Saving time and money with proven standards makesETX a cost-effective solution for years to comeEmbedded systems standards reduce cost by defining dimensions, pinouts, signals andsupported technologies. Those standards evolve as new technologies become available,or they give way to new standards better able to support the new technologies. Thisevolution of standards continually forces developers and system integrators to evaluatethe benefit of staying with a standard versus starting over with a newer standard.

Staying current with standards is attractive because new standards provide access to newcapabilities and new features. But is it always the way to go? Not necessarily. Forexample, while USB is commonplace now, it has not replaced older serial communicationprotocols in many applications. And while ISA was declared dead ten years ago, itcontinues to provide economical solutions. The ETX standard, likewise, has been declareddead, but it is very much alive, offering lower cost, lower power consumption, andinexpensive leverage of existing carrier boards and designs in numerous projects.

What is ETX, and what does it have to offer?ETX stands for Embedded Technology eXtended and is administered by the ETX IndustrialGroup (www.etx-ig.com) of which Advantech is a founding member. ETX defines scalable,inexpensive, integrated computer modules that guard against project obsolescence ascomputer technology evolves. ETX modules are small (4.5 x 3.75 inches) and designed touse a variety of low power X86-based processor families. ETX provides full ISA, RS-232,parallel and PS/2 legacy support, LAN, two IDE, and four USB 2.0 ports. ETX 3.0 supportsfast serial ATA. ETX boards use four standard 99-pin connectors—X1 through X4—forconnection to a carrier board. Small size and low cost make ETX a simple, inexpensive,flexible solution for numerous embedded systems projects.

But isn’t ETX obsolete by now?Obsolete is relative. While the ITX standard added PCI Expresssupport to ETX, and COM-Express brought future-orientedserial differential signaling technology to embeddedcomputing, ETX remains relevant as an inexpensivesolution and upgrade path. According to a marketanalysis study by VDC Research, ETX continues to be amajor form factor for entry and low powerapplications, with ETX sales having stayed steady atabout US$165 million the last several years.

State-of-the-art Intel Atom-based ETX modulesLong term support means a continuing streamof low cost performance upgrades via ETXreplacement modules. Advantech is the onlyembedded systems vendor that provides, and willcontinue to provide, current Intel Atom™ processortechnology. Advantech offers ETX solutions based on Intel AtomN450 and dual core Atom D510 processors, bringing state-of-the-artperformance to ETX without the need for costly carrier board redesigns. AndAdvantech will continue to offer up-to-date ETX solutions, saving developers time andmoney while providing product differentiation and faster time-to-market.

ADVANTECHEMBEDDED PLATFORMS

The benefits of ETX®

standard CPU modules:

• Standardized, proven, andvery compact form factor

• Standardized X1 through X4 connector layout

• Includes all common PCperipheral functions (USB,COM/LPT/FDD, kbd/mouse,LAN, and IDE)

• Physical implementation ofthese PC functions entirely up to baseboard designer

• Interface connectors can beplaced exactly where neededon a baseboard, optimizingsystem packaging

• Advantech utilities andsoftware APIs simplify use and integration

• Advantech offers Intel AtomN450/D510 and their follow-ups on ETX

• A baseboard can be usedwith various ETX modules,providing scalableperformance andobsolescence protection

• Low cost, economical solutionthat can save time and money

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Advantech offers a comprehensive lineup of ETX CPU modules covering a wide range ofneeds and applications. Advantech is also the only major embedded system manufacturerto offer Intel “Luna Pier Refresh” and later Atom processors for superior performance andfunctionality at low cost and low power consumption.

Advantech SOM-4463 — The SOM-4463 is Advantech’s most cost-effective ETX CPU moduleyet. Supporting the Intel Atom N450/D510 single and dual core processors with ICH8Mchipset, SOM-4463 offers low power consumption and is the first Intel Atom based dual-core D510 solution. This means Intel Gen 3.5 DX9 graphics with an MPEG2 hardwaredecoder in hardware, onboard VGA (up to 2048 x 1536 pixels), and 18-bit single channelLVDS. There is great I/O expansion with 2 x SATAII (300 MB/s), four USB 2.0 ports, two COMports, 1-bit GPIO, 2-bit GPE, AC97 audio, and an EIDE interface. The module also supportsup to 2 GB of DDR2 667MHz SODIMM memory, providing an inexpensive upgrade path forhigher CPU performance and I/O capability for ETX based systems.

The table below shows Advantech’s full lineup of cost-effective ETX modules:

Cost-effective ETX module with Intel Atom single/dual core CPUsADVANTECHEMBEDDED PLATFORMS

Software support

For more information:www.advantech.comECGInfo@advantech.com1-800-866-6008

H/W Monitor — inspects coresystem health variables

GPIO — allows setting of GPIOinput and output status

Watchdog — automaticallyperforms restarts upon failures

SMBus — allows multiplesimultaneous device controlvia SMBus protocol

I2C — allows multiplesimultaneous device controlvia I2C protocol

Brightness — hardware levelbrightness control

Backlight — hardware levelbacklight on/off

BIOS Flash— update or backupof Flash BIOS to/from file

Monitoring — comprehensivesystem health monitoring

Fast Lock — binds board andFlash via BIOS to preventunauthorized access

Security ID — allows securing ofintellectual property and datawithin embedded BIOS

eSOS — emergency OS insideBIOS boots and diagnosesupon system failures

SOM-4430 SOM-4455 SOM-4461 SOM-4463 SOM-4481 SOM-4486 SOM-4487

CPU X4300 Geode LX800 Atom N270 N450/D510 Celeron/Pentium Celeron Celeron/PentiumClock Speed 300MHz 500MHz 1.6GHz 1.66GHz up to 1.8GHz up to 1GHz up to 2GHzFSB 33MHz 33MHz 533MHz 667MHz 400MHz 400MHz 400/533MHzChipset SMI712 AMD CS5536 ICH7M ICH8M 855GME 852GM ICH6MBIOS Award 4mbit Award 4mbit Award 8mbit AMI 16mbit Award 4mbit Award 4mbit Award 4mbitRAM Up to 128MB Up to 1GB Up to 2GB Up to 2GB Up to 1GB Up to 1GB Up to 2GBRAM Type DDR 200/400 DDR 200/400 DDR2 400/533 DDR2 667 DDR 200/333 DDR 200/266 DDR2 400/533Graphics SMI712 AMD CS5536 945GSE integrated 855GME 852GM 915GMELCD 18-bit TTL 24-bit LVDS 2 x 18-bit LVDS 18-bit LVDS 2 x 24-bit LVDS 2 x 24-bit LVDS 2 x 18-bit LVDSVGA (max) 1024 x 768 1024 x 768 2048 x 1536 2048 x 1536 1600 x 1200 1600 x 1200 2048 x 1536DVI NA NA NA NA NA NA NATV-out NA NA NTSC/PAL NA NA NA NASDVO NA NA 1 x SVDO NA NA NA NALAN NA 1 x 10/100 1 x 10/100 1 x 10/100 1 x 10/100 1 x 10/100 1 x 10/100Watchdog 24-bit 256 levels 256 levels 256 levels 256 levels 256 levels 256 levelsExpansion 4 PCI, ISA 3 PCI, ISA 4 PCI, ISA 4 PCI, ISA 4 PCI, ISA 4 PCI, ISA 4 PCI, ISAPATA 1 x EIDE 2 x EIDE 1 x EIDE 1 x EIDE 2 x EIDE 2 x EIDE 1 x EIDESATA NA 2 x SATA 2 x SATA 2 x SATA NA NA 2 x SATAUSB 4 x USB 2.0 4 x USB 2.0 4 x USB 2.0 4 x USB 2.0 4 x USB 2.0 4 x USB 2.0 4 x USB 2.0Audio NA ALC203 ALC203 ALC888 ALC203 ALC203 ALC203GPIO NA 1-bit GPIO 2-bit GPIO 1-bit GPIO 1-bit GPIO 1-bit GPIO 1-bit GPIOCOM 2 x COM 2 x COM 2 x COM 2 x COM 2 x COM 2 x COM 2 x COMFDD/LPT 1 x LPT 1 x LPT or FDD 1 x LPT or FDD 1 x LPT or FDD 1 x LPT or FDD 1 x LPT or FDD 1 x LPT or FDDPower AT ATX, AT ATX, AT ATX, AT ATX, AT ATX, AT ATX, ATMax. draw 3.5 watts 10 watts 10 watts 9/13 watts 10/13 watts 12/15 watts 14/41 wattsOp. Temp. 32-140F 32-140F 32-140F 32-140F 32-140F 32-140F 32-140FSoftware

H/W Monitor -- yes yes yes -- -- yesGPIO yes yes yes yes -- -- yesWatchdog yes yes yes yes -- -- yesSMBus -- yes yes yes -- -- yesI2C -- yes yes yes -- -- yesBrightness -- -- -- yes -- -- --Backlight -- -- -- yes -- -- yes

UtilitiesBIOS Flash -- yes yes yes -- -- yesMonitoring yes yes yes yes -- -- --Fast Lock -- -- -- yes -- -- yesSecurity ID -- -- yes yes -- -- --eSOS -- -- yes -- -- -- --

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