ARTICLES

PC/104 Express Remains Relevant and Technically Ready
By Flemming Christensen, President, Sundance Multiprocessor Technology – February 2013
There are many open standards available, with more to follow. As a provider of high-speed computer platforms we're tracking many standards and technologies. Our current favorite SFF is PC/104 Express. The addition of Gen2 and Gen3 PCI Express support will bring this form factor into next century (well, almost) and I see the possibilities of combining PC/104 with standards from PICMG (PCI Express, 10 G Ethernet) and VITA (VITA 57 FMC) for add-on mezzanine board I/O density.

State of the Consortiums
By Jeff Milde, Executive Director, PC/104 Consortium – February 2013
The PC/104 Consortium enters its third decade as the reliable standards bearer of the PC stackable architecture. It is the focal point for the entire PC/104 industry including manufacturers and OEMs. It provides a place for information on current specifications, product offerings, news and events, and is a place to advance and develop specifications that are consistent and stable for long-term use.

Small UAV Systems Push Bandwidth and Latency Envelopes
By Lee Foss, Founder and CEO, Advanced Micro Peripherals – January 2013
If there is any area of technology where compute density is critical, it’s the area of Small UAVs. One area where costs are being dramatically curbed is through the use of far smaller UAV machines, such as the Raven, Dragon Eye, Shadow and Killer Bee (Figure 1). They carry mounted cameras collecting data and visual images in real time, both night and day, and send this data down to operators on the ground. These remote “eye in the sky” platforms are helping to provide unprecedented situational awareness information for an ever increasing range of real life applications.

20 highlights in the history of PC/104
by Monique DeVoe, Assistant Managing Editor — June 28, 2012
In a celebration of 20 years for PC/104 and the PC/104 Consortium, we take a look back at 20 events that have evolved the PC/104 world into what it is today.

Stacking exciting developments on top of a rich legacy
by Monique DeVoe, Assistant Managing Editor — June 28, 2012
It’s quite an achievement for PC/104 to have hit the 20-year milestone in an ever-changing technology industry; and it’s not done yet. We asked Executive and Associate members of the PC/104 Consortium to offer some insight (and foresight) on what they think is in store for PC/104 in 2012 and beyond.

PC/104 enables design with embedded custom COTS boards and systems
by Jeff Milde, PC/104 Consortium, Boards & Solutions Magazine — November 2011
Customization is a common service offered by many suppliers in the embedded computing industry. This article explores the advantages of PC/104-based platforms as a beneficial starting point for modification options.

Optical guidance system steers buses as if on tracks
by Andres Kammermann, Kontron and Denis Marchand, Siemens, Boards and Solutions — October 2011
The optical guidance system Optiguide steers the bus to within less than 5 cm of the bus stop. For the onboard control computer the robust and compact PC/104-Plus boards from Kontron are in use. The CPUs are the AMD Geode processors which excel through low power requirements and offer long-term availability.

The new COM/104 standard: better performance, more flexibility
by Pavel Shamsutdinov, Fastwel, Boards and Solutions — October 2011
This article presents the draft of new standard designed by Fastwel and submitted to the PC/104 Consortium. It is currently under review by the Technical Committee. As the new specification attempts to combine the advantages of the PC/104 specifications with the family of Computer-on- Modules (COM), Fastwel suggests to use the name COM/104.

A perfect couple – Qseven and PC/104 combine the best of both worlds
by Bob Pickles, congatec, Boards and Solutions — October 2011
PC/104 system providers adopting the Qseven COM technology approach benefit from a range of fully scalable products, much faster time to market, latest Intel technology, and lower costs on larger projects, thus increasing margins in real terms, while field maintenance of systems becomes far less complicated.

Graphics Performance Drives Ever More Capable Small Form Factor Designs
by Christine Van De Graaf, Kontron, RTC – July 2011
Evolving pin-outs and integrated on-chip graphics options are enabling richer visual applications that will extend the idea of what have been considered embedded systems.

Stackable Single Board Computers: Choosing between the Form Factors
by Dr. Qi Chen, Adlink Technology, RTC – July 2010
There are clear reasons to choose between using COM modules vs. SBCs in a design. But once the decision has been made to use an SBC, what are the criteria for selecting one of the various small SBC form factors?

PC/104 in Transportation
by PC/104 Consortium, EE Catalog — June 3, 2010
Modern transportation is heavily dependent on embedded electronics for everything from engine control systems to transportation infrastructure. Electronics are used in virtually every mode of mechanical transportation from bicycles to space craft, if it moves you can bet you will find electronic components. The dependency on electronics only grows with each generation of transportation vehicles and systems.

PC/104 powers nanosatellite for space situational awareness
by Kristin Allen, PC/104 and Small Form Factors — March 27, 2009, OpenSystems Media
Believe in the "big sky, little satellite" theory? The recent destruction of an orbiting Iridium satellite in an unintentional collision should dismiss that notion quickly. Vital space assets are now just as vulnerable as terrestrial ones. In a unique competition, university students are putting PC/104 to work on protecting these space assets.

Choosing the Appropriate PC/104 format
by Kristin Allen, PC/104 and Small Form Factors — June 1, 2007, OpenSystems Media
PC/104 has developed into several closely related variants, including Embedded Board eXpandable (EBX) and Embedded Platform for Industrial Computing (EPIC). The following form factor rundown explores the history behind these SBCs and provides a guide to choosing between the formats.

Off-the-shelf building blocks fit embedded systems
by Kristin Allen, Embedded Computing Design — March 13, 2007, OpenSystems Media
Companies often develop their own electronics subsystems for products that require embedded computing elements. Many don’t leverage standards-based modular embedded computer systems to significantly reduce time to market and costs for projects that have embedded electronic components.

Interconnect Wars? Let Peace Prevail with Interconnect Standards
by Bob Burckle and Colin McCracken, Winsystems and Adlink Technology, RTC – January 2009
COMs were developed to solve certain problems with SBCs but have some issues of their own when developing the needed carrier boards for I/O. A combination of standard interconnects may bring a solution for painlessly mating CPU to I/O.

New PCI/104-Express Standard
by Jim Blazer, RTD Embedded Technologies, RTC – June 2008
The PC/104 Consortium’s new standard, PCI/104-Express, expands the usefulness of a host of existing standards in the PC/104 family while meeting users’ needs for increased speed with link throughputs up to 75 times faster than PCI via the PCI Express bus.

An advanced course on PC/104
by Jim Blazer, RTD, PC/104 and Small Form Factors — December 1, 2007, OpenSystems Media
As chairman of the PC/104 Consortium's Technical Committee and CTO for RTD Embedded Technologies, Jim Blazer is accustomed to fielding PC/104-related inquiries. He took some time to answer our burning questions as well as share common questions and answers he has been compiling for a PC/104 FAQ posted at the consortium's website, www.pc104.org.

System integration pushes past PC/104 restrictions
by Richard Hung, Advantech, PC/104 and Small Form Factors — September 1, 2007, OpenSystems Media
While PC/104 is becoming a popular module choice for system integrators, its compact size presents thermal management predicaments, especially in industrial applications that have extreme environmental requirements. Developing a total system solution with specially designed thermal fins and an embedded heat sink can prevent overheating and thus help ensure reliable system performance in harsh operating conditions.

PC/104: making room for greater performance
by Steve Potocny, Kontron, PC/104 and Small Form Factors — July 1, 2007, OpenSystems Media
Today's x86 processors can indeed fit into PC/104 footprints with proper care and feeding. Kontron shares their perspective on working with past and present Intel processor technology within the limitations of PC/104 and calls for continued adaptation in the standard to embrace PCI Express (PCIe).

Choosing the appropriate PC/104 format
by Kristin Allen, PC/104 and Small Form Factors — June 1, 2007, OpenSystems Media
PC/104 has developed into several closely related variants, including Embedded Board eXpandable (EBX) and Embedded Platform for Industrial Computing (EPIC). The following form factor rundown explores the history behind these SBCs and provides a guide to choosing between the formats.

Modular solution rises above PC/104 restrictions
by Richard Hung, Advantech, PC/104 and Small Form Factors — Fall 2007, OpenSystems Media
While PC/104 is becoming a popular module choice for systems integrators, its compact size presents thermal management predicaments, especially in industrial applications that have extreme environmental requirements. Developing a total system solution with specially designed thermal fins and embedded heat sink can prevent overheating and thus help ensure reliable system performance in harsh operating conditions.

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