congatec diversifies into single board computers with mini-ITX intro
In an announcement previewed at the 2014 embedded world trade fair, congatec AG, until now purely a manufacturer of embedded computer modules, is diversifying to ensure continued annual growth; the company is adding a line of single-board computers and ODM services that will build on the expertise gained in embedded computer technology. The first SBC form factor will be Mini-ITX boards. There will also be an Industrial Line, additionally optimised for the industrial temperature range and 24/7 operation, that will be available in the second half of 2014.
In parallel with the product expansion, congatec is adding ODM services to its offering in order to realise project-specific customer requirements. This may include the development of carrier boards or cooling solutions, full-custom designs or even complete and fully tested systems that are provided with all necessary approvals.
The conga-IGX Mini ITX board is based on AMD Embedded G-Series SOC technology and integrates the next-generation computing power of the “Jaguar” based processor and high performance AMD Radeon graphics cores in a compact package. It offers multimedia performance, an excellent performance-per-watt ratio and flexible task allocation on the CPU and GPU. Thanks to these features, the new conga-IGX board is a solution for cost-sensitive visualisation and control applications.
There are three Mini ITX motherboards on the AMD Embedded G-Series SOC platform. A low-energy 9W TDP 1.0 GHz dual-core processor GX-210HA SOC with integrated AMD Radeon HD 8210E graphics; a dual-core 18W TDP GX-217GA SOC processor model with integrated AMD Radeon HD 8280E graphics; and a 2.0 GHz quad-core AMD Embedded GX-420CA SOC with integrated AMD Radeon HD 8400E graphics.
The integrated AMD Radeon graphics feature the Universal Video Decoder 4.2 for seamless processing of BluRays with HDCP (1080p), MPEG-2, HD and DivX (MPEG-4) videos. The conga-IGX also supports DirectX 11.1 and OpenGL 4.0 for fast 2D and 3D imaging and OpenCL 1.1. Interface options include single/dual channel 18/24bit LVDS, DisplayPort 1.2 and DVI/HDMI 1.4a and enable the direct control of two independent displays. DisplayPort 1.2 also enables ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology for panorama view and multi-streaming, making it possible to control up to two displays per graphics port in daisy chain mode.
The low power draw of the new SOCs also makes fanless designs possible. Sophisticated power management has a positive impact whenever there are wait times in an application. CPU state C6 “deep power down” is available on the multimedia engine, making it possible to further reduce power consumption without impairing ease of use since the computer needs less than a millisecond in order to switch from energy saving mode to full computing power.
1x PCIe x4 connector and Mini-PCI Express onboard, Dual GbE LAN onboard, 2x Serial ATA III, 1x mSATA (SATA III) socket support, 7x USB 2.0 and 2x USB3.0 onboard, 8 Bit GPIO onboard, 3x serial port and 1x parallel port onboard allow flexible system expansion at high data bandwidth. DC power supply 12V/19-24V, ACPI 3.0 power management and high-definition audio complete the package.
congatec; www.congatec.com
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