Aewin has introduced a 3.7 x 3.7-inch COM Express module sporting Intel Atom Z5xx CPUs. Touted as ideal for “low-power, fanless” applications, the CM-7305 includes an SD slot and up to 2GB of RAM, two PCI Express x1 lanes, fast or gigabit Ethernet, and six USB ports, the company says.

Like the Adlink Express-ATC covered last week, the CM-7305 employs the 3.7 x 3.7-inch (95 x 95mm) COM Express Compact format, with a standard COM Express Type 2 baseboard interface. However, the Aewin product (below) differs in that it uses Intel's Z5xx Atoms (either 1.1GHz or 1.6GHz), instead of the Atom N270
employed by Adlink.

The Aewin CM-7305

The Z5xx CPUs, of course, use the SCH US15W companion chip instead of the separate northbridge and southbridge chips used by the N270. As a result, power consumption is lower, and there's a greater measure of compatibility with HD video, according to Intel. Aewin says the CM-7305 uses between eight and 12 Watts, which seems quite a conservative rating given that the Adlink Express-ATC is claimed to require only nine.

As usual, the COM Express Type 2 connector (not pictured) on the CM-7305 relays all of its signals to the rest of the world via an application-specific baseboard. According to Aewin, the module offers two PCI Express x1 lanes plus 32-bit PCI, LPC, and I2C expansion buses.

Meanwhile, there are six USB 2.0 ports (five host, one client), and a choice of either 10/100 or gigabit Ethernet is offered. If gigabit Ethernet is required, an Intel 82574L chip uses one of the PCI Express x1 lanes, whereas 10/100 Ethernet is supplied by a USB-interfaced Asix AX88772A, Aewin says.

According to Aewin, the LVDS interface on the CM-7305 can connect 24-bit LCD displays, with resolutions of up to 1366 x 768 pixels. For analog CRTs, an optional R140B card is required, connecting to the module's SDVO (serial digital video output) interface, the company adds.

A single DIMM socket on the CM-7305 can accept the usual 2GB of DDR2 memory, the maximum supported by the SCH US15W. Mass storage may be added via the device's two SATA ports, or on-module via a built-in SD slot, says Aewin.

Features and specifications listed by Aewin for the CM-7305 include the following:

• Processor — 1.1GHz Atom Z510 or 1.6GHz Atom Z530
• Memory — Up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM via single DIMM slot
• Storage — Onboard SD slot
• Networking — 10/100 or gigabit Ethernet
• Other I/O:
  • 6 x USB 2.0 (5 host, 1 client)
  • Ultra ATA100/66
  • 2 x SATA
  • LVDS
  • HD audio
• Expansion buses:
  • 2 PCI Express x1
  • 32-bit PCI 2.3 at 33MHz
  • LPC
  • SDIO (with SD card slot)
  • I2C
• Power — 12VDC; consumption 8 to 12 Watts with 1GB of RAM
• Operating temperature — 32 to 140 deg. F (0 to 60 deg. C)
• Dimensions — 3.74 x 3.74 inches (95 x 95mm)

Availability

Aewin did not release pricing, availability, or operating system specifics for the Express-ATC, but the device appears to be available now, and should run Linux, as well as all Windows Embedded operating systems. Further information may be found on the company's website, here.

This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.