27eecatalog.com/PC104
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
Another single-board computer from ADLINK Technology, the CM1-
86DX3, targets extremely rugged applications and employs a slightly
higher performance member of DMP’s Vortex processor family, the
Vortex86DX3. This processor supports up to 2 Gbytes of DDR3L
DRAM and can clock at up to 1 GHz. Board features include two Eth-
ernet ports (one 100-Mbit and one 1 Gbit), four RS232/422/485 serial
ports, two USB 2.0 host ports, two PS/2 connectors for a keyboard and
mouse, and a first-generation SATA port for a hard drive or CD drive
(Figure 4). A microSD card slot can be used for solid-state storage or
for a bootable flash-based operating system. The system can also be
expanded over the board’s PC/104, mini-PCI Express or I2C connec-
tors. Operating systems supported by the card include DOS, various
versions of Microsoft Windows and Linux.
Figure 4: This single board computer, the CM1-86DX3 from ADLINK Technology, runs at 1 GHz, packs up to 2 Gbytes of low-power DDR3 DRAM and provides multiple Ethernet, USB and other ports for system expansion and communications. (Photo courtesy of ADLINK Technology.)
Figure 3: A low-power single-board computer, the Fox EPM-19 from VersaLogic consumes just 5.5 W. It is based on a static logic implementation of an x86 processor and implements the PC/104-Plus version of the PC/104 standard. (Photo courtesy of Versalogic.)
The ADLINK and VersaLogic boards are just two examples
of how integration has allowed the PC/104 standard to
keep current with today’s high-performance embedded
system requirements. For a list of all the members and
products available, go to the membership and product
tabs on the PC/104 consortium website (PC104.org).
April 201628
CONTACT INFORMATION
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
EMAC, Inc.
EMAC DISTRIBUTION:
EMAC separates itself from the competition by offering OEM products that we design and manufacture; as well as a full line of products from some of the other leading names in the embedded marketplace. Since 1985 EMAC has provided customers worldwide with Single Board Computers, I/O peripherals, System on Module (SoM), Computer on Module, Panel PCs, PC/104 modules, embedded servers, embedded operating systems, solid state drives, application development and custom carrier boards. Call 618-529-4525 or email [email protected] with your project requirements and see how our product and services can improve your solution.
INDUSTRIES:
Test & Measurement, Transportation, Energy, Utilities, Telecommunications, Logistics, Packaging, Food & Bev-erage, HVAC, Agriculture, Healthcare, Gaming
APPLICATION AREAS:
Instrumentation, HMI, DAQ, Industrial IOT, Intelligent Systems, M2M, Industrial Automation, Control Systems, Sensor Hubs & Semi-Custom Solutions
Equipment Monitor and Control
EMBEDDED SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS
EMAC helps clients meet demanding embedded product release schedules. Our team is experienced with hardware & software design, prototyping, manufacturing, real time solutions, technical support, Windows embedded, embedded Linux, driver & application development, and provide the flexibility to meet scheduled product deliveries.
EMAC ENGINEERING:
EMAC’s semi-custom and fully custom engineering service bridges the gap between off the shelf OEM sales and contract engineering. We design and manufacture turn-key products, often with off-the-shelf EMAC products combined with custom components. We have extensive experience with Sensor Integration, Motor control, Wifi, Zigbee, Bluetooth low energy, GPS, Cell Modem integration, Audio & Video streaming, Audio & Video Capture, Data Acquisition, Machine Vision, FPGA, web enabled user interface with database backends, Phone App User Interfaces, RFID, Barcoding, and more. EMAC’s OEM products are designed and manufactured in the USA.
EMAC MANUFACTURING:
EMAC’s manufacturing division is located in Carbondale, IL. We have a team of trained technicians that understand the deadlines and demands of our clients. We work closely with clients in all phases of product manufacturing to build high quality products at a fair price. From your initial concept to a finished product EMAC can help you plan for success.
EMAC INTEGRATION BOX BUILD SERVICE:
EMAC can provide turnkey embedded solutions that are completely integrated and built to your specifications. This will allow your company to forego the cost of expanding your internal infrastructure. EMAC simplifies system integration when we release products that are designed to connect together, both within the system under construction and to systems that are already deployed. EMAC offers a complete range of services that addresses the full integration lifecycle - from assessment and design to development and management. EMAC project engineers identify and implement solutions to accelerate time-to-market, reduce the risk of improperly configured systems, minimize technical support costs and deliver cost-competitive products to you or your authorized affiliates.
EMAC, Inc. 2390 EMAC Way Carbondale, IL 62902USA618-529-4525 Telephone618-457-0110 [email protected] www.emacinc.com
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29 eecatalog.com/PC104PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
engineers guide to PC/104 & Embedded Small Form Factors
CONTACT INFORMATION
ADL Embedded Solutions Inc.
◆ Support for Military-Erase Protocols
DOD NISPOM 5220.22-M
NSA/CSS 9-12
NSA/CSS 130-2
ARMY AR 390-19
◆ -40C to +85C Operation
◆ Hard Drive Assembly Dimensions – HWD = .85” x 3.8” x 5.0”
MIL-STD 810 ADLRHD-1650 Removable Hard Drive Assembly
The ADLRHD-1650 has been developed for military and industrial use scenarios that can benefit from MIL-STD 810 shock and vibration durability but also requires frequent SATA drive removal or swapping for data retrieval, maintenance, security and other purposes.
Sub-Assembly Description
The removable hard drive mechanism includes a rug-ged, milled aluminum sub-assembly that accepts the slide-out tray for the hard drive and includes a mounted PCB with the mating hyperboloid connector for the hard drive on one side, and standard SATA power and data interface on the opposite side.
FEATURES & BENEFITS
◆ Designed for MIL-STD 810 Operation
◆ Durable Milled Aluminum Construction
◆ Durable Hyperboloid SATA Connector
Rated for 100,000 SSD Insertions
Rugged Mounted for MIL-STD 810 Shock and Vibration
Positive Mating Action
Ultra-Low Electrical Resistance
◆ 32GB to 64GB 2.5” SATA With Milled Aluminum Casing,
SLC/MLC
ADL Embedded Solutions Inc.4411 Morena Blvd., Suite 101San Diego, CA 92117-4345Tel: 858.490.0597Fax: [email protected]
Sys
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ystem
Enclo
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PC/104 & Embedded SFF ONLINE
Explore...➔ Top Stories and News
➔ White Papers
➔ Expert Opinions (Blogs)
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Sign up for the PC/104 & Embedded SFF Quarterly Report email newsletter
www.eecatalog.com/pc104
www.eecatalog.com/pc104
April 201630
LAST WORD
IoT: Powering Small Devices Are the power solutions the IoT needs arriving quickly enough?
The massive game-changing potential of the Internet
of Things (IoT) connected devices has been limited
by a lack of effective power solutions. The solid-state
thin film battery market is forecasted to reach $1.3 bil-
lion worldwide by 2021 as published by Custom Market
Insights. Fueling this growth is the rise of IoT—wear-
ables, medical devices and sensors. Traditional battery
technologies simply cannot provide the new features
and designs that these new applications demand.
However, arriving on the market are thin-film, flexible
batteries which are ultra-thin, flexible, rollable, stretch-
able and can withstand high temperatures.
Many applications are still emerging, and their require-
ments are evolving fast. Because target specs are also
very diverse, each with unique requirements for power,
thinness, cost, safety, shelf life, reliability, and flex-
ibility, a customized power source makes sense.
BrightVolt is one company tackling the demand for
small powered solutions.
Low power/long battery life—As IoT infrastruc-
ture becomes ubiquitous, many use-cases require
designing and building low power and small form factor batteries,
both primary and rechargeable. BrightVolt’s Flexion™ batteries have
3.0V, multiple capacity options such as 10, 14, 20, 25mAh and varied
tab configurations such as extended tab, terminal support, terminal
support with ACF. They also have attachment options such as ultra-
sonic welding, soldering, conductive epoxy and conductive film and
a shelf life of 3-5+ years.
Customized—Battery designs are available that are as thin as 0.37mm.
For example, BrightVolt Flexion batteries were designed to operate con-
tinuously over a wide temperature range (-10 ºC to +60 ºC). They utilize
a patented solid polymer electrolyte and contain no volatile liquids or
gelling agents. Self-connecting battery terminals using anisotropic
conductive film. BrightVolt can custom-build the size, shape, power,
capacity, tab configurations and attachment options that are needed
for these diverse requirements.
Scalable Manufacturing—BrightVolt has already shipped millions of
units. Scalability is our key differentiator. We can take a solution from
prototype to full production and anything in between. Our enduring
quality, durability, and built-in intelligence is what makes us the best
choice for custom product designs.
Safe—It is now possible to find batteries that are non-toxic, non-
corrosive and environmentally friendly. It’s also important to choose
an Inherently safe design that reduces the need for additional battery
safety circuitry. Polymer matrix electrolyte provides outstanding
thermal stability with no volatile liquids or gels.
MEDICAL MIRACLES AND THIN BATTERIES Nanotechnology itself dates back to the 1980s, when U.S. engineer
Eric Drexler coined it. Today, nanotechnology and tiny batteries are
changing the medical device industry.
Applicable medical uses include the ability to use small form batteries to
power the circuitry associated wit skin-based monitoring devices that
can detect the glucose levels, for example. Transdermal drug delivery
and patches could change how injectable drugs are delivered in a more
effective time-released manner through a battery-powered patch.
Figure 1: Traditional battery technologies are giving way to new designs, which can reduce design complexity. (Courtesy BrightVolt)
By Venetia Espinoza, BrightVolt
www.embeddedsystemsengineering.com
New Products
Complete
Coverage of 30+
Key Embedded
Technologies
News, Analysis, and Features
April 201632
LAST WORD
Additionally, the combination of a
nanosensor used in conjunction with a
smartphone could be used to track auto-
immune diseases and cancer. It could also
be an effective screening tool for rejection
in patients with organ transplants.
SENSORS, SMART PACKAGING AND THE IOTIt is anticipated that the temperature
monitoring market will reach over $3.2
billion by 2020. Smart sensor labels
answer the needs for numerous indus-
tries, particularly perishable goods.
These printed electronics devices and
labeling enable the IoT to reduce waste
and improve consumer safety.
This technology allows pharmaceutical
companies to keep temperature-sensitive
products safe and effective, while pre-
venting the unnecessary ruin of usable
products. Retailers who use temperature-
monitoring labels during shipment of
produce and other food products as well
as cosmetics and off-the-shelf healthcare
items will have immediate insight with
regards to both shelf life and food safety.
Some of the most ubiquitous wearables
are fitness trackers like FitBit and Jaw-
bone that hit the market like wildfire in
2013. 1 in 5 Americans today wear this
technology to track their activity levels,
sleep and more. Wearables will continue
to evolve in size, usability, form factors
and diverse power needs.
Assisted living and eldercare is another
compelling and demanding wearable
technology market. Wearable sensors
for this market pose massive potential
in generating big data for IoT, with a
great applicability to biomedicine and
‘ambient assisted living’ (AAL). ‘Ambient
intelligence’ in eldercare is being sensi-
tive and responsive to the presence of
people. Recent advancements in several
technological areas have helped the vision
of AAL to become a reality. These tech-
nologies include of course smart homes,
assistive robotics, and, in small form:
e-textile, mobile and wearable sensors.
Another significant advancement is
detecting common medical issues such
as sleep apnea, which used to require an
uncomfortable in-clinic sleep study. No
more. Today, a patient can wear a device
overnight in the privacy of their own
home and send the results off to their
physician. Other exciting uses include
trackers in clothing, interactive toys,
games and more.
EMBEDDING SECURITYTarget’s $10 million 2013 class action
data breach lawsuit and privacy issue
hammered home just how devastating
security fraud really is. Since that time,
many credit cards are now embedded
with an EMV chip, but there’s an even
better solution emerging. Not only will a
small form battery the size of a postage
stamp power these new cards, a com-
puter chip randomizes the code number
about every hour, adding to its security.
This renders the card useless to anyone
who has written down your card number,
expiration date and code. This applica-
tion will effectively eliminate ‘card not
present’ fraud. Other ultra-thin battery
uses in a credit card could allow for a tiny
screen on your card itself that displays
your balance.
When Apple launched its biometric ID
fingerprint reader on its iPhone 5S,
many people adjusted quickly to the
convenience of the fingerprint password.
Building on that same technology, travel
documents including drivers’ licenses
and passports, as well as vital health
information, can be included in one
ultra-thin battery-powered, pocket-
sized card that fits in your wallet.
CONCLUSIONBy assessing the considerations outlined
in this article, a product designer can
effectively achieve a small-form factor
product able to reliably operate with
the right battery. Custom batteries can
eliminate design complexities and opti-
mize battery use for many applications.
Venetia Espinoza is in charge of market-
ing at BrightVolt, a worldwide leader
in the design, development and scale
manufacturing of thin film batteries. She
holds more than 25 years of marketing
and product experience with premier
technology companies. She also served
as Vice President and General Manager
of Softcard, a joint venture established
by industry giants Verizon, AT&T and
T-Mobile. She holds an MBA and BS de-
gree in Industrial Engineering.
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