Advantech announced a Pico-ITX board that sports the company's own MIO (Module I/O) expansion interface as well as a half-size Mini PCI Express slot. The MIO-2260 has a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455 processor, up to 2GB of RAM, a CompactFlash slot, and the ability to drive both VGA and LVDS displays, according to the company.

We first encountered Advantech's MIO expansion interface on the PCM-9362, a "3.5-inch" SBC (single board computer) the company released in January 2010. Now, it has cropped up on the MIO-2260, a board using the 3.9 x 2.8-inch Pico-ITX format.

According to Advantech, the MIO connector relays four PCI Express x1 expansion lanes, three USB 2.0 ports, audio line-out, SMBus, and LPC signals. The company says MIO modules can be "completely customized to meet customers' requirements," but it also offers various off-the-shelf modules: For example, the MIOe-210 (pictured) provides multiple serial ports and 8-bit GPIO; the MIOe-220 provides three gigabit Ethernet ports; and the MIOe-230 provides USB 2.0 plus 48-bit LVDS or DisplayPort video.

However, none of these modules is required for basic use of the MIO-2260. Equipped with a 1.66GHz Atom N455 processor, the ICH8M I/O controller, and up to 2GB of DDR3 memory (via a single SODIMM slot), the board has plenty of interfaces on its own.

For example, the MIO-2260 (pictured) has a VGA port (up to 1400 x 1050 pixels) on its coastline, along with a gigabit Ethernet port and two USB 2.0 ports. Headers add LVDS (up to 1388 x 768), two RS232 ports, 8-bit GPIO, I2C, and SMBus (the latter two share pins, says Advantech).

A block diagram of Advantech's MIO-2260
(Click to enlarge)

As for storage, the MIO-2260 has both an SATA connector and a Type II CompactFlash slot. The board also offers a half-size Mini PCI Express slot, Advantech adds.

Specifications listed by Advantech for the MIO-2260 include:

• Processor — Intel Atom N455 (single core; 1.66GHz clock speed)
• Chipset — Intel ICH8M
• Memory — up to 2GB of DDR3 RAM via single SODIMM slot
• Expansion:
  • Mini PCI slot (half length)
  • CompactFlash slot
  • MIO connector (provides SMBus, 3 x USB 2.0, 4 x PCIe x1)
• Networking — gigabit Ethernet
• Other I/O:
  • External:
    • VGA
    • 2 x USB 2.0
  • Internal:
    • 2 x RS232
    • I2C
    • SMbus
    • 8-bit GPIO
• Power — 12VDC; consumption n/s
• Operating range — 32 to 140 deg. F
• Dimensions — 3.9 x 2.8 inches

Further information

Advantech did not cite pricing for the MIO-2260, which it said will be available by the end of November. Operating system support includes Linux, Windows Embedded, QNX, and VXWorks, according to the company.

More information may be found on the MIO-2260 product page.

Jonathan Angel can be reached at [email protected] and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense.

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