Embedded Computing Design with Resource Guide 2021

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Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

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CONTENTS

Fall 2021 | Volume 19 | Number 2

FEATURES 6

Classic DSP, Neural Networks & Benchmarks Improve Voice Activation at the Edge

When Standards Mature: Balancing Performance & Demand in the High-Energy Physics Community

By Chad Cox, Assistant Editor and Brandon Lewis, Editor-in-Chief

14

The COM-HPC Spec is Here and Products Are Emerging

By Rich Nass, Brand Director

16

@Embedded.Computing.Design

@embedded_comp

bit.ly/ECDYouTubeChannel

COVER

By Tiera Oliver, Associate Editor

10

opsy.st/ECDLinkedIn

6 16

Advanced particle accelerators like the DESY XFEL need cutting-edge performance from electronic control and data acquisition systems. They also need electronic system standards to guard against the cost and design risks of proprietary, single-source architectures. But, are their needs too far ahead of market demand?

The 2021 Resource Guide, full of enabling tools and technologies, begins on page 26.

High Data Rate Considerations for SDR in Spectrum Monitoring and Recording

By Victor Wollesen, Per Vices

20 22

WEB EXTRAS

Creating the Perfect Workbench

By Jeremy S. Cook, Contributing Editor

Argonne National Labs Uses AI to Accelerate, Optimize Semiconductor Fabrication Process.

Ambient Energy Sources for Self-Powered IoT Devices

https://bit.ly/ArgonneUsesAIforALD

By Tiera Oliver, Associate Editor

By Huw Davies, Trameto

Independent Testing Shows Quantum Tunneling Protects Against All Known IoT Attacks

By Chad Cox, Assistant Editor https://bit.ly/QuantumTunnelingAgainstCyberAttacks

26 2021 RESOURCE GUIDE

What’s New in Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021

By Saumitra Jagdale, Contributing Editor https://bit.ly/Windows10EnterpriseUpgrade

Published by:

20

COLUMNS 5

TRACKING TRENDS

Surveys Say Your Next Language is Python

By Tiera Oliver, Associate Editor

4

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TRACKING TRENDS

tiera.oliver@opensysmedia.com

Surveys Say Your Next Language is Python

By Tiera Oliver, Associate Editor According to GeeksforGeeks, there are currently more than 500 computer programming languages, each with its own features and syntax. If you had to use one, or learn a new one, which one would you choose?

The languages software developers like working with or want to learn can provide meaningful insight into what skills employers are looking for, what’s likely to be used in the future, and which will fade from popularity. tack ver ow s 0 0 Annual Developer urvey results revealed the languages developers wanted to learn, loved, and dreaded the most. Of all the languages tracked, “developers report that they do not use but want to learn” Python, which captured 30 percent of the vote from nearly 65,000 respondents. It was the fourth year in a row Python led that category.

For the fifth consecutive year, ust earned the top spot as the survey’s most loved programming language with an 86.1 percent approval rating amongst developers who work with it (Python scored a 66.7 percent). More than four of five (80. percent) would prefer to not continue working in this year’s most dreaded language, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).

C was the 21st most-loved language in the survey, with only 33.1 percent indicating they would like to continue with it. Just 4.3 percent of those who were unfamiliar with C said they are interested in learning it, good enough for 16th on the “most wanted” list. It was sixth on the most dreaded list with a 66.9 percent disapproval rating.

Python: Snaking its Way into Embedded Although tack ver ow didn t specifically report on the most used languages, a separate study conducted by UC Berkeley did. The school asked developers “which languages are in demand right now and which ones … will be in demand soon.” The responses indicated that in 2021 the most used language will be JavaScript, with Python a close second and C#, Rust, and Perl coming in 8, 9, and 10, respectively.

Python isn’t just growing in websites, data visualization, and analysis stacks – the versatile language is even gaining popularity in embedded systems. Subsets of the language like MicroPython, a spin on Python version 3 that contains a limited form of its standard library, make it possible for developers to easily port Pythoncompliant code from a desktop to a microcontroller.

MicroPython contains features that make it popular with programmers like interactive prompts, arbitrary precision www.embeddedcomputing.com

integers, closures, list comprehension, generators, exception handling, and more, The MicroPython pyboard, for example, runs baremetal MicroPython – essentially a ython with a small built-in filesystem, command prompt, and Python objects for peripheral control.

Another open-source Python project that straddles the line between embedded targets and object-oriented software is Xilinx’s PYNQ initiative. PYNQ leverages Python to expose new engineers to Xilinx Zynq, UltraScale+, RFSoC, and Alveo accelerator hardware via browser-based Jupyter Notebooks.

“Hardware libraries, or overlays, can speed up software running on a Zynq or Alveo board, and customize the hardware platform and interfaces,” the PYNQ website reads.

Where to Start if You’re Behind the Python Curve UC Davis is planning to launch a fully remote Python for Data Science, Web and Core Programming curriculum this fall. According to the school, the program is “designed for programming beginners as well as professionals looking to enhance their careers” and “immerses learners in a hands-on coding environment that emphasizes the practical applications of Python to data science or software development fields.

UC Davis says the program, which costs $2,992-$3,520, can be completed in as little as nine months. The program s five courses cover › Coding using Python scripting, syntax tools, and object-oriented coding theories › Advanced Python language features for writing efficient programs › Solving data-related problems and assessing and developing algorithms › Applications for data mining and data analytics Rust: For those Who’ve Caught the Snake For engineers who are already proficient in ython and looking to add to their tech lexicon, Rust is another great language to pick up.

According to tack ver ow, ust is making strides in electronics engineering as a low-level language ideal for baremetal and embedded development. It’s still relatively new, but has been praised for mature features like direct access to hardware and memory and zero-cost abstractions. The Rust Programming Language, a book

by Steve Klabnik and Carol Nichols, explains how developers can get started with Rust.

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Classic DSP, Neural Networks & Benchmarks Improve Voice Activation at the Edge

By Tiera Oliver, Associate Editor

If you’ve ever used a virtual assistant, you likely assumed you were talking to a device so smart it could answer almost any question you asked. Well Amazon Echos, Google Homes, and other devices like them usually have no idea what you’re talking about.

Y

es, these devices leverage AI. But not in the way you’d expect.

More often than not the endpoint hardware simply detects a wake word or trigger phrase and opens a connection to the cloud where natural language processing engines analyze the request.

And in many cases, they don’t just transmit a recording of your question.

“What it started off with we would call a ‘weak wake word’ at the edge,” says Vikram Shrivastava, Senior Director of IoT Marketing at Knowles Intelligent Audio in Palo Alto, California. “You would still have to send the entire recording up to the cloud to get a real solid second

6

that someone actually said, ‘Okay, Google’ or someone actually said the trigger word in question.

“This would generate something that we call the true positive rate (TPR) of detection and false accepts,” he went on. “So, if you didn’t say Alexa but it sent a message to the cloud anyway, then the cloud would say, ‘No, you didn’t. I double checked and you’re wrong.’ And that was because the edge devices were not sophisticated enough in their edge detection algorithms.”

In other words, many virtual assistants go to the cloud at least twice: Once to verify that they are being addressed and a second time to respond to the request.

Not so smart, huh?

Conversations at the Edge There are several drawbacks to this architecture. Sending requests to the cloud adds time and cost, and opens potentially sensitive data to security and privacy threats. But

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

www.embeddedcomputing.com

SPECIAL FEATURE

Interfaces 4x PDM in, 1x PDM out, 3x I2S/TDM (4ch in/out)

Processor and Memory Open DSP SDK 1.4MB Total, 1MB User RAM Tensilica (Plus Knowles Instruction Set)

Up to 4 Mics 175MHz

2x I2C 2x SPI, 2x UART, 24 GPIOs w/interrupts

FIGURE 1

the most limiting factor of this approach is that opening and maintaining these network connections gobbles up energy, which prevents voice AI from being deployed in entire classes of batterypowered products.

Herein lies the challenge. Many edge devices use power-efficient technologies that don’t equip the performance to run AI locally, and therefore must send voice commands to the cloud, which incurs the penalties mentioned previously. To escape this cycle, audio engineers at Knowles and elsewhere are integrating the traditional efficiency of digital signal processors (DSPs) with emerging neural network algorithms to increase intelligence at the edge.

“What we are seeing now is that the edge devices are beginning to transition to the built-in ecosystem,” Shrivastava explains. “So now you can have up to 10, 20, 30 commands, which can be all executed at the edge itself. www.embeddedcomputing.com

HemiDelta + HiFi3 Ultra Low Power Voice Processing

DeltaMax + ML Intense Compute with ML Support

Knowles integrates Cadence Tensilica HiFi DSP cores into its AISonic Audio Edge Processors. (Source: Knowles Intelligent Audio)

ome of the trigger word improvements have significantly improved the T at the edge,” he continues. “Where audio DSPs actually played a big role and audio algorithms at the edge play a big role is just the performance of detecting these trigger words in noisy environments; so, if my vacuum cleaner is running and I’m trying to command something, or you’re in the kitchen and the exhaust fan is running and you’re trying to talk to your Alexa unit.

“This is what we call a low SNR, which means the noise in the environment you’re in is very high and average talking would be lower than the average noise.”

Knowles is a fabless semiconductor company known for its high-end microphones, and more recently for audio processing solutions. The latter began with Knowles’ 2015 acquisition of Audience Inc., a company founded on academic research in computational auditory scene analysis (CASA), which studies how humans group and distinguish sounds that are mixed with other frequencies. That research led to specialized audio processors capable of extracting one clear voice signal from background noise in the way Shrivastava described.

In addition to those audio processors, products like the Knowles AISonic Audio Edge Processors integrate DSP IP cores from Cadence Design Systems (Figure 1). Cadence’s Tensilica HiFi portfolio of audio DSPs has gained popularity in intelligent edge voice applications thanks to its energy eefficiency, digital front-end, and neural network processing capabilities.

Knowles deploys these Tensilica-based audio processing solutions into everything from single-microphone AISonic SmartMics to high-end devices like Honeywell or Nestclass thermostats where they manage anywhere from three to seven microphones.

“The microphones are digital, the DSP is digital, the communication between the DSP and the host processor is also digital,” Shrivastava says. “Let’s just say it’s an Ecobee device. There’s an Arm-based host processor in there that’s running a little Alexa stack, which will take the command phrase from the Knowles subsystem.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

“We can take that core microphone data coming in, we can do beamforming, we can find out which direction you re talking in, we can improve and amplify a signal only from that direction, ignore the noise from the other direction, do some other noise suppression as well, and then detect the trigger word accurately,” he continues. “In a well-tuned system, we would have less than three false detections in 24 hours. And we can do that all within a 1 MB of memory.

“And the value proposition behind having all of that in there is, just to give you an idea, if you needed an Arm core running at 1 Hz to do speech processing, we would be running the same process at about 50 MHz on our DSP, so almost a factor of 20,” the Knowles engineer explains. “And that directly translates into power consumption.” bviously, Tensilica cores don t provide the level of efficiency hrivastava is describing out of the box. Application engineers must tune the cores for the end use case.

For adence Tensilica customers, this process is simplified by the availability of custom instructions.

“One of the things that’s unique about Tensilica is the ability to use Tensilica Instruction Extensions, or a TIE,” says Adam Abed, Director of Product Marketing at Cadence and a former Knowles employee. “Knowles uses that extensively to customize and build very efficient oating-point processing.

“And so together, we’ve built this really nice, unique product that’s able to not only deliver high-quality audio from the MEMS and microphone standpoint, but also do some things like cleanup or voice trigger in a super-low-power manner without waking up most of the system,” he adds (Figure 2).

To maximize both power efficiency and AI performance, the wake-up process Abed mentioned is usually implemented in phases depending on the system. As his colleague Yipeng Liu, Director of Product Engineering at Cadence, explains, in IP like the HiFi 5 this requires “a combination of traditional DSP plus the ability to process the neural network itself.

HiFi32 ISA Fusion F1 ISA Subset Variant

HiFi 3

v32(c)(f)

HiFi 3z

v32(vf)

HiFi 5

v32(vf)

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Fixed-Point MACs per Cycle

Accumulator

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FPU (optional)

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2 integrated 2-way SIMD VFPU

ITU Intrinsic Support

2 integrated 2-way SIMD VFPU

2 integrated 4-way SIMD VFPU

Yes 1

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Optional

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

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Yes

Yes

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Yes

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Optional connectivity protocol acceleration

FIGURE 2 8

HiFi 4

v32(vf)

VLIW Slots

32 MACs/cycle NN MACs (optional) half-precision FPU

v32

Base HiFi instruction set with 32-bit, 24-bit, and 16-bit data type

v32(vf)

Single-precision integrated IEEE floating point

v32(f)

Single-precision integrated IEEE vector floating point

v32(c)

Communications protocol acceleration (AES, convolutional encoding...)

Cadence’s Tensilica HiFi family of DSPs provides the performance scalability and instrucion customization to meet the requirements of a range of intelligent voice processing systems. (Source: Cadence Design Systems) Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

The first layer is to detect if there s actually any voice, so that’s a very lightweight voice activity detection,” Liu says. “If it detects voice, then you wake up the next layer of processing called keyword spotting. That can be pretty lightweight processing. It just says, ‘I heard a word that sounds like what I’m listening for.’

“Then there is a third layer, which is once you’ve detected a trigger word you may want to wake up another layer of processing that validates, ‘Yes, I did hear what I think I heard.’ That’s actually a very heavy processing load,” she continues “From there you continue to listen and that becomes heavy-load neural network processing.

It could take 1 MHz it could take 0 MHz. It really depends.”

Picking the Best Voice AI Stack: “It Depends” And when it comes to AI and ML technology evaluation, it really depends.

Of course, determining how many megahertz, how much power consumption, keyword detection accuracy, and other key performance indicators of an intelligent audio system varies from design to design. Liu went on to explain that this variety makes it difficult to gauge the viability of smart voice system components, even DSPs, because metrics like tera operations per second (TOPS) don’t “actually matter” when dealing with highly specialized DSPs “You can do 1,000 TOPS, but all the operations are the wrong type and you may only need 200 MHz for your certain type of processing. Or if you write the instructions and one device takes 50 MHz instead of 200 MHz, even though they have the same number of TOPS, essentially you have more effective TOPS,” she adds.

Recently, though, MLCommons has looked to simplify the process of evaluating edge AI components by teaming with EEMBC on a new system-level benchmark: MLPerf Tiny Inference. As the latest in a series of training and inferencing benchmarks from ML Commons that span from cloud to edge, MLPerf www.embeddedcomputing.com

“... THE LANDSCAPE OF TINYML REQUIRES SO MUCH EFFICIENCY, SO MANY SOFTWARE VENDORS AND EVEN HARDWARE VENDORS PROVIDE VALUE AT ALL DIFFERENT POINTS IN THE STACK.” Tiny Inference currently provides a standard framework and reference implementation for four use cases: keyword spotting, visual wake words, image classification, and anomaly detection The MLPerf Tiny workloads are designed around a pre-trained -bit oatingpoint reference model (FP32), which Colby Banbury, PhD student in the Edge Computing Lab at Harvard University and MLPerf Tiny Inference Working roup co-chair, identifies as the current “gold standard for accuracy.” However, MLPerf Tiny Inference offers a quantized 8-bit integer model (INT-8) as well.

What sets MLPerf Tiny apart as a systemlevel benchmark is its exibility, which helps avoid single-point assessments of compute performance, for example, by allowing organizations to submit any component within an ML stack. This includes compilers, frameworks, or anything else. ut being too exible can also be a negative when it comes to benchmarks, as you can very quickly end up with multiple vectors that aren’t related. MLPerf Tiny addresses this through two different divisions – an open and closed division – that provide submitters and users with the ability to measure ML technologies for a specific purpose or against each other.

“MLPerf in general has this large set of rules. And it came out of this constant pulling factor between exibility and comparability,” says Banbury. “The closed benchmark is something that’s much more comparable. You take a pretrained model and then you’re allowed to implement it onto your hardware in a www.embeddedcomputing.com

manner that is e uivalent to the reference model based on some specific rules that have been outlined. And so that’s really a one-to-one comparison of hardware platforms. ut the landscape of TinyM re uires so much efficiency, so many software vendors and even hardware vendors provide value at all different points in the stack,” the MLPerf Tiny co-chair continues. “And so, for people to be able to show that they have a better model design, or that they might be able to provide better data augmentation at the training phase, or even different types of quantization, the open division allows you to essentially just solve it in whatever manner you want. We measure accuracy, latency, and optionally energy, and so you’re allowed to hit whatever optimization point your product is intended for.”

In short, the closed division lets users evaluate ML components within pre-determined constraints, while the open division can be used to more loosely measure a portion or the entirety of your solution. In the open division, models, training scripts, datasets, and other parts of the reference implementation can be modified to fit the submission requirements.

Hearing Clearly with Classic Signal Processing But back to voice. The goal of audio AI is the ability to perform full-blown natural language processing (NLP) completely at the edge. Of course, this requires a lot more processing capability, a lot more memory, a lot more power, and a lot more cost than the market is ready for today “I would say we’re still maybe two years away from true natural language at the edge,” says Knowles’ Shrivastava. “Where we are seeing success right now is in low-power, battery-based devices that want to add a voice and speech processing; so having some of these local commands or the built-in capability.

“It’s early days because you need a lot of resources for natural language understanding at the edge and this is still the domain of the cloud,” he continues. “In the last five years, we still haven t seen a lot of natural language come to the edge. ut definitely we are getting a subset of context-specific commands moving towards the edge. And I think we will see more and more of that as they fit in some of the embedded processes.”

AI processing engines are being developed that promise to execute voice activation, recognition, and keyword spotting more efficiently and enable more advanced natural language-based workloads at the edge. In fact, Knowles and Cadence are both actively developing such solutions.

But in the short- to mid-term, there is still a need to make local decisions like voice trigger validation in real-time while consuming less power. So, with their legacy of efficient oating-point processing on streaming data, why not try traditional D for novel new applications?

And if you’re not sure, just ask.

Editor’s Note: Subscribe to the Embedded Insiders Podcast for more in-depth analysis of edge AI and other technology topics.

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INDUSTRY STANDARDS

When Standards Mature: Balancing Performance & Demand in the HighEnergy Physics Community

By Chad Cox, Assistant Editor, and Brandon Lewis, Editor-in-Chief

Spanning 2.1 miles, the XFEL particle accelerator at DESY in Hamburg, Germany is the longest linear accelerator in the world.

The high-energy physics community leverages PICMG’s MicroTCA.4 hardware standard for timing and synchronization, data acquisition, and control at particle accelerators like DESY. But as experiments at these research centers advance, the performance of supporting systems must evolve. How can standards like MicroTCA support the demands of bleeding-edge use cases and remain applicable to broader markets?

T

he DESY research center in Hamburg is home to circular accelerators like PETRA and the world’s longest linear particle accelerator, the 2.1-mile XFEL. The systems are used in physics experiments that study uantum particles, film chemical reactions, map the structure of viruses like COVID-19, and many others.

To say the electronics that support these accelerators are sophisticated is an understatement. For example, 10 times every second, the XFEL generates 2,700 X-ray pulses at a repetition rate of 4.5 MHz (Figure 1). That means that every second the laser emits 27,000 pulses with a luminosity multiple orders of magnitude greater than conventional X-rays. Imaging detectors capture 10 GBps of data from these blasts in support of experiments that measure atomic-level wavelengths as infinitesimal as 0.05 nm, and require femtosecond resolution.

The control system that manages XFEL, Karabo, was developed in-house by DESY engineers. But the fast electronics behind Karabo’s sensitive timing, measurement, and front-end

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Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

data acquisition platforms are an open industry standard: MicroTCA.4 (µTCA.4).

“XFEL is completely controlled by µTCA – all the fast electronics,” says Kay Rehlich, the engineer responsible for standardizing DESY’s accelerator control systems around µTCA. “There are a lot of other systems involved for slower stuff, but the fast dynamic beam things like high-precision timing, machine protection, diagnostics, and RF, all of this is done in µTCA.” There are currently more than 35 µTCA.4 systems distributed along the XFEL’s miles-long expanse (Figure 2). Originally designed as a telecom-grade solution, the µTCA platforms operate 24/7 for periods of a year or more thanks to integrated reliability features like remote monitoring and control, automatic failure detection, and redundant cooling and power supplies.

The µTCA chassis accept plug-in cards called AdvancedMCs (AMCs) that support a range of modular functionality. At DESY, the AMCs host FPGAs that are used to digitize, synchronize, www.embeddedcomputing.com

INDUSTRY STANDARDS

and process data. Data is then sent over high-speed PCIe and Ethernet interconnects across the backplane and out of the system to control servers and other equipment.

For the more specific needs of highenergy physics, the .4 extension also supports a special clock and trigger topology.

In the XFEL timing system, this provides reference frequencies to align sampling rates and deterministically distribute the X-ray laser’s pulse pattern information.

Rear-transition modules (RTMs), which are not present on the µTCA base specification, plug into the back of the chassis opposite AMCs to support the additional I/O requirements of physics applications (Figure 3).

FIGURE 1

The XFEL X-ray generates 2,700 X-ray pulses at a 4.5 MHz repetition rate 10 times per second.

FIGURE 2

More than 35 MicroTCA.4 systems are distributed along the XFEL accelerator’s 2.1 miles to perform synchronization, diagnostics, and other control tasks.

FIGURE 3

The MicroTCA.4 extension specification adds physics-centric features like rear-transition modules (RTMs) that support additional I/O.

MicroTCA, Meet Modern Requirements Despite the system’s sophistication, time marches on, and the XFEL was designed and implemented more than 10 years ago. This includes the imaging detectors, which photograph the accelerator’s 27,000 X-ray pulses per second.

“The systems driving the most data are the large 2D image detectors, which basically take X-ray images,” says Dr. Patrick Gessler, Head of the Electronic and Electrical Engineering Group who works on the accelerators at the European XFEL. “The detectors can only take between 350 and 800 images in one go, but they are still producing around 10 ps of data.

“Already we cannot visualize hundreds of images that are generated in the 10 hertz cycles, essler explains. ow new 3D technologies are coming into reach. This means naturally there will be more and more data generated we have to cope with.

“There are also different kinds of detectors, called 0D detectors, which are just ADCs or digitizers with multiple channels,” he continues. “Right now, we have digitizer systems going up to 10 ps, but the experimenters would like to go even beyond this and also have higher vertical resolution on many, many channels.” www.embeddedcomputing.com

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INDUSTRY STANDARDS

Data isn’t being collected in the µTCA chassis, just digitized and transmitted to hosting servers where scientists from around the world can analyze it. But µTCA is a data pipe in the end-to-end system – one that could potentially burst when DESY installs next-generation detectors that may require TBps transfer speeds.

“We are using a CPU in the µTCA system to control the AMCs, but also to get the data off them. We do some pre-processing and then send it off, usually via 10 GbE if it’s data or 1 GbE into the control system,” Gessler continues. “This means the bottleneck right now is the 10 GbE, as it’s the highest speed we have going out of the µTCA crate.”

When Standards Aren’t So Simple evision .0 of the T A base specification currently supports 0 A E-K to deliver peak 40 Gbps data transfers across the backplane. But 40GBASE-KR4 is just the aggregate of four 10GBASE-KR lanes, so it doesn’t practically improve bandwidth from a port density perspective.

That doesn t mean there aren t options. For instance, Intel finally released Ie en support on its 11th generation chipsets earlier this year, which offers up to 32 GBps data transfers over 16 lanes. And 25GBASE-T lanes have been combined to form 100 bE AdvancedT A systems, the big brother of T A, for more than five years.

Neither of those technologies are state-of-the-art when it comes to electrical backplane technology: › The Ie en spec was finalized in 01 › The IEEE standardized 100 Gbps Ethernet over copper traces in 2014 › PAM4 signaling is now commercially available in interconnect solutions capable of carrying PCIe or Ethernet signals at 56 Gbps and 112 Gbps data rates According to Rehlich, DESY and its partners are currently running simulations and are “quite certain that we can do 100 GbE using 4x 25 Gbps lanes and PCIe Gen 4.” On the surface, this would provide some amount of bandwidth relief without completely overhauling the µTCA standard. But that’s just the surface.

“If you want faster communications, either PCI Express Gen 4 or 5 or even 100G Ethernet, you need switches in the crate that control all of the µTCA communication,” Rehlich explains. “Those would consume more power than what we can provide now in the defined 80 per AM slot.

Engineers at the research center are considering doubling the total µTCA system power consumption to 2 kW. This would not only enable network switching, but also the use of high-performance FPGA and GPU computing solutions that could be used to perform AI. However, this is where things begin to unravel. The first issue is that crosstalk generated by these higher performance compute and connectivity solutions would negatively impact the more sensitive onboard electronics.

“I’m not sure how much processing and extremely-high-speed systems are valuable in the µTCA crate if we also want to use it for very sensitive signals,” Gessler says. “We have digitizers directly in the crate that accept sensitive low-voltage analog signals.

The risk could be, if you combine very powerful computational systems with very high speed and a lot of very sensitive signals on a very compact chassis, you might end up compromising either one or the other, right?”

Should all of this be in the same system? Going further, is a standard even the right option for this use case?

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Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

When Standards Mature: Balancing Market Demand The situation at DESY is one of the few disadvantages of an industry standard, which is the need to reach some level of consensus. Generally speaking, what drives consensus in an industry standard is the market. But whose market?

The µTCA standard serves markets with longer lifecycle requirements like industrial controls, network infrastructure, and test and measurement. The longer deployment cycles mean that fewer sockets are ready to be upgraded in a given period of time, so it takes longer for critical mass to grow around certain technical requirements.

At the same time, the standard, like many other board- and system-level standards was designed with the x86 architecture in mind. As mentioned, Intel’s 11th generation processors are the first to support PCIe Gen 4, which marks ten years since the introduction of PCIe en on Intel server ( nd generation Sandy Bridge) and desktop (3rd generation Ivy Bridge) chipsets.

Still, it’s only a matter of time before all these applications and chipsets advance to current-state-of-the-art technologies like PCIe Gen 5 and 100 GbE+ speeds. If a standard like µTCA is to continue, something, like high-energy physics, must drive it to those performance levels.

Jan Marjonovic is a Senior FPGA Developer at the MicroTCA Tech Lab at DESY, a division of the institute that aims to find new use cases for the MicroTCA and be a service provider to other institutes and companies.” From Desy’s perspective, Jan says, the objective is “to extend the installation base, extend the user base, and then find help with the community.

While the high-energy physics market is one of the most active µTCA communities, it is a smaller one in terms of volume of units shipped. That being said, their total investment in particle accelerators, quantum computing instrumentation, atomic fusion and fission e uipment, etc. is many billions of dollars. Using a standard like µTCA helps protect those investments. www.embeddedcomputing.com

That is, if a standard like µTCA can continue supporting their needs.

and Ie en while we make all of the definitions and define the protocols for an updated µTCA.4 spec. We can work that out this year.

“µTCA.4 was always a niche product and it will remain a niche product” Marjonovic says. “But if DESY was the only one using µTCA, this would not be a standard.

There are at least 0 or 0 institutes already using it and when you go to the workshops there are a lot of people there.

“We want to keep this as a viable standard, so we have to follow what the technology is doing and the CPUs these days. Intel CPUs provide PCI Express Gen 4, so a crate should be able to do that,” he explains. “FPGAs are higher power and higher performance now, so I think the standard has to follow.

“There is, at minimum, a market that is large enough to sustain technology suppliers that cater to the physics market. That s already the first milestone, he continues. “The physics community on its own needs standards so that companies can collaborate and build together.”

Can Accelerators Accelerate a Standard? µTCA technology suppliers like VadaTech, N.A.T. Europe, Samtec, and others are all actively involved in the previously mentioned full-channel simulations to determine the viability of more power and higher-speed interconnects in µTCA systems. Of course, running tests and implementing a new business, engineering, and manufacturing strategy are two different things. That’s especially true if you’re waiting for the market to catch up to the technology. It’s even more true when you’re dealing with a standard that is designed to support interoperability and, to an extent, backward compatibility.

DESY engineers and other members of the physics community understand this and have a vested interest in maintaining it. After all, Rehlich points out that “one of the reasons µTCA was selected is so that all the very different subsystems can use the same standard, which eases software development. If you have a unified, standardized system you can also standardize your software and firmware much better than if you have a heterogeneous system.”

But how and when to move forward are the questions that must be answered when standards mature and the market is confronted with balancing performance and demand.

“Worst case, we make an intermediate step, ehlich says. e can do x bE www.embeddedcomputing.com

“This is not the time to make a completely new standard,” the control system veteran continues. “When we have optical communication on the backplane, that’s a good point in time to generate a completely new standard, but that kind of technology is not yet available. So I think we have to keep with the standards we have to make sure people do not lose their investment in the technology, all the electronics they bought, and the knowledge, of course.”

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The COM-HPC Spec is Here and Products Are Emerging

By Rich Nass, Brand Director

COM-HPC was officially ratified shortly after the new year. As such, it’s time for the first roundup of COM-HPC products.

T

his is not meant to be a comprehensive list, especially because the vendors creating products are moving quickly and new products continue to roll out of the factories. A good resource to keep up with the latest COM-HPC and other commercial solutions based on PICMG (the organization responsible for open hardware standards like COM-HPC) specifications, visit their roduct Directory at picmg.org/member-product-directory.

ADLINK COM-HPC E Server Board Hosts AMD EPYC A 200 mm x 160 mm COM-HPC E-size server board, the COM-HPC-EP from ADLINK Technology, differs from many of the other COM-HPC-based solutions available on the market in that it features an AMD EPYC Embedded 3000 Series SoC (Figure 1). It also offers up to 384 GB of DDR4 memory in six DIMM sockets and up to 56 PCIe lanes.

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The company claims that the EPYC processors, based on the Zen CPU architecture, add performance benefits to performance-hungry applications such as autonomous vehicles; robotics; unmanned aerial vehicles; and 5G small cells, base stations, and infrastructure.

Advantech COM-HPC Size E Features 16-Core Xeon Also designed to a COM-HPC server size E form factor, the Advantech SOM-8990 incorporates an Intel Xeon D-2100 microprocessor with up to 16 cores. It can house up to 512 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory and contains lots of high-speed I/O. Avnet COM-HPC Carrier Eval Platform is Ready for Prototyping Avnet Integrated’s MSC HC-MB-EV is intended for design teams looking for fast and easy lab evaluation, rapid prototyping, and application development on COM-HPC. In other words, it can be used as a reference design for developing a COM-HPC platform.

The client carrier board provides a rich set of interfaces routed to the module socket, including PCIe and PEG ports, DDI and eDP graphics interfaces, and high-speed I/O like USB and SATA. Size A, B, and C client modules can be installed on the carrier. congatec’s Eval Carrier Has All the Interfaces Designed for evaluation purposes, the congatec HPC/EVAL-Client is fully compliant with the M-H specification (Figure ). It s a carrier board for M-H client

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Samtec’s COM-HPC interconnects support PCIe 5.0 and 100 GbE via 112 Gbps PAM4 signaling.

FIGURE 3

ADLINK Technology’s COM-HPC-EP server board features a high-performance AMD EPYC SoC based on the Zen CPU architecture.

FIGURE 1

The congatec HPC/EVALClient is a carrier evaluation board that supports all of the standard signals defined in the COM-HPC specification.

FIGURE 2

modules. One of its keys is that it offers routing of all signals provided by the COM-HPC module specification for standard interface connectors.

Eurotech Combines Fanless Operation, TSN in COM-HPC The CPU-180-01 from Eurotech is designed for fanless applications in harsh environments where long-term reliability is a must. It can handle up to four CPU cores and 96 GPU execution units. The board’s “all-soldered down” design improves resilience and thermal coupling, and results in a -40°C to +85°C operating temperature. Supported operating systems include Everyware Linux (based on Yocto), Ubuntu, and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise Novel capabilities of the CPU-180-01 include time-sensitive networking (TSN) on a 2.5 GbE port, which, when combined with Intel Time-Coordinated Computing www.embeddedcomputing.com

(Intel TCC), enables soft-real-time applications. Integrated high-speed interfaces include PCIe Gen 4, with a bandwidth that is twice the previous generation, and Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 that enable PCIe, video, USB, and power delivery via one standard connector.

Portwell’s COM-HPC Client Home to 11th Gen Core Portwell’s PCOM-B881 is a Client module that fits the mm x 1 0 mm COM-HPC size A form factor. Designed with an 11th generation Intel Core processor with up to four cores, it also supports up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory. Other features include lots of PCIe access, as well as Gigabit Ethernet.

It can operate in an extended temperature range from -40°C to +85°C. Samtec’s PCIe 5.0 & 100 GbE Interconnect Samtec offers a high-density interconnect system that conforms to the COM-HPC standard (Figure 3). Its key features include: › A PCIe 5.0- and 100 GbEcompatible open-pin-field array that supports 11 bps AM data rates › 400-pin BGA mount laid out across four rows and 100 columns › 5- or 10-mm stack heights › Up to 360 W at 12 V SECO COM-HPC, 11th Gen Core Drive 4x Displays Another size A Client module was developed by SECO, with its CHP-C77-CSA also featuring an 11th generation Intel Core processor (Figure 4). It supports up to 64 GB of DDR4-3200 memory on two

The SECO CHP-C77-CSA is a COM-HPC Client size A module is based on 11th generation Intel Core processors.

FIGURE 4

Trenz Electronic’s TE0830 is one of the first COM-HPC modules to feature a programmable logicbased device, the Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+.

FIGURE 5

DDR4 SO-DIMM slots with in-band error correction code (ECC).

It comes with a range of video interfaces (3x DP++, eDP, and HDMI), which can manage up to four high-resolution displays. Available in industrial temperature ranges, the board mainly targets highend automation applications but is also suitable for medical/healthcare, digital signage and infotainment, HMI, edge computing, gaming, robotics, and transportation use cases.

Trenz Electronic’s Zynq UltraScale+ Module The Trenz Electronic TE0830 is centered around a Zynq UltraScale+-based module and can handle lots of highspeed memory (Figure 5). Its Gigabit transceivers allow PCIe Gen 4 to be implemented as a root complex or an endpoint, while USB and several other common interfaces are available. The JTAG connection for programming the Zynq MPSoC can be done via GPIO pins or Ethernet.

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

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TEST & MEASUREMENT

High Data Rate Considerations for SDR in Spectrum Monitoring and RecordinG

By Victor Wollesen, Per Vices

Spectrum monitoring has become a critical activity for a wide range of applications ranging from commercial to defense.

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n ever-increasing number of technologies are using unprecedented levels of bandwidth. Despite the increase in captured data, it is generally best to collect as large a portion of spectrum as possible.

This poses a significant problem for modern spectrum monitoring solutions: analyzing large amounts of spectrum in near-real-time is computationally intense. To meet the dynamic capture and processing requirements of spectrum monitoring, software-defined radios (SDR) and external data processing systems have become the de facto standard.

High-performance spectrum monitoring will require careful consideration of the system architecture to prevent bottlenecks and enable efficient data analysis.

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At a high level, radios will need to connect to the data handling system through a high-speed data link.

Fortunately, state-of-the-art SDRs are utilizing radio-to-host connections with speeds up to 4 x 40 Gbps that fully enable broadband monitoring.

The following reviews additional design considerations for engineers looking to capitalize on those high-speed data links in SDR spectrum monitoring and recording applications.

Addressing Dropped Packets nce the data has been of oaded from the radio to the processing system, there are a variety of bottlenecks that can occur. Ingesting data through a network interface card ( I ) can cause a variety of problems, the first being dropped packets.

Not all NICs are capable of handling multiple Gbps, even if they are connected via PCIe bus. Once a NIC is overloaded, packets will start to be dropped, resulting in loss of captured data. This is unacceptable in spectrum monitoring applications.

Conventional NICs transfer packets via a bus to the host controller in a one-to-one manner, which can result in congestion in high-throughput instances. If large amounts of data are being ingested using a conventional NIC, packets may be discarded due

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FIGURE 2

A typical ingestion hardware solution.

compression to reduce the ingestion workload of downstream processing units such as CPUs and other FPGAs. Spectrum Storage: To SSD or not to SSD? After the data has been ingested by the computing system it will need to be stored and processed. The architecture of the system should be carefully designed to maximize ingestion rate while minimizing hardware cost.

to its inability to pre-process and aggregate packets (Figure 1).

FPGA-based NICs have been developed to address this issue as they can support higher throughputs. FPGA-based NICs can leverage pre-processing and

A typical hardware configuration can be seen in Figure . Implementing a fan-out storage architecture is ideal for high-throughput spectrum monitoring solutions as it can reduce the performance requirement of individual system components. It is also prudent to have the storage system utilize a ring-buffer to provide the largest collection history while automatically discarding the oldest data.

The selection of HDDs or SSDs for spectrum monitoring storage hardware is both application- and cost-specific. HDDs have a lower price point and write speeds of approximately 150 MBps, while PCIe 4.0 SSDs are more expensive but can achieve write speeds of up to 5,000 MBps. Spectrum monitoring solutions with lower data capture and storage requirements can leverage HDDs in AID arrays. Two HDDs in a AID configuration would support an ingestion rate of approximately 2.4 Gbps. hile this may seem significant, it would only support the continuous capture of approximately 100 MHz of bandwidth, and that is assuming that measurement metadata is not stored. Capturing GHz of bandwidth will require storage write speeds to be orders of magnitude higher, as many spectrum monitoring applications currently leverage multiple independent radio receivers to improve performance and capture bandwidth.

To meet this increased requirement, NVMe SSDs are the best storage solution for high-performance spectrum monitoring. A single high-performance NVMe SSD could replace a 17 HDD RAID array, meaning a single device can ingest over 1600 MHz of captured spectrum.

FIGURE 1

A packet capture and processing data flow.

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hile Ds provide a significant performance improvement compared to their mechanical counterparts, many spectrum monitoring solutions will still require a RAID configuration. To ingest data from state-of-the-art x 0 bps I s, a striped array of four high-performance SDDs would be required.

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TEST & MEASUREMENT

In addition to the transfer speed requirements, the computing capability of the system must be able to meet the ingestion and processing requirements. As the amount of spectrum being captured increases, so too do the CPU and processing card capabilities.

High capture bandwidths will require multiple CPU cores to be allocated. Storing 1 0 bps of data re uires approximately cores to be dedicated to the ingestion process. Preferrably, analysis of this data should be handled using a distributed computing architecture, onboard FPGAs and GPUs, or some combination.

In addition to the CPU cores, several GB of RAM should be allocated to buffering the data before it is written to the RAID array. For an HDD array, the buffer size should be larger to compensate for the write delay. This can be reduced in size for SSD-based storage solutions.

Standards-based Metadata Efficiency A significant benefit of D -based spectrum monitoring solutions is the high level of reconfigurability they offer.

Due to the variability of the hardware configuration, the captured metadata is critical in the analysis process. Parameters such as capture bandwidth, carrier frequency, and temperature can vary significantly, and the associated metadata must be stored alongside the spectrum data. Unfortunately, the existence of numerous SDR vendors and their unique packet protocols can complicate analysis of the captured data.

Utilizing VITA 49-compliant SDRs will increase both performance and consistency between SDR platform data. VITA 49-compliant SDR data isolates the captured samples from the metadata, which reduces data transfers as metadata packets are only sent when the SDR sees a change. This leaves more room for spectrum capture data.

In addition to excellent metadata handling, VITA 49 supports high-precision packet timestamping with timing correction that compensates for RF front-end delays. The result is more accurate metadata.

Turnkey SDR Fills Voids in the Spectrum Despite becoming more common across many applications, the majority of SDRs currently available are unable to meet the requirements of high-performance wideband spectrum monitoring applications. In addition to high channel bandwidth, many spectrum monitoring applications require multiple independent receive chains to enable spatial information extraction.

To enable high-bandwidth capture and processing, the radio and early-stage processing systems need to be closely integrated through a high-speed digital backhaul.

The strict integration requirements result in turnkey SDR solutions that offer the best performance while decreasing hardware development time.

Since data ingestion and processing requirements can be very strict, some turnkey solutions will integrate recording, storage, and playback directly into the solution to ensure optimal performance. It is important to work with vendors that can offer complete solutions when looking at the high-performance spectrum monitoring requirements discussed in this article.

Victor Wolleson has an honors degree in physics from the University of Waterloo with a specialization in astrophysics. He is the author of several papers, including “Reviewing the Application and Integration of Software-Defined Radios to Radar Systems,” presented at the IEEE 2020 Radar Conference, and “Low Latency Optimisation Using SDR Technology.” www.embeddedcomputing.com

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TEST & MEASUREMENT

Creating the Perfect Workbench

By Jeremy S. Cook, Contributing Editor

This workbench features a swing arm LED lamp and 12V LED light strip. Image Credit: Jeremy S. Cook

Having a comfortable workspace is important for everyone — but building your own is a rewarding challenge.

T

he “perfect workbench” is of course a matter of opinion and personal need. At this point, however, I’ve used and built several, so I’ll say that at least ualifies me to throw my opinion out there. While striving toward the optimal workbench has been (and still is) an evolution, not a careful plan, here are a few things most anyone needs to look for in a bench: › Space – Here, more is almost always better, except you’ll want to be able to reach across it. Unless you’re especially lucky and/or a good planner, you’ll need to weigh the tradeoffs of “too much” workspace. › Storage – There is something to be said for a clean workbench with nothing on it, but parts and tools have to go somewhere. › Lighting – You need to see what you’re working on. This is even more important if you take a lot of photos and/or video.

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› Extras – Perhaps you’ll want a mount for a microscope, oscilloscope, compressor nozzle, or any number of other items. ersonally, I have an overhead camera mount and a hook for a pneumatic air blowoff. If you make your own bench, you have limitless options!

Space Space is probably the most critical on this list, and for my latest build I started out with a 7 x 3.5 ft. slab of chipboard for the top and bottom storage area. This, along with a number of two-by-fours, was fashioned into a bench using a 2 x 4 basics workbench kit (see https://2x4basics.com/WorkBench-Legs.html). The top chipboard was finished with urethane, which looked really good when done (Figure 1). After all, with the price of wood these days, you might as well make it look great considering what you paid for it!

These dimensions work out to a generous 24.5 ft.2 area, which gives me plenty of room to place projects, equipment, tools, and parts at the same time. It was cut down from its original 4 x 8 ft. size to save space and allow me to easily reach across the bench when needed.

Storage The bottom of the setup was left open for large-item storage and is still not full at this point. On top I used accommodations that came with the kit to suspend two-byfours for overhead storage. This works well and allows me to stack Harbor Freight and similar cases on top of each other, and is enhanced by custom 3D-printed storage containers inside the bench. I also added magnets to the front of the shelf, which are great for hanging tools but have the unfortunate potential tradeoff of magnetizing them.

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While I like the storage boxes, the drawback is that I have to get each one out to retrieve parts. One might also consider small drawers for easier access.

Lighting For overhead lighting I mounted a metal clamp swing arm lamp with a deformable LED ceiling light to the overhead storage shelf. This is extremely bright by itself, and I also mounted a strip of 1 EDs underneath the shelf (see age 0 photo).

Taking things a few steps further, I added a strip of RGB LEDs and PIR sensors and supplemented them with a MOSFET and Arduino for control. It’s probably (certainly) overkill, but it allows me to apply more light precisely where I’m working. Much more detail of how I set things up can be seen in Videos 1 and 2.

Extra! Camera Mount On the top two-by-four storage shelf I attached a custom articulating camera mount.

There are, of course, commercial products that would attach in a similar manner, but it was a fun project for my laser.

Adding motorized camera movement is also on my list of projects, so we’ll see if and when that happens.

ADDING MOTORIZED CAMERA MOVEMENT IS ALSO ON MY LIST OF PROJECTS, SO WE’LL SEE IF AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS. Proper Workbench, Long-Term Benefits!

Depending on how you’re counting, I could potentially claim seven work surfaces for projects and computing. While you could make do with much less, having several areas on which to work and temporarily store your projects is a huge benefit (Figure ).

That being said, I’m probably not done with my workbench development, though I do feel like I finally have enough space for most of the projects that I take on. In fact, it still seems luxurious having such a large surface on which to work.

The challenge, of course, is putting the tools away when I’m done!

FIGURE 1

If you build your own workbench, the possibilities are limitless!

Jeremy Cook is an engineering consultant with more than 10 years of factory automation experience.

An avid maker and experimenter, you can follow him on Twitter or see his electromechanical exploits on the Jeremy Cook YouTube Channel!

VIDEO 1 Editor’s Note: How to control overhead LED bench lighting with an Arduino Nano, Grounduino, MOSFET, and PIR sensors.

VIDEO 2

FIGURE 2

I moved this 4'10" x 1'10½" (~9 ft.2) workbench to make room for the new 7' x 3'6" (24 ft2) table.

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Editor’s Note: How to configure a MOSFET and three PIR sensors to detect movement on a workbench and deliver light to just that area.

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SMART ENERGY

Ambient Energy Sources for SelfPowered IoT Devices

By Huw Davies, Trameto

The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing quickly and already billions of tiny devices like smart sensors and actuators have been deployed. Typically, they are sensors used to gather information and sometimes influence the environment, usually in a small way, seeking to improve aspects of life such as sustainability, safety, and business performance.

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n individual IoT network can contain just a few nodes, or tens, hundreds, or thousands of nodes. They can be deployed within a confined space or throughout a large geographical area such as a large farm, an industrial site, a city, or even across borders.

Maintaining a large network of IoT endpoints can be challenging. While firmware updates can usually be applied remotely over-the-air, physical maintenance such as replacing discharged batteries is labor-intensive and expensive – a responsibility best avoided by ensuring the battery contains enough energy to meet the deployed device’s demands for its entire operating lifetime.

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As each successive generation of new ICs leverages advanced process technology and innovative circuit designs to reduce power demand, and increasingly sophisticated application software maximizes use of power-saving sleep modes, it has become possible to design small devices that operate for a decade or longer from a single coin cell.

This can be long enough to eliminate any need to change the battery during the system’s operating lifetime. Sometimes, however, more needs to be done to reduce the overall energy demand to a level that can be met using a suitable battery.

How to Select the Most Power-Conscious Radio for Your IoT System In a wireless sensor or actuator, the radio subsystem typically consumes the most energy. Some engineering here, through technology selection and adjusting aspects such as the bit rate and duty cycle, can significantly in uence the power consumption and lifetime energy demand.

The communication range needed and the costs of hardware, licenses, and any network subscriptions are key factors governing radio technology selection.

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Data rate & Power Consumption

Wi-Fi

10 MBps

Wi-Fi HaLow Bluetooth

1 MBps

1 KBps

Cost

High

Unlicensed LPWAN MYTHINGS LoRa Sigfox

RFID

10 m

1m

Low

Licensed LPWAN LTE-M EC-GSM NB-IoT

BLE Zigbee Z-Wave

100 KBps

Cellular 5G 5G/LTE 3G

100 m

10 km

1 km

Range

The cost, range, and data rateand of popular radioRates technologies many Consumption Data for provides Various FIGURE 1Power options for IoT developers.

Wireless Technology for IoT 100 bps

Figure 1 compares popular standardized technologies. Hardware modules, software, and design knowhow to help get a solution up and running based on any of these technologies are all readily available.

Within the relatively unchangeable constraints of range and cost, some choices can be exercised to in uence power consumption through radio technology selection.

Figure 2 shows how Zigbee may be the most efficient choice for a short-range and low-data-rate connection, while Bluetooth can make more sense if a higher data rate is needed. For longer ranges, fewer alternatives are available and the difference in power consumption is less pronounced. It may be possible to trim the radio subsystem energy demand by reducing the duty cycle, capturing less sensor data, or preprocessing within the endpoint to discard unneeded information. www.embeddedcomputing.com

10 Kbps

40 Kbps

1m

BLE4/Zigbee BLE Mesh Bluetooth WiFi LoRa

0.15 0.15 25 50 0.5

BLE4/Zigbee BLE Mesh Bluetooth WiFi LoRa

7.5 7.5 25 50 10

Zigbee Bluetooth WiFi LoRa

50 m

Zigbee WiFi LoRa NB-IoT, LTE-M

20 100 0.5 1.0

Zigbee WiFi LoRa LTE, 5G Cellular

30 100 20 150

WiFi NB-IoT, LTE-M LTE, 5G Cellular

200 200 200

1 km

LoRa Sigfox NB-IoT, LTE-M LTE, 5G Cellular

30 30 20 120

NB-IoT, LTE-M LTE, 5G Cellular

100 200

NB-IoT, LTE-M LTE, 5G Cellular

400 400

30 25 50 20

All units in mW

FIGURE 2

The mW power consumption of popular radio technologies at different ranges and bit rates.

But it can still prove impossible to cut system energy demand down to a quantity that the desired battery can provide. If the difference is small, fitting a larger battery could be considered. However, if the difference between supply and demand is too great, or a larger battery is not practical for some reason, a system that harvests ambient energy can be introduced. It can be used in conjunction with the battery to make up the shortfall, or may negate the need for a battery altogether and thereby allow the device to have an essentially unlimited lifetime in the field.

Best Ambient Energy Sources Several ambient energy sources can now be harvested effectively to power electronic circuits, including solar, thermal energy harvested using a Peltier element, and kinetic energy captured using piezoelectric devices.

The choice of best ambient energy source for any given application depends on several factors, including the energy demand of the application, the sources available, and the times and intervals at which the most energy is needed.

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SMART ENERGY

As Figure 3 shows, solar cells deployed outdoors can be a generous source of harvested energy. However, the sensor may need to be installed in a location that receives little daylight or is partially covered in shadows or could become obscured by movable objects. In the right condition, thermal energy harvested from an industrial process by a thermoelectric element and kinetic energy harvested from machine vibrations using a piezoelectric device can be viable alternatives.

The size of the harvesting module – whether solar, thermoelectric, or piezoelectric – also needs to be considered in relation to application constraints.

When Ambient Energy Isn’t Available Whichever approach is chosen, ambient energy is not always available in a harvestable form. A solar panel cannot generate electricity during darkness, and a thermoelectric or piezoelectric element can only harvest energy when the process or machine is operating.

To overcome this, an energy harvesting system is typically used to a charge a battery or capacitor for later use when ambient energy is not available. An energy-harvesting power-management I (EH MI ) is needed to handle the ow of energy between the harvesting system, the energy storage medium, and the application, and to provide the right supply voltages for both the battery’s charging and the application.

A typical, conventional EH MI is optimized to work with a specific type of energy harvester, and usually only one input is provided. However, multiple sources may be needed to satisfy a large overall energy demand. These may be several harvesters of the same type, placed in different locations, or the designer may need to capture energy from different ambient sources.

But connecting multiple harvesters to the system would require either a separate EH PMIC or additional interface circuitry for each, introducing extra cost and complexity, increasing the footprint, and raising power consumption. Trameto s patented, exible EH PMIC overcomes this by letting designers connect multiple energy harvesting components directly to the same device (Figure 4).

Variants are available with up to four energy-harvesting inputs, and any combination of harvesting technologies can be used. There may be up to four solar panels placed Energy sources

Power density

Solar (outdoors)

100 mW/cm3

Solar cells

Solar (indoors)

100 μW/cm3

Indoor solar cells

Vibrations (machine motion)

800 μW/cm3

Electromagnetic

Wind

177 μW/cm

Generator

2

Thermal (industry) Radio frequency

FIGURE 3

Harvesting methods

10 mW/cm2 300 μW/m2 to 2 mW/m2

Patch antenna, magnetic coil antenna

Popular radio technologies for IoT applications.

many multi any harvester harvesters harvesters wireless

Trameto

μPC sensors

FIGURE 4 24

Trameto’s multi-harvesting, multi-input EH PMIC. Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

“AN ENERGY-HARVESTING SYSTEM CAN BE USED TO AUGMENT OR REPLACE A BATTERY IN REMOTELY DEPLOYED IOT DEVICES AND SAVE THE OVERHEAD ASSOCIATED WITH BATTERY REPLACEMENT.” in different locations or orientations to optimize energy harvesting throughout the day, multiple piezoelectric harvesters attached to different machines or mechanisms, several thermoelectric harvesters, or a mixture of energy sources.

Conclusion An energy-harvesting system can be used to augment or replace a battery in remotely deployed IoT devices and save the overhead associated with battery replacement.

Various harvesting technologies can be considered, including solar cells, thermoelectric, and piezoelectric devices to capture solar, thermal, and kinetic energy, respectively. All have limitations, and ambient energy is not available continuously. Multiple individual units or a variety of different types of harvesters may be needed to meet the overall system energy demand.

This is difficult to achieve using traditional EH PMICs that are designed with a single input. The next generation of devices offer the chance to connect multiple harvesters of the same or different types, helping designers of IoT endpoints make the most of the energy sources available in the environment and hence maximize economy as well as sustainability.

Huw Davies, CEO and Co-Founder of Trameto, has worked for both start-ups and multi-national corporate organizations in semiconductors and consumer electronics. He holds a BSc and PhD from Cardiff University and an Executive MBA from the University of Bath. www.embeddedcomputing.com

ADVERTORIAL

EXECUTIVE SPEAKOUT

Embedded is the Market Driver

By Dominik Ressing, Vice President, Avnet Embedded

Effective July 1, 2021, Avnet, Inc. has established a new organization, Avnet Embedded, which is responsible for the company’s embedded business worldwide. By creating a dedicated business unit, Avnet is sending a clear signal that the company has a strategic focus on the embedded market and sees the embedded business as the growth driver of the future.

The new Avnet Embedded organization is placed directly under Mario Orlandi, President Avnet EMEA, Global IOT & Avnet Integrated and utilizes the global core sales structure of all Avnet ‘Speedboats’, EBV Elektronik, Avnet Silica and Avnet Abacus. The strong support organization has several 100 embedded specialists.

Based on the broad range of high-performance embedded standard modules, intelligent display modules, innovative connectivity and memory components, as well as software solutions, Avnet Embedded provides development of complex industrial products. With the acquisition of software specialist Witekio and integration into Avnet Embedded, a powerful software and IoT development team is available.

Avnet Embedded has specialists for technology platforms in different markets and works together with its customers to generate the optimal solution for their individual application. The industrial embedded products can be manufactured in-house and close to the customer, even in larger quantities.

Avnet Embedded is convinced that it is a must to have the key technologies in-house.

With the increasing complexity of embedded technologies, there is a trend to move more and more from a chip design to a module design solution. One example is the complex CPU technologies from Intel and NXP, among others. The new i.MX 8 processor family features high performance thanks to multi-cores and integrated co-processors. In order to make full use of the numerous interesting features, comprehensive knowhow is required. Since NXP no longer wants to support most customers directly, this is where Avnet Embedded fits in and offers the desired technical support. This offering is not only interesting for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The driving technologies and applications in the embedded market are the new capabilities of human-machine interface

(HMI). For example, artificial intelligence allows new methods of how humans interact with machines. Avnet Embedded provides innovative HMI interfaces and adapt them to the customers’ applications. This can be, for example, a special display solution for a milling machine or a high-quality voice control system for a medical device or for a system that needs to function perfectly in a machine shop. For off-road vehicles and agricultural or construction vehicles, customer-specific equipment, and special requirements for use in harsh environments play an important role. In the case of medical devices, the focus is on safety technology and certification. Modern human-machine interaction systems based on artificial intelligence are also in demand in industrial automation applications.

In recent months, the market for medical technology has grown very strongly and will show growth to continue in the future.

Other important mainstay, automation technology, has recovered well and show growth rates as usual. The agricultural industry continues to focus on increasing productivity through the use of intelligent machinery and will remain on a stable growth path. This also applies to household appliances, which have benefited from a real boom in recent months.

Avnet Embedded has an extremely broad spectrum of CPU technologies in different performance classes, which integrate the latest processors of different suppliers. In the display area, a great deal of expertise in modern LCD technologies with and without touch is available. Avnet Embedded’s SimplePlus Display Kit offers customers the possibility to configure their own display module online. However, to develop an optimal product consisting of CPU, display and software for industrial use, a lot of experience is necessary.

AvnetEmbedded@avnet.com www.avnet.com/embedded

Embedded Computing Design

2021 RESOURCE GUIDE

The 2021 Embedded Computing Design Resource Guide showcases solutions for developers of industrial controls, edge computing, autonomous machines, and more.

AI AND MACHINE LEARNING ADLINK Technology Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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DEV TOOLS AND OS AZ-COM Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Lauterbach, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-30 Lynx Software Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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DEVELOPMENT KITS Digi International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Enclustra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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HARDWARE ADLINK Technology Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Apacer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Avnet Integrated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34-35 congatec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Kontron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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MPL AG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Opal Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38-40 SECO USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40-42

INDUSTRIAL congatec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Peak System Technik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42-44 Vector Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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IOT Lattice Semiconductor Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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STORAGE Virtium LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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www.embeddedcomputing.com

EGX-MXM-T1000, MXM Module with NVIDIA Quadro Embedded T1000 The EGX-MXM-T1000 module features advanced NVIDIA® Turing™ GPU technology in MXM 3.1 Type A form factor. It’s compact, slim and reliable design makes it suitable for mission critical environment. EGX-MXM-T1000 provides improved performance per watt. This MXM GPU module offers a flexible and easy solution for deep learning solutions for applications including medical, image processing, and gaming applications.

ADLINK is a global provider of leading edge computing solutions and an NVIDIA® Quadro® Embedded Partner and Jetson™ Elite Partner. To enable edge systems to tap into the power that can be provided by GPU computing, ADLINK offers a comprehensive portfolio of optimized heterogeneous computing solutions including embedded MXM GPU modules and PCI Express graphics cards based on NVIDIA Quadro GPUs, edge AI platforms based on NVIDIA Jetson modules, GPU computing platforms and other embedded form factors that can accelerate edge computing and AI workloads to satisfy a wide range of embedded requirements based on performance, long life cycle, power consumption, and form factor.

To learn more, please visit: www.adlinktech.com/en/adlink-gpu-solutions

ADLINK Technology Inc www.adlinktech.com



FEATURES NVIDIA® Quadro® T1000 embedded graphics Standard MXM 3.1 Type A (82 x 70 mm) 896 CUDA cores 2.6 TFLOPS peak FP32 performance 4GB GDDR6 memory, 128-bit 192GB/s maximal memory bandwidth Support up to 4 DP 1.4a displays, 50W TGP www.adlinktech.com/Products/Embedded_Graphics

info@adlinktech.com

www.linkedin.com/company/adlink-technology

 +1-800-966-5200

@ADLINK_Tech

AI & Machine Learning

Express-TL, COM Express Type 6 Basic Size Module AI, machine learning and internet of things (IoT) devices increase demand for real-time processing – from the edge to the cloud. The ADLINK Express-TL module offers advanced tuning controls, immersive graphics, and unmatched connectivity, which allows new possibilities for AI, workload consolidation, and other intensive computing demands.

ADLINK’s Express-TL COM Express Type 6 Basic size module is based on the 11th Gen Intel® Core™, Xeon® W and Celeron® 6000 processor, and is the first COM Express module to support PCI Express x16 Gen4, effectively doubling the bandwidth of previous generation COM Express modules. With a combined 8 cores, 16 threads, and up to 128GB memory, the Express-TL brings uncompromised system performance and responsiveness to your solution.

Featuring brand new Gen 12 Intel® UHD Graphics and Intel® AVX-512 Vector Neural Network Instructions (VNNI), the Express-TL provides AI inferencing performance as much as 3X higher compared to previous generation non-VNNI platforms. The integrated Gen 12 Intel® UHD Graphics core can be configured to support one 8K independent display or four 4K independent displays (HDMI/DP/eDP). In addition, legacy display interfaces such as LVDS and analog VGA are still supported as build options.

Key features for today’s applications are support for 2.5 GbE and USB 3.2 with transfer rates of up to 10Gb/s that can transfer image data from cameras faster than previous generation products. Combined with 8 processor cores at 25W TDP, Intel® AVX-512 VNNI and Intel® UHD Graphics, the Express-TL is well suited for AI at the edge applications (AIoT/IoT).

ADLINK Technology Inc www.adlinktech.com

www.embeddedcomputing.com



FEATURES Intel® Tiger Lake-H Processors, up to 8 cores, integrated Intel® UHD Graphics (Xe architecture) AI inference (AVX512 VNNI + Intel® UHD GFX) Up to 128GB DDR4 SO-DIMM, non-ECC and ECC 3x DDI channels, 1x LVDS (opt. 4 lanes eDP), opt. VGA, up to 4 independent displays, 8K capable PCIe x16 Gen4, 2.5GbE (TSN, build option) Extreme Rugged operating temperature: -40°C to +85°C (build option, selected SKUs) www.adlinktech.com/Products/Computer_on_Modules

info@adlinktech.com

www.linkedin.com/company/adlink-technology

 +1-800-966-5200

@ADLINK_Tech

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

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Embedded Computing Design

AI & Machine Learning

Embedded Computing Design

VPX development backplane with frame VPX 3U backplanes with Full Access Open Frames are designed to aid in development and testing of a VPX 3U bus cards. Patented Full Access Open Frame allows easy access to both sides of the VPX cards.

Frame can be placed on any of four sides allowing easy access to desired sides of the boards. Current sensing resistors simplify power consumption measurement. ON/OFF switch controls ATX power supply. Reset is activated by push-button and by ATX power supply. A small breadboard area can be used for adding custom circuitry. 2mm headers allow for current and voltage monitoring and for monitoring / injecting all UTILITY signals. Cooling FANS can be added to help cooling.

Conduction Cooling mounting is available. Backplane can be populated with any combination of standard RT 2 VPX connectors, RT 2-R, RT 2-S, RT 3, Viper, and Hypertronics connectors making high performance rugged products development much less expensive when compared to using rugged chassis. Off-the-shelf products have Power Only ONE and TWO slots backplanes. Custom backplanes with custom fabric and up to 5 slots are available. VPX cables can be used to instantly create custom configurations.

FEATURES Full access to both sides of developed bus cards ATX Power coonnector • ON/OFF switch • Reset generation Current and voltage monitoring • P0 Utility Interface • GA selection Meritec shrouds option for custom backplane connections MULTIGIG RT 2-R, RT 2-S, RT 3 • Hypertronix and VIPER connectors Optical and RF connector versions as per VITA 67.1 67.2 and 67.3 Optional cooling fans and conduction cooled mounting 3U and 6U VPX, cPCI, cPCI Serial and cPCI Express versions available

For information about other backplane versions and 6U versions contact sales@az-com.com

AZ-COM INC

www.az-com.com

Dev Tools and OS



sales@az-com.com

 925-254-5400

Dev Tools and OS

TRACE32 Multi Core Debugger for TriCore Aurix Lauterbach TriCore debug support at a glance: For more than 15 years Lauterbach has been supporting the latest TriCore microcontrollers. Our tool chain offers: • Single and multi core debugging for up to 6 TriCore cores • Debugging of all auxiliary controllers such as GTM, SCR, HSM and PCP • Multi core tracing via MCDS on-chip trace or via high-speed serial AGBT interface The Lauterbach Debugger for TriCore provides high-speed access to the target application via the JTAG or DAP protocol. Debug features range from simple Step/Go/Break up to AutoSAR OS-aware debugging. High speed flash programming performance of up to 340kB/sec on TriCore devices and intuitive access to all peripheral modules are included.

Lauterbach’s TRACE32 debugger allows concurrent debugging of all TriCore cores.

• Cores can be started and stopped synchronously.

• The state of all cores can be displayed side by side.

• All cores can be controlled by a single script.

Lauterbach, Inc.

www.lauterbach.com

28

FEATURES Debugging of all auxiliary controllers: PCP, GTM, HSM and SCR Debug Access via JTAG and DAP AGBT High-speed serial trace for Emulation Devices On-chip trace for Emulation Devices Debug and trace through Reset Multicore debugging and tracing Cache analysis

info_us@lauterbach.com  508-303-6812 

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

www.lauterbach.com/bdmtc.html

www.embeddedcomputing.com

Lauterbach Debugger for RH850 Lauterbach RH850 debug support at a glance: The Lauterbach Debugger for RH850 provides high-speed access to the target processor via the JTAG/LPD4/LPD1 interface. Debugging features range from simple Step/Go/Break to multi core debugging. Customers value the performance of high-speed flash programming and intuitive access to all of the peripheral modules.

TRACE32 allows concurrent debugging of all RH850 cores.

• The cores can be started and stopped synchronously.

• The state of all cores can be displayed side by side.

• All cores can be controlled by a single script.

All RH850 emulation devices include a Nexus trace module, which enables multi core tracing of program flow and data transactions. Depending on the device, trace data is routed to one of the following destinations: • An on-chip trace buffer (typically 32KB) • An off-chip parallel Nexus port for program flow and data tracing • A high bandwidth off-chip Aurora Nexus port for extensive data tracing The off-chip trace solutions can store up to 4GB of trace data and also provide the ability to stream the data to the host for long-term tracing, thus enabling effortless performance profiling and qualification (e.g. code coverage).

Lauterbach, Inc.

www.lauterbach.com

FEATURES AMP and SMP debugging for RH850, GTM and ICU-M cores Multicore tracing On-chip and off-chip trace support Statistical performance analysis Non intrusive trace based performance analysis Full support for all on-chip breakpoints and trigger features AUTOSAR debugging

 info_us@lauterbach.com  508-303-6812

www.lauterbach.com/bdmrh850.html

Dev Tools and OS

LYNX MOSA.ic for Industrial LYNX MOSA.ic for Industrial is a software development and integration framework for building robust connected industrial solutions at the mission-critical edge.

LYNX MOSA.ic for Industrial allows you to: • Harness the power of hardware virtualization for security, safety, and scalability of systems design.

• Mix high and low levels of criticality on a single SoC without compromising security or safety.

• Rapidly integrate and consolidate controllers, industrial PCs and other systems on the industrial floor running standard operating systems such as Windows, Linux and real time operating systems.

• Leverage proven cloud connectivity and local analytics, support for containers, seamless ingestion of data from a diverse set of factory protocols and networks, and the major virtual programmable logic controller environments available.

FEATURES Windows compatibility (x86 hardware only) First set of integrations will first include Azure IoT Edge, Kepware, JMobile and Codesys, and will expand in future releases System immutability Fine-grained system control of hardware resources Kubernetes orchestration Microsoft Azure IoT Edge connectivity

www.lynx.com/products/lynx-mosaic-for-industrial-systems

Lynx Software Technologies www.lynx.com

www.embeddedcomputing.com



inside@lynx.com

 408-979-3900

www.linkedin.com/company/lynxsoftwaretechnologies

@lynxsoftware

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

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Embedded Computing Design

Dev Tools and OS

Embedded Computing Design

Dev Tools and OS

TRACE32 JTAG/ETM Debugger for ARMv8 Lauterbach ARMv8 support at a glance: More than 17 years of experience in ARM debugging enable Lauterbach to provide best-in-class debug and trace tools for ARMv8 based systems: • Multicore debugging and tracing for any mix of ARM and DSP cores • Support for all CoreSight components to debug and trace an entire SoC • Powerful code coverage and run-time analysis of functions and tasks • OS-aware debugging of kernel, libraries, tasks of all commonly used OSs Lauterbach debug tools for ARMv8 help developers throughout the whole development process, from the early pre-silicon phase by debugging on an instruction set simulator or a virtual prototype over board bring-up to quality and maintenance work on the final product.

Debugger features range from simple step/go/break, programming of on-chip-flash, external NAND, eMMC, parallel and serial NOR flash devices, support for NEON and VFP units, to OS-aware debug and trace concepts for 32-bit and 64-bit multicore systems.

TRACE32 debuggers support simultaneous debugging and tracing of homogeneous multicore and multiprocessors systems with one debug tool.

Start/Stop synchronization of all cores and a time-correlated display of code execution and data r/w information provides the developer with a global view of the system's state and the interplay of the cores.

High-tech company with long-term experience Technical know-how at the highest level Worldwide presence Time to market

Lauterbach, Inc.

www.lauterbach.com

30

Full support for all CoreSight components Full architectural debug support Support for 64-bit instruction set and 32-bit instruction sets ARM and THUMB 32-bit and 64-bit peripherals displayed on logical level Support for 32-bit and 64-bit MMU formats Auto-adaption of all display windows to AArch32/ AArch64 mode Ready-to-run FLASH programming scripts Multicore debugging On-chip trace support (ETB, ETF, ETR) Off-chip trace tools (ETMv4) AMP debugging with DSPs, GPUs and other accelerator cores

About our Products

Our Company Philosophy • • • •

FEATURES

• • • • •

Everything from a single source Open system Open user interface for everything Long-term investment through modularity and compatibility The full array of architectures supported

 info_us@lauterbach.com  508-303-6812

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

www.lauterbach.com/bdmarmv8a.html

www.embeddedcomputing.com

Digi ConnectCore® 8M Mini Development Kit Digi ConnectCore® 8M Mini is a secure, integrated system-on-module (SOM) platform based on the NXP® i.MX 8M Mini application processor. It is the latest addition to the Digi ConnectCore family of SOMs. Designed for rapid development and deployment – with pre-certified wireless connectivity and full support for both Linux Yocto Project and Android – the Mini enables OEMs to reduce development costs and realize a lower total cost of ownership.

The full-featured Digi ConnectCore 8M Mini development kit provides multiple display interfaces, camera, audio, Digi XBee® modules and other hardware options for optimal flexibility and user experience. The range of IoT use cases includes industrial, medical, agricultural applications and transportation, supported by two Digi XBee connectors to enable RF and cellular connectivity. It also integrates optional Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® connectivity and includes Digi Microcontroller Assist™ power management – a critical factor in battery-powered devices.

Digi ConnectCore 8M Mini can be used in virtually any type of display, and is ideal for self-service kiosks, vending machines, gaming applications, and portable medical and measurement equipment, as well as devices that require advanced security for processing financial transactions. Digi ConnectCore 8M Mini offers a video processing unit (VPU) for video encoding and decoding, which frees up CPU cores for other application tasks. Digi ConnectCore 8M Mini also provides a PCI Express (PCIe) interface, which is a serial connection for high-speed peripherals.

FEATURES Industrial i.MX 8M Mini quad-core system-on-module (SOM) Digi Embedded Yocto (Linux), providing full Yocto Project support Digi Embedded Android, providing full Android support Video capabilities with built-in VPU Digi TrustFence®, a complete IoT device security framework Digi Microcontroller Assist™ for advanced power management, security, peripheral support and system reliability operations Pre-certified dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth® 5 connectivity Cloud and edge compute services integration On-board interfaces for HDMI or LVDS displays Digi XBee® integration to extend wireless connectivity to a global family of modules spanning popular IoT protocols

Like all Digi SOMs, Digi ConnectCore 8M Mini incorporates Digi TrustFence®, a complete, embedded security framework that enables OEMs to design security features into their products without the cost and time of designing them from scratch. Digi also offers cellular integration support, certification assistance, and custom design and build services to help OEMs get their products to market faster.

And with a 3-year product warranty that is unique in the industry, Digi ConnectCore 8M Mini is the preferred choice for customers who require high-reliability. www.digi.com/cc8mmini

Digi International www.digi.com

www.embeddedcomputing.com



sales.questions@digi.com www.linkedin.com/company/digi-international

 +1 952-912-3444 @digidotcom

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Embedded Computing Design

Development Kits

Embedded Computing Design

Development Kits

The Fast Way to the Market Enclustra design-in kits help shorten time-to-market for any Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC based application.

Be it image processing, machine vision, test & measurement, communication or medical: With an Enclustra System-on-Module, the development time can be cut in half. controlling risks. In short, engineers who have opted to use SOMs instead of designing their own FPGA boards or purchasing off-the-shelf FPGA boards can now focus on quality rather than cost and scheduling risks, which has a positive impact on both time-to-market and customer satisfaction.

FPGA Design-in Made Easy

The powerful and flexible Enclustra design-in kits (Mercury+ XU5 shown) are based on Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC devices.

Enclustra offers broad design-in support for all products and a comprehensive ecosystem, offering all required hardware, software and support materials. Detailed documentation and reference designs make it easy to jump-start your development. A user manual, user schematics, a 3D-model, PCB footprints, differential I/O length tables and the Linux-based Board Support Package (BSP) are all provided. In combination with ready-made base boards and heatsinks, developing an FPGA project has never been easier.

Get started now: www.enclustra.com/design-in-kits

For Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC based applications, Enclustra has released 2 design-in kits. They shorten time-to-market and reduce development costs as much as possible. The design-in kits are based on the industry-proven and reliable Mercury XU5 and Mars XU3 system-on-modules (SOM) in combination with Mercury+ ST1 and Mars ST3 base boards.

The kits not only contain all the hardware to start your development in minutes, but also include two example designs based on Xilinx Vitis AI. Both the AI face detection and the image classification are based on ResNet50 and include all sources and a detailed “how to” guide.

Speed Up Development Reducing development time not only gives you a competitive advantage, but also frees up engineering capacity to start the design of your next product earlier. Enclustra’s comprehensive ecosystem of SoC and FPGA modules, as well as IP cores and development services, all help to shorten development time further.

SOMs are the solution to bring complex new products from schematics to prototype in weeks instead of months, saving precious development time that can be reinvested in enhancing design features and functionality.

About Enclustra GmbH Enclustra is an innovative and successful Swiss FPGA design services and solutions company, located in Zürich, Switzerland.

Enclustra provides services covering the whole range of FPGA-based system development: From high-speed hardware or HDL firmware through to embedded software, from specification and implementation through to prototype production.

Enclustra also develops and markets highly-integrated FPGA modules, System-on-Modules (SOM) and FPGA-optimized IP cores.

Moreover, when they use SOMs, engineers become more agile by having the flexibility to respond and adapt to change and feedback.

SOMs also enable engineers to take advantage of opportunities while

By specializing in forward-looking FPGA technology, and with broad application knowledge, Enclustra can offer ideal solutions at minimal expense in many areas.

Enclustra GmbH



www.enclustra.com

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The design-in kits include the sources for a Xilinx Vitis AI based face detection demo (left) as well as an image classification (right).

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

info@enclustra.com

 + 41 43 343 39 43

www.embeddedcomputing.com

nanoX-EL, COM Express Mini Size Type 10 Module ADLINK nanoX-EL supports 6th generation Intel Atom x6000 processors (Elkhart Lake) combined with Intel UHD graphics at low power envelope and high speed interfaces. nanoX-EL modules support In-Band ECC DDR4 memory up to 16GB, TCC and 2.5GbE with optional TSN and are also available in rugged operating temperature range and low power envelope, making them a perfect match for mission critical fanless edge computing applications that require reliability at all times.

The nanoX-EL is the first COM Express Type 10 Mini Computer-on-Module on the market to support Intel ATOM x6000E series quad core embedded SoC. It is specially designed for industrial embedded applications requiring up to 10 years long life, high MTBF and strict revision control. It also provides standard support for up to 16GB LPDDR4, IBECC, TCC and 2.5GbE with optional TSN, ultra-low power and passive cooling, making the ATOM x6000E based module well suited for compact mission critical application in harsh environments.

With integrated UHD graphics, the nanoX-EL supports up to three independent 4K60 displays via DP, HDMI, LVDS or eDP, it is a first for this family of mini sized embedded modules.

The nanoX-EL, offers a wide range of high speed interfaces, including one 2.5GbE Ethernet with TSN support, 4x PCIe x1 Gen3 lanes, 2x USB 3.2 10Gbps, 6x USB 2.0. The module can be purchased as COM Express Type 10 Starter Kit Plus devkit that includes everything needed to go live in minutes: nanoX-EL module, miniBASE-10R carrier board, power adapter, debug board and cabling.

ADLINK Technology Inc www.adlinktech.com



FEATURES Quad-core Intel Atom® Processor SoC, Burst Frequency up to 3.0GHz Intel® Gen11 LP GFX for AI inference based on OpenVINO In-band ECC, up to 16GB LPDDR4 at up to 4267 MT/s TCC and 2.5GbE with TSN Real-time I/O via ARM Cortex-M7 processor USB 3.2 10Gbps www.adlinktech.com/Products/Computer_on_Modules

info@adlinktech.com

 +1-800-966-5200

www.linkedin.com/company/adlink-technology

@ADLINK_Tech

Hardware

Anti-Sulfuration Series Apacer’s world’s first patented anti-sulfuration DRAM modules and antisulfuration SSDs with the industry's highest level of anti-corrosion certification can meet the needs of industrial products facing harsh environments.

Apacer anti-sulfuration memory modules use special alloy materials as passive components, which have passed the ASTM B809-95 anti-sulfuration test, allowing them to operate steadily even in a harsh sulfur-containing environment to meet high industrial standards.

Apacer’s anti-sulfuration SSDs achieve a complete air barrier through strict inspection of special materials and technologies. After two complete accelerated verification tests of MFG (Mixed Fluid Gas and FoS (Flower of Sulfur), it has passed the American National Standards Institute/International Association of Automation 71.04 G3 air corrosion certification. This proves that it has reached the industry’s highest level of sulfur resistance, including resistance to silver corrosion, copper corrosion and creep.

FEATURES Available products are DRAM Modules and M.2 2280 form factors Adopt exclusive and improved alloy materials replace normal electrode Apacer Anti-Sulfuration DRAM modules obtained anti-sulfurization patents in USA and China Apacer Anti-Sulfuration DRAM modules passed the ASTM B809-95 anti-sulfuration test Apacer Anti-Sulfuration SSDs Passed G3 Level of ANSI/ISA 71.04 Certification To meet the ANSI/ISA 71.04-2013 standard, Apacer’s anti-sulfuration technology for industrial SSDs has passed a completed corrosion verification, including FoS and MFG testing methods, proven to have the best resistance to not only silver corrosion but also copper corrosion and creep corrosion.

APACER MEMORY AMERICA INC.

https://industrial.apacer.com/en-ww/Technology/Anti-Sulfuration www.embeddedcomputing.com

 408-518-8699



ssdsales@apacerus.com

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MSC C6B-TLH The MSC C6B-TLH COM Express module features the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ vPro®, Intel® Xeon® W-11000E Series, and Intel® Celeron® processors, giving application designers a great variety of choices of power efficient and performant compute solutions. CPU core count scales from two cores/two hyper threads up to eight cores/sixteen hyper threads.

With eight PCIe Gen 3 lanes and a sixteen lane PEG port based on PCIe Gen 3 and 4, the module is well equipped to handle demanding I/O traffic. The Ethernet controller based on Intel i225 provides 1GbE and 2.5GbE bandwidth and offers TSN capability for real-time applications.

For further real-time support, TCC is enabled on boards equipped with the Intel® Xeon® W-11000E Series processor.

FEATURES 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors Up to eight cores, 16 threads 64GB DDR4-3200 SDRAM with optional ECC Intel® UHD Graphics with up to four independent displays PEG 1×16 PCIe Gen 4/3, 1 / 2.5 GbE Optional on-board NVMe SSD, up to 1TB Industrial temperature range and 24/7 support

Board memory capacity is configurable from 8GB to 64GB via two SO-DIMM sockets. Error correction code (ECC) is optionally supported by dedicated module variants and use of ECC SO-DIMMs. Selected variants of the MSC C6B-TLH can be operated at extended temperature range with full 24/7 utilization. This supports system designs exposed to harsh environmental conditions that require a reliable compute engine. https://embedded.avnet.com/product/msc-c6b-tlh/

Avnet Embedded

https://embedded.avnet.com



AvnetEmbedded@avnet.com www.linkedin.com/company/41385331/

Hardware

MSC C6C-TLU The MSC C6C-TLU COM Express module is based on the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processor generation. The board is ideal for mission critical applications, that require the durability of a well-designed board including memory-down, 24/7 continuous operation, extended temperature specification, shock and vibration product performance and optional conformal coating. It provides significant performance gains over previous Intel Core generations allowing for technology upgrades within existing power and cooling requirements defined by the system design.

TSN and Intel TCC technologies can push real-time capabilities to the next level. Typical applications are industrial IoT, medical equipment, on-board units, way-side controllers and outdoor POS terminals.

The MSC C6C-TLU can drive up to four independent displays with a maximum of 4k resolution. The COM Express Type 6 interface allows direct access to display interfaces including DisplayPort, HDMI and the choice of LVDS versus eDP. With a maximum capacity of 32GB fast LPRRD4X memory soldered to the board the product satisfies even demanding applications. Optional in-band ECC capabilities allow for protecting code and data kept in memory.

Avnet Embedded

https://embedded.avnet.com

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Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

FEATURES 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors Extended CPU and graphics performance TSN and Intel TCC for real-time applications Rugged module design with memory down Extended operating temperature Optional conformal coating Long-term product availability https://embedded.avnet.com/product/msc-c6c-tlu/ 

AvnetEmbedded@avnet.com www.linkedin.com/company/41385331/ www.embeddedcomputing.com

MSC SM2S-EL The new MSC SM2S-EL module features Intel’s next-generation low-power, multi-core system-on-chip (SOC) Atom generation (codenamed “Elkhart Lake”).

Built on 10nm process technology the SoC integrates the next generation Intel Atom processor core architecture and graphics accelerators, memory controller and rich I/O functionality into a single package. The module is designed for extended temperature range and 24/7 operation making it an ideal platform for mission critical tasks that require a reliable and performant compute base.

It provides significant performance gains over previous Atom generations allowing for technology upgrades within existing power and cooling requirements defined by the system design.

The new MSC SM2S-EL offers triple independent display support with a maximum of 4k resolution, DirectX 12, fast LPDDR4x memory with up to 16GB and optional IBECC capabilities, eMMC 5.1, USB 3.1 and PCIe Gen3 on a power saving and cost-efficient SMARC 2.1 Short Size module.

Different SOCs with dual- and quad-core processors are supported by this design. In addition to an extensive set of interfaces and features, the MSC SM2S-EL offers 2 Gigabit Ethernet with Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) and 2 CAN-FD interfaces.

FEATURES Intel® Atom® x6000E, Intel® Pentium®, Celeron® J Series processors High performance Intel® UHD Graphics (Gen11) TSN and TCC for Realtime Capability Up to 16GB LPDDR4x SDRAM w. IBECC, Up to 256GB eMMC 5.1 Flash Triple Independent Displays, 2x DP++, LVDS/eDP/MIPI-DSI 4x PCIe Gen. 3, 2x CAN-FD, USB 3.1 Up to 3x Gigabit Ethernet (1x opt. SGMII)

https://embedded.avnet.com/product/msc-sm2s-el/

Avnet Embedded

https://embedded.avnet.com



AvnetEmbedded@avnet.com www.linkedin.com/company/41385331/

Hardware

MSC SM2S-IMX8 The MSC SM2S-IMX8 module offers a quantum leap in terms of computing and graphics performance. It integrates the currently most powerful i.MX8 processor family from NXP™ based on the ARM® Cortex™-A72/A53 architecture with real hardware virtualization. This enables asymmetric multiprocessing for the most demanding applications like industrial automation and visualization systems, robotics, infotainment systems and building automation.

The 64-bit i.MX8 SoC integrated on the module contains up to eight cores: two ARM Cortex-A72 cores, four ARM Cortex-A53 cores and two Cortex-M4F FEATURES real-time cores in combination with high-end Vivante GC7000 multimedia Multicore Architecture, 2x ARM Cortex-A72, 4x ARM Cortex-A53 2D/3D GPU. High End GC7000 GPU, 4K H.265 decode, HD H.264 encode The module provides up to 8GB LPDDR4 SDRAM, up to 64GB eMMC Flash memory, Dual Gigabit Ethernet, PCI Express Gen.3, SATA III, USB 3.0, an onUp to 8GB LPDDR4 SDRAM, Up to 64GB eMMC Flash board Wireless Module as well as an extensive set of interfaces for embedTriple Independent Displays, HDMI/DisplayPort, LVDS/MIPI DSI ded applications. The processor module is designed for operation in the full Dual MIPI CSI-2 Camera Interface industrial temperature range from -40°C to +85°C. ™ PCIe Gen. 3, SATA-III (6Gbps), USB 3.0/2.0 MSC SM2S-IMX8 is compliant with the new SMARC 2.0 standard, allowing easy integration with SMARC baseboards. For evaluation and design-in of the Dual Gigabit Ethernet, WLAN/BT, CAN, TPM SM2S-IMX8 module, Avnet Embedded provides a development platform and a starter kit. Support for Linux is available (Android support on request). https://embedded.avnet.com/product/msc-sm2s-imx8/

Avnet Embedded

https://embedded.avnet.com www.embeddedcomputing.com



AvnetEmbedded@avnet.com www.linkedin.com/company/41385331/

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conga-TC570r Ultra-rugged congatec modules with soldered RAM for highest shock and vibration resistance. Designed to withstand even extreme temperature ranges of -40°C to +85°C, the new COM Express Type 6 Computer-on-Modules built on 11th Gen Intel® Core® provide full compliance for shock and vibration resistant operation in challenging transportation and mobility applications. For more price sensitive applications, congatec also offers a cost optimized Intel® Celeron® processor variant for the extended temperature range from 0°C to 60°C. Typical customers for the new range of Computer-on-Modules based on the Tiger Lake microarchitecture are OEMs of trains, commercial vehicles, construction machines, agricultural vehicles, self-driving robots and many other mobile applications in the most challenging outdoor and off-road environments. Shock and vibration resistant stationary devices are another important application area as digitization requires critical infrastructure protection (CIP) against earthquakes and other mission critical events.

congatec

www.congatec.us



FEATURES LPDDR4X RAM with up to 4266 MT/s and in-band error-correcting code (IBECC) for single failure tolerance and high data transmission quality in EMI critical environments.

Demanding graphics and compute workloads benefit from up to 4 cores, 8 threads, and up to 96 graphics execution units for massive parallel processing.

Integrated graphics supports 8k displays or 4x 4k; it can also be used as parallel processing unit for convolutional neural networks (CNN) or as an AI and deep learning accelerator.

Scalable TDP from 12 W to 28 W, enabling fully sealed system designs with passive cooling only.

Real-time capable design including support for Time Sensitive Networking (TSN), Time Coordinated Computing (TCC) and RTS Realtime Systems’ hypervisor for virtual machine deployments and workload consolidation in edge computing scenarios.

Using the Intel OpenVINO™ software toolkit can be extended across CPU, GPU and FPGA compute units to accelerate AI workloads, including computer vision, audio, speech, and language recognition systems.

www.congatec.com/en/products/com-express-type-6/conga-tc570r/

sales-us@congatec.com

www.linkedin.com/company/congatec

 858-457-2600 twitter.com/congatecAG

Industrial

More edge computing power What industrial IoT applications need today is a combination of high-performance low-power processor technology, robust real-time operation, real-time connectivity, and real-time hypervisor technologies. Featuring the very latest Intel Atom, Celeron, and Pentium processors (aka Elkhart Lake), congatec boards and modules offer more power for low-power applications in every aspect.

Target markets include automation and control – from distributed process controls in smart energy networks and the process industry to smart robotics, or even PLC and CNC controls for discrete manufacturing. Other real-time markets are found in test and measurement technology and transportation applications, such as train and track systems or autonomous vehicles, all of which also benefit from the extended temperature options.

The new low-power processor generation is also a perfect fit for graphics-intensive applications such as edge-connected POS, kiosk and digital signage systems, or distributed gaming and lottery terminals.

FEATURES Intel Atom x6000E Series processors, Intel Celeron and Pentium N & J Series processors (code named “Elkhart Lake”) Intel® UHD Graphics (Gen11) for up to 3x 4k @ 60fps and 10-bit color depth Extended temperature range from -40°C to +85°C is supported Time Sensitive Networking (TSN), Intel Time Coordinated Computing (Intel TCC) and Real Time Systems (RTS) hypervisor support Up to 4.267 MT/s Memory Support with Inband ECC UFS 2.0 for higher bandwidth and data processing

congatec

www.congatec.us

36



sales-us@congatec.com

www.linkedin.com/company/congatec

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

 858-457-2600 twitter.com/congatecAG

www.embeddedcomputing.com

Kontron D3713-V/R mITX Industrial mITX motherboard with high-performance graphics.

The industrial motherboard D3713-V/R mITX supports AMD Ryzen™ Embedded V1000 and R1000 series processors with integrated AMD Radeon™ Vega Graphics and can be used in applications with high graphics requirements such as casino gaming, medical displays, thin clients and industrial PCs. The motherboard is equipped with up to four display ports, one embedded display port as well as one Dual-Channel LVDS (24bit) and powers up to four independent displays in 4K resolution. To satisfy the different levels of graphics performance required, Kontron offers six versions of this motherboard with different AMD processors.

Benefits of Kontron motherboards:

• Highest quality through German engineering and production

• Strict lifecycle management and reliable product maintenance • Comprehensive feature and tool set • Excellent technical support • Beneficial total-cost-of-ownership

FEATURES Processor: AMD Embedded V1202B SoC / V1605B SoC / V1807B SoC / R1102G SoC / R1305G SoC / R1606G SoC Chipset: SoC Main Memory: 2x DDR4 3200 SDRAM up to 32 GByte Graphics Controller: Integrated AMD Radeon™ Vega Graphics Display: Up to 4x DP V.1.4, 1x embedded DP (eDP V1.4; supporting 4K resolutions), 1x Dual-Channel 24bit LVDS Audio Controller: Realtek ALC256 Ethernet: Intel® i210LM with 10/100/1000 MBit/s Expansion: 1x M.2 PCIe x2 (Key-M: 2230/2242/2280), 1x Mini PCIe (halfsize/fullsize), PCIe x4: 1x Gen3, 1x M.2 PCIe x4 (Key B: 2242/2252/2260/2280) Cooling: 2x PWM fan (CPU/System) USB: 2x USB 2.0 (by header), 2x USB 3.1 Gen1, 2x USB 3.1 Gen1 (by header), 2x USB 3.1 Gen2 Serial: 1x RS232/422/485; 3x RS232 (2x by header)

www.kontron.com/d3713-v-r-mitx

Kontron

www.kontron.com www.embeddedcomputing.com



sales@us.kontron.com www.linkedin.com/company/kontron-north-america

 888-294-4558

@kontron

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Embedded Computers up to 9th Gen. i7 Core & Xeon The PIP & MXCS Family are powerful, highly integrated, robust and fanless rugged embedded Computers, based on Intel’s Mobile Technology, all out of the Embedded Roadmap for long-time availability. The Systems represent a unique solution for today’s demanding requirements and are available with basically unlimited options. They are designed to operate under extreme and normal conditions without the need of fans. The MPL solutions are designed and produced in Switzerland and come with a long-term availability guarantee.

Outstanding is the extreme low power consumption.

The systems have a complete set of standard PC features as well as industrial features like wide DC input power, reverse polarity protection, etc. Additional GPS, WLAN, CAN, Sound, and UPS modules are available.

MPL AG Switzerland



FEATURES Soldered CPU and chipset Up to 128GB ECC DDR4 Up 5x Gigabit Ethernet & Fiber, up to 4 serial ports (RS232/485) Internal & external PCIe expansion Internal PMC/XMC/MXM expansion Fanless operation, optional -40°C up to 85°C Long term availability (10+ years)

T h i n k L o n g - Te r m

info@mpl.ch

www.linkedin.com/companies/mpl-ag

www.mpl.ch

–

Think MPL

 +41 56 483 34 34 www.twitter.com/mpl_ag

Hardware

ECM1900: Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ Edge Compute Module The Opal Kelly ECM1900 Edge Compute Module™ is a highly-integrated, highperformance, compact FPGA development module designed for data acquisition, instrumentation, and analytics workloads including network-intensive applications. The module combines Xilinx’s Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC with two independent 4 GiB ECC DDR4 banks, micro SD storage, a programmable clock generator, and a dual-core ARM CoreTex R5 embedded processing system in a single integrated design complete with a single-input power system.

Three high-density board-to-board connectors provide access to over 200 FPGA I/O, 48 CPU I/O, and 24 gigabit transceiver lanes supporting PCIe Gen 3, ethernet, JESD204, DisplayPort, and more. On-board high efficiency regulators support a single-input (+6V to +15V) power supply for easy application.

FPGA options include a GPU (-7EG) and video CODEC (-7EV). Applications include ultra high-end data acquisition, AI/ML data ingestion and inference, real-time data and video analytics, smart NIC edge applications, and onpremise machine vision processing.

The BRK1900 reference design (sold separately) enables rapid prototype development with four SYZYGY standard peripheral ports, two SYZYGY transceiver ports, two QSFP cages for network interfaces, and USB and ethernet interfaces.

Opal Kelly Incorporated www.opalkelly.com

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

FEATURES

sales@opalkelly.com

Compact form factor (112mm x 83mm x 13.18mm) Dual-Core ARM CoreTex R5 8 GiB DDR4 (4 GiB CPU + 4 GiB FPGA) 248 I/O (200 FPGA + 48 CPU) 24 Gigabit Transceivers (up to 16.3 Gb/s) Micro-SD card slot Programmable clock oscillator https://opalkelly.com/products/ecm1900/

www.linkedin.com/company/opal-kelly-incorporated

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

 217-391-3724

twitter.com/opalkelly www.embeddedcomputing.com

XEM8320: Xilinx Artix UltraScale+ Development Platform The XEM8320 is the official development platform for the latest addition to the Xilinx 16nm UltraScale+ FPGA family. Supporting the new Artix UltraScale+ for rapid application development, the XEM8320 includes the FrontPanel SDK, Opal Kelly’s flagship software/gateware environment for high-performance USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interfacing, as well as multiple SYZYGY ports for modular peripheral expansion.

Part of Xilinx’s cost-optimized portfolio, the Artix UltraScale+ (AUP) is built on the same mature 16nm technology that underpins Kintex and Zynq devices in the family. The AUP offers PCIe Gen 3 and serial I/O peripheral support with gigabit transceivers up to 16.375 Gbps for high-throughput sensor data, DSP computation, and network bandwidth. Applications include ultra high-end data acquisition, data and video analytics, and localized artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Opal Kelly’s FrontPanel SDK enables rapid development of highperformance software-connected FPGA applications for prototypes, proof-of-concept, and production. FrontPanel’s flexible architecture and proprietary firmware allows developers to focus on their core expertise without consuming precious FPGA resources. The XEM8320 and FrontPanel provide a powerful research, development, and prototyping platform for next generation applications.

A new generation of FPGA peripherals is supported with four SYZYGY Standard and two SYZYGY transceiver ports. Higher performance than Digilent’s prolific PMOD standard and less ”greedy“ than high-pin count FMC (VITA 57.1) peripherals, SYZYGY offers a modern compromise with features such as SmartVIO for I/O voltages compatible with today's semiconductor devices and FPGA I/O architectures. Designed for single-device peripherals, SYZYGY shares the PMOD approach of supporting multiple, smaller peripherals than FMC. As a result, system integrators can piece multiple devices together into a single system.

For low- to mid-volume product development, the company offers a path to production with the XEM8310 system-on-module (SOM).

Built with the same Artix UltraScale+ FPGA as the XEM8310, the compact module is perfect for production deployments in researchgrade test and measurement, data acquisition, instrumentation, and more. Lifecycle-managed, supported by an ISO 9001 quality management system, and step pricing strategy for quantity discounts, Opal Kelly's modular solutions are perfect for OEMs and mid-market solution providers.

FEATURES Xilinx Artix UltraScale+ AUP25 FPGA with 16nm technology Opal Kelly’s FrontPanel SDK for USB 3.0 Single-input power system (+8V to +14V) 512 MiB DDR4 GTH Transceivers up to 16.375 Gbps Programmable clock generator 4x SYZYGY Standard Ports (learn more at https://syzygyfpga.io) 2x SYZYGY Transceiver Ports 2x QSFP cages 6x SMA for transceiver access FrontPanel SDK platforms: Windows, Linux, macOS https://opalkelly.com/products/xem8320/

Opal Kelly Incorporated www.opalkelly.com www.embeddedcomputing.com



sales@opalkelly.com

www.linkedin.com/company/opal-kelly-incorporated

 217-391-3724

twitter.com/opalkelly

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

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XEM8350: Xilinx Kintex UltraScale FPGA Development Board The XEM8350 Kintex UltraScale based FPGA module offers a turnkey dual Super-Speed USB 3.0 host interface using Opal Kelly’s FrontPanel SDK. System integrators can build fully-operational prototype and production designs quickly by integrating this device into their product. Manufacturers of high-speed devices such as JESD-204B data acquisition devices can launch fully-functional evaluation systems without the costly design and maintenance of an evaluation platform.

As an industry first, the XEM8350 features two fully-independent SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports for high-bandwidth applications requiring duplex operation or over 650 MB/s bandwidth. The FrontPanel SDK includes a multi-platform API (Windows, macOS, and Linux) and very low logic utilization on the FPGA. Memory-hungry applications enjoy access to 4 GiB of on-board DDR4 memory with a 64-bit wide data bus and ECC. Typical applications include ultra high-performance data acquisition such as: • LIDAR and RADAR • Remote Sensing • Video / Image Capture • Photonics • Software-Defined Radio (SDR) • Advanced Metrology • 5G Systems • Data Ingestion Acceleration

Opal Kelly Incorporated www.opalkelly.com



FEATURES Dual SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports for high-bandwidth data transfer Xilinx Kintex UltraScale XCKU060 or XCKU115 4 GB DDR4 SDRAM with (64-bit with ECC) Over 330 I/O pins on three Samtec QTH connectors 28 multi-gigabit transceivers Small form-factor: 145mm x 85mm On-board programmable oscillator https://opalkelly.com/products/xem8350/

sales@opalkelly.com

 217-391-3724

www.linkedin.com/company/opal-kelly-incorporated

twitter.com/opalkelly Hardware

Stylish and flexible Panel PC based on x86 processor SECO’s Flexy Vision 21.5 is the first of a new family of Panel PCs, based on the Intel® Atom™ X Series and Intel® Celeron® J / N Series (formerly Apollo Lake) processors. Its aluminum frame highlights a high-resolution (1920x1080) 21.5" LCD with projected capacitance touch screen protected by a 1.8 mm thick glass cover.

Two DP++ 1.2 display outputs are driven by the processor’s integrated Intel® HD Graphics 500 series controller, supporting 4K display resolution. Up to 8 GB of soldered LPDDR4 memory and up to 512GB of SSD via M.2 slot are available. Connectivity includes: 2x GbE, M.2 slot for a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module with 2x SMA connectors for external antennas, and 2x USB 3.0 host ports. The Flexy Vision 21.5 is usable via panel mount, VESA bracket mount, and table stand (via optional accessory). The display is adjustable for both landscape and portrait mode.

The Flexy Vision product line of Panel PCs will be available in x86 and Arm architecture, and various display sizes: 7", 10", 13.3", and 15.6". Additional product releases are expected in late 2021 and early 2022.

FEATURES 21.5" high-definition LCD display (1920 x 1080 resolution) with projected capacitive touchscreen VESA, panel point, display stand options; portrait and landscape orientation Intel® Celeron® J3455, Intel® Atom™ x5-E3940 and Intel® Celeron® N3350 processors Connectivity: 2x Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth via M.2 module, 2x USB 3.0 2x DP++ outputs, up to 4K resolution Operating systems: Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise, Microsoft Windows 10 IoT Core, Linux Excellent graphic performance, ideal for visual applications including vending, infotainment, and industrial automation

https://products.seco.com/en/flexy-vision-21-5.html

SECO



www.seco.com

40

marcom@seco.com www.linkedin.com/company/seco-spa/

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

 +39 0575 26979 twitter.com/SECO_spa

www.embeddedcomputing.com

Smarter Embedded Solutions from Edge to AI With broad expertise in embedded hardware, software, display, communications, and packaging technologies, SECO enables our clients with complete electronic system solutions, from edge device hardware to fully integrated product with artificial intelligence (AI) that transforms business operations.

Edge computing SECO standard form-factor system-onmodules (SOMs) – Qseven®, SMARC®, COM Express®, and the emerging COM-HPC® – feature leading edge processing technologies from NXP, Intel, Xilinx, Nvidia, and AMD. SOMs offer reduced time to market, high integration flexibility, and a future upgrade path with no hardware redesign. SECO also designs or co-designs application-specific carrier boards for SOM integration while balancing feature sets, time-to-market, and cost.

SECO single board computers (SBCs) are also compliant with popular standards – 3.5", Pico-ITX, and eNUC – and offer single circuit boards that operate in harsh environments.

Human-Machine Interface (HMI) systems, rugged tablets, boxed PCs, and communication gateways, with a broad range of wired and wireless connectivity options, complete SECO’s portfolio of offthe-shelf edge platforms. SECO’s display division provides display assemblies with touchscreens and high brightness backlights.

SECO edge solutions run various operating systems, including Linux, Android, Windows, and real time operating systems (RTOS) such as VxWorks.

Intelligence of Things (IoT) architecture Complementing SECO edge hardware platforms, SECO Mind offers Clea – a suite of the AI/IoT product that enables actionable and measurable data insights. Designed for installation on all SECO hardware edge product, Clea includes an AI and data orchestration tool suite. AI can run autonomously on the edge device or in conjunction with cloud computing services. Clea facilitates business growth by optimizing efficiency, strengthening productivity, and minimizing maintenance time and cost. SECO is the leader in offering embedded, IoT, and AI technologies as an all-in-one solution.

SECO

www.seco.com www.embeddedcomputing.com



Rugged electronic systems SECO designs, develops, qualifies, and manufactures rugged electronic systems across a broad range of industries, including medical, military, industrial, and transportation. Expertise includes battery-operated devices, multimedia product including displays and touchscreens, rugged controllers with joysticks and buttons, and radio communications. With design processes that uncover complete use cases and ensure compliance with a broad range of regulatory and industry specifications, resulting electronic devices meet the most demanding applications.

FEATURES Off-the-shelf embedded products: variety of SOMs, SBCs, HMI devices and gateways compliant with widely used standards that reduce time to market Operating systems for edge devices: Linux, Android, Windows, and RTOS such as VxWorks modified to match edge device hardware Clea: suite solution that integrates AI, IoT, Cloud computing, and Big Data analysis for easy deployment and facilitates efficient operations Embedded AI: algorithms that autonomously analyze and optimize operation on the edge device without cloud connectivity Product development: design and production of rugged high reliability electronic devices, including rugged tablets, medical devices, and industrial equipment US-based engineering and operations for direct support of North America clients

marcom@seco.com www.linkedin.com/company/seco-spa/

 +39 0575 26979 twitter.com/SECO_spa

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

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Embedded Computing Design

Hardware

Embedded Computing Design

Hardware

Edge Optimized x86 SMARC Module for FuSa Applications Optimized for flexibility and reliability, SECO’s SM-C93 SMARC system on module (SOM) enables fail-safe operation without compromising high performance and provides rapid time-to-market.

The SM-C93 is powered by Intel® Atom™ x6000E Series processors (formerly Elkhart Lake), including specific SKUs enabled with support for Functional Safety (FuSa). The SM-C93 was designed to fully comply with IEC 61508 and ISO 13849 FuSa standards, perfect for applications where safety requirements dictate failsafe certification for avoiding harmful situations.

In addition to FuSa-related features, the SM-C93 supports non-FuSa Intel® Atom™ x6000E series, Celeron® N and J series, and Pentium® dual and quad core SKUs. This latest generation embedded processor has up to 1.5x better multithread and up to 2x better graphics performance than the previous generation. The SM-C93 can drive up to 3 displays and 4K resolution via LVDS, eDP, and HDMI outputs. Up to 16GB Quad Channel LPDDR4 soldered DRAM is available with In-Band Error Correction Code (IBECC), which detects and corrects single-bit memory errors, to enhance safety and reliability.

Connectivity includes: 2x GbE with precision time protocol (IEEE 1588) for time sensitive networking (TSN), optional SERDES for 3rd GbE, up to 4x PCIe Gen3 lanes.

SECO



www.seco.com

FEATURES Intel®Atom™ x6000E CPUs certified for FuSa: x6427FE quad core, x6200FE dual core Other Intel® Atom™ x6000E, Pentium®and Celeron®N and J Series CPUs Compliance with IEC 61508 and ISO 13849 requirements for Functional Safety and Safety Integrity Levels Up to 16GB Quad Channel LPDDR4 soldered DRAM with IBECC (safety related feature) SMARC® Rel 2.1.1 compliant module (50 x 82 mm) Supported operating systems: Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, Linux (Yocto) Industrial temperature operation available

https://products.seco.com/en/sm-c93.html

marcom@seco.com www.linkedin.com/company/seco-spa/

 +39 0575 26979 twitter.com/SECO_spa

Industrial

PCAN-PCI/104-Express FD FEATURES:

PCI/104-Express card, 1 lane (x1) Form factor PC/104 Up to four cards can be used in one system 1, 2, or 4 High-speed CAN channels (ISO 11898-2) Complies with CAN specifications 2.0 A/B and FD (ISO and Non-ISO) CAN FD bit rates for the data field (64 bytes max.) from 20 kbit/s up to 12 Mbit/s CAN bit rates from 20 kbit/s up to 1 Mbit/s Connection to CAN bus through D-Sub slot bracket, 9-pin (in accordance with CiA® 303-1) FPGA implementation of the CAN FD controller Microchip CAN transceiver MCP2558FD Galvanic isolation on the CAN connection up to 500 V, separate for each CAN channel CAN termination and 5-Volt supply to the CAN connection can be activated through a solder jumper Extended operating temperature range from -40 to 85 °C (-40 to 185 °F) Optionally available: PCI-104 stack-through connector

PEAK-System Technik GmbH

www.peak-system.com/quick/PC104-5

42



CAN FD Interface for PCI/104-Express

The PCAN-PCI/104-Express FD allows the connection of PCI/104Express systems to CAN and CAN FD buses. Up to four cards can be stacked together. The CAN bus is connected via 9-pin D-Sub connectors to the supplied slot brackets. There is a galvanic isolation between the computer and the CAN side up to 500 Volts. The card is available as a single, dual, or four-channel version.

The monitor software PCAN-View and the programming interface PCAN-Basic are included in the scope of supply and support the new standard CAN FD.

info@peak-system.com

www.linkedin.com/company/peak-system

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

 +49 (0) 6151-8173-20

@PEAK_System

www.embeddedcomputing.com

PCAN-PC/104 FEATURES:

Form factor PC/104 Multiple PC/104 cards can be operated in parallel (interrupt sharing) 14 port and 8 interrupt addresses are available for configuration using jumpers 1 or 2 High-speed CAN channels (ISO 11898-2) Bit rates from 5 kbit/s up to 1 Mbit/s Compliant with CAN specifications 2.0A (11-bit ID) and 2.0B (29-bit ID) Connection to CAN bus through D-Sub slot bracket, 9-pin (in accordance with CiA® 303-1) NXP SJA1000 CAN controller, 16 MHz clock frequency NXP PCA82C251 CAN transceiver 5-Volt supply to the CAN connection can be connected through a solder jumper, e.g., for external bus converter Optionally available with galvanic isolation on the CAN connection up to 500 V, separate for each CAN channel Extended operating temperature range from -40 to 85 °C (-40 to 185 °F)

PEAK-System Technik GmbH

www.peak-system.com/quick/PC104-1



CAN Interface for PC/104 The PCAN-PC/104 card enables the connection of one or two CAN networks to a PC/104 system. Multiple PCAN-PC/104 cards can easily be operated using interrupt sharing.

The card is available as a single or dual-channel version. The opto-decoupled versions also guarantee galvanic isolation of up to 500 Volts between the PC and the CAN sides.

The package is also supplied with the CAN monitor PCAN-View for Windows and the programming interface PCAN-Basic.

info@peak-system.com

www.linkedin.com/company/peak-system

 +49 (0) 6151-8173-20

@PEAK_System

Industrial

PCAN-PC/104-Plus FEATURES:

Form factor PC/104 Use of the 120-pin connection for the PCI bus Up to four cards can be used in one system 1 or 2 High-speed CAN channels (ISO 11898-2) Bit rates from 5 kbit/s up to 1 Mbit/s Compliant with CAN specifications 2.0A (11-bit ID) and 2.0B (29-bit ID) Connection to CAN bus through D-Sub slot bracket, 9-pin (in accordance with CiA® 303-1) NXP SJA1000 CAN controller, 16 MHz clock frequency NXP PCA82C251 CAN transceiver 5-Volt supply to the CAN connection can be connected through a solder jumper, e.g., for external bus converter Extended operating temperature range from -40 to 85 °C (-40 to 185 °F) Optionally available with galvanic isolation on the CAN connection up to 500 V, separate for each CAN channel PC/104-ISA stack-through connector

PEAK-System Technik GmbH

www.peak-system.com/quick/PC104-2 www.embeddedcomputing.com



CAN Interface for PC/104-Plus The PCAN-PC/104-Plus card enables the connection of one or two CAN networks to a PC/104-Plus system. Up to four cards can be operated, with each piggy-backing off the next. The CAN bus is connected using a 9-pin D-Sub plug on the slot bracket supplied.

The card is available as a single or dual-channel version. The opto-decoupled versions also guarantee galvanic isolation of up to 500 Volts between the PC and the CAN sides.

The package is also supplied with the CAN monitor PCAN-View for Windows and the programming interface PCAN-Basic.

info@peak-system.com

www.linkedin.com/company/peak-system

 +49 (0) 6151-8173-20

@PEAK_System

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

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Embedded Computing Design

Industrial

Embedded Computing Design

Industrial

PCAN-PC/104-Plus Quad FEATURES:

Form factor PC/104 Use of the 120-pin connection for the PCI bus Up to four cards can be used in one system 4 High-speed CAN channels (ISO 11898-2) Bit rates from 5 kbit/s up to 1 Mbit/s Compliant with CAN specifications 2.0A (11-bit ID) and 2.0B (29-bit ID) Connection to CAN bus through D-Sub slot brackets, 9-pin (in accordance with CiA® 303-1) FPGA implementation of the CAN controller (SJA1000 compatible) NXP PCA82C251 CAN transceiver Galvanic isolation on the CAN connection up to 500 V, separate for each CAN channel 5-Volt supply to the CAN connection can be connected through a solder jumper, e.g., for external bus converter Extended operating temperature range from -40 to 85 °C (-40 to 185 °F) Optionally available: PC/104-ISA stack-through connector

PEAK-System Technik GmbH

www.peak-system.com/quick/PC104-3



Four-Channel CAN Interface for PC/104-Plus The PCAN-PC/104-Plus Quad card enables the connection of four CAN networks to a PC/104-Plus system. Up to four cards can be operated, with each piggy-backing off the next.

The CAN bus is connected using a 9-pin D-Sub plug on the slot brackets supplied. There is galvanic isolation of up to 500 Volts between the computer and CAN sides.

The package is also supplied with the CAN monitor PCAN-View for Windows and the programming interface PCAN-Basic.

info@peak-system.com

www.linkedin.com/company/peak-system

 +49 (0) 6151-8173-20

@PEAK_System

Industrial

PCAN-PCI/104-Express FEATURES:

PCI/104-Express card, 1 lane (x1) Form factor PC/104 Up to four cards can be used in one system 1 or 2 High-speed CAN channels (ISO 11898-2) Bit rates from 5 kbit/s up to 1 Mbit/s Compliant with CAN specifications 2.0A (11-bit ID) and 2.0B (29-bit ID) Connection to CAN bus through D-Sub slot bracket, 9-pin (in accordance with CiA® 303-1) FPGA implementation of the CAN controller (SJA1000 compatible) NXP PCA82C251 CAN transceiver Galvanic isolation on the CAN connection up to 500 V, separate for each CAN channel Supplied only via the 5 V line 5-Volt supply to the CAN connection can be connected through a solder jumper, e.g., for external bus converter Extended operating temperature range from -40 to 85 °C (-40 to 185 °F) Optionally available: PCI-104 stack-through connector

PEAK-System Technik GmbH

www.peak-system.com/quick/PC104-4

44



CAN Interface for PCI/104-Express The PCAN-PCI/104-Express card enables the connection of one or two CAN buses to a PCI/104-Express system. Up to four cards can be stacked together. The CAN bus is connected using a 9-pin D-Sub plug on the slot brackets supplied. There is galvanic isolation of up to 500 Volts between the computer and CAN sides.

The package is also supplied with the CAN monitor PCAN-View for Windows and the programming interface PCAN-Basic.

info@peak-system.com

www.linkedin.com/company/peak-system

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

 +49 (0) 6151-8173-20

@PEAK_System

www.embeddedcomputing.com

A FINE TECHNOLOGY GROUP

cPCI, PXI, VME, Custom Packaging Solutions VME and VME64x, CompactPCI, or PXI chassis are available in many configurations from 1U to 12U, 2 to 21 slots, with many power options up to 1,200 watts. Dual hot-swap is available in AC or DC versions. We have in-house design, manufacturing capabilities, and in-process controls. All Vector chassis and backplanes are manufactured in the USA and are available with custom modifications and the shortest lead times in the industry.

Series 2370 chassis offer the lowest profile per slot. Cards are inserted horizontally from the front, and 80mm rear I/O backplane slot configuration is also available. Chassis are available from 1U, 2 slots up to 7U, 12 slots for VME, CompactPCI, or PXI. All chassis are IEEE 1101.10/11 compliant with hot-swap, plug-in AC or DC power options.

Our Series 400 enclosures feature side-filtered air intake and rear exhaust for up to 21 vertical cards. Options include hot-swap, plug-in AC or DC power, and system voltage/temperature monitor.

Embedded power supplies are available up to 1,200 watts.

Series 790 is MIL-STD-461D/E compliant and certified, economical, and lighter weight than most enclosures available today. It is available in 3U, 4U, and 5U models up to 7 horizontal slots.

All Vector chassis are available for custom modification in the shortest time frame. Many factory paint colors are available and can be specified with Federal Standard or RAL numbers.

FEATURES Most rack accessories ship from stock Modified ‘standards’ and customization are our specialty Card sizes from 3U x 160mm to 9U x 400mm System monitoring option (CMM) AC or DC power input Power options up to 1,200 watts

Made in the USA Since 1947

For more detailed product information, please visit www.vectorelect.com or call 1-800-423-5659 and discuss your application with a Vector representative.

Vector Electronics & Technology, Inc. www.vectorelect.com www.embeddedcomputing.com



inquire@vectorelect.com

 800-423-5659

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

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Embedded Computing Design

Industrial

Embedded Computing Design

IoT

Lattice Certus-NX™ Low Power General Purpose FPGAs Lattice Certus-NX™ general purpose FPGAs equip system designers with best-in-class performance, power efficiency, small size, I/O capabilities, and high-speed interfaces to help bring even the most advanced concepts to reality. Certus-NX FPGAs are built on the revolutionary Lattice Nexus™ platform, which combines Lattice’s innovations in FPGA fabric architecture and leading 28nm FD-SOI semiconductor manufacturing technology. This powerful combination delivers up to 4X lower power and 100X higher reliability with a 100X lower Soft Error Rate (SER) than similar competitive devices.

Designed for a range of applications, from automated industrial equipment operating at the edge, to 5G communications infrastructure, aerospace and defense, and cloud datacenters, Certus-NX FPGAs are well suited for Internet-connected devices, artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, a variety of communications tasks, data co-processing, signal bridging, and motor and sensor control.

Complimentary to their leadership performance, Certus-NX FPGAs provide the design freedom that comes with smaller boards or more board real estate. Packages as small as 6mm2 gives designers the space needed to add new system features or shrink the design altogether. Even in a tiny package, Certus-NX provides bestin-class I/O density, giving board designers the flexibility needed to optimize their products. They also draw much less power than standard CMOS, lowering energy consumption without sacrificing performance.

To help speed time to market and enhance designs, Lattice offers innovative, comprehensive application-specific solution stacks that combine the hardware, software, and IP tools needed to evaluate, develop and deploy FPGA-based solutions. Lattice Certus-NX FPGAs are compatible with the Lattice mVision™ solution stack for embedded vision applications and the Lattice sensAI™ solution stack for machine learning applications.

And, as a key differentiator compared to other silicon solutions, designers can leverage the programmable nature of Lattice Certus-NX FPGAs to reduce design complexity, customize solutions, and speed time to market. Certus-NX FPGAs are compatible with Lattice’s easy-to-use Lattice Radiant™ and Lattice Propel™ design software.

FEATURES Industry-leading I/O Count in Small Packages – Up to 2x more I/O per mm2 vs. similar FPGAs, in packages as small as 6x6 mm and in ball-pitch options of 0.5 and 0.8 mm, with support for PCIe and GigE (SGMII).

High-speed Interfaces – Up to 70% faster differential I/O (vs. similar FPGAs) at 1.5 Gbps. 5 Gbps PCIe, 1.25 Gbps SGMII (GigE) and 1066 Mbps DDR3 memory interfaces also supported.

Robust authentication and encryption – Support AES-256 with ECDSA authentication; the smallest FPGAs on the market to support ECDSA. Leadership low power consumption – Up to 4X lower power than competitive FPGAs, featuring a programmable back bias enables user-selectable high performance or low power operating modes, depending on the needs of their application.

Instant-on performance – Ultra-fast device configuration from SPI memory up to 12X faster than similar competing FPGAs, with individual I/O able to configure in just 3 ms, and fulldevice startup in only 8-14 ms depending on device capacity.

High reliability – Up to 100X better SER performance than similar FPGAs; temperature-rated for use in industrial applications; support ECC and SEC in hardware.

www.latticesemi.com/en/Products/FPGAandCPLD/Certus-NX

Lattice Semiconductor www.latticesemi.com

46



sales@latticesemi.com  408-826-6000 www.linkedin.com/company/lattice-semiconductor/ @latticesemi

Embedded Computing Design RESOURCE GUIDE | Fall 2021

www.embeddedcomputing.com

®

Solid State Storage and Memory

Industrial-Grade Solid State Storage and Memory Virtium manufactures solid state storage and memory for the world’s leading industrial embedded OEM customers. Our mission is to develop the most reliable storage and memory solutions with the greatest performance, consistency and longest product availability.

Industry Solutions: Networking Telecommunications, Industrial Automation, Transportation, Medical, Defense and Video/Signage.

StorFly® SSD Storage M.2, 2.5", 1.8", Slim SATA, mSATA, CFast, eUSB, Key, PATA CF and SD. NAND technologies include: SLC, MLC, pSLC and 3D-TLC with the 3/5-year warranty period. M.2 NVMe and CFexpress are also available.

Memory Products include: All DDR formats, DIMM, SODIMM, Mini-DIMM, Standard and VLP/ULP. Features server-grade, monolithic components, best-in-class designs, and conformal coating/underfilled heat sink options.

New! NVMe SSDs Product Line:

StorFly Series 3 M.2 NVMe SSDs are designed for boot, code storage, and light data-logging applications. These SSDs offer lower cost by using DRAM-less designs with industry standard M.2 2280 (22x80mm) and 2242 (22x42mm) formats. The architecture enables the SSDs to deliver the highest throughput-per-watt and best steady-state performance compared to other industrialgrade SSDs over wide temperature ranges.

StorFly Series 6 M.2 NVMe SSDs are designed for more data-intensive and mixed-workload applications. Drive capacities range from 240GB to 1920GB – all within the 2280mm form factor.

StorFly® CFexpress PCIe Gen 4.0 Removable NVMe SSDs enable sealed, industrial-grade solid-state storage in applications requiring both the flexibility of compact, removable media and the high performance of NVMe. Capacities up to 1TB.

Virtium

www.virtium.com www.embeddedcomputing.com



sales@virtium.com www.linkedin.com/company/virtium

Features • Broad product portfolio from

latest technology to legacy designs

• 25 years refined U.S. production and 100% testing

• A+ quality – backed by verified

yield, on-time delivery and field-defects-per-million reports • Extreme durability, iTemp -40º to 85º C • Industrial SSD Software for security, maximum life and qualification • Longest product life cycles with cross-reference support for end-of-life competitive products • Leading innovator in small-formfactor, high-capacity, high-density, high-reliability designs • Worldwide Sales, FAE support and industry distribution

 949-888-2444 twitter.com/virtium

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Embedded Computing Design

Storage

IIoT devices run longer on Tadiran batteries.

PROVEN

40 YEAR OPERATING

LIFE

Remote wireless devices connected to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) run on Tadiran bobbin-type LiSOCl2 batteries.

Our batteries offer a winning combination: a patented hybrid layer capacitor (HLC) that delivers the high pulses required for two-way wireless communications; the widest temperature range of all; and the lowest self-discharge rate (0.7% per year), enabling our cells to last up to 4 times longer than the competition.

ANNUAL SELF-DISCHARGE TADIRAN

COMPETITORS

0.7%

Up to 3%

Looking to have your remote wireless device complete a 40-year marathon? Then team up with Tadiran batteries that last a lifetime.

* Tadiran LiSOCL2 batteries feature the lowest annual self-discharge rate of any competitive battery, less than 1% per year, enabling these batteries to operate over 40 years depending on device operating usage. However, this is not an expressed or implied warranty, as each application differs in terms of annual energy consumption and/or operating environment.

Tadiran Batteries 2001 Marcus Ave. Suite 125E Lake Success, NY 11042 1-800-537-1368 516-621-4980 www.tadiranbat.com

*