DFI focuses on AI edge for smart transportation

At Computex Taipei this week, embedded motherboard and industrial computer specialist, DFI has introduced its low power vehicle system, based on Arm architecture.

The high performance computing micro-industrial motherboard is compact, allowing it to overcome space limitations in roadside equipment. It can be used for people flow identification in vehicle systems. DFI said it can improve energy efficiency and provide safety for future cities through intelligent, automated and miniaturised product design.

Exhibiting in the BenQ Group Computex Smart+ exhibition stand number MO619a at Computex Taipei (30 May to 2 June) at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei, Taiwan, DFI has actively deployed smart transportation solutions to upgrade public infrastructure, lower operating costs and increase efficiency, said DFI president, Alexander Su.

DFI’s smart transportation embedded solutions support road and information security. The company has joined VicOne, a vehicle information security company and IoT system integration company, 5GIoTLead Technology, to introduce in-vehicle cybersecurity technology and the 5G Smart Pole Management platform, which demonstrate simulations of smart traffic intersections.

Another highlight is the miniature industrial fanless EC70A-TGU, equipped with the 11th generation Intel Tiger Lake Core processor. This processor has low power consumption and built-in GPU based on the Intel Iris Xe architecture, for edge computing. The fanless design allows the EC70A-TGU to be light and compact. Its accurate AI judgment also considers performance and real-time responses, making it ideal for handling heavy workloads, said DFI.

The EC70A-TGU can perform real-time AI calculations and speed up pedestrian recognition, tracking, and video streaming. It can also identify violations committed by others and synchronously send the information to the smart pole management platform, providing a real-time visual dashboard and data control to enhance management efficiency.

Another innovation is the VC900-M8M in-vehicle system which adopts low power ARM architecture and supports in-vehicle information security software.

The VC900-M8M, with ARM-based NXP i.MX8M CPU, can support Yocto Linux 2.5 and Android 9.0 operating systems. It has a variety of I/O configurations and features an anti-vibration design and wide operating temperature range to allow the vehicle to function even in extreme environments, said DFI. 

The VC900-M8M has a built-in six-axis IMU sensor, which monitors vehicle and driver behaviour to prevent speeding, sudden braking, and collisions. It can also manage abnormal signals and provide real-time warnings.

https://www.dfi.com/

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Micro-ATX motherboard sets benchmarks for storage and processing 

The MAX-Q670A sets new benchmarks for expandability, storage capacity, and processing power, said Aaeon. The addition to its Micro-ATX range is the company’s first Micro-ATX industrial motherboard to incorporate the new 13th Generation Intel Core processor platform (formerly Raptor Lake). 

It supports a diverse range of CPUs from both the 12th and 13th Generation Intel Core processor ranges, from 35W i3 to 65W i9 devices, with the most advanced of these offering eight P-cores, 16 E-cores and 32 threads. Advanced technologies available on this platform include Intel TCC for real-time computing, Intel vPro Enterprise for robust security and stability and Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 for targeted workload management.

Aaeon designed the MAX-Q670A with upgrades in storage, hardware-based security features and increased speed and bandwidth via both onboard interfaces and expansion modules. 

It is equipped with two 16-lane PCIe Gen 5 slots to accommodate multiple expansion modules such as graphic cards. There is also a further option of installing two eight-lane cards per slot. There are four LAN ports, two of which support 2.5GbE via Intel I225-LM and high-speed peripheral device interfaces, bolstered by up to 128Gbyte of DDR5 system memory to accelerate data transmission. This is in addition to a dense I/O comprised of a DB-9 port, alongside an internal nine-pin header for RS-232 function and an 8-bit digital I/O interface.

Security features include four rear USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, which are bootable, and two internal USB 3.2 Gen 1 and USB 2.0 ports which also support a USB switchable power feature for remote peripheral device rebooting.

Eight SATA III drives with RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 support provide storage capacity and there are two M.2 2242/2280 M-Keys which provide four-lane PCIe Gen 4 functionality.

The MAX-Q670A is now in mass production.

Established in 1992, Aaeon designs and manufactures industrial IoT and AI edge products. It provides industrial motherboards and systems, rugged tablets, embedded AI Edge systems, uCPE network appliances and LoRaWAN/WWAN solutions as well as OEM/ODM services worldwide. It also works closely with cities and governments to develop and deploy smart city ecosystems, offering individual platforms and end-to-end solutions. 

http://www.aaeon.com

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Small form factor computing system is based on Nvidia Jetson AGX Orin

Elma Electronic has expanded its line of rugged small form factor (SFF) edge computing systems to include the JetSys-5330, based on the Nvidia Jetson AGX Orin System on Module (SoM). The artificial intelligence (AI) platform delivers up to 275 TOPS, coupled with expansion sites for custom I/O and storage requirements, making the JetSys-5330 suitable for rugged, deployed deep-learning applications. 

The JetSys-5330 utilises wireless multi-access edge computing. Industrial applications, including robotics, autonomous mining, agriculture and construction vehicles, can also benefit from the JetSys-5330 edge computing capabilities.

Mark Littlefield, director, system products for Elma Electronic, commented: “The power of AI brought to the edge by this latest Nvidia Jetson-based JetSys platform is enhanced by the versatile and extensive I/O interfaces and storage capabilities. This new system can handle multiple concurrent video pipelines, which means enhanced data handling and processing power for rugged systems.”

The Nvidia Jetson AGX Orin is a powerful SoM for AI applications, featuring a 2048-core Nvidia Ampere architecture GPU with 64 Tensor Cores and a 12-core Arm Cortex-A78AE. Deep learning and vision accelerators, a video encoder/decoder, high-speed I/O, 204GB/s of memory bandwidth and up to 64GB of DRAM contribute to its processing capabilities.

Claimed to be easily configurable and expandable, the JetSys-5330 combines the Nvidia Jetson AGX Orin module with Elma’s JetKit-3110 carrier card, which provides the necessary power and interfaces for the SoM as well as three mini-PCIe slots (one that doubles as mSATA) and two M.2 slots (one B-Key and one M-Key) for custom I/O or fixed storage expansion.

The platform’s rugged design is IP67-rated and qualified to standards including MIL-STD-810G, MIL-HDBK-704F and MIL-STD-1275D. The platform’s power consumption ranges from 53W to 130W depending on the system configuration. Maximum weight is 16lbs with an optionally available fan kit.

https://www.elma.com

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DIN-rail embedded system caters for sustainable energy data collection 

Designed with scalability in mind, Axiomtek included storage, wireless module expansions and I/O interfaces in its ICO330 embedded system. The DIN-rail, fanless computer is powered by the Intel Atom x6212RE or x6414RE processor. 

The ICO330 has an extended operating temperature range of -40 to +70 degrees C and 9.0V to 36V DC wide power input or a choice of typical 12V / 24V. It is robust and acts as a cost-effective industrial IoT gateway for data collection and communication in the fields of sustainable energy, oil & gas, factory automation, intelligent agricultures and smart buildings.

“With the increasing adoption of connected IoT devices, OT [operating technology] environments are becoming more interconnected and integrated with IT [information technology] systems,” said Mark Lu, product manager of the Product PM division at Axiomtek. The ICO330 provides built-in isolated system design and modular mechanism design, addressing “80 per cent of the environmental requirements in the OT field, reducing the integration time for customers,” he added. It also minimises the cost and system size resulting in significant savings for customers,” he said. With regards to security, the ICO330 supports TPM 2.0 to comply with industry standards.

The IP40-rated ICO330 comes with one DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM with up to 32Gbyte of memory. One mSATA, one internal 2.5 inch SATA drive and onboard 8G eMMC are available to extend storage capacity. In addition, the IIoT gateway comes with an M.2 slot (USB 3.0/PCIe) for 5G connectivity and NVMe storage, a full-size Rev. 1.2 PCI Express Mini Card slot (USB/PCIe) for Wi-Fi/LTE module, and a half-size Rev. 1.2 PCI Express Mini Card slot (mSATA/USB) for wireless module and mSATA SSD.

The cost-conscious embedded system features rich I/O interfaces, including one HDMI, two USB 3.1, and five antenna openings. It also supports three 2.5GbE LAN ports for more Ethernet topology deployment. The modular I/O design affords users flexibility and full/slim configuration options. The ICO330 provides one isolated direct I/O and six isolated COM ports (RS-232/422/485) in the full type or customers can choose the slim model with two isolated COM ports. 

The industrial-grade DIN-rail embedded platform is compatible with Windows 10 IoT and Linux to provide an open standard operating system for software program development.

Axiomtek’s industrial-grade DIN-rail embedded system ICO330 will be available in May 2023. 

http://www.axiomtek.com

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