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Intel ® 

Solutions 

Winter 2011 

Embedded Virtualization—the Key to 

Real-time Determinism 

Combining x86 Architecture with FPGAs 

Optimizing the Virtual Environment 

Intel ® Atom Processor E6xx Series 

Reaches the SUMIT 

VPX Apps for Wide-Area Airborne 

Gold Sponsors 

www.embeddedintel.com

Copyright © 2010 Kontron AG. All rights reserved. Kontron and the Kontron logo and all other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are recognized. Rev. # G109us02 

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If it’s embedded, it’s Kontron.

IN THIS ISSUE 

WINTER 2011 

FROM THE EDITOR 

4 The Easy Stuff is Done 

By Ed Sperling, Guest Editor 

NEWS 

6 Product News 

By Jim Kobylecky 

DEPARTMENTS 

FOCUS ON INTEL 

16 Intel Targets Digital Signage 

By Cheryl Coupé, Contributing Editor 


17 Wide-Area Airborne Surveillance (WAAS) 

application Ideal for VPX 



20 Break Away with Intel Atom Processors 

A Guide to Architecture Migration 


STANDARDS WATCH 

22 Digital Audio, Standards, and Chips 

By Henk Muller, XMOS 

SPECIAL FEATURES 

26 Trouble In The Patent Of�ce 

By Ed Sperling, Contributing Editor 

Why Current Practices Have Green IP Proponents Seeing Red; 

How to Limit the Impact of Trolls 

28 Intel® Atom Processor E6xx Series Reaches 

the SUMIT 

By Robert A. Burckle, WinSystems, Inc. 

Advanced Connector Unlocks Small-Form Factors 

30 Optimizing the Virtual Environment 

By Bob Carlson, Criterion HPS 

2 | Embedded Intel ® Solutions — Winter 2011 | www.embeddedintel.com 

TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS 

32 Embedded Virtualization—the Key to Realtime 

Determinism in Multi-OS Systems 

By Kim Hartman, TenAsys Corporation 

33 What Do You Get When You Combine x86 

Architecture with FPGAs? 

By Christine Van De Graaf, Kontron 

35 Con�guration Is Key to Success with Embedded 

Virtualization 

By Chris Ault, Wind River 

LAST WORD 

48 PCIe vs. RapidIO for Embedded Applications 

By Dave Barker, Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) 

PRODUCT SHOWCASE 

39 6WIND 

40 AXIOMTEK 

40 AXIOMTEK 

41 Commell 

41 Emerson Network Power 




43 ITOX 

44 MSI Computer 

44 Pinnacle Data Systems, Inc. 






47 Extreme Engineering Solutions, 

Inc.

X-ES 2 nd Generation Intel ® Core i7 Processor Solutions: Delivering Innovation 

In 2010, Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. (X-ES) developed more Intel® Core i7 

processor products based on VPX, CompactPCI, VME, CompactPCI Express, and XMC form 

factors than anyone in the industry. This year, X-ES has added solutions based on the 2nd 

generation Intel Core i7 processor. Providing products customers want, when they want 

them – that truly is innovation that performs. 

X-ES offers an extensive product portfolio that includes commercial and ruggedized single 

board computers, high-performance processor modules, multipurpose I/O modules, 

storage, backplanes, enclosures, and fully integrated systems. 

2nd generation Intel Core i7 processor solutions available in a variety of form factors. 

Call or visit our website today.

FROM THE EDITOR 

The Easy Stuff Is Done 

By Ed Sperling - Guest Editor 

�e oil industry makes a good comparison to what’s going on in the semiconductor 

world. While everyone talks about the end of the oil era, the fact is 

that there is still plenty of oil left in the ground. It just gets harder to extract. 

�e same is true of power savings on a piece of silicon. It’s still possible to 

save lots of power in devices. It’s just harder to do—and more expensive. It 

will require new materials, new techniques, and in some cases a new way of 

thinking. 

�e materials that are likely candidates for lowering power and minimizing the effects 

of shrinkage at each new node are well known and have been tested for years. SOI leads the 

pack—particularly fully depleted SOI—but there also are some more exotic combinations that 

could play an important role for certain industries. 

�e techniques for lowering power are also well known. At 45nm, almost everyone is working 

with power islands, power modeling and multiple voltages, and at 28nm and beyond there 

will need to be standards for how to bring all of this stuff together in a more consistent manner. 

�e problem gets even worse in 3D, because power equates to heat, and heat is much tougher 

to get rid of in a multi-die stack. 

“Power is global in a device … 

reaching far beyond an individual 

chip and across the PCB …” 

�e new approaches are something of a shift in approach. While the semiconductor industry 

has been marching to the beat of smaller, faster and cheaper (or at least less expensive) for 

nearly half a century, the answer may no longer be from the standpoint of a single chip. It may 

be multiple chips, in addition to multiple chips in a stack. If one chip can do a specific function 

with less power, then that can be a significant gain for conserving overall system power. �e 

problem is that most engineering teams aren’t organized to make this type of approach work. 

Power is global in a device, though, which means it will require a global approach among 

systems companies—reaching far beyond an individual chip and across the PCB, which in 

some cases may mean across multiple geographies and time zones. �is isn’t so simple, and it 

may be the hardest piece for chip developers to come to grips with. Internal organizations and 

politics are common tripwires for companies, and that becomes even harder when it’s built 

around a somewhat vague concept such as power. 

Nevertheless, power will define which companies are competitive over the next decade and 

which ones are not, and the companies that embrace it first will be the ones best positioned to 

deal with it when their customers begin asking for bids on a more effective approach to extending 

battery life or cutting the power in plug-in devices, which soon will be measured directly 

by consumers. 

Ed Sperling is Contributing Editor for Embedded Intel® Solutions and the Editor-in-Chief 

of the “System Level Design” portal. Ed has received numerous awards for technical journalism. 


www.embeddedintel.com 

V.P. and Associate Publisher 

Clair Bright 

Editorial 

Editorial Director 

John Blyler 

jblyler@extensionmedia.com 

(503) 614-1082 

Managing Editor - NA 

Jim Kobylecky 

Contributing Editors 

Cheryl Ajluni, Geoffrey James, 

Ed Sperling, Craig Szydlowski, Nicole Freeman, 

Ann Steffora Mutschler, Cheryl Coupé 

Creative/Production 

Graphic Designers 

Brandon Solem 

Keith Kelly 

Production Coordinator 

Spryte Heithecker 

Online Production Director 

Jeff Cheney 

Advertising / Reprint Sales 

Vice President, Sales 

Embedded Electronics Media Group 

Clair Bright 

cbright@extensionmedia.com 

(415) 255-0390 ext. 15 

Marketing/Circulation 

Jenna Johnson 

To Subscribe 


Extension Media, LLC 

Corporate Office 

President and Publisher 

Vince Ridley 

vridley@extensionmedia.com 

(415) 255-0390 ext. 18 

V.P. and Associate Publisher 

Embedded Electronics Media Group 

Clair Bright 

cbright@extensionmedia.com 

(415) 255-0390 ext. 15 

Vice President, Marketing and Product Development 

Karen Murray 

kmurray@extensionmedia.com 

Vice President, Business Development 

Melissa Sterling 

msterling@extensionmedia.com 

Human Resources / Administration 

Rachael Evans 

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors 

Embedded Intel ® Solutions is sent free to engineers and embedded 

developers in the U.S. and Canada who design with Embedded Intel ® 

Processors. 

Embedded Intel ® Solutions is published by Extension Media LLC, 1786 

18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107. Copyright © 2010 by Extension 

Media LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.

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NEWS 

NEWS 

Intel Unveils All New 2010 Intel® Core 

Processor Family 

Intel Corporation introduced its all new 2010 Intel® Core 

family of processors featuring unprecedented integration, 

smart performance, and including Intel® Turbo Boost 

Technology1 for laptops, desktops and embedded devices. 

The introduction of new Intel® Core i7, i5 and i3 chips 

coincides with Intel’s new 32 nanometer (nm) manufacturing 

process which is key to delivering processors and features 

at a variety of price points, and integrating high-definition 

graphics inside the processor. More than 400 laptop and 

desktop PC platform designs are expected from computer 

makers based on these products, with another 200 expected 

for embedded devices. 

CriticalBlue Optimizes 2nd Generation Processor 

Support 

CriticalBlue has enhanced its Prism product for software 

developers who are migrating to the 2nd generation Intel® 

Core processor family. Software developers can now 

analyze their existing software applications, evaluate 

benefits, and select the appropriate Intel® processor. The 2nd 

generation Intel Core processor family supports the Intel® 

Advanced Vector Extensions (Intel® AVX) which provide 

a new 256-bit SIMD floating point vector extension to the 

Intel® architecture. Exploiting features such as Intel AVX and 

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology increases performance 

and lowers application power consumption. 

GE 2nd Generation Embedded Designs Deliver 

Greater Performance Per Watt 

GE Intelligent Platforms is utilizing 2nd Generation Intel® 

Core i7 processors – formerly codenamed ‘Sandy Bridge’ - 

in a series of new products to be announced in the coming 

months. The first product will be the SBC624, a 6U OpenVPX 

single board computer featuring a range of processor options 

including a quad core Intel Core i7 processor running at up 

to 2.1GHz, ideal for applications like signal processing in 

intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance and radar/sonar. 

The SBC624 is available in five build versions from benign 

to fully rugged. 


Product News 

By Jim Kobylecky, Managing Editor 

Mercury Computer Launches 2nd Generation 

Products for Defense Applications 

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. announced the 

Ensemble Series 6U OpenVPX LDS6521 and the 3U 

OpenVPX SBC3510 modules based on the 2nd generation 

Intel® Core processor family. Mercury’s new modules 

enable best-of-breed subsystem application performance 

for extremely demanding ISR, defense, and aerospace 

applications. The 6U OpenVPX LDS6521 module utilizes the 

Intel® Core i7-2715QE processor to handle overwhelming 

volumes of high-resolution digital data. The Intel Core i7- 

2715QE processor doubles the number of cores available on a 

single device over the previous generation and now supports 

four cores. 

RadiSys Quad-Core COM Express 2.0 Module 

Based on 2nd Generation Intel® Core i7 

Processor 

RadiSys’ Procelerant CEQM67 module delivers extreme 

processing power and graphics within a basic 95mm x 

125mm form factor for medical, enterprise telecom and mil/ 

aero applications Based on the 2nd generation Intel® Core 

i7 processor at 2.1GHz and Intel® QM67 Express chipset 

the module is designed for industries including medical, 

enterprise telecom and mil/aero as they migrate to smaller, 

more powerful, scalable devices that demand graphics and 

processor performance for video-intensive applications. 

Procelerant CEQM67 is RadiSys’ first Type 6 COM Express 

2.0 compliant product that provides quad-core processing in 

a basic 95mm x 125mm form factor COM Express revision 

2.0 module. 

X-ES Introduces Product Line Featuring 2nd 

Generation Intel® Core i7 Processor 

Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. (X-ES) introduces 

the XPedite7470, a conduction- or air-cooled 3U VPX Single 

Board Computer (SBC). X-ES’s first of six standard form 

factor products based on the 2nd generation Intel® Core 

i7 processor, the XPedite7470 utilizes the processor’s quadcore 

technology operating at 2.1 GHz to deliver enhanced 

performance and efficiency, making it an excellent COTS 

product for deployed military applications. X-ES has teamed 

with RunTime Computing Solutions® to support applications 

that can take advantage of the SIMD architecture of Intel 

AVX. VSI/Pro®, the premier math and signal processing

library available from RunTime Computing, will be 

supported on the XPedite7470 and all X-ES products based 

on the 2nd generation Intel Core i7 processor. 

Kontron Announces Over 10 Embedded Platforms 

Based on 2nd Generation Intel® Processors 

Kontron announced that it will be supporting this 

advanced new microarchitecture with CPU, processor 

graphics, memory controller (some with ECC support) and 

PCIe controller on a single die on over 10 embedded platforms. 

The 2nd generation Intel® Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 

processors have a completely new microarchitecture, enabling 

small-sized designs to be created with unmatched computing 

power, graphics performance and energy efficiency on a small 

footprint*. In addition, 

with Kontron’s valueadded 

middleware, and 

strength in offering 

market-specific I/Os 

via FPGA, even more 

specific applications 

can be customtailored. 

LynuxWorks 

Announces 

LynxSecure 

Support for 2nd 

Generation Intel® 

Processor Family 

L y n u x W o r k s , 

Inc., announced 

LynxSecure 4.0 

support of the new 

Intel® Core i7 and 

Core i5 processor 

families. LynxSecure is 

a separation kernel and 

embedded hypervisor 

that provides an 

environment in 

which multiple guest 

operating systems and 

their applications can 

execute at the same 

time, in their own 

virtual partitions, 

without compromising 

security, reliability 

or data integrity. 

LynxSecure offers 

two virtualization 

schemes, paravirtualized 

guest OSes 

such as Linux and 

LynxOS-SE offering 

NEWS 

maximum performance, and fully virtualized guest OSes 

such as Windows, Solaris and Chromium OS requiring no 

changes to the guest OS. 

IEI Launches Dual-core Intel® Atom Processor 

D525 Fanless System 

IEI Technology Corp. 

released advanced fanless 

embedded systems featuring 

the dual-core Intel® Atom 

processor D525. The dual-core 

Intel® Atom processor D525 

-based embedded systems provide an increase of processor 

speed to 1.8 GHz with no bump in power consumption 

Feel the Embedded Rhythm 

sales-us@congatec.com 

Tel. +1 858 - 457- 2600 

congatec sets the beat for innovative embedded 

form factors. The Qseven standard offers the 

perfect solution for ultra mobile applications that 

require extremely reduced power consumption. 

The new conga-QA6 embedded computer 

module features Intel ® Atom processor E6xx series 

Extended temperature -40 °C to +85 °C 

Dramatically improved 3D Graphics 

All of the essential interfaces (3x PCIe, CAN, SPI... ) 

conga-QA6 

No more compromises. 

Experience the congatec rhythm at: 

www.congatec.us 

www.embeddedintel.com | Embedded Intel ® Solutions — Winter 2011 | 7 

Intel and Intel Atom are registered trademarks of the Intel corp. in the U.S. and other countries.

NEWS 

and support 800 MHz DDR3 memory. The debut D525 

series embedded system is the ECW-281B/B2-D525. This 

advanced series includes wide range DC power input from 9 

V to 36 V and dual GbE LAN – ideal for high speed network 

applications. 

Intel® Atom Processor E600C Series Includes 

Altera FPGA in a Single Package 

Intel Corporation is making it easier for customers to 

go-to-market with differentiated, custom-made designs. 

The company announced the configurable Intel® Atom 

processor E600C series, which features an Intel® Atom 

processor E600 (formerly codenamed “Tunnel Creek”) paired 

with an Altera* Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) in a 

single package. The new processor offers board space savings 

and better inventory control due to the single package, as 

well as a simplified manufacturing flow and single vendor 

support through Intel. 

Kontron SBC with Configurable Intel® Atom 

Processor E600C Series 

Kontron introduced a PCIe/104 

embedded single board computer 

(SBC) which pairs an Intel® Atom 

processor E600 series with an Altera 

Field Programmable Gate Array 

(FPGA) in a single package based 

on the Intel® Atom processor E600C series with industrial 

temperature range. With flexible FPGA I/O options, the 

Kontron MICROSPACE® MSMST allows OEMs to efficiently 

develop designs with the exact I/O requirements needed to 

address applications in markets such as automation, medical, 

transportation, energy, military and communications. 

Validated IP cores are available for CAN-bus, serial interfaces 

(SPI Master / UART) and PCI-Express, I2C and GPIO. 

Collaboration to Drive OpenVPX Standard in 

Military and Aerospace Applications across 

Product Lines 

Emerson Network Power and Mercury Computer Systems, 

Inc. will collaborate to promote interoperability on open 

standards-based subsystems for military and aerospace 

applications. This alliance seeks to provide interoperability 

between the companies’ rich range of embedded computing 

solutions, in order to enable defense customers to 

migrate their performance away from proprietary closed 

architectures to flexible open solutions, reducing risk and 

lowering development and deployment costs as a result. 

Wind River Broadens Embedded Virtualization 

Support 

Wind River introduced a new version of Wind River 

Hypervisor, a real-time, embedded hypervisor for 

virtualization, which adds support for the Intel® Xeon® 

processor 5600 series. Wind River Hypervisor, together 

with the latest versions of Wind River’s operating systems 


and development tools, represents the breadth and depth of 

the company’s multi-core software portfolio that combines 

multi-core-aware operating systems, tools, and embedded 

virtualization that scales from unicore to high-core count 

multi-core processors. Wind River Hypervisor is highly 

optimized for and integrated with the latest versions of 

VxWorks, Wind River Linux, Wind River Workbench and 

Wind River Test Management. 

X-ES Announces 6U CompactPCI SBC with Intel® 

Core i7 Processor 

Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. (X-ES) announces the 

immediate availability of XCalibur4301, a conduction- or aircooled 

6U CompactPCI Single Board Computer (SBC) based 

on the Intel® Core i7 processor. For upgrades to existing 

commercial, industrial and military 6U cPCI applications, 

the XCalibur4301 delivers significant performance and 

efficiency improvements over previous SBCs. To satisfy the 

widest range of applications, from telecommunications to 

military applications, the XCalibur4301 is engineered to 

scale from an air-cooled, commercial (0 to 55ºC) version 

to a rugged, conduction-cooled (-40 to +85ºC) version with 

appropriate environmental test methods. 

Kontron Brings Intel® Core i7 Processor 

Performance to Mission Critical 3U CompactPCI® 

Platforms 

Kontron introduced two 

conduction-cooled 3U CompactPCI® 

boards for mission critical, data 

intensive, and network-centric 

platforms. The conduction-cooled 

Kontron processor board CP3002-RC 

with integrated graphics based on the latest Intel® Core i7 

mobile processor technology and the conduction-cooled 

Kontron Gigabit Ethernet Switch CP3923-RC with Layer 

2/3 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switching and full IPv4/v6 

management capabilities. Both boards help OEMs and 

system integrators improve the Size, Weight and Power 

(SWaP) of their applications with easy to implement COTS 

components. 

Kontron Implements Intel® Atom processor E6xx 

series on Computer-on-Modules and Panel PCs 

Kontron announced that the newly introduced industrialgrade 

Intel® Atom processor E6xx series will be supported 

on Computer-on-Modules and Panel PCs. The first products 

to integrate the new Intel® Atom processor, specified for the 

industrial temperature range (E2) from -40 to +85 °C, include 

the Kontron Computer-on-Module nanoETXexpress-TT, 

an ultra sized COM compatible to the new release of the 

COM Express COM.0 Rev 2.0 pin-out Type 10, and the 

Kontron rugged display HMITR, a fanless and maintenancefree 

intelligent display. In addition to optimized power 

consumption and improved graphics performance, target 

applications benefit from the new processor’s high level of

NEWS 

integration including memory, PCI Express and video / audio 

accelerators. 

LynuxWorks Announces LynxSecure 4.0 support 

for New Embedded Intel® Platforms 

LynuxWorks, Inc., a leader in secure virtualization 

technology, announced availability of LynxSecure 4.0 on 

the latest hardware platforms from Intel. The Intel® Core 

i7 processor family has been widely used in the desktop 

and laptop market, and now the quad-core versions of the 

processor are available for embedded designs. LynxSecure 

4.0 provides the most flexible virtualization solution for use 

in embedded systems. Built from the ground up, and now 

in its 4th generation, LynxSecure offers the combination of 

security with functionality, allowing embedded designers to 

use the latest software and hardware technologies to build 

complex multi-operating systems (OSes). 

IEI Introduces Dual-core Intel® Atom Processor 

D525-based SBCs 

IEI Technology Corp. (IEI) released advanced Single 

Board Computers (SBC) featuring the dual-core Intel® 

Atom processor D525. The most notable advantage over its 

predecessors is its support for 800 MHz DDR3 memory. The 

dual-core D525 also provides an increase of processor speed 

at 1.8 GHz with no bump in power consumption. The initial 

launch of Intel® Atom processor D525-based series SBCs 

includes the PCISA-PV-D5251, PICOe-PV-D5251, NANO- 

PV-D5251 and NANO-PV-D5252. The key features in 

common are gigabit LAN supporting ASF 2.0 and TPM V1.2 

hardware security functions and uEFI BIOS architecture to 

support over 2.2 TB of HDD storage with a 64-bit operating 

system. 

Green Hills Software Supports Intel® Atom 

Processor E6xx Series 

Green Hills Software, Inc. announced support for the 

embedded Intel® Atom processor E6xx series. The Green 

Hills Software offering includes the INTEGRITY® real-time 

operating system, INTEGRITY Secure Virtualization (ISV) 

technology, MULTI® integrated development environment 

(IDE), optimizing C/C++ compilers, and DoubleCheck 

static analyzer. 


ROHM / OKI Semiconductor Co-Develop a 

Dedicated Chipset for Intel® Atom Processor 

E6xx Series 

ROHM Semiconductor, in collaboration with its affiliated 

company, OKI Semiconductor Co., Ltd., has introducted a 

dedicated Large Scale Integrated (LSI) circuit family designed 

to support the Intel® Atom processor E6xx series (formerly 

code-named Tunnel Creek). This chipset consists of a power 

management IC (PMIC), a clock generator IC (CGIC) and an 

input/output hub (IOH) IC. A reference board that simplifies 

customer development is also available. 

Out-of-the-box Development Platform For 

Emerson Network Power MicroATX Motherboard 

Emerson Network Power launched a new Embedded 

Development Kit to enable design engineers to begin 

developing their application in a fraction of the time 

traditionally required. Part of the Wind River On-Board 

Program, the Embedded Development Kit includes an 

Emerson Network Power MicroATX motherboard based 

on the Intel® Core i7 processor with optimized trial 

versions of Wind River’s operating systems, development 

tools, embedded hypervisor and graphics software to 

help equipment manufacturers save time and money on 

application integration for a faster, more efficient timeto-market. 

The LiveUSB format enables designers to boot 

directly from the included USB flash drive to evaluate a 

fully operational development environment, eliminating the 

installation process. 

Kontron COM Express Basic Form Factor 

Computer-on-Module ETXexpress®-AI 

Kontron presented an additional version of the Computeron-Module 

ETXexpress®-AI based on the new COM Express 

Type 6 pin-out definition. As compared to the Type 2 pinout 

definition for COM Express Basic form factor modules, 

the new Type 6 pin-out offers configurable Digital Display 

Interfaces (DDI) SDVO, DisplayPort and HDMI/DVI along 

with 23 PCI Express Gen 2 lanes. This provides more native 

display options and higher serial bandwidth than previously 

possible. Most noteworthy is that the native support for all 

the new display interfaces simplifies carrier board designs, 

reducing time-to-market and total cost of ownership for 

graphics-intensive applications. The extensive PCI Express 

support underscores the trend of moving away from legacy 

parallel interfaces towards pure serial embedded system 

designs for higher bandwidth and reduced latency. This 

represents a smooth transition path for application designers 

looking to enhance their designs with next generation 

technology such as faster drives and peripherals.

Embedded PCs COMplete! 

COM Module with Intel® Atom Processor E6xxT/EG20T 

CoreExpress-ECO2 Module 

* available Q1/2011 

� Smallest COM module standard, 65x58mm 

� Intel® Atom processors E620T, E640T, E660T 

and E680T 

� Up to 2 GB soldered DDR2 RAM 

� Processor independent standard (sff-sig.org) 

� Especially designed for battery-driven mobile systems 

� CPU + Chipset: max. 5 watts Thermal Design Power (TDP) 

� CAN controller 

� Shock and vibration resistant 

� Wide temperature range (-40°C ... +85°C) 

� Fail-safe BIOS for secure BIOS updates 

� Condition monitoring using LEMT 

(new: with power sense) 

� Module availability 10 years 

LiPPERT Embedded Computers Inc. 

5555 Glenridge Connector, Suite 200 

Atlanta, GA 30342 

Phone (404) 459 2870 · Fax (404) 459 2871 

ussales@lippertembedded.com · www.lippertembedded.com 

* available Q1/2011 

Toucan-TC 

COM Express-Compact Module 

� COM Express form factor, 95x95mm, Type 2 pinout 

� Intel® Atom processors E620T, E640T, E660T 

and E680T 

� Up to 2 GB soldered DDR2 RAM 

� SATA SSD, max. 64 GB, soldered 

� MicroSD card slot 

� CAN and 4 COM ports on option connector 

� Shock and vibration resistant 

� Wide temperature range (-40°C ... +85°C) 

� Fail-safe BIOS for secure BIOS updates 

� Condition monitoring using LEMT 

(new: with power sense) 

� Module availability 10 years

Flexible Embedded Systems Architectures for a Future of Change 

Two major trends will drive the software architecture of embedded systems in the future. One is the partitioning of 

applications to make the best use of multi-core processors, and the other is the growing use of networked computing 

to distribute intelligence among multiple computing platforms. 

In an interesting way, these trends almost 

oppose one another. With the advent 

of multi-core processors with 2, 4, 8, 

or more processing units comes the 

prospect of consolidating embedded 

systems that were once comprised of 

multiple discrete processor platforms 

onto a single platform with different tasks 

running on different cores. 

This consolidation has the promise of 

decreasing system costs by eliminating 

the need for redundant computing support 

hardware. Additionally, improvements 

in network architectures and speeds 

Advanced 

Human 

Interaction 

with Data 

Post-Processing 

HUMAN / DATA PROCESSING 

No/Little 

Human 

Interaction 

and Data 

Post-processing 

RTOS Legacy App 

eVM ® for Windows 

Virtualization Technologies 

+ 

Interactive 

Machine 

Control 

RTOS Legacy 

Application 

System Control 

Deeply Embedded Control 

Multicore and Embedded Virtualization 

Multicore Processors 

allow for increased use of distributed 

computing in the future. For example, 

Real-time systems evolutionary matrix 

INtime ® -for - 

Windows 4.0 

INtime ® 

Distributed 

RTOS 

Single Function MACHINE PROCESSING COMPLEXITY 

putting real-time processing nodes close 

to where the system’s physical work is 

being done improves performance for 

specifi c tasks. Whether the integrated 

platform approach, or the distributed 

computing approach, or the combination 


of both approaches is best for a particular 

embedded system depends on the 

application. Embedded system software 

architectures need to be fl exible enough 

to accommodate all of these system 

implementation models. 

Multi-function 

By Chris Grujon, TenAsys Corp. 

One way of profi ling embedded system 

software requirements is to consider the 

evolution of embedded system applications: 

In the beginning, real-time operating 

systems (RTOS) were used for single- 

function/purpose applications and were 

run on dedicated processors. An example 

is iRMX, an RTOS with rudimentary 

interfaces like all computers in those days. 

As personal computers evolved, people 

saw the value of adopting its technology 

for advanced graphical user interfaces. By 

providing more meaningful information to 

the user about the devices and/or system 

that is being controlled, he/she may perform 

more sophisticated functions, thereby 

enhancing the value of the device/system 

that is being controlled. Two approaches 

were taken: 

Some RTOS vendors added functionality to 

enhance the interface. These often didn’t 

meet the expectation and users eventually 

evolved to a two-box solution, one running 

a Windows-based user interface and the 

other running the controlling software on 

the RTOS. 

Others, for example TenAsys with INtime for 

Windows, took the approach of coupling 

their RTOS to Windows, providing the 

advanced user interface and the controlling 

software onto one platform.

Multi-OS multi-core systems are enabled 

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OPC UA 

INtime RTOS Kernel 

ACPI 

INtime Distributed RTOS 

System Management Environment Machine Control Environment 

INtime API 

Real I/Os 

Memory 

Memory 

Shared Memory 

ATOM ® D510 

Core 

0 

Core 

1 

Control 

Application 

INtime API 

Real I/Os 

EtherCAT 

INtime RTOS Kernel 

OPC UA Traffic EtherCAT Traffic 

Networked embedded systems growing in popularity 

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Features 

� Distributed AMP Architecture 

enables predictable, 

deterministic inter-core 

communications across 

multiple platforms 

without special hardware 

for large real-time 

applications using 

multi-core processors. 

Enables segmentation to 

functional blocks, easier 

to control and debug. 

� Visual Studio Development 

Environment 

� INtime for Windows 

Compatibility for easy 

addition of an advanced 

HMI with the integration 

of Windows. Allows 

current INtime for 

Windows applications to 

run without modifi cation. 

30 

years 

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www.embeddedintel.com | Embedded Intel ® Solutions — Winter 2011 | 13

conga-QA6 

Extended Temperature 

Range -40° ... +85°C 

3D Intel ® Graphics 

CAN Bus 

Formfactor Qseven Form Factor, 70x70 mm 

CPU Intel® Atom processor E6xx series with 1.3 GHz, 1.0 GHz and 600 MHz 

Integrated dual channel memory controller, up to 17.1 GByte/sec. memory bandwidth 

Integrated Intel ® HD Graphics with dynamic frequency up to 667 MH 

DRAM Up to 2 GByte onboard DDR2 memory with 667/800 MT/s 

Chipset Intel ® Platform Controller Hub EG20 

Ethernet Micrel ® Gbit Ethernet Phy KSZ9021RN 

I/O Interfaces 6x USB 2.0, 2x SATA, 1x SDIO, 3x PCIe, I²C Bus, 1x USB client, LPC bus, CAN Bus 

Mass Storage Onboard SATA Solid State Drive up to 32 GByte (optional) 

Sound Intel ® High Definition Audio (Intel ® HD Audio) 

Graphics Intel ® Graphics Core with 2D and 3D hardware Accelerator and dual independet display support. 

Video Decode Acceleration Full hardware acceleration for MPEG2, H.264, WMV9 and VC1 

Motion Video Support Single channel 112MHz LVDS transmitter, support for flat panels with 1x18 and 

1x24 bit data mapping up to resolutions of 1280x768 pixel 

Single channel SDVO interface, supports resolutions up to 1280x1024 pixel 

Dual independent display support 

congatec Board Controller Multi Stage Watchdog, non-volatile User Data Storage, Manufacturing and Board information, Board Statistics, 

I²C bus (fast mode, 400 kHz, multi-master), Power Loss Control 

Embedded BIOS Features OEM Logo, OEM CMOS Defaults, LCD Control, Display Auto Detection, Backlight Control, Flash Update, based on AMI Aptio UEFI 

Power Management ACPI 3.0 compliant, Smart Battery Management 

Operating Systems Windows ® XP, Windows ® XP embedded, Windows ® CE 6.0, LINUX, QNX 

Power Consumption Typ. application ~5 Watt @ 5V 

Temperature Range Operating: -40 to +85°C 

Storage: -40 to +85°C 

Humidity Operating: 10 to 90% r. H. non cond. 

Storage: 5 to 95% r. H. non cond. 

Size 70 x 70 mm (2¾" x 2¾") 


© 2010 congatec AG. All rights reserved. All data is for information purposes only. Although all the information contained within this document is carefully checked, no 

guarantee of correctness is implied or expressed. Intel and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the US and other countries.

Watchdog 

Board Controller 

STM32F100R8T6b 

Hardware Monitoring 

and 

Fan Control Circuitry 

Engineering Tools / Accessories for Qseven 

I2C 

BC SPI 

GPIOs 

HDA I/F 

1x Channel LCD I/F (LVDS default XDP optional) 

6x USB Host 1x Client 

RTC 

Intel® Atom 

processor 

E6xx Series 

Intel® Platform 

Controller Hub 

EG20 

Signals 

Micrel® Control 

Gbit Ethernet 

Phy KSZ9021RN and 

SSD NandDrive 

OR SATA1 (optional) 

Uses SATA 1 

Management 

Fan 

Control Power 

SM Bus 

1x SDVO I/F 

conga-QEVAL 007001 Evaluation platform for Qseven 

1x SDIO/MMC 

PCIe Port 0 

CAN Bus 

BIOS 

(Flash) 

conga-QKIT 077455 Starterkit for Qseven including conga-QEVAL, conga-LDVI/EPI, conga-FPA1, Dual DVI-D ADD2 Card, ATX power supply... 

Qseven Mobility Kit 077460 Complete ready-to-use starter-kit for mobile applications 

conga-Mini Carrier Board 020710 Qseven mini carrier board for mobile applications. 

2x SATA (Port 0, 1) 

1x SATA0 

Memory Bus 

(533MHz or800MHz) 

Onboard DDR2 

Maximum 2GB 

conga-Mini Carrier cable kit 400015 Cable Kit for Qseven mini carrier board. Consisting of: 4x USB adapter cable, 1x LVDS display cable, 1x Feature connector cable, 1x HDMI to DVI adapter cable. 

Qseven MXM carrier board connector 400012 Socket for Qseven Carrier Boards, Foxconn PN:AS0B321-S78N-7F, standard type, SMT, lead free, 230 positions, 0.50mm pitch, 7.8mm height. 1pcs 

conga-LDVI/EPI 011115 LVDS to DVI converter board for digital flat panels with onboard EEPROM 

Single DVI-D ADD2 Card 058500 ADD2 display adapter card with single DVI-D digital output. Suitable for all Intel based platforms that support Serial Digital Display Outputs (SDVO) on the standard x16 PCI Express Graphics (PEG) port. 

Article PN Description 

conga-QA6-HSP-B 042745 Heatspreader, Standoff with 2.7mm bore hole 

conga-QA6-HSP-T 042740 Heatspreader, Standoff with 2.5mm threat 

conga-QA6-CSP-B 042735 Standard passive cooling solution, surface orange anodized with 1.8mm fins, 

bore hole bracket, threaded standoffs. 

CONTACT INFORMATION 

Gbit Ethernet 

Gbe MAC 

SPI 

3x x1 PCIe Links (Ports 1,2,3) 

LPC Bus 

congatec, Inc. 

6262 Ferris Square 

San Diego, 

CA 92121 USA 

+1 858-457-2600 Phone 

+1 858-457-2602 Fax 

www.congatec.com 



Intel Targets Digital Signage 

Next-generation digital signs will be interactive, connected and energy-efficient 

According to Jose Avalos, Intel’s director of retail and digital signage, 

there are more than 700 companies creating digital signage 

solutions worldwide. �at includes many large multinationals, but the 

majority are small players with fewer than 40 employees and under a 

million dollars in revenue. And while a fragmented market provides opportunities 

for innovation from many small players, it can be difficult 

for those small companies to scale production for broad distribution. 

Intel’s solution? A design platform based on standard PC hardware and 

software technologies to support both innovation and scalability. 

A recently announced collaboration between Intel, Microsoft and 

NEC Corporation intends to meet that need, with NEC integrating 

solutions and services (including content management and media 

distribution) with a digital signage platform based on Intel® Core 

i7 and Core i5 processors running Microsoft Windows Embedded 

Standard 7. Intel’s digital signage model is a familiar one: �e client 

side consists of a display driven by an Intel® platform-based media 

player running content management software. On the network operating 

side, software manages the aggregation, delivery and scheduling 

of content to clients over a network such as WiFi, 3G or 4G. 

In October, Intel announced the Open Pluggable Specification 

(OPS) for digital signage, supported by Microsoft, NEC Display Solutions 

and the Taiwan Digital Signage Special Interest Group. �e OPS 

articulates a specification for media players based on a small form factor 

and standardized electrical interfaces that would ultimately allow 

developers to create a family of digital signage products from entry level 

to high-end platforms with swappable media players to meet specific 

application needs. In a release, Avalos stated, “�e Open Pluggable 

Specification was created by Intel to address fragmentation in the digital 

signage market and simplify device installation, use, maintenance 

and upgrades. With the specification, digital signage manufacturers 

will be able to deploy interchangeable systems faster and in higher volumes, 

while lowering costs for development and implementation.” 

Avalos describes a vision he says Intel shares with its partners, in 

which next-generation digital signs are interactive, connected and 

energy efficient. In addition, these signs will be able to support anonymous 

video analytics that can report demographic information back to 

the advertiser on everything from the number of people who pass by or 

stop in front of the sign, and – using technologies such as facial recognition 

– report information back to the advertiser on audience gender, 

age group, and even facial expression, such as smiles. �is capability 

combines with remote content management technology to provide 



proof-of-play and proof-of-impression information used by the advertiser 

to measure return on investment (ROI). It can also be used to test 

creative and to adapt content to more closely match the sign’s audience. 

Intel is watching several technology trends in digital signage, including 

the use of gesture technology, which is deployed today mainly in 

gaming applications, but which will drive added interactivity with customers. 

Avalos says, “We see gesture being a key ingredient of digital 

signage over time. In fact we’re developing, as part of our commitment 

to the industry, proof of concepts that are intended to articulate advanced 

usage models to the industry and to motivate the industry.” 

Other trends to watch include energy efficiency at both the chip 

and platform level, as well as using remote management technologies 

to schedule maintenance and content updates and turn systems off 

to improve the life of the product and save energy. From a business 

model perspective, digital signage will become even more intelligent 

in the future. Traditional models will continue to be one-to-many, but 

advances in cell phone connectivity will be able to establish a oneto-one 

interaction with consumers. New retail applications even tie 

in social networking through in-store kiosks that allow consumers to 

consult their friends and then share purchasing decisions. 

�e biggest market trend Avalos sees is that “the multinationals 

have started to come in.” He believes this will create a nice balance between 

innovation from smaller players and increased investment from 

multinationals that will allow solutions to scale in volume and across 

geographies worldwide. Beyond this, he expects to see service providers 

such as telecoms entering the U.S. market over the next couple of years 

– a trend that is already occurring in Europe and China. 

Cheryl Berglund Coupé is Editor of EECatalog.com. 

Her articles have appeared in EE Times, Electronic 

Business, Microsoft Embedded Review and Windows 

Developer’s Journal and she has developed presentations 

for the Embedded Systems Conference and 

ICSPAT. She has held a variety of production, technical 

marketing and writing positions within technology companies 

and agencies in the Northwest.


Wide-Area Airborne Surveillance 

(WAAS) Application Ideal for VPX 

Richard Lourette, chief scientist and principal investigator 

for ITT, worked closely with Dynatem to develop a 

VPX board for a payload sensor processing application that 

he describes as similar to the US Air Force’s “Gorgon Stare” 

program deployed last year. That program is a wide-area 

airborne surveillance (WAAS) system that supports multiple 

cameras and gives ground operators access to imagery 

from up to 12 different angles at the same time, at rates of 

16 MegaPixels per second for each camera. For the new system, 

demands were high and the project was underway at 

the same time that the draft standard for VPX was being 

developed. Together, Dynatem and ITT started the design, 

tracked changes as the standard developed, and spun the final 

board to meet the ratified standard. 

The resulting VPX single board computer (SBC) is based 

on a quad-core Intel® Xeon® processor for high performance. 

The board (which Dynatem dubbed “VPQ”) includes a 24port, 

10 Gigabit Ethernet switch that allows full-mesh 

backplane data-layer interconnectivity and up to eight VPQ 

SBCs to be integrated into a single chassis without the use of 

an additional switch board. A PCI Express switch provides 

connectivity to two fully capable PMC/XMC sites with extensive 

user I/O. 

Despite the challenges of designing the board in parallel 

with the standard, Lourette explains why VPX was the way 

to go for this demanding sensor application: 

� Intel® processor-friendly. With support for PCI Express 

and 10 Gigabit Ethernet, VPX is inherently Intel® CPUfriendly 

and Lourette needed the processing power of the 

high-performance quad-core Intel Xeon processor. When 

Apple bought P.A. Semi (in 2008), Lourette abandoned all 

efforts around Power Architecture. “I looked at that and said 

I’m not going to wait around for someone else to come up 

with something more powerful,” he stated. “At that point, all 

my designs were based on the Intel® platform and I’ve never 

looked back.” 

� Signaling in backplane. At the time, VPX was the only 

mil/aero backplane that could accommodate up to 6 Gigahertz 

of digital signaling in the backplane. ITT used XAUI, 


following the Open VPX standard for the VPX P1 connector 

for 10 Gigabit Ethernet. The additional slot width in the design 

also allows room for more cooling fins and higher signal 

integrity for the XMC sites. 

� GPGPU friendly. The VPX platform lends itself well to 

utilizing general-purpose computing on graphics processing 

units (GPGPU) technology. ITT and Dynatem repurposed 

NVIDIA and ATI graphics controllers for very high-performance 

number-crunching. 

The Dynatem VPQ is a high-performance single board 

computer (SBC) based on the 6U VPX (VITA 46) form factor. 



� Cluster-capable. The 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch built 

into the board supported flexible data flow topologies. Lourette 

was able to gang multiple CPUs in a system to create a 

supercomputing cluster that can process massive amounts 

of sensor data. The predecessor system to this design used a 

CompactPCI board that was limited to Gen 1 SATA IO signaling 

and had reached capacity at 65 watts per slot. The 

new VPX board can go up to 150 watts per slot for plenty of 

payload processing. 

Developing the VPX board 

was not without its 

challenges: 

� Cooling. Thermal design 

is somewhat less of a challenge 

now that the standard 

is ratified, but ITT and Dynatem 

worked closely with 

backplane and chassis vendors 

to develop a reference design 

that software developers could use that was electrically and 

software equivalent to the final system. Plenty of advanced 

thermal analysis ensured that ITT could power a system 

with seven boards and provide both air- and conductioncooled 

designs depending on the final application’s mission. 

� Mechanical. One of biggest – and unexpected – challenges 

was seating the cards in the backplane. Lourette 

explains, “It takes 250 pounds of force to insert a VPX card 

into the backplane. As thick as a 20-layer backplane is, it 

would bow like a credit card.” Reinforcements had to be applied 

to the backplane to make sure all the contacts were 

made. ITT and Dynatem also had to find metal front panel 

ejectors that were robust enough to handle the cards and 

BLOG 

Intel announces plans for a leading edge 22nm chip 

development facility in Oregon, while upgrading other manufacturing 

plants in the US. 

�e large, white tent near the D1D development fab 

parking lot belied the importance of coming announcement. 

Oregon’s leading congressmen and governor had assembled 

under this tent to share their support for Intel’s staggering 

investment in the US. 

�e event began with Bill Holt, Senior VP and GM at Intel, 

announced that Intel would be investing up to $8 billion in 

US facilities. Of particular interest to the Oregon high-tech 

community were plans for D1X, a new 22nm semiconductor 


“There’s technology available for us 

to go faster but the limit is 20 gigabits 

and then you have to go to optical.” 

New Semiconductor Fab Comes to Oregon 

Blog By John Blyler, Editorial Director 

adapted conduction-cooled levers to air-cooled cards so they 

could get them in and out without special tooling. 

Looking forward, Lourette is watching new VME technologies, 

including small form factor and optical developments. 

ITT has worked with Dynatem on 3U VPX and will be interested 

to watch developments in smaller form factors. About 

new small form factor developments he says, “It needs to be 

a little bit more mature before I can stand up a project on it, 

but I would certainly entertain that.” As for optical developments, 

he says, “Everything I work on is always pushing the 

envelope on data processing.” 

He continues, “I’m already 

saturating the VPX bus with 

data. VPX is only good to 20 

gigabits per channel and then 

it runs out of steam. Right 

now I’m at 10 gigabits per 

channel. There’s technology 

available for us to go faster but 

the limit is 20 gigabits and then 

you have to go to optical.” 

Cheryl Berglund Coupé is Editor of EECatalog.com. 

Her articles have appeared in EE 

Times, Electronic Business, Microsoft Embedded 

Review and Windows Developer’s 

Journal and she has developed presentations 

for the Embedded Systems Conference and 

ICSPAT. She has held a variety of production, technical 

marketing and writing positions within technology companies 

and agencies in the Northwest. 

fab. �is fab would provide processor and related chip for the 

PC, mobile and embedded markets. Holt also said that two 

existing Oregon fabs – D1D and D1C – would be updated. 

�is is welcome news for Oregon, which is struggling with 

one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. Holt 

said that the new 22nm fab would result in 6,000 to 8,000 

construction jobs over the next several years. Perhaps more 

important was that these projects would require 800 to 1,000 

new permanent high-tech jobs at the company. 

To read more, please visit: www.chipdesignmag.com/blyler


Break Away with Intel ® Atom 

Processors 

A Guide to Architecture Migration 

Break Away with Intel® 

Atom Processors: A 

Guide to Architecture Migration 

provides insight 

into architecture migration 

discussing real world software 

migration issues and 

highlighting them with case 

studies. �e book covers pertinent 

topics that are at the 

heart of the software migration, 

such as techniques to 

port code originally written 

for other processor architectures, 

as well as capturing the benefits of Intel® Atom platform 

technologies. �e reality is that architecture migration is not a 

one-size-fits-all activity and developers must understand all of 

the decisions that comprise a successful migration. �e authors 

deliver this information as a handbook to your software migration 

plan and project activities. 

Customer Comments 

“�is is an essential guide to working with the Intel® Atom 

processors that should be read by anyone who wants to understand 

how to use the platform effectively. �e book covers key 

concepts including power management, parallel applications, 

and machine virtualization, while providing a clear explanation 

of the system architecture and how to use it to its fullest advantage.” 

- Paul Krzyzanowski, CTO, OpenPeak Inc. 

“�is isn’t just a book about Intel extending its reach into the 

embedded market. In a way that is fresh and exciting, the authors 

have really understood that it is a powerful software methodology 

and tools eco-system that is needed for developers to make 

best use of the multicore and multithreaded world we now live in. 

�e style of this Atom book will be the standard against which all 

processor architecture books are measured from now on.” 

- David Stewart, CEO, CriticalBlue 


By Lori Matassa and Max Domeika 

“�is book is an excellent resource for someone trying to 

quickly come up to speed on the benefits, features, and differences 

of the Intel® Atom processors. As an added benefit, many 

of the concepts discussed throughout this book will provide the 

reader with generic implementation details, thereby serving as a 

good read for anyone new to the practical aspects of processor 

programming. �e author’s elaborate discussion on multicore 

programming techniques and tools is especially valuable, providing 

accurate details that are difficult to come by.” 

- Markus Levy, President, �e Multicore Association 

To learn more, visit: http://www.intel.com/intelpress/sum_ 

ms2a.htm 

Lori Matassa is a Staff Technical Marketing 

Engineer for the Intel® Embedded and Communications 

Division and holds a BS in Information 

Technology. She has over 20 years of engineering 

experience developing software for embedded 

systems. In recent years at Intel she has contributed 

to Carrier Grade Linux, as well as the software enablement 

of multicore adoption and architecture migration for embedded 

and communication application. 

Max Domeika is a senior staff software engineer 

in the Developer Products Division at Intel, creating 

tools targeting the Intel® Architecture market. 

Max earned a BS in Computer Science from the 

University of Puget Sound, an MS in Computer 

Science from Clemson University, and a MS in 

Management in Science & Technology from Oregon 

Graduate Institute. Max recently authored, “Software Development 

for Embedded Multi-core Systems” from Elsevier Inc.

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Digital Audio, Standards, and Chips 


Digital audio provides a means for both professionals 

and consumers to record, modify, and play high-quality 

audio. USB-Audio-1.0, FireWire, and CobraNet are popular 

choices. But they’re showing shortcomings in terms of available 

bandwidth, limited synchronization, and lack of support 

on desktops and laptops. 

Two new standards are overtaking existing standards: 

USB Audio-2.0 and the AVB audio/video bridging standard 

based on IEEE 802. USB Audio-2.0 allows many more channels 

than Audio-1.0. It also has 

robust time-synchronization 

mechanisms. AVB is the IEEE 

audio-over-Ethernet standard. 

Unlike CobraNet, AVB 

isn’t licensed and is an open 

standard. It’s integrated with 

open time-synchronization 

and bandwidth-allocation 

protocols. 

USB Audio-2.0 and AVB 

both aim to cover all segments 

of the audio markets. Given that 

every PC has several USB-2.0 ports, USB Audio-2.0 is a likely 

candidate for the consumer and prosumer markets. For example, 

USB speakers and microphones could all be built around 

the USB Audio-2.0 standard. For a more complex system, such 

as a USB 7.1 surround-sound system, Blu-ray players and/or 

televisions would need to be equipped with a USB-2.0 port. 

But USB cables are typically restricted in length. In addition, 

USB Audio-2.0 is less likely to deliver audio over long distances. 

Because AVB is based on Ethernet rather than USB, it’s appropriate 

for longer-distance, networked distribution of audio 

in both pro-audio applications and multi-room consumer installation. 

It also is suitable for applications that don’t have a 

typical host-device interaction model, such as the automotive 

market. The Ethernet cable can simultaneously carry data (Internet, 

GPS) and audio between a variety of devices. 


“New standards are taking over 

(in digital audio) and both device 

vendors and OS designers are working 

hard to make systems compliant 

and hence interoperable.” 

By Henk Muller, Principal Technologist, XMOS 

All modern protocols are based around clock-recovery 

algorithms. The audio clock is carried with either the audio 

stream or using a separate time-exchange protocol. One clock 

in the network is denoted the master clock. Other devices will 

follow this clock by locally recovering the master clock. Depending 

on the protocol, just the audio clock is recovered or 

both an audio clock and a global common reference time. 

For the new protocols to be adopted, they must satisfy two 

criteria: low latency and bit perfect operation. Low latency 

can be achieved if the digital device 

can avoid buffering data 

by processing each sample of 

data in a predictable and deterministic 

manner. The only 

buffer that’s required is the 

one that smoothes out bursts 

of traffic (due to, for example, 

network switches). It also 

must buffer a small amount of 

data to cope with short- and 

medium-term fluctuations 

between the master and locally 

recovered clock. The minimal fundamental latency on USB- 

Audio-2.0 and AVB endpoints is around 250 {LC MU?}s (to 

store two frames of data). Typically, operating-system (OS) 

drivers and application programs add several milliseconds 

of delay. 

Bit-perfect operation would seem an easy target. Just 

make sure your protocol is implemented correctly! Audio 

protocols have many corner cases, however, and need to be 

timed to perfection in order to guarantee zero sample loss. 

In particular, there’s no retransmission or other form of 

backup in case a bit is corrupted or data is missing from a 

data stream. In addition, bit errors on the physical network 

(caused by electrical interference) will translate directly into 

an audible bit error in the signal. In this respect, the uptake 

of AVB could be seriously harmed if vendors push for Gigabit

Ethernet while customers still have old Category-5 wiring 

that isn’t up to Gigabit standards. 

Both interfaces support a variety of optional extras that 

can be implemented in the digital domain, such as sample-rate 

conversion, mixing, and equalization. In order to 

customize their products, manufacturers of digital-audio devices 

will look at spare processing capacity (DSP capability) 

to implement those features. The addition of these features 

cannot interfere with the timing of other parts, as that may 

compromise bit-perfect operation. 

Chip vendors have chosen a variety of methods for implementing 

those new audio standards: application-specific 

standard products (ASSPs), field-programmable gate arrays 

(FPGAs) configured using a hardware description language 

(HDL), or processors programmed in a high-level language. 

Typically, ASSPs implement a specific device and hence only 

a subset of the protocol. If this subset matches the requirements, 

an ASSP provides an out-of-the-box solution. However, 

it’s difficult to add extensions to the subset of the protocol, 

follow changes and improvements to standards, or differentiate 

a design. An example ASSP-based solution is offered by 

C-media. A single chip offers an out-of-the-box, two-channel 

synchronous USB-Audio-2.0-to-I2S terminal. 

Programmable solutions, such as FPGAs or processors, 

can be upgraded when designing future products or even 

field-upgraded to add functionality. For example, Xilinx and 

BLOG 

Being a Green Programmer 

Blog By Gary Stringham, Embedded Systems Expert 

Much of what I read about Green Design involves 

building the product with recycled or renewable materials 

and consumables, and making the product recyclable 

at the end of its life. Hardware engineers can contribute 

to the green effort by influencing how the product is 

made and what it is made of. But what about software 

and firmware engineers? Their end product is a bunch 

of intangible bits flowing through hardware. Those bits 

don’t pollute the environment or end up in landfills. So 

how can they be green in their designs? 

I came across the answer while reading about industrial 

designer Gadi Amit’s unusual approach to Green 

Design: make products so desirable that people just 

won’t want to throw them away. (Sacks, Danielle. “What’s 

Wrong With Green Design.” Fast Company Oct. 2010: 

166-69. FastCompany.com. 1 Oct. 2010. Amit gave an 

example that the 8-year-old Palm Zire is still used today 

because it works well and people have an emotional connection 

with it. He then observed that in contrast, PCs at 

first work fast, but after a while get bogged down with old 


Broadcom offer an FPGA implementation of AVB that can 

be modified once the IP has been purchased. XMOS offers 

a processor that can implement the I/O, signal processing, 

and USB or Ethernet stacks—all using a high-level language. 

As such, reference designs and software can be downloaded 

(at no cost). The software can be modified at will in order to 

customize the design or implement extra functionality. 

These are exciting times for digital audio. New standards 

are taking over and both device vendors and OS designers 

are working hard to make systems compliant and hence 

interoperable. (Apple, for example, natively supports USB- 

Audio-2.0 since MacOSX 10.6.) The new standards will 

support bit-perfect transmission of many 24-bit channels at 

96 or even 32-bit channels at 192 kHz. All of these protocols 

provide clock-recovery schemes and are designed to provide 

a low-latency solution. 

Henk Muller is currently the principal technologist 

at XMOS Ltd. In that role, he has been 

involved in the design and implementation of 

audio and other real-time protocols. Previously, 

Muller worked in academia for 20 years in computer 

architecture, compilers, and ubiquitous 

computing. He holds a doctorate from the University of Amsterdam. 

programs, temporary files, and bloated registries. Users 

often get so frustrated with their slow machines that they 

simply buy new ones and throw away the old. 

In other words, Amit is encouraging us to make the 

product function so well that users will not want to throw 

it away. What a novel and green concept! Let me cite two 

examples from Hewlett-Packard. 

The Hewlett-Packard 12C financial calculator was 

green before green was mainstreamed. It was introduced 

in 1981 and is still being sold in stores today, 29 years 

later. It is a well-designed product that well suits the 

financial community. HP did not set out to design a green 

financial calculator; they set out to design a top-notch 

calculator that exceeds the needs of their customers. 

To read more, please visit: http://eecatalog.com/stringham/ 


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Guide: Part II 

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SPECIAL FEATURE 

Intellectual Property 

Trouble In The Patent Office 

Why current practices have green IP proponents seeing red; how to limit 

the impact of trolls. 

The next wave of patents being filed in the United States involves 

efficiency and power rather than simply speeding up 

performance of chips. 

But the patent system is moving so slowly these days that 

startups are unable to talk about what exactly they do, for 

fear of having their IP stolen, extending the time it takes to 

come out of stealth mode and arrange deals with potential 

partners who could speed the delivery of new technologies to 

market. And in some cases, offshore 

companies aren’t even 

filing patents in the United 

States anymore. 

Low-Power Engineering 

sat down to discuss the U.S. 

patent system with Bijal Vakil, 

partner at White & Case 

and an expert in intellectual 

property. What follows are 

excerpts of that conversation. 

LPE: What’s wrong with 

the U.S. patent system? 

Vakil: We need patent applications to proceed to final 

determination quicker. Right now it takes about three years. 

That’s a long time. The U.S. Patent Office could definitely 

expedite the process. The Patent Office generates a surplus 

of revenue and Congress siphons that off. The Patent Office 

is supposed to encourage small entrepreneurs and to obtain 

a monopoly in timely manner. It’s like a tax for innovators. 

When you add in a delay that certainly doesn’t encourage 

innovation. 

LPE: But when there were fewer patents there was incredible 

innovation in the semiconductor industry. Now we’re 

seeing “patent trolls” everywhere. How do you fix that? 

Vakil: The patent system was important enough that 

it was included in the Constitution. I don’t believe the in- 


“There is the natural tension between 

the Silicon Valley companies, which 

want a more effective patent system, 

and the pharmaceutical companies, 

which have a different interpretation.” 

By Ed Sperling, Contributing Editor 

novation of large companies has been impacted by patent 

control. The non-practicing entities have added to litigation 

costs, which are an expense to companies. But companies 

are innovating more quickly than ever, both in software and 

hardware. 

LPE: So what do you do with these so-called patent trolls? 

Vakil: There should be some patent reform legislation 

that brings certainty to a number 

of areas with respect to 

non-practicing entities. For 

example, the patent damages 

laws are not clearly defined 

with respect to non-practicing 

entities. Some clarification 

of those rules would discourage 

the volume of these cases. 

You also could force changes 

in venue. A number of these 

cases are brought in the Eastern 

District of Texas. That 

increases the cost for a company 

in Silicon Valley, and it allows a non-practicing entity to pick 

a jurisdiction it perceives to be friendlier to patent holders. A 

lot of these companies don’t even have offices. 

LPE: Any other areas? 

Vakil: Yes, the Eastern District of Virginia and the Western 

District of Wisconsin. 

LPE: Is the volume of patents increasing? 

Vakil: No. In 2009 there was a trend downward for new 

patents. At the same time, there has been an increase in other 

jurisdictions, including China. There are several reasons for 

this. First, companies are trying to limit their legal expenses 

so they’re cutting back on patent applications. Second, it may 

be a result of a decrease in the workforces at innovative com-

panies. And third, patent holders are no longer viewing the 

United States as the center of the universe. You file patent 

applications in countries where you expect your business to 

grow. The role of the United States is diminishing, and patent 

holders see markets in China and India on the rise. With 

patents you have to anticipate what markets are going to be 

like in 15 years. 

LPE: There’s also a lot of concern about whether patents 

filed in China will be upheld, right? 

Vakil: Yes, but steps are being taken to make it easier to 

enforce patents. Countries such as India and China are big 

markets for U.S. companies. 

LPE: Let’s go back to the U.S. 

Patent System. What exactly 

needs to be fixed? 

Vakil: Improving the IT 

infrastructure is paramount. 

One of the problems is that 

the Patent Office grants 

many patents that should 

not be granted. That’s where 

the problem is with nonpracticing 

entities trying to 

cajole money out of larger 

defendants. By allowing the 

Patent Office to maintain its 

own revenue base it could 

invest in an IT infrastructure 

that would allow more accurate 

‘Prior Art’ searching before patents are granted. That would 

improve the integrity of the patents and ultimately benefit 

the economy. Second, an improved IT infrastructure could 

help the application. If the Patent Office’s database was made 

public then the person applying for a patent would have that 

same resource and know what the examiner would be looking 

at. With that information they could tailor their patent, 

either narrower or broader, making the whole system more 

efficient and improving the time it takes to approve a patent. 

LPE: If it is improved, will more patents be filed or will 

patents simply be quicker? 

Vakil: Both. Over the long term, increased confidence in 

the patent system will lead to companies wanting to innovate 

“The patent system was 

important enough that it was 

included in the Constitution. I 

don’t believe the innovation 

of large companies has been 

impacted by patent control.” 

in the United States. That would create jobs and improve the 

United States’ relevancy. If we don’t, some other country will. 

LPE: In the United States, who is most affected by the 

patent system? 

Vakil: Silicon Valley. It’s estimated that 60% of the United 

States’ exports relate to intellectual property, and more than 

70% of the patents originate in Northern California. Fixing 

the patent system can encourage innovation and ultimately 

create jobs. 

LPE: Is there any progress? 

Vakil: There was a movement in Congress, led by a number 

of Silicon Valley heavyweights, to get patent reform 

legislation approved. It always 

gets pushed off. There is the 

natural tension between the 

Silicon Valley companies, 

which want a more effective 

patent system, and the pharmaceutical 

companies, which 

have a different interpretation. 

LPE: What are pharmaceutical 

companies looking for? 

Vakil: The public reports 

show the pharmaceutical 

industry is happy with the 

system as it is. 

LPE: Because it keeps out smaller companies? 

Vakil: That’s correct. But while patent reform isn’t high 

priority, the appellate courts are aware of public reaction 

to patent reform and have taken a much more active role in 

dealing with these issues that would have been addressed in 

patent reform regulation. 

Ed Sperling is Contributing Editor for Embedded 

Intel® Solutions and the Editor-in-Chief of the 

“System Level Design” portal. Ed has received numerous 

awards for technical journalism. 


SPECIAL FEATURE Intellectual Property

SPECIAL FEATURES 

Connectors 

Intel ® Atom Processor E6xx 

Series Reaches the SUMIT 

Advanced connector unlocks small-form factors 

Actively enabling an embedded ecosystem, the Intel® 

Atom processor E6xx series-based platform features 

flexibility, performance, low power, an extended operating 

temperature, long life, and widely available software support. 

Introduced at this year’s Intel Developer Forum (IDF), 

the Intel® Atom processor E6xx series® and Intel® Platform 

Controller Hub EG20T together comprise the Tunnel 

Creek platform. This platform is ideal for small-form-factor 

systems targeting industrial, military/aerospace, transportation, 

security, and pipeline/utility applications—whether 

portable or fixed. As with any embedded system, however, 

a variety of I/O support is essential for “real-world” interfacing. 

Complicating this issue, an engineer who selects or 

designs a single-board computer (SBC) can face the problem 

of last-minute specification changes from either the customer 

or his or her own marketing department. So what’s 

the best way to offer flexible I/O expansion options without 

adding cost and space “taxes” to the processor board? 

For deeply embedded systems, the Stackable Unified 

Modular Interface Technology (SUMIT) connector is the 

solution. It provides a way for modular I/O expansion to tailor 

systems to a wide range of requirements. The connector 

also serves as an insurance policy to protect against feature 

creep or changes. SUMIT provides an advanced, robust, 

and reliable multi-bus, board-to-board interface for stackable 

systems regardless of SBC form factor. This interface is 

optimized for Intel’s new generation of low-power, high-integration 

platforms. SUMIT can be implemented on various 

board sizes for a single board (as a mezzanine) or for multiple 

boards without the need for a card cage. 

The hallmark of SUMIT is how easily this expansion architecture 

can be used to support a blend of high-bandwidth PCI 

Express lanes and Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports as well as 

lower-speed multiplexed and serial buses. Using SUMIT reduces 

cost and bulk while increasing mounting and packaging 

options for small-form-factor embedded systems. 


By Robert A. Burckle, vice-president, WinSystems Inc. 

Figure 1: High-speed connectors allow single or multiple I/O 

cards to be stacked “piggy back” fashion. 

SUMIT, which is pronounced “sum it,” uses one or two 

52-pin, high-speed connectors that allow either a single or 

multiple I/O cards to be stacked “piggy back” on top of each 

other (see Figure 1). Signal-integrity test results demonstrate 

that a stack of modules will support data rates of 5 GT/s, 

which is required for PCI Express 2.0 and USB 2.0. In the “A” 

connector, SUMIT supports one x1 PCI Express lane and four 

high-speed USB 2.0 channels as well as the Low Pin Count 

(LPC) Bus, SPI/uWire, and SMBus/I²C signaling. SUMIT-A 

fits Tunnel Creek like a glove, considering that several of the 

four PCIe x1 lanes will be consumed on the host SBC itself. 

The “B” connector supports five additional x1 PCI Express 

lanes as well as additional power, ground, and control 

signals. SUMIT-B and SUMIT-AB target higher-end platforms 

like Intel® Atom processor N450/D510 and even Intel® 

Core i7 “Calpella” platforms. Or they can be used with a 

PCIe switch to fan out the integrated PCIe lanes of the Intel 

Atom processor E6xx series-based platform. SUMIT-based 

I/O modules each use one or more of the bus signals and pass

unused resources further up the I/O stack for other cards to 

utilize. 

Currently, two I/O-expansion-board standards are defined 

and available in the market: SUMIT-ISM and Pico-I/O. Both 

are small, rugged, easy to use, and scalable. SUMIT-ISM is 

Figure 2: Pico-I/O is an even smaller, 60-x-72-mm module 

standard. 

BLOG 

How does one really decide between a hardware vs. a 

software design implementation? Early in a product’s life 

cycle, designers must consider high-level architectural 

issues like power, performance, area and cost. But a highlevel 

view is just an abstraction of the – as yet uncertain 

– lower-level details. A good designer understands both 

the high- and the low-level points of view. 

At the lowest level in a hardware-software trade-off 

decision, the designer must decide what system functionality 

will be realized in software blocks (via a processor) 

and what will be accomplished by hardware devices. 

Here’s an example common to most embedded engineers: 

for (i=0; i

SPECIAL FEATURE 

Virtual Optimization 


New Tools that Help Industry Dance to Your Enterprise Tune 

According to a recent industry survey, more than 46% of 

CIOs reported that 51% to 85% of their data-center servers 

have been virtualized. By the end of 2012, Gartner is predicting 

that about 50% of the x86 architecture workloads—representing 

approximately 58 million deployed machines—will be running 

in virtual machines. IDC analyst Cindy Borovick believes that 

2010 was the first year in which the number of deployed virtual 

servers outnumbered deployed physical servers. 

Clearly, the virtualization megatrend is delivering real, tangible 

cost savings and operational improvement. Yet CIOs are left 

with a number of questions: How do the major technology trends 

impact my virtualization strategy? How do I get my conversation 

with industry aligned to my objectives? What is the technical 

solution that delivers the lowest possible cost of the virtualized 

operation for my applications? 

In the early stages of the server-virtualization journey, there 

were significant technology differences between the various 

hypervisor solutions. �ey ranged from pure performance differences 

to the available administrative and management tools. 

Over time, the marketplace has eliminated these material differences. 

As a result, CIOs can focus on other technology advances, 

which will significantly impact current architectures and reduce 

costs. �ree major trends and potential solutions are fundamentally 

impacting the virtualization discussion: 

�� 

interoperability 

�� 

families 

�� 

�� 

identify the best solution for their environments 

Hypervisor Interoperability 

In November 2009, the Open Virtualization Format (OVF) 

specification was published by IBM, VMware, Microsoft, Citrix, 

HP, Red Hat, and other industry leaders. �is specification defines 

a standards-based, portable format so that enterprises can 

deploy the virtual machine (VM) in any hypervisor that supports 

OVF. It therefore creates a platform-independent, efficient, extensible, 

and open packaging and distribution format for VMs. 


By Bob Carlson, EVP, Criterion HPS 

Although the support for the full scope of this specification 

hasn’t yet been fully implemented by the leading hypervisor 

vendors, I believe VM packaging will be independent of the 

hypervisor in the near future. CIOs will then be able to move 

application workloads frictionlessly to the lowest-cost processing 

environment. 

Dense Computing 

With the emergence of the new Intel® microarchitecture 

(codenamed Nehalem), the industry has begun to build and deliver 

very dense servers. Over this period, the number of vCores 

per motherboard has increased from four in early 2008 to 64 

vCores (and more) per motherboard. �is dramatic increase in 

processing density has coincided with a dramatic reduction in 

power requirements, which allows these very dense servers to be 

air-cooled. �is technology has the potential to achieve considerable 

infrastructure consolidation and cost reductions. 

64-bit Architectures 

�e adoption and migration to the 64-bit architecture has 

been one of the most significant migrations that have never been 

discussed. �is migration is being led by the tremendous success 

of Windows 7 and the availability of multicore processing 

chips. If you spend any time on the Internet searching on the 

benefits of 64-bit architectures, the preponderance of comments 

focuses on the ability to address and use more memory. While 

this is indeed an important benefit, I don’t believe it is the most 

important advantage for CIOs. Arguably, the most critical reason 

to move to 64-bit architectures is to ensure that the application 

portfolio takes full advantage of the processing and cost benefits 

of the new, dense-server solutions. �e result of this server 

density is significantly reduced costs due to server rack consolidation. 

More importantly, the physical architecture’s complexity 

is tremendously reduced. Eliminating this complexity has a multiplying 

effect on cost reductions, as every component of the 

system life cycle becomes easier to manage. 

Individualized Toolsets 

With all of the technology breakthroughs and new capabilities 

being delivered by industry, CIOs need new tools and methods to 

regain control of their decision-making processes. Like all new 

technologies, “it depends” what the specific benefits will be in

each individual environment. New, individualized toolsets are 

emerging to help guide CIOs as they converse with industry. 

�ese toolsets also complement the generic solutions resulting 

from hypervisor interoperability, dense computing, and 64-bit 

architectures. 

One example is V CO (pronounced V-COE), which helps the 

CIO communicate his or her requirements to industry. He or she 

also can evaluate and compare industry’s recommendations in a 

straightforward and meaningful manner. 

�is management tool allows alternative solutions to be evaluated 

in order to help the CIO select the solution or solutions 

that provide the lowest possible total cost of ownership future. It 

creates the following: 

�� 

different virtualization stacks 

�� 

VM for the specific application 

�� 

unique operational requirements are included 

�e V CO is based on the insight that the VM file contains 

all of the business and operational value. Yet the infrastructure 

required to run and operate the VM file has become a pure 

commodity. Once the VM is created, the historical dependence 

between the hardware, operating system, and application has 

been permanently severed. With the emergence of the OVF, 

VMs can simply be deployed to any available virtualized infrastructure. 

In essence, virtualization turns the underlying 

infrastructure into a pure commodity. It’s therefore reasonable 

Figure: The V CO framework is depicted here. 

for the CIO to demand that this infrastructure deliver the lowest 

possible total cost of ownership to the organization. 

�is model establishes the “cost per VM baseline,” which is 

used to compare and contrast new technologies that can deliver 

superior and ongoing cost savings. �e framework is open and 

extensible to meet future requirements. To evaluate alternative 

VM infrastructures, it begins by determining the V CO for the 

target application (see the Figure). In modern data-center operation, 

the inputs required for the tool should all be available. Once 

the application’s V CO is determined, the CIO can provide it to 

industry and benefit from the open competition. 

Now, the virtualization conversation between the CIO and 

industry can be aligned with the CIO’s objectives. �e newest 

and greatest innovations can be assessed in the context of how 

they reduce the total cost of operation for an application stack. 

By adopting these types of tools, the CIO will reward marketplace 

innovations that continually reduce the cost of running 

and operating a VM. For example, moving the emphasis to total 

system optimization and away from any individual-solution 

component will result in the lowest total cost of operation for the 

application. 

�e V CO drives the optimization of these tradeoffs, resulting 

in the lowest operational cost per VM for the organization. 

Understanding these tradeoffs and the impact on the cost of 

running and operating a single VM provides the CIO with new, 

critical insights into the operation. It also puts him or her back 

in control of understanding how industry innovation can reduce 

ongoing operational costs. 

Together, hypervisor interoperability, dense computing, and 

the migration to 64-bit architectures have defined the server-virtualization 

journey. �ey also have allowed CIOs to focus on how 

these advances are impacting current architectures and reducing 

costs. �e resulting solutions have propelled virtualization to the 

forefront of the industry and made the case for distinct benefits. 

As CIOs wade through the solutions advanced by these trends, 

however, the search continues for tools that help to identify the 

best virtualization strategy for their unique enterprise environments. 

�ese tools also should get industry to respond to their 

specific requirements. 

1Bernd Harzog, “Gartner Projects Server Virtualization to Grow from 16% 

to 50% of Workloads by 2012,” �e Virtualization Practice,October 21, 2009. 

(http://www.virtualizationpractice.com/blog/?p=2496) 

2Sean Michael Kerner, “Virtual Servers Top Physical Ones, WAN Opti- 

mization Soars: IDC,” Datamation, April 28, 2010. (http://itmanagement. 

earthweb.com/datbus/article.php/3879246/Virtual-Servers-Top-Physical- 

Ones-WAN-Optimization-Soars-IDC.htm) 

3Copyright © 2009 Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. (DMTF). All 

rights reserved. Document Number: DSP0243 Date: 2009-02-22 

Mr. Carlson’s 26 year career has paralleled the growth 

of the information technology industry from back office 

automation to strategic business process enabler. 

Both as an IBM executive and as the CEO of 2 start-up 

companies, Mr. Carlson has specialized in developing 

and implementing leading-edge business solutions that 

provide competitive advantage through the systematic exploitation of 

technology. He is now focused on the rapidly growing optimized solution 

server market and leading business development and product initiatives 

for Criterion HPS. 


SPECIAL FEATURE Virtual Optimization

TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION 

Embedded Virtualization 

Embedded Virtualization — the 

key to Real-time Determinism in 

Multi-OS Systems 

Virtualization is a commonly used term, but not all virtualization 

is the same. If not implemented correctly in embedded 

applications, performance and reliability will suffer and your design 

goals may not be met. 

�e key difference between embedded applications and office or 

enterprise computer systems is the need for determinism. Generalpurpose 

virtualization approaches, such as those that enable servers 

to run multiple copies of the same general purpose operating system 

(GPOS), frequently virtualize the entire machine environment with 

the goal of maximizing the utilization of the CPU. Unfortunately, 

this comes at the expense of responsiveness to external events, making 

this approach unusable for time-critical applications. 

In contrast, embedded virtualization is engineered to respond 

to hardware-generated signals deterministically. It does this by 

partitioning the platform for GPOS and real-time operating system 

(RTOS) use, only virtualizing what is required. �is enables 

real-time events to be serviced within the required timing, while 

the GPOS keeps running in its usual way. 

�e release of the Intel® 80386 processor twenty years ago introduced 

support in the hardware to make switching the context of tasks 

more reliable and easy to implement. A group of engineers, some of 

whom are still with TenAsys today, devised ways of using that feature 

to make DOS, the most popular GPOS at the time, run alongside the 

iRMX real time operating system. �at day the concept of real-time 

embedded virtualization was born. Even with the HW features, most 

of what was achieved was done through a technique called para-virtualization, 

an adaption of the OSes and drivers to allow them to work 

together. 

As GPOSes evolved and DOS was replaced by Windows as the 

desktop market leader, it became increasingly evident that GPOSes 

like Windows were never designed to service events with a fixed 

priority and hence could not respond deterministically to real-time 

control of machines. Even with faster processors, Windows can not 

be counted on to respond to external events with predictable timing. 

Some software vendors have attempted to deal with Windows’ 

lack of determinism by developing special Windows drivers that 

do I/O processing along with responding to hardware interrupts, 

but these techniques have proved unreliable and typically must be 

re-engineered each time a new version of Windows comes out. 

To solve the problem of getting real-time tasks and Windows 

to co-reside on an embedded system, the para-virtualization tech- 


By Kim Hartman, TenAsys Corporation 

niques that had worked with DOS were evolved to run updated 

RTOSes, like TenAsys’ INtime, alongside Windows to maintain 

the integrity of the real-time environment and get the benefit of 

the highly evolved graphical interface that Windows provides. 

As the software evolved, so did the support for virtualization that 

is built into the underlying processor hardware. Intel has added a set 

of hardware assists called Intel® Virtualization Technology to their 

processors which are used to accelerate the performance of virtualization 

software. 

Using these techniques and hardware aids, embedded virtualization 

software partitions resources, such as CPU cores (in the case 

of today’s multi-core systems), RAM, interrupts, and I/O, between 

RTOSes and GPOSes. Only shared and emulated resources need 

to be virtualized. Each OS is guaranteed direct physical access to 

its dedicated I/O, interrupts, RAM and CPU cycles. �e RTOS I/O 

response cycles take absolute priority, without placing any limits on 

the functionality of the Windows side of the system. 

In multi-core processor systems, the virtualization manager 

can give the real-time software guaranteed ownership of a CPU 

core – delivering maximum performance and removing the requirement 

that the RTOS be designed specially to work with 

Windows. With the proper embedded virtualization software, virtually 

any RTOS can work alongside Windows without the need 

for making any modifications to the RTOS or legacy real-time application 

software that has been designed to run with it. 

Now, embedded system products that used to incorporate separate 

computers for real-time and general-purpose processing can 

be implemented using a single processor platform. �is will revolutionize 

the way that embedded systems are built, saving costs 

and improving system reliability and performance. 

Kim Hartman is VP of Sales & Marketing at TenAsys, 

serving the embedded market with HW 

analysis tool and RTOS products for 25 years. 

Kim has recently been a featured speaker for Intel 

and Microsoft on the topic of embedded virtualization. 

He is a Computer Engineering graduate 

of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and 

degreed MBA professional of Northern Illinois University.

Q: What Do You Get when You 

Combine the x86 Architecture with 

FPGAs? 

A: A Common Platform that Is Open and Flexible for Applications that Need Dedicated I/Os 

Field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) technology has 

been a useful design resource for quite some time. It continues 

to be a mainstay because it delivers many of the same 

benefits as x86 processor architectures. Among the FPGA 

technology’s many common advantages are multifunctionality, 

a healthy and broad-based ecosystem, and a proven 

installed base of supported applications. Giving embedded 

designers hardware platforms that combine x86 processor 

boards with FPGA-controlled I/Os expands these benefits 

even further. Quite simply, it allows them to design dedicated 

I/Os to support a wider range of application requirements. 

By employing next-generation x86 processors with FPGAs 

on a single hardware platform, engineers can opens up the 

chance to reduce the overall bill of materials by eliminating 

chipsets. Different areas of applications can then be built 

on the same platform without a full redesign, but rather just 

the the exchange of the IP cores. Further cementing this 

approach as an appealing, long-term design solution is Loring 

Wirbel of FPGA Gurus. He estimates that the compound 

annual growth rate (CAGR) for FPGAs will continue at a 

strong 8.6%, which will put the FPGA market at $7.5 billion 

worldwide by 2015. 

Advantages of Open, Dedicated Platforms 

The x86 processor architecture continues to evolve to 

enable new levels of platform openness, thereby supporting 

enhanced design flexibility. This is demonstrated by the vast 

number of x86-based developers and a staggering installed 

base of applications. However, the number of x86 designs 

may have contributed to too much of a good thing in the 

form of features. A plethora of pre-determined instruction 

sets has been spawned from those features, limiting many 

types of embedded applications. For this reason, embedded 

designers have been looking for a better way to meet the 

specific I/O requirements or have the ability to customize 

embedded solutions with proprietary I/O or acceleration. 

By combining the central-processing-unit (CPU) core 

with an FPGA, designers gain access to pure IP. They can 

use that IP to increase design flexibility and streamline the 

design process for new applications. Furthermore, only the 

IP cores need to be maintained in the design (compared to 

the daunting task of managing several different controller 

components). Integrating the latest x86 processors with 

By Christine Van De Graaf, Kontron 

FPGAs provides a high-performance open platform. It can 

utilize dedicated I/Os for proprietary interfaces and other 

functionality, which is configured to an application’s needs. 

Even more importantly, this solution ensures design longevity 

with interface support that’s available for as long as it’s 

required. The advantages gleaned from a combined CPU 

core and FPGA solution solve dedicated I/O requirements 

for a broad array of systems—especially systems with unique 

I/O that also must interface with a range of various other 

devices. 

Sustaining Legacy Designs, Enabling Migration 

FPGAs have long been valued as a design tool to support 

older interfaces, such as ISA, RS-232, and CAN. Such 

interfaces are no longer supported by chipsets or dedicated 

hardware-designed I/O add-on cards. Looking to the future, 

it’s foreseeable that PCI will become obsolete and not be supported 

by standard chipsets. Current processor generations 

provide only PCI Express support, leaving designers to find 

other solutions such as PCI switches. These switches have to 

steal resources that may be needed elsewhere for the application, 

thus hindering the overall design. While leading-edge 

technologies have their place, there’s still a 20-year installed 

base of PCI-based applications actively deployed today. The 

designers working with these systems will find that it’s overkill 

to migrate to next-generation PCI Express or Gigabit 

Ethernet for applications that only call for 32-bit/66-MHz 

performance. An optimal solution would be to use an FPGA 

versus a chipset to execute the PCI interface for the needed 

I/O. 

With FPGAs, software and IP cores can now assert a 

major role in embedded computing at the hardware level. 

Rather than using a chipset with pre-configured I/O support, 

designers can utilize IP to customize I/O with software 

in a single-board solution. This approach makes it easier 

to migrate from legacy designs. For system upgrades, this 

streamlined method facilitates the adding of devices that 

can interface with the application. The need to include additional 

hardware is taken out of the equation. 

Support for Proprietary Applications 

The reality is that many proprietary applications exist 

today. This is especially true in the industrial-automation 



Multicore Platform


Multicore Platform 

market, which has to take into consideration the number of 

industrial Ethernet technologies that are currently in use. It 

has become an overwhelming task to develop different fieldbus 

implementations for all of these proprietary protocols. 

Further adding to the proprietary industrial-automation-application 

dilemma is how panel PCs and HMIs are supported 

in these countless different installations. What if an industrial-automation 

designer could build on the same hardware 

platform as a CAN, PROFIBUS, or LonWorks terminal—or 

any other field-bus or industrial Ethernet that’s required in 

a specific application? By using a platform solution that only 

requires the IP cores to be exchanged, one can really see the 

value of a flexible approach that allows a wide variety of devices 

to easily speak with each other. 

The same is true in many medical applications. Each 

piece of diagnostic and patient-monitoring equipment has 

been designed with unique I/O that has special interface 

requirements. It has been a tedious endeavor to upgrade 

these systems and network them, due to the tremendous 

additional hardware, configuration, and programming that 

would be required. An advanced CPU core and FPGA-based 

single-board computer is a welcome solution that delivers 

the design flexibility to bring all of the pieces together. 

Real Solutions 

Hardware solutions now exist based on this combined approach. 

Recently, the Intel® Atom processor E6x5C series 

paired with an integrated Altera FPGA in a single package 

was introduced. The energy-efficient processor core offers 

high performance with 3D graphics, display, memory, and 

a PCI Express controller. In addition, Intel® Hyper-Threading 

Technology delivers increased performance and system 

responsiveness to enable multitasking and faster web-page 

downloads. The integrated, hardware-assisted Intel® 

Virtualization technology helps to consolidate multiple environments 

into a hardware platform (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1: With flexible FPGA I/O options, OEMs now have the 

design flexibility to develop applications that have specific or 

dedicated I/O requirements. 


Kontron, in turn, has announced its MICROSPACE® 

MSMST. This PCIe/104 embedded single-board computer 

employs this latest Intel® Atom processor and FPGA combination 

(see Figure 2). With the Kontron MICROSPACE® 

MSMST, embedded-systems designers can react quickly to 

changing application requirements. They can easily configure 

a platform due to the availability of validated IP cores 

for the CAN-bus, serial interfaces (SPI master/UART), and 

PCI-Express, I2C, and GPIO. All that’s needed to enable the 

interfaces is the IP core and corresponding high-speed mezzanine 

cards (HSMCs). 

Figure 2: The MICROSPACE MSMST is an industrial-temperaturerange, 

PCIe/104 embedded single-board computer based on the 

Intel® Atom processor E600C series. 

Making this a particularly useful solution, the PC/104 

standards, of which PCIe/104 is one of the newest, are welladopted, 

highly successful, computing bases. As a result, 

designers have found it easy to use this familiar off-the-shelf 

open platform. It is an optimal platform to marry PCI-Express 

with a low-power computing core and an FPGA. Plus, 

there’s an established x86/FPGA technology ecosystem of IP 

cores and HSMCs. OEMs also will benefit from a reduced 

bill of materials (BOM), eliminating the need for additional 

carrier boards. Furthermore, the Kontron MICROSPACE® 

MSMST is by-design industrial-temperature-grade (-40° to 

85°C) SBC. It’s therefore a viable choice for harsh environments, 

such as outdoor POS/POI systems, transportation, 

energy, and military applications. 

Christine Van De Graaf is the product manager 

for Kontron America’s Embedded Modules Division. 

Van De Graaf has a decade of experience 

working in the embedded-computing technology 

industry and holds an MBA in marketing 

management from California State University, 

East Bay, Hayward, CA.

Configuration Is Key to Success 

with Embedded Virtualization 

Delivering new functionality for graphics or networking 

In the “old days,” configuring an embedded system was 

simple. A processor had a single central-processing-unit 

(CPU) core executing an operating system (OS). Depending 

on the product’s needs, a general-purpose or real-time operating 

system (RTOS) would be chosen. If both were needed, 

the design would require two processors. Yet today’s powerful 

single-core and multicore processors can actually be 

configured in many different configurations. 

Figure 1: Shown are several CPU-core configuration options 

A multicore processor can be managed by a single symmetrical-multiprocessing 

(SMP) operating system, which 

manages all of the cores (see Figure 1). Alternatively, each 

core can be given to a separate OS in an asymmetrical-multiprocessing 

(AMP) configuration. SMP and AMP both have 

their challenges and advantages. For example, SMP doesn’t 

always scale well, depending on workload. For its part, AMP 

can be difficult to configure with regard to which OS gets 

access to which device. Operating systems assume that they 

have full control over the hardware devices that they detect. 

Often, this creates conflicts in the AMP case. 

A technology that facilitates the configuration of these 

multicore processors is embedded virtualization. Embedded 

virtualization introduces a thin, real-time virtual-machine 

monitor (or hypervisor) directly on top of the hardware. 

This hypervisor then creates virtual boards (partitions) that 

contain the operating systems. As a result, system designers 

can utilize a wide variety of configurations—including 

By Chris Ault, Wind River 

mixes of AMP, SMP, and core virtualization—to build their 

next-generation embedded systems. The hypervisor manages 

the hardware and partitions within which OSs execute. 

Each partition is given access to resources (processing cores, 

memory, and devices), can host an operating system (guest 

OS), and is protected from the other partitions. Simply put, 

an embedded hypervisor provides technology to partition or 

virtualize processing cores, memory, and devices between 

the multiple OSs that are used to build a system. 

In the information-technology (IT) industry, virtualization 

is well-known, well-understood, and well-embraced. 

In embedded devices, however, virtualization is nascent. It 

shares some of the benefits offered to the IT industry while 

providing other advantages that are unique to the embedded 

industry. 

For example, virtualization in the IT industry focuses on 

hardware abstraction to virtualize access to all devices on 

the host server. In doing so, it provides maximize guest-OS 

consolidation and homogeneous host environments. The 

resulting compute platforms appear identical to all guest 

OSs, regardless of the physical host and its hardware. Yet 

virtualization in the embedded industry focuses on a different 

set of benefits. The OSs in an embedded product need 

to collaborate to deliver complete device functionality. Each 

OS uses its own set of hardware devices, memory, and processing 

cores. In addition, it needs to communicate with the 

other OSs in the device. At the same time, the OS usually 

has to operate within tight memory limitations and adhere 

to strict timing requirements. Sometimes, it also needs to be 

certified to certain safety standards. 

Embedded virtualization can be adopted to utilize a mixture 

of different OSs to build an embedded device (see Figure 

2). For example, it may make more sense to manage and control 

sensors and actuators with an RTOS. Yet graphics and 

the networking aspects of the product could be better suited 

if they were supported by a general-purpose OS that offers 

improved graphics support and connectivity. 



Multicore Virtualization


Multicore Virtualization 

Figure 2: Specific operating systems are suitable for specific 

purposes 

Challenges like the following can occur when a complete 

solution has one subset of hardware devices controlled by 

one OS and another controlled by a different OS: 

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multiple OSs 

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multiple OSs 

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moving to a virtualized environment 

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without making widespread software changes 

Figure 3: Shown is an example of an embedded hypervisor 

configuration 

With an embedded hypervisor that can be configured to 

present system-level definitions and hardware-device mappings 

to the virtual boards and guest OSs, the developer 

gains a mechanism to describe all device configurations in 

one location (see Figure 3). Such device assignments include 

partitioning physical-memory ranges and local physicalhardware 

devices, assigning interrupts, and allocating CPU 

cores to guest OSs. Contrast this with virtualization in the 


IT industry, where most hardware devices are virtualized 

and visible to all guest OSs for maximal virtualization. Embedded 

virtualization puts the system developer in control. 

Only he or she can make sure that the system partitioning 

is done in such a way that the final system behaves in the 

desired fashion. 

Figure 4: This hypervisor configuration shows the specific 

configuration of devices 

The system-level configuration used by an embedded hypervisor 

partitions the system into multiple virtual boards 

(see Figure 4). Each virtual board executes a real-time or 

general-purpose guest OS. The virtual board is managed by 

the hypervisor. Based on the configuration presented to it 

at boot time, the hypervisor controls the cores on which the 

virtual board executes, the memory range, and devices that 

can be accessed by the guest OS. The memory, PCI attributes, 

and interrupts can be directly mapped into individual 

guests. The hypervisor isn’t involved in the datapath to or 

from the devices. The resulting performance is equal to native 

non-virtualized performance. 

Figure 5: Achieve innovation by migrating to multicore and 

extending functionality 

With the ability to explicitly describe the devices detected 

by the OSs in the virtual boards, a system developer can port 

legacy applications—hosted by older OSs running on singlecore 

CPUs—onto new multicore CPUs and hardware (see 

Figure 5). This can be done by hosting the legacy application 

in a virtual board, which is presented with the same devices

(and address ranges, interrupts, etc.) as detected on the old 

hardware. An embedded hypervisor that supports unmodified 

guest OSs facilitates this task without requiring software 

changes to the trusted legacy application stack. Device vendors 

are able to port their software assets—intact—to new 

hardware. They can therefore 

leverage multicore CPUs that 

offer increased performance/ 

power ratios. 

In this way, migration 

can be leveraged to add new 

functionality to an embedded 

product while isolating the 

existing application from the 

new feature extensions. Migrating 

a legacy application 

from a single-core CPU to one 

of the cores on a multicore 

CPU provides extra compute 

power, which can be used for 

this new functionality. For 

example, some new features 

that can be implemented could 

be those that exploit the enhanced graphics or networking 

capabilities of a general-purpose OS, such as Linux or Windows. 

In summary, multicore CPUs and embedded virtualization 

offer many opportunities, such as power savings and 

improved compute performance, in embedded products. 

With these opportunities come challenges in partitioning 

and assigning the hardware devices of the embedded board 

to the various CPU cores and virtualized OSs. With an embedded 

hypervisor, it’s possible to maintain complete control 

of the embedded system’s hardware devices to retain the 

real-time requirements in a virtualized environment. The 

embedded hypervisor manages and partitions hardware de- 

Featured Videos 

“Embedded virtualization introduces 

a thin, real-time virtual-machine 

monitor (or hypervisor) directly 

on top of the hardware. 

This hypervisor then creates 

virtual boards (partitions) that 

contain the operating systems.” 

vices based on the configuration presented to it at boot time. 

By partitioning the hardware devices through configuration 

that’s enforced by a hypervisor, the real-time requirements 

of the embedded system are maintained. At the same time, 

the benefits of embedded virtualization and multicore CPUs 

can be realized. 

With the ability to explicitly 

describe the devices 

detected by an OS within a 

virtual board, legacy applications 

can be easily migrated 

from old to new hardware, 

thereby offering increased 

performance/power ratios. 

With increased CPU performance, 

new features can be 

delivered by the development 

teams. With the isolation enforced 

by the hypervisor and 

virtual boards, new functionality 

can be delivered using 

general-purpose OSs with improved 

libraries for graphics or 

networking. 

Chris Ault is a senior product manager with 

Wind River focusing on virtualization solutions. 

Prior to joining Wind River, Ault worked in various 

roles ranging from software engineering to 

product management at Mitel, Nortel, Ciena, 

AppZero, and Liquid Computing. His focus was 

on application and server virtualization products, 

technologies, and sales. Ault holds electronics, computer 

science, and economics degrees from Carleton University and 

Algonquin College. He resides in Ottawa, Canada. 

Max Domeika talks to Low-Power Engineering about 

the impact of power and how that is affecting everything 

from embedded to multicore software 

http://chipdesignmag.com/lpd/blog/2009/12/10/the-view-from-intel/ 



Multicore Virtualization

17143_W_DMD11 

� 

The New Resource Exclusively for Designers 

and Developers of Medical Electronic Devices 

Co located with: Supported by: 

Produced and managed by: UBM Canon | ubmcanon.com 

CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION 

February 8-10, 2011 

Anaheim Convention Center 

Anaheim, CA 

Meet hundreds of the nation’s leading suppliers presenting 

the latest in emerging technologies that can be incorporated 

into the next generation of medical electronics, including: 

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� Graphics/Graphics-Interface ICs 

� Memory & Storage 

� Microcontrollers & Microprocessors 

� Operating Systems 

� Power 

� Programmable ICs 

� RF 

� Semiconductor Processes & IP 

� Software 

� Test & Measurement 

� Wireless 

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Primary Event Sponsor 

Embedded/Multicore Sponsor 

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Meet the Experts Sponsor 

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For more information on attending or exhibiting, please visit 

Register online today using Promo Code: AA

Product Showcase Index 

6WIND 

6WINDGate Multicore Packet Processing Software .................... 39 

AXIOMTEK 

AXIOMTEK CAPA800 Lunar Pier Refresh 3.5-inch 

Embedded Board .......................................................................... 40 

AXIOMTEK’S FIRST QueensBay Platform! PICO822 ................... 40 

COMMELL 

LV-67F---Intel ® Core i7/i5/i3 processor-based 

rPGA988A Mini-ITX .......................................................................41 

Emerson Network Power 

COMX-315 Compact COM Express ® Module .................................. 41 

CPCI7203 PICMG 2.30 3U SBC .......................................................... 42 

iVME7210 Dual-Core VMEbus SBC .................................................. 42 

NITX-300 Series Ultra Low Power Nano-ITX Motherboard ..........43 

ITOX 

ES121-LR Fanless 12VDC System Supports 

Triple-Independent Displays ........................................................ 43 

MSI Computer 

MSI IM-PV-C with Intel ® Atom Processors for Low Power 

and High Performance .................................................................. 44 

Pinnacle Data Systems, Inc. 

6WINDGate Multicore Packet Processing Software 

6WINDGate is the Gold Standard in packet processing 

software for networking equipment, wireless infrastructure, 

security appliances and data centers. It provides up to 10x 

the packet processing performance of a standard networking 

stack, significantly improving the price-performance and 

power-performance ratios of networking equipment. 

6WINDGate is compatible with standard Operating System 

APIs (e.g. Netfilter, Netlink etc). This ensures that clients 

can migrate either from a single-core to a multicore 

platform, or from one multicore platform to another, without 

needing to rewrite their existing software. Clients minimize 

the development time for their base multicore software 

platform, focusing on their unique product differentiation 

and accelerating their time-to-market. 

With a full set of Layer 2 through Layer 4 protocols for routing, 

switching, security and mobility, optimized for multicore 

systems, 6WINDGate is a drop-in replacement for standard 

networking stacks. The majority of packets are processed in a 

fast path environment, executing outside the operating system 

for optimum performance. Available protocols include: 

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ComputeNode CompactPCI Chassis Products ........................ 44 

CP86-N1 Intel ® Core 2 Duo Processor-Based Blade ................ 45 

PMC-SD18 and XMC-SD18 SATA HDD/SDD Storage Modules ... 45 

TS1200 Telco Server Platform .................................................... 46 

TS2200 Telco Server Platform ................................................... 46 

XMC-GBX Quad Gigabit Ethernet Adaptor ................................ 47 

Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. 

XPedite7470 Features Quad-Core 2nd Generation 

Intel Core i7 processor ............................................................... 47 

6WINDGate supports multicore processors from Cavium, 

Freescale, Intel and NetLogic. 

6WIND 

Immeuble Central Gare 

1 place Charles de Gaulle 

Montigny-le-Bretonneux, 78180 

France 

+1 (650) 968-8768 Telephone 

6wind-sales@6wind.com 

http://www.6wind.com 


Product Showcase

Product Showcase 

AXIOMTEK CAPA800 Lunar Pier Refresh 3.5-inch Embedded Board 

Axiomtek announces the CAPA800, a 3.5-inch embedded 

board either supporting a low power single-core Intel® 

Atom processor N450 a D410 1.66GHz or a dual-core 

Intel® Atom processor D510 1.66GHz. The CAPA800 

is equipped with the Intel® I/O Controller Hub 8M to 

deliver enhanced system performance, I/O functions, 

and also supports a full DDR2 2GB memory. Along with 

an Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 

that supports advanced 3D graphics and 18-bit LVDS 

and VGA. The board has an expansion capability that 

includes a socket for a PCI Express Mini card. The system 

simply requires a +12V DC power input. Axiomtek’s smallfootprint 

CAPA800 embedded board is ideal for in-vehicle 

infotainment, industrial control, automation, gaming, 

medical devices, self-serve terminals, digital signage, 

and many other small and fanless devices. For additional 

information or a product quote contact us! 

Features 

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AXIOMTEK’S FIRST QueensBay Platform! PICO822 

Axiomtek announces its FIRST QueensBay Platform; the 

PICO822 offers excellent performance at a remarkably 

low power consumption rate, making it ideal for spacelimited 

and portable applications. The PICO822 aims at 

providing flexibility for expansion such as MEMS, GPS, 

wide-range DC-in, SDVO, PCle. We omitted soldering the 

I/O connectors onto the board edge so it would allow 

for a flexible design that will fit in with any developers’ 

current or future projects. Our extremely small form 

factor embedded platform offers an excellent solution 

for embedded markets such as medical applications, invehicle 

PCs, portable POS, Car PC, entry-level gaming, 

and in-flight infotainment. 

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with Intel® Platform Controller Hub EG20T 

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Gigabit Ethernet, SMbus, & 8 Channel Digital I/O 

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temperature support 


AXIOMTEK 

18138 Rowland St 

City of Industry, CA 91748 

USA 

1.800.GO.AXIOM Toll Free 

1.626.581.3232 Telephone 

sales@axiomtek.com 

www.axiomtek.com 

AXIOMTEK 

18138 Rowland St 


USA 

1.800.GO.AXIOM Toll Free 

1.626.581.3232 Telephone 

sales@axiomtek.com 

www.axiomtek.com

LV-67F--- Intel ® Core i7/i5/i3 processor-based rPGA988A Mini-ITX 

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leader of Industrial Mini-ITX mainboard, is releasing the Mini- 

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ITX mainboard based on the Mobile Intel ® �� 

along with a compatible processor that is one of Intel’s next 

generation 64-bit, multi-core processors built on 32 nm Intel 

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and graphics core on the processor die provides a two-chip 

system architecture. Innovative two-chip solution provides 

Intel ® Turbo boost technology and Intel ® � �� 

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workload and lower power than previous three-chip platform. 

This platform is ideal for developing high-performance 

systems for industrial control and automation, retail, gaming, 

print imaging and digital signage. 

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COMX-315 Compact COM Express ® Module 

The Emerson Network Power is a Compact COM Express ® 

module based on the Intel ® Atom processor E640 for 

deeply embedded, low power applications. At 95 mm x 95 

mm, compact format COM Express modules are designed to 

integrate all the core components of a common PC in a form 

factor small enough for specific embedded applications on a 

carrier board. COMX-315 includes graphics, sound, storage, 

network and multiple USB ports. The COMX-315 will be Type 

2 compatible to fit on existing Type 2 carriers, but will not 

include the legacy PCIbus and IDE parallel interfaces. 

Based on the Intel Atom processor E640, the COMX-315 

module is a highly reliable and long lifecycle product with 

ultra low power consumption, making it ideal for portable and 

hand held applications that do not require forced-air cooling. 

Typical applications for COMX-315 include portable test 

equipment, handheld devices and mobile based applications. 

Product Features 

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quality audio. Also support for eSATA enables the full SATA 

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enables high reliablity for personal data, or maximum storage 

performance for intensive applications. Mini PCI, Mini PCIe 

and PCIE slots easily using any other add-on cards. 

�� http:// 

www.commell.com.tw 

Taiwan Commate Computer Inc. 

886-2-26963909 Phone 

886-2-26963911 Fax 

info@commell.com.tw 

sales@tcommate.com.tw 

www.commell.com.tw 


2900 S. Diablo Way, Suite 190 

Tempe, AZ 85282 

USA 

1 800 759 1107 Toll Free 

1 602 438 5720 Telephone 

EmbeddedComputingSales@Emerson.com 

Emerson.com/EmbeddedComputing 


Product Showcase


CPCI7203 PICMG 2.30 3U SBC 

The CPCI7203 3U SBC features the integrated dual-core Intel ® 

Core i7 processor for use in high performance, spaceconstrained 

applications. On-board memory includes up to 

8GB DDR3 and 256KB non-volatile F-RAM. F-RAM does not 

require batteries or periodic refreshes and offers many more 

read/ write cycles and faster performance than flash memory, 

which benefits critical non-volatile data storage, data logs 

and dynamic program updates. The Trusted Platform Module 

(TPM) enhances data security and encryption capabilities. 

The CPCI7203 is a low-power, high-performance SBC that 

offers full hot swap compliance per PICMG ® 2.1 and supports 

the PICMG 2.9 System Management specification and PICMG 

2.30 CompactPCI PlusIO specification. 

The CPCI7203 supports a range of operating system and 

software options. It is ideal for a wide range of industrial, 

medical and military/aerospace applications, such as 

railway control, semiconductor processing, robotics, image 

processing, vehicle communications and on-board flight 

information systems. 


�� ® Core i7 processor (up to 2 GHz) 

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iVME7210 Dual-Core VMEbus SBC 

�� ® Core i7 processor variants and the 

Mobile Intel ® �� 

of industrial, medical and military/aerospace applications 

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signal intelligence. The dual-core processor has integrated 

memory and graphics controller. On-board memory includes 

up to 8GB DDR3 soldered memory and 256KB non-volatile 

Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (F-RAM). F-RAM does 

not require batteries or periodic refreshes and offers much 

greater read/write cycles and faster performance than flash. 

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drive accessory option. Connectivity includes four Gigabit 

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and two SATA ports. Compatible operating systems include 

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alliance partners. 


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USA 

1 800 759 1107 Toll Free 

1 602 438 5720 Telephone 






USA 

1 800 759 1107 Toll Free 

1 602 438 5720 Telephone 


Emerson.com/EmbeddedComputing

NITX-300 Series Ultra Low Power Nano-ITX Motherboard 

The NITX-300 series of Nano-ITX motherboards from 

Emerson Network Power feature the Intel ® Atom processor 

E6xx series. These ultra low power motherboard solutions 

offer passive cooling capability for reliable operation. They are 

designed for use in a variety of applications such as embedded 

instruments, medical carts, audio visual display systems, 

and other applications that require an easy-to-use Nano-ITX 

motherboard with support for a variety of operating systems. 

With a size format of 120 mm x 120 mm, Nano-ITX form factor 

motherboards are very suitable for low power embedded 

applications. The NITX-300 series has a low height profile 

to fit into most enclosures and has a wide range of built-in 

connectivity including LCD and/or CRT displays; SATA for 

physical or solid state disks; a PCI Express x1 expansion slot 

and a PCI Express Mini Card slot for Wi-Fi/WiMAX; USB and 

Gigabit Ethernet networks; audio; and multiple serial ports. 


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USA 

1 800 759 1107 Toll Free 

1 602 438 5720 Telephone 



ES121-LR Fanless 12VDC System Supports Triple-Independent Displays 

This new embedded system offers higher-performance per watt 

than any previous low power platform. The ES121-LR utilizes a 

dual-core Intel ® Atom processor D510 and Intel ® I/O Controller 

�� ® 435 

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support. The low-profile chassis is constructed of heavy duty 

steel and an extruded aluminum top cover providing noise-free, 

passive system cooling. 

The S3 Graphics Chrome ® 435 ULP accelerator provides two 

DVI-D and two VGA display interfaces using DVI-I connectors, 

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display imaging is accomplished using the processor’s VGA 

display interface and any combination of the S3 Graphics 

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Key System Features 

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This low-power 12VDC embedded system is ideal for 

applications requiring a stable revision-controlled platform, 

such as digital signage, gaming, industrial control automation, 

POS and Kiosk, and medical equipment applications. 

ITOX Applied Computing 

8 Elkins Road 

East Brunswick, NJ 08816 

732-390-2815 Phone 

888-200-4869 Toll Free 

732-390-2817 Fax 

sales@itox.com 

www.itox.com 


Product Showcase


MSI IM-PV-C with Intel® Atom Processors for Low Power and 

High Performance 

MSI announces the latest mini-ITX motherboard, IM-PV-C, 

to IPC market. IM-PV-C is based on the latest Intel® Atom 

processors N455/ N475/ D425/ D525 and the Intel® I/O 

Controller Hub 8M which is an ideal low power and high 

performance solution for industrial applications. 

MSI IM-PV-C comes to meet the requirements of a low power 

platform, especially in power input design. MSI IM-PV-C 

supports ATX and wide range DC 12V ~ 24V inputs as the 

different BOM option. For supporting high resolution video, 

MSI debuts IM-PV-C with great 3D graphics performance for 

a high definition up to 1080P videos. 

With two DDR3 800 MHz So-DIMM sockets, IM-PV-N with 

Intel Atom processors D425/ D525 can support up to 4GB 

system memory and IM-PV-N with Intel Atom processors 

N455 / N475 can support up to 2GB system memory. For 

the storage application, it supports 3 SATAII ports. Onboard 

I/O advantages include 5 COM ports, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 

and multiple video output (DVI, VGA and LVDS) for dual 

independent display. Networking is provided by one Intel® 

82574L GbE LAN and one Intel® 82567V GbE LAN. Moreover, 

it features one compact flash slot, one PCI and one mini-PCIe 

slot for easy expansion. It also supports onboard watchdog 

timer for added system redundancy and security. 

ComputeNode CompactPCI Chassis Products 

PDSi’s ComputeNode line offers a range of NEBS Level 3-compliant 

CompactPCI chassis in sizes from 1U to 4U. These carrier-grade 

chassis include a horizontal design, superior air cooling, cPCI and 

cPSB (PICMG 2.16) backplanes, redundant hot-swappable fans, 

hot-swappable front-accessible AC or DC power supplies, and 

rear single or dual power feeds. All 2U and larger ComputeNode 

platforms include PDSi’s unique Alert!Node (or Enhanced 

Alert!Node) alarm card, an intelligent chassis management 

controller for comprehensive fan and power monitoring. The 

Alert!Node card does not occupy a CompactPCI slot, front or rear. 

OEMs and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) can also take 

advantage of PDSi’s design, integration, and support services, 

including custom board and system design, validation 

and certification, production assembly and test, as well as 

extended service programs. 


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extended availability assured 


MSI Computer 

901 Canada Court 


626 913 0828 ext. 193 

626 913 0818 Fax 

JonasC@msicomputer.com 

www.msicomputer.com 


6600 Port Road 

Groveport, OH 43125 

USA 

1 614 748 1150 Telephone 

info.sales@pinnacle.com 

www.pinnacle.com

CP86-N1 Intel ® Core 2 Duo Processor-Based Blade 

PDSi’s Intel-based CompactPCI x86 Processor Blade (CP86-N1) 

provides a robust, high-performance general purpose compute 

platform for use in CompactPCI PICMG 2.16 systems. This latest 

addition to PDSi’s ComputeNode family of carrier-grade 

CompactPCI solutions is built around the 45nm technology Intel ® 

Core2 Duo processor and server-grade Intel ® 5100 Memory 

Controller Hub (MCH) chipset and I/O Controller Hub (ICH) 9R 

supporting ECC memory. This powerful, compact blade offers the 

highest performance and dependability in its class. 

The ComputeNode CP86-N1 blade includes a standard PMC/ 

XMC site for I/O expansion and features an onboard SATA drive 

plus high resolution graphics. I/O capability covers a very broad 

range of interfaces that can be accessed through one of PDSi’s 

companion rear transition modules such as CP86-RT01. Two 

1000Base-T Ethernet ports provide the PICMG 2.16-compliant 

fabric interfaces, making the CP86-N1 fully compatible with any 

ComputeNode cPSB chassis. 


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extended availability assured. 

PMC-SD18 and XMC-SD18 SATA HDD/SDD Storage Modules 

These new SATA Storage Modules are offered in both PMC 

and XMC formats. Both provide high capacity SATA storage 

using compact 1.8 inch hard disk (HDD) or solid state drives 

(SSD) - up to 160GB of storage is available with either drive 

type. Whether configured with an economical rotating HDD or 

with a highly shock-resistant SSD, these low profile modules 

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AdvancedTCA®, and PCI Express processor boards without 

risk of mechanical interference. 

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external drive interfaces. OS support includes Windows, 

Linux, Solaris x86, and Solaris SPARC. Critical military and 

aerospace applications will appreciate the high operating 

shock resistance (1000+ G) and high MTBF (over 1 million 

hours) when configuring these modules with the latest SSD 

technology. 


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USA 

1 614 748 1150 Telephone 


www.pinnacle.com 




USA 

1 614 748 1150 Telephone 




Product Showcase


TS1200 Telco Server Platform 

The TS1200 is a cost-effective NEBS® Level 3 compliant rackmount 

or stand-alone platform. It comes with either two Four-Core 

or two Six-Core Intel® Xeon® processors 56XX series, up to 96 

GB of DDR3 memory, and features IPMI System Management. 

The compact TS1200 enclosure, 1U high by 21.25” Telco depth, 

features redundant rear DC or AC power supplies and two (2) front 

hot-swap 2.5” SAS, SATA or SSD disks. 

The TS1200 uses cost effective CPUs without active heat 

sinks, and provides superior carrier grade cooling and 

serviceability. Its modular high capacity redundant hot-swap 

fans assure quiet operation and can be quickly serviced. Fans 

are directly accessible from the front – no need to open a top 

cover. Designed for NEBS compliancy, PDSi platforms can be 

custom-configured and managed to provide long-life support. 

PDSi can also manage full NEBS certification with customer 

specific PCI cards installed. 


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TS2200 Telco Server Platform 

The TS2200 is a cost-effective NEBS® Level 3 compliant 

rack-mount or stand-alone platform. It comes with either two 

Four-Core or two Six-Core Intel® Xeon® processors 56XX 

Series, up to 96GB of DDR3 memory, and features IPMI System 

Management. The compact TS2200 enclosure, 2U high by 

22.65” Telco depth, features redundant rear DC or AC power 

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The TS2200 uses cost effective CPUs without active heat sinks, 

and provides superior carrier grade cooling and serviceability. 

Its modular high capacity redundant hot-swap fans assure 

quiet operation and can be quickly serviced. Fans are directly 

accessible from the front and sides - no need to open a top 

cover. Designed for NEBS compliancy, PDSi platforms can be 

custom-configured and managed to provide long-life support. 

PDSi can also manage full NEBS certification with customer 

specific PCI cards installed. 


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USA 

1 614 748 1150 Telephone 






USA 

1 614 748 1150 Telephone 


www.pinnacle.com

XMC-GBX Quad Gigabit Ethernet Adaptor 

This new quad gigabit Ethernet XMC is a high-performance, 

low-latency network adaptor providing four high-speed Ethernet 

interfaces for use with VITA 42.3-compatible VME, PCI Express, 

CompactPCI®, and AdvancedTCA® processor boards. It is 

available in three configurations offering a mix of front and rear 

port access. 

Wide internal data paths eliminate performance bottlenecks. 

The parallel and pipelined logic architecture is optimized 

for Gigabit Ethernet and efficiently handles packets with 

minimum latency. Using widely accepted Intel® 82571EB 

Ethernet controllers, this adaptor offers up to four 10BASE- 

T/100BASE-Tx/1000BASE-T copper ports with front-mounted 

RJ-45 connectors and full status indicators. Alternatively, up to 

four SERDES ports are accessible through the Pn4 connector 

for use via an appropriate copper or fiber-based rear transition 

module. 


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1 614 748 1150 Telephone 



XPedite7470 Features Quad-Core 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 processor 

The XPedite7470 is a high-performance, low-power 3U VPX- 

REDI single-board computer based on the 2nd generation 

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PCI Express x4 VPX P1 interconnects and two Gigabit Ethernet 

ports, the XPedite7470 is ideal for the high-bandwidth and 

processing intensive applications of today’s military and 

avionics applications. 

The XPedite7470 accommodates up to 8 GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM 

on two channels to support memory-intensive applications. 

The XPedite7470 also hosts numerous I/O interfaces including 

Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, SATA, graphics, and RS-232/RS-422/ 

RS-485 through the backplane connectors. 

The XPedite7470 can be used in either the system slot or 

peripheral slots of a VPX backplane. Wind River VxWorks, 

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(BSPs) are available, as well as Windows drivers. 


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Vector Extensions (AVX) delivers highest performance for 

demanding DSP applications 

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of application requirements 

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storage requirements 

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application I/O requirements 

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support software development 

Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. 

3225 Deming Way, Suite 120 

Middleton, WI 53562 

608-833-1155 Telephone 

608-827-6171 Fax 

sales@xes-inc.com 

www.xes-inc.com 


Product Showcase

LAST WORD 

PCI Express Versus RapidIO: The 

Winner Is… 

The debate known as the “fabric wars” started around the 

turn of the century and has been raging ever since. Over 

the past decade, there have been dozens of entries vying to 

be the system-interconnect fabric for embedded systems. 

Who can forget Advanced Switching Interconnect (ASI), 

StarFabric, Hyper Transport, InfiniBand, and Parallel RapidIO? 

Now, the list of contenders is down to just three: 10 

Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE), RapidIO, and PCI Express (PCIe). 

Ethernet isn’t going away. RMDA support is part of the 

10 GbE specification and cut-through switches are becoming 

available. (Here, the switch starts forwarding a packet before 

the whole packet has been received, as opposed to store-andforward 

switches.) Clearly, 10 GbE will serve the needs of 

many applications. It will take some time, however, before 10 

GbE is ready for the heavy lifting of the data plane for highend 

applications. 

Until then, RapidIO and PCIe are the most viable highperformance, 

low-latency, low-overhead, embedded-systems 

interconnects. RapidIO has been seen by many to be technically 

superior—primarily because of its peer-to-peer support. 

PCIe was designed as a serial replacement for the parallel 

PCI bus. At the software level, PCIe preserves compatibility 

with PCI. To use PCIe in embedded applications with multiple, 

independent CPU subsystems, non-transparent bridging 

is required (just as CompactPCI required non-transparent 

PCI bridging). 

The best technology doesn’t always win, however. One of 

the most famous examples of this is Betamax versus VHS. 

(For you younger readers, these are the video-tape formats 

that predate DVDs.) Videophiles recognized that the quality 

of Betamax video was superior. But VHS won out due to a 

longer record time, which the market wanted. 

The embedded market is leveraging the PCIe infrastructure 

from the PC world, which is analogous to how it 

leveraged the PCI bus infrastructure. All new 32- and 64-bit 

processors support PCIe. In addition, I/O controllers and devices 

that previously had PCI bus interfaces have migrated to 

PCIe endpoint interfaces. PCIe switch chips from a number 

of companies are on the market. Even field-programmable 

gate arrays (FPGAs) include hard-coded PCIe endpoint cores. 

The picture for RapidIO is much different. The majority 

of companies that implement RapidIO in silicon are processor 

or DSP companies, for which RapidIO is a very good 

interconnect. There are far fewer switch options available. 


By Dave Barker, Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) 

Overall, the RapidIO ecosystem is much smaller than the 

PCIe ecosystem. 

In this competition, success is all about market share. 

Because of the PC market, PCIe has market share while 

RapidIO does not. By itself, the embedded-computing market 

isn’t big enough to make a market for an interconnect 

technology that lives within a chip. Several years ago, this 

point was made clear to me at a RapidIO Trade Association 

meeting. We were discussing the future of RapidIO prior to 

the release of the RapidIO 2.0 specification. Several CPU 

vendors present said the only way that they could support 

RapidIO in their chips was if it continued to stay in lockstep 

with PCIe and leverage the same lower layers of the protocol 

(e.g., 8b/10b encoding) and SERDES. Otherwise, there wasn’t 

enough market demand to justify implementing RapidIO at 

the expense of another feature. Even though RapidIO was 

technically sound, I realized that it couldn’t win in the market 

over PCIe. 

Since then, a number of advancements have made PCIe 

very relevant for embedded applications. PCIe switches are 

becoming available, which allow multiple non-transparent 

ports to be configured. PCIe 2.0 was ratified in 2007, 

doubling the data rate to 5.0 Gb/s. With proper software 

support, processors in embedded systems can communicate 

over PCIe as peers in a network. In late 2010, the PCI SIG 

made the PCIe 3.0 specification available to members. 

It’s time to declare the fabric war over. And the winner is 

PCIe—for now. Depending on the longevity of PCIe and the 

viability of 10 GbE, the landscape may look different in a few 

years. But the next big debate may be over optical interconnects. 

Ready for the “optical war?” 

Dave Barker is the director of marketing at 

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES). Previously, 

he headed marketing and business 

development at VMETRO and was the VME 

product manager at the Motorola Computer 

Group. Barker has a BS in computer science 

from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from the University 

of Phoenix.

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and software building blocks. And with Emerson as your partner, you 

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See the difference for yourself at 

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