Single board computer targets very low power consumption applications

ACR301 takes advantage of E6XX (‘Tunnel Creek’) Atom™ processor from Intel® to deliver leadership performance/watt

GE Intelligent Platforms has announced the ACR301 rugged 3U CompactPCI® single board computer. Based on Intel®’s latest Atom™ E6XX processor (codenamed ‘Tunnel Creek’) which integrates both 3D graphics and memory controller, the ACR301 responds to the growing requirement for embedded computing solutions that consume minimal power and dissipate minimal heat. It delivers optimum performance/watt, and can operate in harsh environments such as those found in military/aerospace applications and growing numbers of industrial applications.

“While the very highest performance is still a requirement for many demanding embedded applications, this is increasingly being tempered by the need to deliver that performance in applications such as unmanned vehicles, where space, weight, power availability and the ability to dissipate heat are often highly constrained,” said Rob McKeel, General Manager, Military & Aerospace Embedded Computing at GE Intelligent Platforms. “The ACR301 is among the very first solutions to use Intel’s latest Atom processor to specifically address those requirements, and can make a vital contribution to our customers’ ability to attain sustainable competitive advantage.”

Not only does the ACR301 offer exceptional performance/watt characteristics (sub-10 watts), it also offers outstanding flexibility. It is offered with four alternative versions of the Intel Atom processor (0.6GHz, 1.0GHz, 1.3GHz, 1.6GHz) and in five ruggedization levels. Flexibility is further enhanced by the provision of a mezzanine (PMC) site that enables it to be precisely configured for specific application profiles. Comprehensive input/output and communications capabilities – including two Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, two USB 2.0 ports, two full duplex asynchronous serial ports, two Gen 2 SATA ports, keyboard/mouse and DVI video – are provided. The ACR301 also features support for CAN-bus, the communications standard designed specifically to facilitate the exchange of electronic information within a vehicle. 1 GByte of DDR2 SDRAM is soldered to the board for optimum reliability.

The ACR301 represents a technology insertion opportunity for existing users of GE’s CR4 and CR5 single board computers, and benefits from the extensive range of long term support programs available from GE Intelligent Platforms.

Supported operating systems include VxWorks®, Linux® and Windows®. Deployed Test Software (BIT and BCS) is also provided.