High performance fanless embedded computers

Louise Davis

ADLINK technology has launched a series of high-performance expandable fanless embedded computers with the latest 6th generation Intel Core i7/ i5/ i3 Skylake processors and the QM170 chipset. The devices are aimed at intelligent transportation applications such as passenger information system and CCTV systems for rail transport and maritime control centres.

With up to four 2.5in SATA drives, and rugged fanless construction withstanding operating shock up to 50G and vibration to 5Grms, the MXC-6400 Series fully meets the needs of Intelligent Transportation Systems for rolling stock, maritime operations, in-vehicle infotainment, and high-speed data processing and mission-critical industrial automation.

The MXC-6400 series uses the Core i7-6820EQ/ i5-6440EQ/ i3-6100E processors to boost computing power by up to 70%, delivering 100% faster graphics performance than previous Matrix generations. The boards support up to 3 independent displays with accelerated HW media codecs enable Ultra HD 4K, dual-channel DDR4 2133MHz SO-DIMM sockets for 32GB of memory, and PCI and two PCIe Gen3 x8 (or 1 PCIe Gen3 x16) slots for expansion.

The four SATA III interfaces support RAID 0/1/5/10 configurations with two hot-swappable 2.5” SATA III trays and two internal 2.5” SATA III ports, and 1 CFast socket.

A front panel I/O array simplifies installation and maintenance through the two DisplayPort and one DVI-I ports enabling up to 4K UHD resolution, two software-programmable RS-232/422/485 + 2 RS-232 ports, three Intel GbE ports with teaming function, six USB 3.0 ports, and 16 channels of digial input and 16 channel of digital output.

The fanless rugged construction allows an operating temperatures of -20°C to 70°C (with industrial SSD or CFast), for reliable 24/7 operation in the most demanding environments. Rigorous operational verification testing assures the reliability and ruggedness critical for complete functionality in harsh industrial environments.