The embedded motherboard is generally understood as the CPU board embedded in the device for control and data processing, that is, the "brain" of the device. Embedded into the device, of course, will have stricter requirements on the volume and power consumption of the motherboard (the heat dissipation problem of the embedded motherboard). Therefore, in general , embedded motherboards will have the characteristics of small size, high integration, and low power consumption!
There are two common types of embedded motherboards: X86-based embedded motherboards RISC-based ARM embedded motherboards (authorized by ARM, and each chip manufacturer has its own special functions). Embedded ARM boards are generally onboard CPUs, while motherboards based on x86 CPUs are not necessarily.
Generally speaking, there are the following types: common 3.5-inch boards, PC104 boards, MINI-ITX, PICO-ITX, NANO-ITX, ETX, etc. are all board types of embedded motherboards.
Usually, the motherboard will have: VGA interface (some embedded motherboards will have display interfaces such as DVI, HMD, LVDS/TTL, etc., LVDS/TTL is used to connect the LCD display; motherboards above the 945 chipset can also support asynchronous dual display), USB interface (low-end motherboards can only be connected to storage and use U disk, mainly depends on whether there is a driver with USB configuration in the system), keyboard/mouse, parallel port, serial port (usually with multiple serial ports, many devices still They are all controlled and communicated through serial ports) IDE interface (high-end motherboards generally have SATA interfaces), network ports, GPIO ports, etc., and usually have a function expansion interface such as: PC104, PCI104, MINI-PCI, etc. The expansion interface, storage expansion interface such as: CF card interface (low-end motherboard will also have a DOC interface).
The volume of the 3.5" embedded motherboard series is only equivalent to the size of a 3-inch hard disk. (There are low-end motherboards with an onboard CPU, and there are also non-onboard ones; the motherboards generally support Windows systems, so the performance is generally higher than that of PC104 motherboards. High, common PC104 motherboards are generally on DOS; some motherboards are not only attached to the CPU, but also have onboard memory, 128/256, which is indeed ALL-IN-ONE.)
PC104 motherboards (the motherboards generally have on-board CPU, on-board memory, and on-board electronic disks) are very common, and there are two specifications: X86 and ARM. Many manufacturers make PC104 motherboards based on X86, and they are basically low-end DOS systems, but there are exceptions. Some manufacturers can go to PM1GHZ or above, and of course the price is super expensive. PC104 embedded motherboard, like other motherboards, is embedded in the device for control, so it can be used in many industries. For example, medical equipment such as monitors and blood analyzers used in hospitals, as well as locomotive control (a large company in Zhuzhou is a case). Therefore, it is not only used in the military industry (the military industry is something that few manufacturers in China can do).
The MINI-ITX motherboard, created by VIA, has a size of 17CM*17CM, with high integration and low cost, and is mostly used in commercial terminals, such as financial POS, KIOSK, etc. The most popular is the MINI motherboard based on the INTEL ATOM processor. Of course, many of them are commercial computer boards made by commercial manufacturers. The price is very good, usually around 500 yuan (1.6GHZ motherboard 945 chipset, not much introduction here .)
PICO-ITX motherboard, in 2007, VIA released the world's smallest business board type motherboard EPIA? Pico-ITX, the size is only 10 cm x 7.2 cm. To enable the x86 architecture to be used in embedded systems that were previously not possible due to space reasons, the VIA EPIA® Pico-ITX provides an innovative platform option for other standard embedded boards or x86 system-on-modules. The size of the motherboard is small, only the most basic PC functions are retained, and the expansion is not large, and it is a portable or mobile device!
NANO-ITX The VIA Nano-ITX is a highly integrated native x86 embedded platform measuring only 12 cm x 12 cm, 50% smaller than the Mini-ITX form factor.
ETX, short for Embedded Technology eXtended (Embedded Technology Extension), is a new standard for industrial SOM (System on Module) applications with an external dimension of 114mm x 95mm. The ETX module consists of two parts: one is the ETX CPU module, and the other is the ETX custom carrier board.
Embedded development solution provider Long Rui Zhike (www.lrist.com) believes that X86 embedded motherboard is a product with a wide range of applications in the field of industrial production. It has stable parameters, simple design, flexible processing methods and relatively cost-effective. Therefore, it can be said to be a high-quality product with both reputation and quality. The X86 processors used in embedded systems in the past are mostly products of the old generation. For example, the Pentium3 processor, which was withdrawn from the personal computer market a few years ago, is still common in industrial computers. Because the product performance and power consumption ratio of this generation can be said to be the sweet spot of the X86 system in the past, and it has been proven by the market for a long time and has high stability, it is often used in applications with low performance requirements but high stability requirements. Such as industrial control equipment and other products.