Long life, low power, fanless half size Intel ATOM/Vortex 486 ISA and PCI industrial PC CPU card with PC/104 slot, Industrial chassis, Card cage and backplane with 3, 4, and 6 slots are designed for harsh industrial environment. Acrosser industrial computers have been widely used in machine control, factory automation and power factory monitoring.
The global market of self-driving and Internet of Vehicles will reach 800 billion US dollars in 2030. At present, many manufacturers in the world have invested in the development of technology in the field of self-driving vehicle platforms, including Intel and IBM.
A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car, or driverless car, is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and moving with little or no human input. An automated driving system is a complex combination of various components that can be defined as systems where perception, decision making, and operation of the automobile are performed by electronics and machinery instead of a human driver.
Automated driving systems combine a variety of sensors to perceive their surroundings, such as radar, computer vision, Lidar, sonar, GPS, odometry and inertial measurement units. Furthermore, this kind of complicated system includes handling of the vehicle, destination, as well as awareness of surroundings. While the automated system has control over the vehicle, it allows the human operator to leave all responsibilities to the system. Advanced control systems interpret sensory information to identify appropriate navigation paths, as well as obstacles and relevant signage.
Introducing an automated driving system is of great benefit for transportation businesses in several perspectives, for example, it would reduce operating costs, traffic collisions, and needs for parking space, but it would increase safety, mobility, customer satisfaction, the fuel efficiency of the vehicles, and optimized insurance costs. All benefits are significant to organizations and businesses.
Because automated driving systems are so complicated and sensitive, the automated driving system integrators need partners with years of experiences in network appliance and in-vehicle computer. Acrosser technology, founded in 1987, is a pioneer in the evolution of industrial computing. For several decades, ACROSSER has provided innovative network appliances and in-vehicle computer solutions to over thousands of customers, helping them reducing the time-to-market and gaining higher competence to win the market.
This is just one example of why embedded computer telehealth strategies are poised to revolutionize medicine. Telehealth not only provides quick access to specialists, but can also remotely monitor patients and reduce clinical expenses. Many of the systems needed to realize these benefits will operate on the edge, and require technology with the portability and price point of commercial mobile platforms, as well as the flexibility to perform multiple functions securely and in real time. All of this must be provided in a embedded computer package that can meet the rigors of certification and scale over long lifecycle deployments.
The ability to transition between x86 and ARM processors is critical for low-volume medical applications because a single carrier board – often the most costly component of a COM architecture – embedded computer can suit the needs of both graphics-intensive systems and platforms that require more mobility and lower power. In addition to reducing Time-To-Market (TTM), this decreases Bill Of Materials (BOM) costs and eases Board Support Package (BSP) implementation, says Christoph Budelmann, General Manager, Budelmann Elektronik GmbH in Münster, Germany (www.budelmann-elektronik.com).
Each client is then part of the cloud’s shared infrastructure. Anything between the Internet and the servers is a shared embedded computer infrastructure. If something happens to the shared infrastructure, all customers hosted in the cloud will be affected. If a firewall goes down, nobody can access the cloud. About 63 percent of embedded computer attacks strike the shared infrastructure as it’s the first thing the attack will hit.“Prior to recent attacks on embedded computer financial institutions in the U.S., there was not much awareness or knowledge of embedded computer attacks and other cyber threats,” Kenig says.
Virtualization trends in commercial computing offer benefits for cost, reliability, and security, but pose a challenge for military operators who need to visualize lossless imagery in real time. 10 GbE technology enables a standard zero client solution for viewing pixel-perfect C4ISR sensor and graphics information with near zero interactive latency.
For C4ISR systems, ready access to and sharing of visual information at any operator position can increase situational awareness and mission effectiveness. Operators utilize multiple information sources including computers and camera feeds, as well as high-fidelity radar and sonar imagery. Deterministic real-time interaction with remote computers and sensors is required to shorten decision loops and enable rapid actions. A zero client represents the smallest hardware footprint available for manned positions in a distributed computing environment. Zero clients provide user access to remote computers through a networked remote desktop connection or virtual desktop infrastructure. Utilizing a 10 GbE media network for interconnecting multiple computers, sensors, and clients provides the real-time performance and image quality required for critical visualization operations.
A new All-in-OneGaming Board, the AMB-A55EG1. AMB-A55EG1 features AMD Embedded G-Series T56N 1.65GHz dual-core APU, two DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM, which provides great computing and graphic performance is suitable for casino gaming and amusement applications. It is designed to comply with the most gaming regulations including GLI, BMM, and Comma 6A. AMB-A55EG1 is specifically designed to be a cost competitive solution for the entry-level gaming market.
In conclusion, AMB-A55EG1 bridges Acrosser’s innovated gaming solutions and AMD Embedded G-Series APU to bring the optimum combination of computing power, graphic performance, and gaming features. Acrosser supports all gaming products in Windows XP Pro, XP embedded and mainstream Linux operation system with complete software development kit (SDK). In addition, Acrosser’s gaming platforms have a minimum 5-year availability to fulfill the demand of long term supply in gaming industry.
Though it has been discussed for many years, optical embedded computer interconnects are finally showing up in board-level product announcements. Several embedded computer of the VITA 66 VPX fiber optic interconnect specification are complete and suppliers have real products. More work is needed to address the optical backplane, but this is the first wave of what is expected to grow quickly in the near future."The most important design concern for connectors in critical embedded computing is always electrical performance – this could be signal integrity in a high-data-rate connector or conductivity in a power connector," gaming platform commented Greg Powers, market development manager at TE Connectivity. "The immediate secondary gaming platform is mechanical performance in the environment, including shock, vibration, temperature, durability, etc. Connectors are truly electro-mechanical systems".
Looking even further into the future, connector suppliers are studying ways to integrate the board connection into the cable to additional reduce the impact that the physical connector has on signals as they pass from the PWB to the connector and on to the transport medium, whether it be copper or optical.
Consumers today desire an on-demand computing experience that entails having data available at the ready anytime. Gone are the days when consumers owned smartphones for the sole purpose of making phone calls. They now require a rich user experience allowing them to access documents, e-mail, pictures, video, and more on their mobile devices. Combined with the more than 37 billion applications already downloaded, data consumption continues to rise. According to a recent Cisco report, global mobile data traffic from 2011 and 2016 will grow to 10.8 exabytes (1 billion gigabytes) per month, and by 2016, video is expected to comprise 71 percent of all mobile data traffic.
As with any technology shift, designers must consider several factors to address the changing landscape, but in this case, a few issues stand out more than the rest as trends that will define where mobility is going.
Given the increased complexity of processors and applications, the current generation of Operating Systems (OSs) focuses mostly on software integrity while partially neglecting the need to extract maximum performance out of the existing hardware.
Processors perform as well as OSs allow them to. A computing platform, embedded or otherwise, consists of not only physical resources – memory, CPU cores, peripherals, and buses – managed with some success by resource partitioning (virtualization), but also performance resources such as CPU cycles, clock speed, memory and I/O bandwidth, and main/cache memory space. These resources are managed by ancient methods like priority or time slices or not managed at all. As a result, processors are underutilized and consume too much energy, robbing them of their true performance potential.
Most existing management schemes are fragmented. CPU cycles are managed by priorities and temporal isolation, meaning applications that need to finish in a preset amount of time are reserved that time, whether they actually need it or not. Because execution time is not safely predictable due to cache misses, miss speculation, and I/O blocking, the reserved time is typically longer than it needs to be. To ensure that the modem stack in a smartphone receives enough CPU cycles to carry on a call, other applications might be restricted to not run concurrently. This explains why some users of an unnamed brand handset complain that when the phone rings, GPS drops.
Separate from this, power management has recently received a great deal of interest. Notice the “separate” characterization. Most deployed solutions are good at detecting idle times, use modes with slow system response, or particular applications where the CPU can run at lower clock speeds and thus save energy. For example, Intel came up with Hurry Up and Get Idle (HUGI). To understand HUGI, consider this analogy: Someone can use an Indy car at full speed to reach a destination and then park it, but perhaps using a Prius to get there just in time would be more practical. Which do you think uses less gas? Power management based on use modes has too coarse a granularity to effectively mine all energy reduction opportunities all the time.
Ideally, developers want to vary the clock speed/voltage to match the instantaneous workload, but that cannot be done by merely focusing on the running application. Developers might be able to determine minimum clock speed for an application to finish on time, but can they slow down the clock not knowing how other applications waiting to run will be affected if they are delayed? Managing tasks and clock speed (power) separately cannot lead to optimum energy consumption. The winning method will simultaneously manage/optimize all performance resources, but at a minimum, manage the clock speed and task scheduling. Imagine the task scheduler being the trip planner and the clock manager as the car driver. If the car slows down, the trip has to be re-planned. The driver might have to slow down because of bad road conditions (cache misses) or stop at a railroad barrier (barrier in multithreading, blocked on buffer empty due to insufficiently allocated I/O bandwidth, and so on). Applications that exhibit data-dependent execution time also present a problem, as the timing of when they finish isn’t known until they finish. What clock speed should be allocated for these applications in advance?
An advanced performance management solution
One example of managing performance resources is VirtualMetrix Performance Management (PerfMan), which controls all performance resources by a parametrically driven algorithm. Thesoftware schedules tasks, changes clock speed, determines idle periods, and allocates I/O bandwidth and cache space based on performance data such as bandwidth consumed and instructions retired. This approach (diagrammed in Figure 1) solves the fragmentation problem and can lead to optimum resource allocation, even accounting for the unpredictability of the execution speed of modern processors and data-dependent applications.
Figure 1: PerfMan controls all performance resources using a parametrically driven algorithm, leading to optimum resource allocation.
The patent-pending work performed allocation algorithm uses a closed-loop method that makes allocation decisions by comparing work completed with work still to be performed, expressed in any of the measurable performance quantities the system offers. For example, if the application is a video player or communication protocol that fills a buffer, PerfMan can keep track of the buffer fill level and determine the clock speed and time to run so that the buffer is filled just in time. The time to finish will inevitably vary, so the decision is cyclically updated. In many cases, buffers are overfilled to prevent blocking on buffer empty, which can lead to timing violations. PerfMan is capable of precise performance allocation, keeping buffering to a minimum and reducing memory footprint. The algorithm can handle hard, soft, and non-real-time applications mixed together.
If the application execution graph is quantified into simple performance parameters and the deadlines are known when they matter, the algorithm will dynamically schedule to meet deadlines just in time. Even non-real-time applications need some performance allocation to avoid indefinite postponement. Allocating the minimum processor resources an application needs increases system utilization, resulting in a higher possible workload. The method does not rely on strict priorities, although they can be used. The priority or order in execution is the direct result of the urgency the application exhibits while waiting its turn to run, which is a function of the basic work to be performed/worked completed paradigm.
Extending to more dimensions
If tasks are ready to run in existing OSs, they will run, but do they need to? Can they be delayed (forced idling) if the OS knows it will not affect their operation?
Knowing the timing of every task and whether it is running or waiting to run with respect to its progress toward completion allows the software to automatically determine the minimum clock speed and runtime. Thus everything completes on time under all load conditions. Matching clock speed to the instantaneous workload does not mean the clock speed is always minimized. The goal of low energy consumption sometimes calls for a burst of high speed followed by idle, as in Intel’s HUGI. But even then, there is no benefit in running faster than the optimum utilization (executed operations per unit of time) would indicate. Fast clocking while waiting for memory operations to complete does not save energy.
The algorithm’s mantra of “highest utilization/workload at the lowest energy consumption” is largely accomplished with a closed-loop algorithm managing all performance resources.
In multicore systems, a balanced load, low multithreading barrier latency, and the lowest overall energy consumption cannot be achieved simultaneously. To resolve this, PerfMan can be configured to optimize one or several performance attributes. If minimum energy consumption is the goal, an unbalanced system with some cores that are highly loaded and others that are empty and thus shut down might offer the lowest energy consumption at the expense of longer execution latency and overall lower performance.
Accelerating threads to reduce barrier latency can also lead to higher energy consumption. However, meeting deadlines (hard or soft) overrides all other considerations. The precise closed-loop-based performance resource allocation algorithm can safely maintain a higher workload level, which in turn, allows pushing the core consolidation further than possible with existing methods and thus achieving higher energy reduction.
Implementation on VMX Linux
PerfMan has been implemented as a thin kernel (sdKernel) running independently of the resident OS. It has been ported to Linux 2.6.29 (VMX Linux), as shown in Figure 2. An Android port is nearing completion. The software takes over Linux task scheduling and interworks with the existing power management infrastructure. A separate version of the sdKernel provides virtualization and supports hard real-time tasks in a POSIX-compliant environment. Scheduling/context switching is at the submicrosecond level on many platforms, but because most Linux system calls are too slow for hard real-time applications, the sdKernel provides APIs for basic peripherals, timers, and other resources.
Figure 2: In a Linux implementation, PerfMan takes over Linux task scheduling and interworks with the existing power management infrastructure.
By monitoring performance, the software can detect unusual execution patterns that predict an upcoming OS panic and crash. In such cases, the sdKernel will notify mission-critical applications to stop using Linux system calls and temporarily switch over to sdKernel APIs (safe mode) while Linux is being rebooted.
VMX Linux supports a mix of real and non-real-time applications with efficient performance isolation while minimizing energy consumption. It can also provide hardware isolation/securityand safe crash landing.
Benchmarks show the results
The energy consumption, measured in real time using a VMX-designed energy meter, was accumulated for the system and correlated to individual applications. A media player application (video and audio) was run on an OMAP35xx BeagleBoard first using standard Linux 2.6.29 (Figure 3 red graph) and then VMX Linux (Figure 3 blue graph).
Figure 3: Using VMX Linux on an OMAP35xx BeagleBoard achieves a 95 percent average load that finishes just in time.
Performance compliance (Perf Compl graph) shows how close the application tasks come to finish on time (center line). Below the line indicates deadline violations. Notice that with VMX Linux, a 95 percent average load is achieved with no prebuffering and no deadline violations, but it gets close. The total board energy consumption for the 46 seconds of video dropped from 68.7 W*sec to 27.6 W*sec with VMX Linux. The displayed data represents averages over a preset interval. As an additional bonus, when Linux is purposely crashed, the video disappears but the music plays on in safe mode with no audible glitches.
In short, the implementation creates a new approach to performance management with exciting results.
refer: http://embedded-computing.com/articles/performance-management-new-dimension-operating-systems/
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications strategies and cloud computing are transforming industrial interconnects from an assortment of fragmented, proprietary technologies to open standards easily integrated into new designs. This new direction in M2M connectivity enables a wide range of applications and services by exchanging real-time data between remote devices, one or more central servers, and authorized third parties.
M2M technology allows embedded design teams to contain costs, improve security, enable remote management, and maximize system availability. The major goal of M2M communications is to combine real-time data from remote devices with enterprise applications to automate everyday company decisions and thus optimize industrial output and lower operating costs.
In this issue of Industrial Embedded Systems, we asked contributors to take a look at the networking, sensing, and computing issues affecting embedded design for industrial applications. For example, Mike Ueland, senior VP and general manager at Telit Wireless Solutions North America, describes the benefits and cost savings associated with M2M connections for remotely monitoring and managing assets. Mike outlines several good reasons to support an M2M industrial application based on cellular technology. In an in-depth interview covering intelligent networking technologies, Tom Barber, director of marketing at Silicon Labs, presents a new wireless microcontrollerproduct that fulfills the requirements of embedded applications with RF connectivity. Tom also highlights the new capabilities offered in low-power mesh networks resulting from Silicon Labs’ acquisition of Ember Corporation. Expanding the discussion, Shaye Shayegani, senior field applications engineer at Lantronix, answers questions on the security and adaptability of industrial networking modules. Shaye addresses the major connectivity challenges that industrial customers are dealing with right now.
Changing the subject to the sensitivity and stability of brushless DC motors in industrial applications, Honeywell Sensing and Control’s Joshua Edberg, senior global marketing manager in the Magnetic Sensors division, and Fred Hintz, engineering manager in the Speed and Position Sensors division, dispel three myths of chopper stabilization techniques. Covering another topic essential to factory settings, Karim Wassef, director of DC-DC product line management at GE Energy’s Power Electronics division, answers questions about the power sources available to operate in hostile conditions such as extended temperatures or corrosive environments. In a software-related topic, Doug Jones and Brian McKay, marketing managers at MathWorks, cover the advantages Model-Based Design offers for complex industrial control systems, allowing users to simulate, test, and debug circuitry before committing it to hardware.
This issue also includes our annual Resource Guide, with a comprehensive directory of embedded products divided into dozens of categories to simplify your next industrial design project. You can find a wide selection of off-the shelf industrial systems, small form factor modules, power sources, panel computers, enclosures, and specialized embedded components to solve your unique requirements. You will also find embedded support software including operating systems plusdata acquisition and motion control systems. Our aim is to provide a reference source of available products that match your future design projects. If you have suggestions or products for the next Resource Guide, please let us know.
The articles and interviews in this issue include a wide-ranging look at the embedded industry from the industrial perspective and should serve as a valuable technical resource for your next design project. Please give us your ideas on technical articles and online updates that we can provide to support your design efforts.
It's been said for every measure, there's a countermeasure, and that's also true for securing code in embedded systems. Sometimes a small device can be just the countermeasure needed to thwart cloning of flash contents.
Many systems use external standard flash memory chip(s) to store the operating program for processors that do not include embedded nonvolatile program storage. This is great because it allows easy flash memory expansion and software modification, perhaps in the manufacturing line as a customer download or during a maintenance operation. The downside is that the OEM loses control over the contents of the flash, potentially allowing unauthorized copies or modification.
The embedded world Exhibition&Conference is the world's biggest exhibition of its kind and the meeting-place of the international embedded community.
Embedded world, the biggest and most important event of its kind, opens the series of high-tech exhibitions and knowledge-packed events at the Nürnberg venue from 26–28 February 2013. This event sets standards and records every year – now for the eleventh time in 2013. Exhibitors from all over the world present the entire spectrum of embedded systems: hardware, software, tools and services. The specialists can also look forward once again to figures such as Prof. Nicholas McGuire or Dr. David Kalinsky, who have given the embedded world Conference a face, weight, spirit and know-how at a high professional standard for years. The electronic displays Conference is every bit as good. Stuart McClure, President and CEO of Cylance, opens embedded world on the first day with his keynote on “Safety and Security”. Acrosser ------> Booth Hall 2 2-519
AMB-D255T1, which carries the Intel dual- core 1.86GHz Atom Processor D2550. AMB-D255T1 features powerful graphic performance via VGA and HDMI, DDR3 SO-DIMM support, mSATA socket with USB signals and SIM slot, and a DC jack for easy power in. AMB-D255T1 also provides complete I/O such as 4 x COM ports, 6 x USB2.0 ports, 1 x GbE RJ-45 port, 1 x SATA port with power connector.
Acrosser designs AMB-D255T1 as the slim type with single layer I/O ports to make the board total height less than 20mm, with external AC/DC power adaptor which is very suitable for applications with limited space likes Digital Signage, POS or thin client system.
Intelligent Power Management is the most important feature to add the convenience and stability of In-Vehicle PC usage. The Intelligent Power Module inside AR-V6005, brings a wide range DC power input of 9V to 32V and controlled by a separate micro processor that provides the following features:
1. System off delay time: User can setup delay time in BIOS for different purposes.
2. Power on/off retries: It will perform 3 times of boot up or shut off the system if system on/off process failed in order to assure system can operate normally under severe environment like –20℃ outdoor temperature.
3. Power input monitoring: Continuous monitoring DC input voltage to prevent accidentally drain out car battery. The system will not boot up if car battery voltage is lower than 11.2V. If car battery is lower than 10.8V while system at operation, it will properly shut down the system automatically to keep battery alive.
4. LED indicators represent system power status.
5. Remote control: 2 options to power on or shut down the system, by car ignition switch or remote control switch cable.
All of above functions are controlled by software that can be customized based on ODM customers’ requirement. To execute the 24/7 mission-critical applications on the road, AR-V6100 & AR-V6005 are two of the best solutions for you.
For small office and home network communication, AR-R8601 features 3 fast Ethernet ports, energy efficient design and cost-effective platform adopts VIA CN700, VT8237R+ chipsets and Eden ULV 1.6GHz CPU enclosed in a rack-mount chassis (440x190x44mm).
Network appliance ,Console server ,single board computer
AR-R8601 offers a best hardware platform for applications such as VoIP application, UTM (Unified Threat Management), WAS (Web Access Management), VPN and Anti-Spam mail solution in small office. System integrators can easily develop their internet security solutions with this x86 platform.
EPIC SBC support Intel uFC-PGA 478 Core 2 Duo/Core Duo/Celeron M Processors with Dual Giga LAN/LCD/TV-Out/DVI
AR-B5630 is a high performance reliable embedded computer board, with standard industrial EPIC board form factor 115x165 mm, compact but plenty I/Os furnished. The high performance throughput makes AR-B5630 easily be applied in every application such as gaming, gambling, high-end multimedia, POS/POI/Kiosk and Digital Signage, etc.
Networking appliance ,Console server ,Industrial PC
1. Socket P support Intel Core 2 Duo/Celeron M 2. Support 400/533/667MHz DDR2 SDRAM 3. VGA/DVI/LVDS/TV-Out 4. Dual Giga LAN 5. PCI-104 Expansion 6. COM, USB2.0, GPIO, SATA, IDE, CF II, Audio
The console server products support different performance level by using Intel Core 2 Duo, Pentium/Celeron M, and AMD LX800 processor. The Compact Flash and 2.5” HDD/SSD are also supported as the storage for operating system, software application, and data log usage. ACS-N5430FL have DVI, S-Video to provide different display interface connection. Dual Gigabit LAN also achieve the purpose of redundant security connection.
For the operating system, all ACROSSER console servers support Microsoft Windows XP, XP Embedded, CE, and also Linux. With compact dimension of 251 x 165 x 67mm and fanless heat ventilation design, the console server is able to operate in most of location that the user may need. ACS-N5430FL
Network security,Console server,single board
1. Intel 945GME + ICH7M 2. Support Core 2 Duo / Celeron M 3. 2 x Giga LAN 4. 4/8 x Isolated RS-232/422/485 5. 4 x Non-Isolated COM
