Single Board Computer (SBC) Quick Reference Guide

By Rick Lehrbaum
2002-03-09

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Welcome to LinuxDevices.com's guide to Linux-friendly Embedded Single Board Computers!

In light of the rapidly diverging shapes, sizes, and architectures for embedded system single board computer (SBC) platforms, and recognizing the growing importance of Linux to the embedded market, LinuxDevices.com has created this Quick Reference Guide to Linux-friendly Embedded Single Board Computers (SBCs), which we hope will assist you in pinpointing solutions that match your Embedded Linux based system requirements.

This guide is organized in six parts . . .

About this guide -- you are reading it now.
A Linux-oriented Intro to Embeddable Single Board Computers -- this whitepaper by LinuxDevices.com founder Rick Lehrbaum provides a useful introduction to embeddable single board computers, including the history and development of the single board computer (SBC) market, descriptions of the prevailing SBC industry standards, predictions for the future, and considerations for using SBCs in Linux-based embedded systems.
PC/104 and PC/104-Plus SBCs -- an introduction to this extremely popular pair of industry standards for highly compact, modular, self-stacking embedded single board computers.
EBX SBCs -- an introduction to this increasingly popular industry standard for medium-sized, modularly expandable embedded single board computers.
Filling the gap between PC/104 and EBX -- while no standards currently exist in this size domain, a growing number of companies are offering small single board cmoputers that fit mid-way between the size of PC/104 and EBX. Will a standard emerge?
Tiny SBCs for Embedded Linux based projects -- a brief survey of some of the many non-standardized tiny embedded single board computers that are currently available for use in a broad spectrum of projects.
Mini-ITX Madness -- mini-ITX has become a key form factor for embedded Linux devices largely due to the widespread availability of a rich variety of boards, cases, and system components at commodity prices.

Please note that this guide will be updated frequently, so be sure to check back periodically for the latest info. Also, be sure to take advantage of the abundant information available via the LinuxDevices.com search engine, by searching with "SBC" or "single board computer" as the keyword -- search the news, articles, links, and products databases. Another good way to locate Linux-friendly single board computers is to review the lists of supported third-party SBCs that are provided by many of the embedded and real-time Linux distribution providers. To pursue that path of investigation, consult the LinuxDevices.com Quick Reference Guides on Embedded Linux Distributions and Real-time Linux Distributions.

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