The Express-AT delivers full function, low power consumption, and a guaranteed production life of 7 years at a very modest price. The Express-AT is based on an Intel® Atom™ Processor N270 at 1.6 GHz supporting Intel® SpeedStep and Hyper-Threading Technologies. The cost effective Mobile Intel® 945GSE Express Chipset complements the functional core of the module with a very complete feature set.
ADLINK Technology, a global provider of trusted embedded products, announces the Express-AT, the newest member of its Computer-on-Module (COM) family. The Express-AT’s design, measuring just 125 x 95 millimeters, is fully COM Express™ type 2 compatible. COM Express™ modules are highly integrated off-the-shelf building blocks based on PCI Express® bus architecture that plug into custom-made, application-specific carrier boards.
An Entry Level COM Express Module
The Express-AT is positioned as an entry level COM Express™ module for systems that require a full set of graphics features. The module comes with integrated support for high resolution CRT, single/dual channel LVDS and TV out (SDTV and HDTV). In addition to the onboard integrated graphics, the chipset’s SDVO bus can be used to connect to DVI, TMDS or additional LVDS device controllers by extension to a custom designed carrier. Primary focuses for applications areas are: Medical Diagnostics and Medical Imaging, Gaming, Industrial Automation, Test and Measurement, Video Preprocessing and Industrial Control.
Lower System Cost and Reduced Power Consumption
The Intel® Atom™ processor N270 on the Express-AT features a thermal design power of just 2.5 Watts at peak levels while supporting Intel® SpeedStep® Technology. Although much smaller, Intel® Atom™ processors share the same architecture as Intel® Core™2 Duo processors and additionally support Hyper Threading Technology, a feature earlier introduced with the Intel® Pentium? 4 processor that allows more than one code thread to be executed at the same time on a single core.
«The combination of Intel® Atom™ N270 and 945GSE allows us to create a COM Express™ module that supports both a modern feature set and entry level pricing», says Henk van Bremen, Product Director for ADLINK Embedded Division. «The Express-AT actually complements an already existing product range that is based on the very popular Mobile Intel® 945GME Express chipset paired with Intel® Core™ Duo and Core™2 Duo processors.» concludes van Bremen.
«The low-power Intel® Atom™ processor N270 combined with the Mobile Intel® 945GSE chipset enables ADLINK to deliver products with power-saving features and embedded functions that are requested by system designers for next-generation mobile applications and low power platforms,» said Jonathan Luse, director of marketing, Low Power Embedded Products Division, Intel®.
Express-AT Feature Set
The Express-AT supports up to 2 GB of DDR2 667MHz memory on a single SODIMM socket. The Mobile Intel® 945GSE Express chipset integrates an Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 that provides CRT, single/dual channel LVDS and TV-out (SDTV and HDTV). In addition to the onboard integrated graphics, the SDVO bus can connect to DVI, TMDS or TV-out device controllers. The board also allows connection of up to three additional PCI Express® x1 devices on the Intel® I/O Controller Hub 7-M (ICH7-M) Southbridge.
The module comes with a single onboard Gigabit Ethernet port and two SATA ports. It has legacy support for a single Parallel IDE channel, 32-bit PCI™ and LPC. The Express-AT comes equipped with an AMIBIOS8 supporting embedded features such as: Remote Console, CMOS backup, CPU and System Monitoring and a Dual Watchdog Timer for NMI or RESET.
ADLINK’s Full Computer on Module Product Line
ADLINK’s complete Computer-on-Module product family includes ETX® modules for PCI™/ISA oriented designs and COM Express™ modules for PCI Express® / PCI™ designs with optional legacy support through LPC. To evaluate or test our modules, prototype boards with ATX form factor are available.
Carrier Board Design and Manufacturing Support
ADLINK provides schematics, mechanical files, design guides, R&D support, product review service and BIOS customization for companies that are doing their own carrier board design. ADLINK also offers full development and production services for those who wish to outsource their carrier board’s design and/or manufacturing.
PICMG® COM Express™ Plug-and-Play Subcommittee
ADLINK currently chairs the PICMG® COM Express™ Design Guide subcommittee. The to-be-released COM Express™ Plug and Play Design Guide aims to increase the use of COM Express™ modules by defining a set of carrier design guidelines that enable plug-and-play support and increase compatibility between COM Express™ modules from various vendors.