White Papers

• COM-Based SBCs: The Superior Architecture for Small Form Factor Embedded Systems

  Staff, Diamond Systems Corporation

  Embedded systems designers are under pressure to reduce the cost and size of electronics while improving time-to-market and overall system reliability. Today, many designers achieve these goals by using off-the-shelf x86 single board computers (SBCs) with I/O modules stacked above or below to implement the special-purpose I/O that makes the embedded system fit the application requirements. An alternative to this traditional approach is to use a Computer-on-Module (COM)-based SBC.

• FeaturePak

  Jonathan Miller Diamond Systems Corporation

  The FeaturePak Specification defines a highly-compact, low-profile, and inexpensive way to add configurable I/O functions to embedded systems. The tiny modules -- measuring just 1.70 x 2.55 inches (43 x 65 mm) -- can implement snap-in options or upgrades for off-the-shelf single board computers (SBCs) or computer-on-module (COM) baseboards, or can be used as building-blocks to simplify the development of fully-custom embedded electronics.

• Fan-Out Interposers Convert MicroBGAs to Standard Pitch

  Mark Gilliam Interconnect Systems, Inc.

  A fan-out interposer converts a microBGA package to a larger pitch that is suitable for larger, thicker PCBs.

• Improving Determinism of Industrial Applications Over Ethernet

  Staff

  It is possible to achieve the determinism required by industrial applications using standard Quality of Service techniques. In order to do so, the software architecture of the industrial device has to be adapted in order to separate as much as possible processing of low and high priority flows.

• Choosing a Secured Data Storage Solution for Gaming Machines

  Esther Spanjer M-Systems

  uDiskOnChip, the first embedded USB 2.0 flash device on the market, delivers a solid-state solution to meet gaming machine data storage requirements. Its built-in RSA-based write protection provides the required WORM capability. Its read and write speeds are sufficient to meet any OS or video streaming performance requirements, while its patented TrueFFS wear-leveling technology makes flash burnout due to repeated write/erase cycles non-existent when measured against the life expectancy of gaming machines.