VIA shrinks COM form factors, again
3 February 2010
News
VIA Technologies has announced Mobile-ITX, the latest VIA-developed open form factor specification for the creation of ultra-compact and portable embedded devices. Mobile-ITX defines a compact 6 x 6 cm computer-on-module (COM) specification designed to enable an easier and less resource intensive development cycle for a range of ultra-compact embedded systems.
Vertical market segments including medical, transportation and military embedded markets have evolved to demand greater miniaturisation and portability from today’s x86 platforms. Mobile-ITX addresses the need for a simple, modular approach to portable IPC design, making it easier than ever to bring to market ultra-compact and lightweight devices that offer comprehensive connectivity options and a rich, flexible feature set.
Extending VIA’s reputation as a leading innovator and creator of ultra-compact form factors, Mobile-ITX is currently the most compact COM form factor on the market, an incredible 50% smaller than the successful VIA-developed Pico-ITX form factor. Mobile-ITX employs a modularised design that includes a CPU module card and an I/O carrier board. This offers greater flexibility for developers who can simply drop in the CPU module to a custom designed, application specific carrier board, negating lengthy developmental design and testing phases.
CPU modules based on the Mobile-ITX form factor integrate core CPU, chipset and memory functionality and I/O that includes CRT, DVP and TTL display support, HD Audio, IDE, USB 2.0, as well as PCI Express, SMBus, GPIO, LPC, SDIO and PS2 signals, through customisable baseboards. In keeping with VIA’s low-power philosophy, Mobile-ITX-based modules consume as little as 5 Watts, ideal for always-on, mission critical systems.
The CPU module I/O signals are mapped to two unique high-density, low-profile connectors on the underside of the module, with a distance between the CPU module and the baseboard of only 3 mm, making it ideal for ultra-slim system designs. The connectors can also withstand vibrations of up to 5 G, making Mobile-ITX systems suitable for in-vehicle and industrial machining applications.
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