Mobile processor moves to embedded industrial uses

The Intel Pentium M processor is now available on a standard ATX motherboard designed for harsh ambient conditions.

The Intel Pentium M Processor - part of the Intel Centrino Mobile Technology and initially created for mobile PC applications - is now available on a standard ATX motherboard designed for harsh ambient conditions.

The ATX-855GME board with 400MHz FSB by Eching-based Kontron Embedded Computers will be available for at least five years.

The board's outstanding features include: a 1.6GHz processor requiring only passive cooling; the high-performance 855GME chipset (also a part of the Centrino Technology); the ICH4 I/O hub with fast South Bridge and the latest technology support.

It could have been a genuine Centrino board if Kontron had also integrated Intel's Wireless Network Connector.

However, as most embedded applications get by without this feature, this advertising-friendly addon has been left out.

Even without the Centrino addon, the board's extensive feature set stands out: up to 2Gbyte DDR-SDRAM can be installed in two 184-pin DIMM sockets.

The AGPx4 slot, the standard VGA connection for high-performance graphics boards, provides up to 250MHz to the motherboard via Intel Extreme Graphics II.

Six USB 2.0 interfaces, two 16550 UART compatible interfaces (RS232/IrDA), one 10/100Mbit/s Ethernet interface and one parallel interface offer abundant connectivity that can be extended by the user via six PCI interfaces.

The keyboard and mouse are connected via PS/2.

In addition, two floppy drives and four EIDE drives (PIO mode 4 or UltraDMA 33/66/100) can be connected internally.

An AC97 codec provides sound support with line-in and line-out and microphone on slot brackets, CD-in by internal connector.

The feature set of the ATX855GME board, running under Windows 2000, XP, VxWorks and Linux, is completed by a programmable real time clock, watchdog and fan, power and temperature monitoring for operation from 0 to 60C.

Support for other operating systems can be provided on request.

The board is also available with a 1.2GHz Celeron M processor as an alternative to the Pentium M processor.

The Pentium M processor's exceptional feature is that it offers the computing power of a Pentium 4 at considerably lower power consumption.

As the clock rate is also lower, the speed of the Pentium M cannot be compared 1:1 with the Pentium 4 speed: one can say that the Pentium M is offers similar performance to a Pentium 4 with the power consumption of a Pentium III processor.

Measurements have shown that, depending on the program, the Pentium M 1.6GHz processor can match the performance of a Pentium 4 at 2.4 to 2.7GHz.

This level of performance, with low power consumption and low power loss, is particularly suited to embedded applications in the high-end area, where passive cooling is generally needed.

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