3.5-inch SBC has Atom, CompactFlash slot
By Jonathan Angel
2009-12-14
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Advantech announced a 3.5-inch SBC (single board computer) offering Intel's Atom N270 processor, two serial ports, five USB ports, and two SATA interfaces. The PCM-9361 has a CompactFlash slot, optional PCI-104 expansion slot, plus TTL, LVDS, and VGA video support.Advantech originally created the so-called "3.5-inch biscuit" form factor, measuring 5.75 x 4.0 inches, which was designed to match the dimensions of 3.5-inch components such as floppy disk drives. The format is used, once again, on the new PCM-9361 to provide a SBC that offers a mix of "real world" connectors on its "coastline" and pin headers elsewhere.
This time out, Advantech has turned to the ever-popular, 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270, along with the usual 945GSE northbridge and ICH7M southbridge. The PCM-9361 may be expanded to the maximum amount of memory (2GB of DDR2 RAM) supported by the chipset, via a single SODIMM socket on the back of the SBC (below right). Also on the back, there's a Type I/II CompactFlash slot that could be used to hold a Linux or Windows disk image, according to the company.
 
Advantech's PCM-9361
(Click either to enlarge)
The PCM-9361 also supports external disk storage, via a pair of SATA ports. Other interfaces on top of the board include headers for four USB ports, a RS232/485 serial port, audio (mic in, line in, line out), TTL, LVDS (1 x 36-bit and 1 x 48-bit), and a parallel port.
A block diagram of Advantech's PCM-9361
(Click to enlarge)
Ports on the PCM-9361's coastline, meanwhile, consist of a VGA port, a RJ45 port for gigabit Ethernet (Realtek 8011SC controller), a PS/2 port for keyboard/mouse, a second serial port, and a fifth USB port. Advantech's block diagram (above) for the PCM-9361 indicates that the device is equipped with a SMSC SCH3114 I/O chip, which, in addition to providing the device's parallel, serial, and PS/2 ports, provides a watchdog timer.
As noted, the PCM-9361 has a PCI-104 expansion connector. The device also supports SMBus and includes an 8-bit GPIO connector, according to Advantech.
Features and specifications listed by Advantech for the PCM-9361 include the following:
- Processor -- 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
- Chipset -- 945GSE northbridge and ICH7M southbridge
- Memory -- Up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM via single SODIMM slot
- Storage -- Type I/II CompactFlash slot and 2 x SATA ports
- Expansion -- PCI-104 connector
- Networking -- 1 x gigabit Ethernet with RJ45 connector
- Other I/O:
- 1 x VGA
- 2 x LVDS (headers)
- 1 x TTL
- 2 x serial (1 RS232 via DB9 connector; 1 RS232/422/485 via header)
- 5 x USB 2.0 (4 via headers, one via Type A connector)
- Audio (mic in, line in, line out via headers)
- 1 x PS/2
- SMBus and 8-bit GPIO
- Operating range -- 32 to 140 deg. F (0 to 60 deg. C)
- Dimensions -- 5.75 x 4.0 inches (146 x 102mm)
Availability
Advantech did not detail pricing or availability for the PCM-9361, but the device appears to be on sale now. The SBC runs Linux, QNX, Windows XP Embedded, Windows XP Professional, or Windows CE 6.0, according to the company.
More information on the PCM-9361 may be found on the Advantech website, here.
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