WinSystems' Embedded PC Supports M2M Applications

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WinSystems has introduced their LBC-GX500, a highly integrated, single board computer designed for machine-to-machine connectivity. What sets the LBC-GX500 apart from any other industrial embedded SBC in its class is its wide variety of wired and wireless connectivity options. Among them are 802.11 wireless Ethernet, GSM/GPRS cellular modem, CDMA cellular modem, ZigBee wireless RF module, 10/100 wired Ethernet port, global-compliant dial-up modem, six USB ports, and six COM channels on a single board. It provides an open platform for management of geographically distributed machinery and sensors that operates over an industrial temperature range from -40° to +85°C. Target applications include industrial automation, transportation, test and measurement, petrochemical, MIL/COTS, medical/diagnostic equipment, communication gateways/routers, and homeland security.

In addition to its networking capability, the LBC-GX is a full-featured SBC with a variety of on-board peripherals which eliminate the need for other I/O cards. Features include 48 parallel digital I/O lines, CRT and digital flat panel video controller and interface, keyboard controller, PS/2 mouse support, LPT port, and AC 97 audio plus an optional 12-bit A/D converter. All these features are on an EBX-size board measuring 5.75-in. x 8.0-in. (146 mm x 203 mm). More I/O expansion is possible by self-stacking modules plugged onto the PC/104 and PC/104-Plus connectors. Over 1000 different PC/104 modules are available worldwide.

The LBC-GX500 is based upon the AMD (Sunnyvale, CA) GX500@1W processor. It is a Pentium-class CPU with an x86-native instruction set and 32KB of integrated L1 cache that efficiently runs Windows CE, Windows XP embedded, Linux and other x86-compatible operating systems such as VxWorks and QNX. It is a low power device that supports Advanced Power Management (APM & ACPI) for even less power during standby and suspend modes.

The LBC-GX500 also offers support for both rotational and solid state disks. Two floppy disk drives and two UltraDMA 66 IDE drives can be connected, plus there is a socket for bootable Type I and II CompactFlash cards and another socket for a M-Systems DiskOnChip. The LBC-GX500 draws typically 1.6A at +5V (≈ 8W) during normal operation and does not require a fan.

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