Rugged highly reliable embedded computing solutions
COMs are essentially embedded computers built on a single circuit board. What differentiates the COM from a conventional single-board computer (SBC) is that it lacks the standard connectors needed to directly connect external I/O devices. Hence, the module would be mounted onto a carrier card or baseboard that breaks the system and I/O buses out… Read More »
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Part 2: COMs Offer a Simple Path to Higher Functionality In my last blog, I wrote about single-board computers (SBCs), their origins, where it makes sense to use them, and even included an example of a great SBC. Here, I’ll do the same for computer-on-modules, or COMs, and highlight some of the differences between the… Read More »
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Part 1: SBCs Offer an All-in-one Small Form Factor Solution When the topic of computer-on-modules (COMs) versus single-board computers (SBCs) first arose, I thought, “what is there to write about?” Everyone knows the difference between these two platforms. But as I dug deeper, it became clear why people still ask questions. In fact, there’s so… Read More »
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The Raspberry Pi has taken the embedded industry by storm. Everyone from high schoolers up to mainstream embedded developers are taking advantage of the architecture’s ease of use and large base of open-source software. But a key question that must be asked is whether the Pi is appropriate for industrial applications. First, some background. Raspberry… Read More »
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PC104, or what used to be PC/104, has been around in some form for over 30 years. That’s a long time, even for embedded systems. Despite that age, it remains a viable and important architecture for embedded systems. Read More>>>
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Windows Embedded Standard 7 (WES7) has been a fixture in the embedded computing industry for nearly a decade. While the operating system (OS) isn’t going away, Extended Support is coming to a halt on October 13, 2020. WES7 originally debuted in 2010. It differed from the more commonplace Windows 7 OS in that it offered… Read More »
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Error correction code (ECC) memory is a must-have for every embedded computer platform, right? Not exactly. There are places where it absolutely makes sense. But there are probably even more where it’s not required. First, let’s define the memory type. ECC RAM is found in servers where data loss would be catastrophic. Its differentiating factor… Read More »
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Benchmarking is important. It’s one of the most important things a developer should do when evaluating different platforms, either from different vendors or from one vendor. However, for useful results to be realized, the proper questions must be asked. And that starts with which benchmarks are being run, as many are available. I’m not suggesting… Read More »
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