Android on a VIA x86 Board in Action

VIA have released this video showing Android running on an EITX-3002 Em-ITX board. Great resolution for video playback!

VIA's x86 embedded boards support Android

The embedded market just got a new option, with VIA announcing support for Google's Android operating system, starting with the EITX-3002 Em-ITX board. The Android operating system has become the most-used smartphone operating system and it also features on various tablet PCs, most of which run ARM processors. This new support for VIA's x86 platform opens the door for Android to be found on embedded computing devices like entertainment systems in vehicles and information kiosks.



"Key advantages for Android on x86 include leverage of Android development resources and existing apps, rich I/O flexibility, greater CPU performance as well as higher display resolutions of up to 1920 x 1080. In addition VIA has released SMART ETK, an Embedded Tool Kit which allows monitoring and control of peripheral devices through the Android OS, allowing for greater environmental control of kiosk and other installed environments."

Find more information here.

Dual core brought to Em-ITX form factor

I always appreciate the write up of new VIA embedded boards done by LinuxForDevices.com. They are very thorough. Here are the highlights of the new EITX-3002 board:

"As far as we're aware, Via has never publicized TDPs for either of these CPUs, though it has naturally made all the usual noises about low-power operation. The company does, however, reveal that the overall EITX-3002 uses 24.86 Watts with the Eden X2, and 27.67 Watts with the Nano X2. Both processors are supported by the VX900H chipset and a single SODIMM slot that accepts up to 4GB of RAM, Via says. Persistent storage is catered for by SATA ports and a CFast expansion slot, adds the company."

This board has a lot of output options, including support for dual displays.

Small form factor Editor's Choice award

VIA's AMOS systems are customizable embedded chassis that are adaptable to a range of purposes, but as SmallFormFactors.com points out, it's also a great development kit.

"Getting started can be the hardest part of the design process. But VIA Technologies has made prototyping hardware and software designs easier with the VIA AMOS-5001 chassis kit. Whether or not the final design uses VIA’s x86 CPUs or the Em-ITX form factor, it’s still a useful platform to begin with and makes that whole getting started thing much more doable."

The VIA AMOS-5001 fits VIA Em-ITX form factor boards which have a modular design that lets you add new features as your development takes shape. For its adaptability and convenience, the VIA AMOS-5001 has earned an Editor's Choice award.

Windows for devices gives the skinny on the new VIA ART-5450

A couple of weeks back VIA launched a new fanless box PC for fleet management services. Windows for devices which tracks each and every VIA release in some detail, has written up all the details, revealing the design behind the "new" PC. "Frankly acknowledged by Via is the fact that the ART-5450 employs a previously released motherboard, along with a newly designed expansion module. At its heart, for example, is the EITX-3000 motherboard (right). First released in March 2009, the EITX-3000 was Via's first (and, we think, remains the only) use of the Em-ITX format, billed as an "open industry standard." A key advantage of the 6.7 x 4.7-inch Em-ITX format was said to be its form factor's rectangular shape, providing dual "coastlines." .... Via's ART-5450 employs a new module known as the EMIO-3430. Pictured above, this includes two Mini PCI Express slots primarily designed to accept the mobile broadband and Bluetooth modules mentioned earlier in this story." - Source.

VIA launches new ART-5450 in-vehicle management box

Using its own EPIA boards and extension modules, VIA has put together a complete package for fleet management. Using a VIA EITX-3000 Em-ITX board and the EMIO-3450 expansion module, the ART-5450 box PC can be fitted inside taxis, cars, trucks, etc, as the integral part of an in-vehicle monitoring system. With an operating temperature range of -200 - 700C, the boxes would be reliable even in extreme conditions.

There's quite a choice of 3G modules, including HSPA, WCDMA, EDGE and GPRS. Other features include a SIM card slot, 20 channel GPRS receiver and W-Fi.

VIA is handling orders on a project by project basis. - Source: Press Release

VIA launch 3 AMOS-5000 development kits

The VIA AMOS-5000 is a chasis kit designed for VIA Em-ITX boards and it comes fitted with a VIA EITX-3000. Now Em-ITX boards can also work with modules that allow you to add more features. There's the EMIO-3110 for multimedia applications, the EMIO-3430 module for connectivity and communications and the EMIO-3210 for industrial applications. They pretty much cover the whole gamit of embedded system uses. Now VIA has put all of these into packages where a developer can get the AMOS-5000 with the Em-ITX board and the module they need. The kit names correspond to the Em-ITX add-on module name, so the one for multimedia has the EMIO-3110 is in the VIA AMOS-5110 kit and so on. Get it? What they've done is put together handy kits to target specific types of projects. Pretty nifty. More in the Press Release.

Em-ITX gets thinner?

VIA have launched a new Em-ITX board which upgrades from the EITX 3000's VX800 chip to the VX855 and takes off one gigabit Ethernet port. The EITX 3001 is claimed to be "a slim-line Em-ITX form factor board" in the Press Release but there's no mention about that on the product specification page, nor any measurements to show a reduction in width, or any other measurement, over the only other Em-ITX board, the EITX 3000. They are both slim boards really, so the comment must have been just a general one about the Em-ITX form factor.

The EITX 3001 offers HD video support. Although HDMI output is supported, there's no HDMI port on the board so you must have to add in the EMIO-3110 board for that.

"The VIA EITX-3001 includes an onboard DC-to-DC converter that has both AT and ATX power modes, supporting a wide range of power input voltage from DC 7V to DC 36V, configurable through an onboard switch. An on board built-in 5-wire/4-wire USB Touch interface makes the EITX-3001 ideally suited for high-end interactive touch screen multimedia applications.

Dual I/O coastlines allow for a wealth of I/O ports including a HMDI port, VGA port, Gigabit Ethernet, dual COM ports, four USB ports, a USB device port, audio jacks and power and HDD activity LEDs. LVDS is supported through on board pin headers allowing for a range of multi-display options including CRT/LVDS, CRT/HDMI and LVDS/HDMI configurations.

The VIA EITX-3001 supports all 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems including the latest Windows Embedded Standard 7."

VIA Em-ITX board in racing car!

The VIA Em-ITX form factor is the embedded platform that I refer to as LEGO-inspired. You take the VIA EITX 3000 board and then, if you need to, you can plug in smaller boards to add more features. This project, however, proves that the EITX-3000 is just as valuable on its own.

Students from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Lakehead University in Canada, built a race car to compete in the Formula SAE competition. 2010 was there second entry and second car, and their design is impressive.

The Lakehead University car can go from 0-100km/h (60 mph) in just four seconds! The 600CC engine was designed for a Honda motorcycle but they adapted it for use with the steel tube space frame that the team designed and constructed. The drive train is 6 speed short geared, chain drive, with a spool differential. It’s also decked out with suspension.

What’s particularly unique about the car is that there’s a little VIA PC inside all hooked up for engine adjustments, fuel monitoring, driver communication, GPS tracking and more.

The VIA EITX-3000 has two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two RS-232 and two RS-232/422/485 ports and six USB ports, giving ample room for all of the diverse connections the team needed.

Allan C. Pan who worked in the Electrical Team said that the VIA board was used for:

1) Real-time Engine control for both monitoring and on-fly perimeters adjustment
2) Real-time Air-Fuel Ratio for both monitoring and on-fly perimeters adjustment
3) Real-time GPS vehicle tracking over google earth and other map software
4) two Real-time Video and Audio feeds (one over see the the driver+road ahead and other one over see the suspension system)
5) two wireless networks, 1 for peer to peer connection using VPN, other one to connect other open/provided wifi netowrk for internet data access
6) WiMax network
7) dual Bluetooth PAN network, one for host system peripherals, the other one for data accessing
8) video streaming over LAN and WAN with compression

Many, many different crew members can be monitoring, tuning and communicating with the car and the driver, all at the same time, thanks to the VIA EITX-3000 board.

Earlier this month the team competed in the FSAE Michigan 2010 and they cam 39 out of 120 – not a bad showing at all!

You never know where you’ll find a VIA embedded board!

VIA EMIO-3210: Kiosk and Industrial Automation

The unlikely bed fellows of kiosks and industrial automation find themselves listed together as the target use for VIA's third Em-ITX I/O module announced last week. The EMIO-3210 looks to have the most ports out of all of the modules, with a dedicated LPC Super I/O controller that provides 6 COM ports, all of them configurable with RS-232/422/485, plus 9-pin D-sub configurable connectors and 2 parallel ports.

Like the other Em-ITX I/O boards announced last week, the EMIO-3210 connects with the VIA EITX-3000 board to provide developers with a scalable modulated platform. It certainly is a pretty looking board!

VIA EMIO-3430: Vehicle, Fleet Management and Logistics

The second Em-ITX I/O module announced this week by VIA will end up inside vehicles, probably taxis, courier vehicles and trucks. The EMIO-3430 has a 20 channel GPRS module which should be enough for any robust fleet management or logistical operation. Bluetooth class 2 will keep it all connected, as will 802.11b/g. And then there's also a PC card slot for PCMCIA and JEIDA4.2.

VIA actually recommend using with module with the EM-3110 which I covered yesterday.

VIA EMIO-3110: Digital Signage, POI and Gaming

As I mentioned earlier in the week, VIA have now released 3 Em-ITX I/O expansion modules, each of them designed to provide what's needed for niche embedded products.

The EMIO-3110 is designed for digital signage, POI and gaming machines, with the focus being on high quality output, with lots of options in terms of the types of displays supported. The EMIO-3100 module fits in with the VIA EITX-3000 motherboard, which already has graphics provided by the VX800 media system processor, bit the EMIO-3110 has its own S3 graphics DX10.1 GPU as well. It can putput to six displays at once, with up to four streams of content showing at once! VGA, Dual HDMI and Dual DVI ports are on the module, plus TV-out and 8 channel audio. It's obviously capable of handling a high load of visual output.

VIA announce three Em-ITX I/O modules

I think I once described the VIA Em-ITX form factor as PCB LEGO. You start with an Em-ITX board and then add an I/O expansion board that has what your application/device needs on it ... and not what it doesn't.
The Em-ITX form factor is 12x17cm. This makes it a bit smaller than the Mini-ITX. Each of the 17cm sides can contain I/O. That means that cables can come off two sides instead of crossing over each other in a case design, which helps to not only reduce cable clutter, but also helps to keep the system cool.

The only Em-ITX board available at the moment is the EITX-3000, which features a VIA Nano processor and the VX800 media system processor.

VIA has today announced three new I/O expansion modules:

• VIA EMIO-3110: Digital Signage, POI and Gaming
• VIA EMIO-3430: Vehicle, Fleet Management and Logistics
• VIA EMIO-3210: Kiosk and Industrial Automation

I'll write one blog entry per day this week exploring these new modules.

New VIA ART-3000 embedded box PC - pint sized versatility

The Press Release announcing the VIA ART-3000 mentions a quote from VIA's Embedded Platform Division VP, Daniel Wu, that “The VIA ART series really underlines our strength in offering system level products that exceed expectations". This certainly suggest that this embedded box PC is just the first in a series, much like the ARTiGO products are also a series.

The look of this little unit reminds me of a Voom PC, a product that was originally designed for car PC applications. Although car PCs are not a target of this device, the ART-3000 could certainly end up in some diverse applications. It's being pitched for kiosk, POI, industrial automation and digital signage since it can be wall, table, reverse and VESA mounted.

The platform behind the box, so to speak, is the Em-ITX EITX-3000 with a 1.3GHz VIA Nano processor and the VX800 media system processor. The Press Release does also mention a fanless option although it's not specified what the spec would be for that.

VIA AMOS-500, stacking solution for Em-ITX

The VIA Em-ITX platform is a little quirky. It's a great idea, but I think it's fair to say that it's not mainstream. The idea is basically that you take a Mini-ITX board, squish it so that it's 12x17cm instead of a 17cm square, and make it so that you can have I/O ports along two sides instead of one. That gives you 200% more I/O real estate on a board that's 30% smaller. Plus, designers can add extra features with expansion cards.
Now, how do you go about fitting such an octopus of a board into a chassis? Wait until the designers of the board come up with one I guess, and that's exactly what VIA have done. The VIA AMOS-5000 is designed for Em-ITX boards and it even has the capability of stacking extra little chassis on top of the main one if you want to add those elusive expansion modules that are yet to be released. The VIA AMOS-5000, on the other hand, is available right now.
The chassis is made from heavy duty steel and it's a completely fanless design, as you'd expect. A system built with the Em-ITX and VIA AMOS-5000 can withstand temperature ranges of -20 - 55 celcius and even g-force up to 50.
"The VIA AMOS-5000 is available now and targets a wide variety of embedded segments including medical, healthcare, industrial and building automation, digital signage, kiosk, POI/POS, gaming and surveillance applications." - Press Release.

Em-ITX brings choice

Can we have too many form factors? The answer, according to ElectronicDesign, is no - not if they fulfill a need in the market and use connections and slots that are standard. Apparently embedded developers just can't get enough when it comes to feature rich platforms, and the article highlights the Em-ITX from VIA as an example of an innovative feature-rich design.

"I/O interfaces include an 8-bit digital port, a VGA port, dual low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet, four serial ports, dual SATA II ports, six USB 2.0 ports, and HD audio. It can handle up to a 2-Gbyte DDR2 SODIMM. A Compact Flash socket is on the bottom."