Boards/Backplanes

SBC's powerful graphics & fast data transmission suit POS

17th November 2014
Barney Scott
0

Congatec has added to its successful product range with an industrial Mini-ITX motherboard based on the Intel Atom E3800 series (codenamed Bay Trail). The conga-IA3 is an extremely low-power, high-performance SBC with embedded qualities. Rugged computer boards are available in the popular Thin Mini-ITX form factor, suited for 24/7 operation.

The flat design, measuring 25mm in height with I/O shield, allows space-saving installation in display and panel PCs, making the realisation of digital signage and control solutions for industry and business applications a quick and easy task.

An extended industrial temperature range in the ‘Industrial-Line’ version, real-time capability and support for multiple OSs ensure reliable operation even in demanding industrial applications such as mechanical engineering or automation and control. Thanks to their very low power consumption, 3rd gen Intel Atom-based systems are suitable for passively cooled and hermetically sealed systems that can be used in harsh environments.

The powerful integrated graphics eliminate any need to compromise on ease-of-use, something that is particularly important for POS and retail applications such as kiosk systems. Two independent high resolution displays make it possible to realise even sophisticated UIs such as touchscreens.

The conga-IA3 Mini-ITX system is based on Intel Atom SoC processors; its two SODIMM sockets can be equipped with up to 8GB of onboard DDR3L memory. For semi-embedded applications, Intel Celeron versions that offer even higher performance are available.

The integrated Intel Gen7 graphics support DirectX 11, OpenGL 3.2, OpenCL 1.2 and high-performance, flexible hardware decoding to decode multiple high resolution full HD videos in parallel. The processor natively supports up to 2,560x1,600px resolution with DisplayPort and 1,920x1,200px with HDMI, and up to two independent display interfaces can be connected. A DisplayPort (DP ++) and VGA port are provided on the back of the board, and an additional embedded DisplayPort (eDP) and 2x24-bit LVDS can be added via an internal DISP connector.

Native USB 3.0 support ensures fast data transmission with low power consumption. A total of three USB 3.0 SuperSpeed ports (two of them USB 2.0 backwards compatible) and four additional USB 2.0 ports are available. Two 5Gb/s PCI Express 2.0 lanes can be used as 1x mPCIe Half Size, 1x PCIe Full Size (shared with PCIe x1 and mSATA) and 1x PCIe x1 (shared with mSATA/mPCIe). Two SATA 3.0 interfaces with up to 6Gb/s allow quick and flexible system extensions, whilst two Intel I211 Gigabit Ethernet controllers each provide one Gigabit Ethernet LAN access via the two RJ45 sockets. ACPI 5.0, I2C bus and LPC bus allow easy integration of legacy I/O interfaces. An optional security module, real-time clock, Intel high-definition audio and a universal power source with 12-24V complete the feature set.

Supported OSs include Microsoft Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit), Windows 8.X, Windows Embedded Standard 7 (WES7), Windows Embedded Standard 8 (WES8), Windows Embedded Compact 7 (WEC7), Windows Embedded Compact 2013 (WEC2013) and Linux. For further OSs, particularly real-time systems, congatec offers support for the development of specific driver board support packages.

In addition to congatec's experience as a manufacturer of computer modules, customers can benefit from synergistic effects which reduce development time and cost, while existing know-how and infrastructures make it possible to outsource custom designs and solutions to the manufacturer if necessary.

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