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EKF Elektronik pledges long term support for CompactPCI boards

Thu, Feb 02, 2023

Two 3U CompactPCI processor boards, based on 11th generation Intel Core and Xeon processors (codename Tiger Lake H45) will be launched at Embedded World 2023 (14 to 16 March) by EKF Elektronik.

The boards will be available as a CompactPCI Serial design and a version which supports both CompactPCI Classic and CompactPCI PlusI/O. The latter supports the classic parallel PCI bus, for which there are still numerous COTS and proprietary expansion cards available today. Developers of CompactPCI-based systems can implement any CompactPCI system design and secure investment in the PICMG standard, long into the future.

The new boards will be available until at least 2032, confirmed EKF Elektronik. The company supports existing CompactPCI CPU boards with 7th generation Intel Xeon E3 v6 processors (codename Kaby Lake), which the company also offers for all three CompactPCI sub-specifications.

“Support for the PCI bus is essential for older CompactPCI system designs, yet some vendors are withdrawing from this market,” said Manuel Murer, business development manager at EKF Elektronik. He added that developers “can safeguard their investment in this legacy technology for many more years, continue to upgrade their system designs with the latest processor technology, and reap all the benefits that come with it”.

Upgrades bring advantages, including higher energy efficiency, higher processor-integrated security and computing power, up-to-date software support, and above all, said EKF Elektronik, support for AI and the latest graphics features.

As 11th Gen Intel Core and Xeon processors no longer support PCI natively, EKF Elektronik has installed a software-transparent PCIe-to-PCI bridge on the processor boards with CompactPCI Classic and CompactPCI PlusIO support. This allows developers to seamlessly port existing applications to the new boards, explained EKF Elektronik.

There is also a J2 connector on the CompactPCI PlusIO (PICMG 2.30) boards, which is footprint-compatible with the CompactPCI Classic (PICMG 2.0) specification. This change was necessary because the J2 connector specifically developed for PlusIO has been discontinued. There is no need to redesign the backplane, advised EKF Elektronik. The only restriction is that high-speed backplane transfer is limited to 2.5Gtransfers per second for PCIe Gen 1, and 1.5Gbit per second for SATA. Depending on the application and system, it is possible to use the full bandwidth. The CompactPCI‘s PCI bus can be used in the usual bandwidth up to 133Mbyte per second.

The CompactPCI processor boards with 11th Gen Intel Core processors in the CompactPCI Serial (SC9-TOCCATA) variant are expected to be available mid-2023. The PC9-TOCCATA variants for CompactPCI Classic and CompactPCI PlusIO will go into series production later. Until that time, 7th generation PC7-FESTIVAL variants, which can be ordered now, provide a reliable long-term solution to existing availability problems for cPCI and PlusIO applications.

Visit EKF Elektronik at Embedded World 2023, Hall 1 – 406

http://www.ekf.de

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16Gbyte SoM with edge AI can be used in handheld devices, says Nvidia

Wed, Feb 01, 2023

The Jetson Orin NX 16Gbyte module is now available for purchase from Nvidia. The system on module (SoM) has a small form factor, making it suitable for low power robots, embedded applications and autonomous machines. It can be used in products like drones and handheld devices, advised Nvidia.

Target applications are in manufacturing, logistics, retail, agriculture, healthcare, and life sciences.

The Jetson Orin NX is the smallest Jetson form factor, delivering up to 100 TOPS of AI performance with power configurable between 10 and 25W. It gives developers three times the performance of the Nvidia Jetson AGX Xavier and five times the performance of the Nvidia Jetson Xavier NX.

The SoM supports multiple AI application pipelines with Nvidia Ampere architecture GPU, next-generation deep learning and vision accelerators, high-speed I/O and fast memory bandwidth. It can be used for developing systems with large and complex AI models in natural language understanding, 3D perception and multi-sensor fusion.

To showcase the leap in performance achievable by the SoM, Nvidia ran some computer vision benchmarks using the Nvidia JetPack 5.1. Testing included some dense INT8 and FP16 pre-trained models from NGC, Nvidia’s portal of enterprise services, software, management tools, and support for end-to-end AI and digital twin workflows. The same models were also run for comparison on Jetson Xavier NX.

The benchmarks for people detection, licence plate recognition, object detection and labelling and multi-person human pose estimation showed that the Jetson Orin NX delivered a 2.1 times performance increase compared to Jetson Xavier NX. With future software optimisations, this is expected to approach 3.1 times for dense benchmarks. Other Jetson devices have increased performance by 1.5 times since the first supporting software release. Similar results are anticipated for the Jetson Orin NX 16Gbyte.

Jetson Orin NX also brings support for sparsity, which will enable even greater

performance. With sparsity, developers can take advantage of the fine-grained structured sparsity in deep learning networks to increase the throughput for Tensor Core operations.

All Jetson Orin modules run the world-standard Nvidia AI software stack.

Nvidia JetPack 5.1 supports the Orin NX 16Gbyte and the latest CUDA-X stack on Jetson Orin.

The Jetson partner ecosystem supports a broad range of carrier boards and peripherals for the Jetson Orin NX 16Gbyte module, such as sensors, cameras,

connectivity modules (5G, 4G, Wi-Fi).

http://www.nvidia.com

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UP Xtreme i12 Edge computer bring AI to health and transport

Mon, Jan 23, 2023

The latest addition to the UP series by Aaeon is based on the 12 th generation Intel Core, or Intel Celeron processors.

The UP Xtreme i12 Edge makes substantial upgrades on Aaeon’s predecessor with the power-efficient, multi-core architecture of 12 th Generation Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Celeron processors (formerly Alder Lake-P), onboard LPDDR5, and AI module support. These contribute to its adaptability for industrial, healthcare, and transport applications.

For expansion, the UP Xtreme i12 Edge has four M.2 Keys for Wi-Fi 6, 5G, AI and PCIe 4.0 storage module support, in order to bring edge AI computing capabilities to a wider variety of markets. The computer also supports Intel Iris Xe graphics, Intel DL Boost, and the Intel Distribution of OpenVINO Toolkit. This boosts GPU image classification inferencing performance by up to 2.81 times that of the previous generation, confirmed Vishay.

Housed in a fanless 152 x 123.8 x 72.5mm chassis, the UP Xtreme i12 Edge also has one USB 4.0, three USB 3.2, and three USB 2.0 ports, along with an Intel i226-IT LAN port running at 2.5Gbits per second and with TSN (time sensitive networking). Aording to Aaeon, the UP Xtreme i12 can achieve real-time data processing using its onboard LPDDR5 system memory.

A selection of I/O ports complement the display interface, which can support four simultaneous 4K displays via configurations of HDMI 2.0, DP 1.4a and eDP 1.4b ports, enhanced by Intel Iris Xe graphics.

Potential uses of the combination of computing performance and AI are smart retail and industrial automation solutions, particularly given its fanless chassis and 12 to 36V power input range.

The UP Xtreme i12 Edge is in mass production and available for order.

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

Aaeon works closely with premier chip designers to deliver stable, reliable platforms, and is recognised as a Titanium member of the Intel Internet of Things Solutions Alliance.

http://www.aaeon.com.

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Aaeon pairs server-grade Intel Xeon with COM Express Type 7 form factor

Thu, Jan 12, 2023

Computer on module (COM) developer, Aaeon’s latest module is the COM-ICDB7 which is powered by the third generation Intel Xeon D processor platform (formerly known as Ice Lake-D).

It is designed for applications such as drone fleet control, biomedical science, and data analysis applications, said Aaeon. The COM-ICDB7 offers server-grade CPU performance of up to 10 cores and 20 threads via the third generation Intel Xeon processors on a 4.92 x 3.75 inch (125 x 95mm) COM Express Type 7 form factor.

Supporting a 70W CPU, the COM-ICDB7 can power multiple expansion modules via its PCIe 4.0 [x16] slot and four PCIe 3.0 [x4] slots. It also has two DDR4 SODIMM sockets providing up to 64Gbyte system memory with ECC (error code correction) support, which adds stability to large data analytics applications.

There are also four 10GbE ports accessible via its carrier board for high speed, high volume data transference. These features combine to ensure the COM-ICDB7 is able to execute complex computing tasks, for solutions deployed in fields such as industrial automation, edge servers and data centres.

Optional additions to the COM-ICDB7 include a custom carrier board, which offers a more cost-effective approach to outdoor deployment, said Aaeon.

The COM-ICDB7 is eligible for application-specific customisation such as wider operational temperature ranges for operation in harsh environments where the COM-ICDB7 could be used to power smart city, transport, and drone fleet control applications.

Established in 1992, Aaeon designs and manufactures industrial IoT and AI edge products. Its portfolio includes industrial motherboards and systems, rugged tablets, embedded AI edge systems, uCPE network appliances, and LoRaWAN / WWAN solutions. The company works closely with cities and governments to develop and deploy Smart City ecosystems. Aaeon is recognised as a Titanium member of the Intel Internet of Things Solutions Alliance.

http://www.aaeon.com

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EKF Elektronik pledges long term support for CompactPCI boards

16Gbyte SoM with edge AI can be used in handheld devices, says Nvidia

UP Xtreme i12 Edge computer bring AI to health and transport

Aaeon pairs server-grade Intel Xeon with COM Express Type 7 form factor

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