Embedded Processing Units (EPU)

Advantages of EPUs

EPUs are drop-in embedded computers that are a fully assembled and tested including CPU, I/O, BIOS, and thermal solution. As off-the-shelf products, they provide a huge head start for system designers. Being based on industry standard sizes and mounting-hole locations makes them even easier to use when upgrading existing designs.

• Standards-Based
  Mechanical specifications of size and mounting-hole location are based on the well-defined COM Express® or PC/104 standards. This enables easy upgrade of the computing heart of an embedded system.

Common industry standards define size and mounting-hole locations

• Faster time to market and money
  Unlike COM boards, there is no need to design additional circuity or integrate the COM board with an I/O, BIOS, and thermal solution. VersaLogic has already done the difficult integration of these pieces. There is no need to trouble shoot the combination, deal with finger pointing between vendors, or otherwise spend time getting the various elements to operate with each other Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) availability means that the system development cycle can start now, not a year from now when a custom board has been designed specifically for an application.
• Extremely compact
  A two- board set reduces footprint to about 1/2 the size of an equivalent single board solution.

Anatomy of an EPU

• Flexible
  The EPU concept simplifies the making of modifications to meet specific I/O needs. Existing products can be configured by modifying the I/O portion of the product. Or, if greater modifications are required, a fully custom I/O board can be created for an existing board set. With the two-board concept these modification come at lower cost and shorter lead time than other types of solutions.
• Expandable
  Most VersaLogic EPUs feature mini PCIe or M.2 sockets. This enables a wide range of expansion boards to be added to a system, with almost no size penalty. Examples include additional Ethernet, video, GPIO, and other I/O ports, as well as solid state storage devices.
• Future Proof
  Designing in a VersaLogic EPU also provides a processor upgrade path. Often a newer CPU board can be paired with an existing I/O board, to significantly upgrade a system. This can provide upgraded performance, memory capacity, or extended product life, without any I/O or cabling changes. For example, VersaLogic’s Owl EPU is a combination of a previous EPU I/O board, and a new generation CPU.

The Owl featuring Intel®’s ”Apollo Lake” CPU uses the same I/O board as the Raven which features the earlier “Bay Trail” CPU

• Rugged
  VersaLogic’s environmental testing means that EPUs are fully verified to operate in extreme environments including the full industrial operating temperature range of -40 to +85 C and MIL-STD-202 conditions of shock and vibration. The mounting points, connectors used, and small cross section of the PCBs, limit board flex and provide excellent performance in high shock and vibration environments.
• Reliable
  VersaLogic’s AS9100 and ISO 9001 certified processes ensure that quality and reliability are designed in from the outset. Associated verification testing ensures that EPUs can operate 24/7 with extremely high MTBF numbers.