A Computer Packed in a SODIMM

Miniaturization is one of the facts of life nowadays, leaving its ever shrinking footprint on all kinds of electronic devices ranging from computers to radios and digital cameras. While maybe there is a limit of how small things can get, it is obviously still far away for most appliances but it may just be a little bit nearer thanks to the embedded board making company Arcom that introduced a single board computer packed to fit a circuit board the size of a SODIMM memory module.

The single board computer, SBC for short, is called Quantum and it is based on a dedicated processor specially designed for use in embedded systems. Its CPU is a Marvell XScale PXA270 that has enough computing power to be able to run Microsoft's CE 5.0 operating system that is installed into an on board flash memory. Apart from the operating systems, all necessary I/O drivers are also included in the flash memory.

The PXA270 processor is optimized for a low power consumption so it does not need a cooling kit even when clocked at 312 or 520MHz. Onboard memory space is composed of 64MB of SDRAM acting as system memory, 256KB of SRAM acting as cache memory for the processor and a storage module of either 32 or 64MB of flash memory. I/O interfaces include support for SD/MMC and CF cards as well as five serial ports, USB and devices interfaces. Additionally an optional Ethernet module can be included too.

Unlike most other embedded systems that are designed for a particular purpose, the Quantum single board computer includes a video adapter which supports STN and TFT displays, at up to 640 x 480 pixel resolution and a 4-wire analog resistive touchscreen. An audio interface is provided too that is AC '97 compatible and it includes line in and out as well as microphone interfaces.