Kontron Pico-ITX™ motherboard with Ti Sitara™ 3874 boosts efficiency when developing rugged SFF appliances

Kontron‘s low-power embedded motherboard for the extended temperature range accelerates the development of ARM-based SFF designs

Eching, September 19, 2013 – With its new low-power embedded motherboard for the extended temperature range, Kontron is accelerating the development of especially robust and energy-saving ARM-based SFF designs. The Kontron motherboard KTAM33874/pITX is equipped with the Ti Sitara™ 3874 processor and provides tablet PC class performance and a comprehensive range of standard and embedded computing interfaces. With its Pico-ITX™ compliance it offers OEMs the possibility to realize cost-efficient SFF embedded appliances based on a standardized form factor. OEMs can now exploit the whole ecosystem which to date has been used for x86 technology. This helps to significantly reduce hardware development costs in comparison to full custom designs and increase long-term availability. If no individual hardware adjustments are required, then the board, which supports Linux, Android and Windows WEC7 is application-ready and can be immediately deployed. Furthermore, Kontron offers in-house hardware-related software services, so that individual driver implementations and configuration-specific images can be provided at great speed.

The Kontron Pico-ITX™ board based on the ARM Cortex A8 single-core processor boasts a low TDP (Thermal Design Power) which makes it extremely suitable for compact, fanless applications. It is also the first Kontron motherboard designed from scratch for the extended temperature range of -40 °C to 85 °C. It is therefore fit to cope with even the most adverse environmental conditions. Examples of application areas for the new Kontron Pico-ITX™ motherboard are autonomous battery- or solar-powered outdoor systems or mobile or stationary dual-display applications like Box PCs, HMIs and thin clients. The target markets include building and home automation, industrial automation, digital signage and transportation as well as medical and military. With the Kontron Pico-ITX™ Motherboard KTAM33874/pITX OEMs can now realize even the most demanding types of appliances, which in the past needed a full custom design, in a fast, simple and reliable manner by using a commercially available standard component.

For the KTAM3874/pITX with energy-efficient ARM processor technology Kontron has announced a minimum of 7 years long-term availability. On its 100 x 72 mm sized standard small form factor this highly integrated motherboard offers everything that developers need to realize complete systems: an extensive range of interfaces and on-board Flash memory mean that there is no need for OEMs to source any additional components. That further helps to speed up both the time needed for development and in turn the time-to-market. A SIM card slot and the low average power consumption of less than 5 watts even facilitate the development of appliances in self-sufficient continuous operation in environments without power supply or network lines.

The feature set in detail
The new Kontron embedded motherboard KTAM3874/pITX is available with the single-core Texas Instruments Sitara™ 3874 microprocessor (MPU) for the extended temperature range with 800 MHz Cortex™ A8 technology. In terms of graphics, it offers 3D graphic acceleration and supports up to two independent displays both with resolutions of 1080p (full HD) connected via HDMI 1.3a and 24-bit dual channel LVDS. Sound is provided by analog audio in- and output. An additional loudspeaker port (1 watt) can drive smaller loudspeakers directly – i.e. for making acoustic acknowledgement or for speech output, which can make a separate amplifier superfluous. For OS and application data there are up to 16 GB NAND Flash memory on-board plus a microSD slot. Hard disks or DVD players can be connected via 1x SATA and 1x mSATA. Beside two Fast Ethernet interfaces with an optional switch, it also offers 2x CAN bus as well as a SIM card slot for MiniPCIe modem cards. Peripherals can be connected by the 5x USB 2.0, 2x RS232 or 1x RS435. 26x GPIOs, I²C, UART and SP output round off the feature set.

The Kontron motherboard KTAM3874/pITX with Linux, Android and Windows WEC7 support and a minimum of 7 years long-term availability is available now.

For further information please visit the Kontron product page KTAM3874/pITX.

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About Kontron
Kontron is a global leader in embedded computing technology. With more than 44% of its employees in research and development, Kontron creates many of the standards that drive the world’s embedded computing platforms. Kontron’s product longevity, local engineering and support, and value-added services, help create a sustainable and viable embedded solution for OEMs and system integrators. Kontron works closely with its customers on their embedded application-ready platforms and custom solutions, enabling them to focus on their core competencies. The result is an accelerated time-to-market, reduced total-cost-of-ownership and an improved overall application with leading-edge, highly-reliable embedded technology.

Kontron is listed on the German TecDAX stock exchange under the symbol "KBC". For more information, please visit: http://www.kontron.com/


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APAC
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Kontron
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Michael Hennen
SAMS Network
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michael.hennen@sams-network.com


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