SBC aims embedded Linux at casino gaming
Nov 7, 2005 — by LinuxDevices Staff — from the LinuxDevices Archive — views
Zendex is shipping a Pentium 4 based single-board computer (SBC) designed specifically for casino gaming applications. The ZXE-855 gaming platform supports embedded Linux and delivers the “rich visual gaming experience” that people expect in today's casinos, according to the company.
Zendex says it offers the ZXE-855 with numerous configuration options relating to speed, power consumption, and cost. The board supports a range of processors, including a low power 600 MHz Celeron 4 and a high performance 2GHz Pentium 4. It accommodates up to 1 GB of DDR DRAM, which, according to the company, is sufficient for “99 percent” of all applications.
The ZXE-855 supports two XGA video ports up to 1600 x 1200 resolution, with up to 64 MB of video memory shared with main memory. The board's AC97 stereo audio is amplified onboard, allowing it to drive speakers directly.
The company points out that regulatory agencies often demand that casino video games include redundant mass storage. Accordingly, the ZXE-855 incorporates dual UDMA 100 ATA channels that can connect to hard drives, CompactFlash devices, ATAPI CD-ROMs, DiskOnModule (DoM) flash memory, or MMC expansion cards. The board also includes an array of sockets that can be used with EPROM or other non-volatile memory chips.
The ZXE-855 mates with the ZXE-855BP passive backplane, which enables fast insertion/removal of the ZXE-855 gaming SBC and also provides I/O connectors for interfacing with bill acceptors, card readers, voucher printers, and monitors.
The ZXE-855BP backplane board includes six USB 2.0 ports, one 10/100 Ethernet port, five RS-232 serial ports, two RS422 serial ports, and one TTL serial port. In addition, the ZXE-855 main board includes 40 general purpose I/O lines.
The ZXE-855 measures 12 x 9.25 x 2 inches. It operates from a single +12 to +15 VDC power source, and consumes an average of 35 watts when running at 600 MHz, Zendex said.
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