Kontron PC has application in heavy-duty vehicles

A Kontron product story

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Nov 26, 2009

Kontron has unveiled its in-vehicle PC based on the Intel Atom Z530 processor and Intel System Controller Hub US15W.

It has a flexible PCI/104 socket for ultra-flat and space-saving PCI/104 expansion cards.

Further options for customisation include 2 PCIe Mini Card Slots for custom-specific options such as GPS, GSM/UMTS and WLAN.

Its fanless design, easy expandability and high flexibility make the Kontron Microspace MPCX28 Box PC suitable for applications in buses, cars, trucks and automated heavy-duty vehicles used in intralogistics.

In cabs and buses it can be used for passenger infotainment, video surveillance or ticketing systems.

Typical truck applications include CAN-based trailer and goods management, GPS navigation combined with communication via GSM and UMTS/GPRS for fleet management.

For vehicles used in intralogistics, the applications range from the control of automated vehicles to logistics for forklift trucks with WLAN and barcode/RFID interfaces.

Designed to work in the extended temperature range -25 to 70C, the passively cooled in-vehicle Kontron Box PC is based on the Intel Atom Z530 1.6 GHz processor with 533MHz FSB and supports up to 1GB DDR2 RAM.

The embedded graphics feature 256MB of memory DirectX 9 3-D and HDTV support with MPEG2 and H.264 decoders to process compressed HD videos to offload CPU usage.

To accommodate storage devices, it provides front-side slots for a 2.5in SATA HDD or SDD and Compact Flash media.

Externally accessible slots make it easy to swap out the hard drive to provide new content.

The internal PCI/104 and 2x PCIe Minicard expansion slots allow for various application-specific extensions, such as Dual-CAN, GPS, GSM/UMTS and WLAN.

The Kontron Microspace MPCX28 features a comprehensive set of interfaces to fulfill the demands of nearly all in-vehicle applications.

On the front, two USB 2.0 interfaces and 3.5mm jacks for stereo output and input are accompanied by a SIM slot for mobile communications.

On the back, the in-vehicle PC offers two-Gigabit Ethernet, two additional USB 2.0 ports and an SATA port to connect additional storage devices.

The DVI-I interface transmits analogue or digital video signals to external monitors with a resolution of up to 2,048 x 1,536.

Two DSUB connectors for COM ports (RS232) and a parallel interface for digital I/O, which provide CAN-bus connectivity via an optional PCI/104 expansion card, round off the feature set.

Due to its wide-range power supply (8 to 58V DC), Kontron's in-vehicle PC can be directly connected to the vehicle's power supply without additional converters.

A plug-in power supply for 110/220V AC is also available.

The system supports remote power on/off and can accommodate customer-specific functions such as wake on ring, event wake up or a wake on LAN.

The fanless Kontron Microspace MPCX28 in-vehicle PC is scheduled to be available (with CE and E1 certification) in Q1, 2010.

The Kontron box PC supports Windows XPe/XP/Vista/7 and Linux.