Advantech announced five Linux-ready SBCs running Intel’s Apollo Lake SoCs in Mini-ITX, Pico-ITX, 3.5-inch, and EBX form factors.

Advantech unveiled a variety of new boards and systems supporting Intel’s 14nm Atom E3900, Pentium N4200, and Celeron N3350 SoCs. The announcement, which also includes three COMs and three embedded computers that we hope to cover in the coming days, includes five single board computers, one of which is the first Apollo Lake Pico-ITX SBC we’ve seen.

MIO-2360 (Pico-ITX) and AIMB-217 (Mini-ITX)

Advantech’s five Apollo Lake SBCs include:

• MIO-2360 — Pico-ITX (100 x 72mm)
• MIO-5350 — 3.5-inch (146 x 102mm)
• PCM-9366 — 3.5-inch (146 x 102mm)
• AIMB-217 — Mini-ITX (170 x 170mm)
• PCM-9563 — EBX (203 x 146 mm)

The five SBCs are all listed with “preliminary” specs and are available in the first half of 2017. They all support Linux, among other OSes. Advantech middleware available for all the Apollo Lake products, including the COMs and computers, includes Advantech’s SusiAccess remote monitoring and WISE-PaaS IoT platform software/services.

WISE-PaaS taps Microsoft Azure to allow “seamless hardware and software integration and analytic tools for data analysis,” says Advantech. The company will also launch a WISE-PaaS Marketplace software shopping website to provide IoT Cloud Services, Security Services, WISE-PaaS Software Services, and IoT Solution Packages integrated with IoT Cloud solutions.

MIO-5350

The five boards support different choices from the first five Apollo Lake options. The 14nm-fabricated SoCs are especially notable for their much faster Intel Gen9 graphics with up to 18 EUs (Execution Units) and 4K triple display support. The models include:

• Intel Atom x7-E3950 — 4x cores @ 1.6GHz/2.0GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 12W TDP
• Intel Atom x5-E3940 — 4x cores @ 1.6GHz/1.8GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 9W TDP
• Intel Atom x5-E3930 — 2x cores @ 1.3GHz/1.8GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 6.5W TDP
• Intel Celeron N3350 — 2x cores @ 1.1GHz/2.4GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 6W TDP
• Intel Pentium N4200 — 4x cores @ 1.1GHz/2.5GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 6W TDP

All of the boards support up to 8GB of DDR3L 1867MHz RAM except for the AIMB-217 Mini-ITX and EBX-style PCM-9563, which support 16GB. They all offer 0 to 60°C support, and the AIMB-217 also offers a -20 to 70°C option. Three of the boards support triple simultaneous displays while the MIO-2360 and MIO-5350 support dual displays.

 
MIO-2360

The MIO-2360 is the first Pico-ITX form-factor board we’ve seen to support Apollo Lake. The SBC can run Linux, Windows 10, Windows Embedded, or VxWorks on the quad-core Atom E3940, as well as the dual-core Atom E3930 and Celeron N3350. The board follows Advantech’s Bay Trail Celeron-based MIO-6300.

MIO-2360, front and back

Dual displays are available via the coastline VGA port, as well as HDMI at up to 3840 x 2160 at 30Hz and a single channel 24-bit LVDS interface. A Realtek ALC888S codec delivers HD audio via line-in and line-out interfaces.

Other coastline ports include a GbE port and dual USB 3.0 ports. Two more USB 2.0 interfaces are onboard along with dual RS-232/422/485 connections, SATA III, SMBus, and 8-bit GPIO.

MIO-2360 detail view (left) and block diagram
(click images to enlarge)

Expansion features include full- and half-size mini-PCIe slots, with the latter defaulting to mSATA. There’s also Advantech’s MIOe expansion interface which is available on other MIO-branded boards, and supports I/O including USB 3.0, PCIe, DP, and more. The 12V SBC ships with a Lithium battery and heatsink, and there’s an optional heat spreader.

 
MIO-5350

The 3.5-inch MIO-5350 supports all five Apollo Lake options with Ubuntu 14.04, Android 4.4, VxWorks, Windows 10, and WEC2013. The board is equipped with dual GbE ports and a SATA II port, with a second SATA available on request. There’s also a slot that combines mSATA and SD.

MIO-5350, front and back

Dual displays are supported via a VGA port and an HDMI 1.4/DisplayPort combo, with the coastline VGA and DP connections supporting up to 2560 x 1600 at 60Hz resolution. There’s also “48-bit” LVDS, which appears to be another way of saying dual-channel, 24-bit LVDS. The LVDS can be swapped out for eDP.


MIO-5350 block diagram
(click image to enlarge)

The MIO-5350 features 2x USB 3.0 and 2x USB 2.0 ports on the rear panel. Other I/O includes two more USB 2.0, 2x RS-232, and 2X RS-232/422/485. There’s also 8-bit GPIO, a shared I2C/SMBus, and Realtek ALC888S-driven HD audio I/O.


MIO-5350 rear I/O panel

Like the MIO-2360, the MIO-5350 features a MIOe expansion connector with similar signal support, plus a full-size mini-PCIe slot and SIM slot. The 12V board has ACPI power management and a Lithium battery. Options include a 100-240V 60W adapter and TPM 2.0.

 
PCM-9366

Advantech has yet to post a datasheet for its second 3.5-inch Apollo Lake model, which like the MIO-5350, competes with two other announced 3.5-inch Apollo Lake SBCs: Aaeon’s GENE-APL5 and Avalue’s ECM-APL. The PCM-9366 supports all five processor options, and like the MIO-2360 and MIO-5350, can load up to 8GB of RAM.

PCM-9366

Unlike the two MIO boards, the PCM-9366 can drive triple displays, in this case via VGA, HDMI, and 48-bit LVDS interfaces. It also provides dual GbE ports, as well as mini-PCIe and M.2 E-key expansion.

 
AIMB-217

The AIMB-217 is only the second Apollo Lake Mini-ITX we’ve seen after Adlink’s AmITX-AL-I. It supports the quad-core Atom E3940, quad-core Pentium N4200, and dual-core Celeron N3350. Windows 10 IoT Core appears to be the default OS, but Linux and Windows Embedded are also supported.

AIMB-217, front and back

The AIMB-217 supports up to 16GB DDR3L via dual SODIMMs, and offers dual SATA 2.0 slots, one of which “colays” with M.2 E-key. There’s also a full-size mini-PCIe slot with SIM holder that shares space with mSATA.


AIMB-217 block diagram
(click image to enlarge)

Triple displays are available via various coastline ports. These include HDMI 1.4 (3840 x 2160 @ 30 Hz), as well as DisplayPort 1.2 (4096 x 2160 @ 60 Hz) which colays with 48-bit LVDS. A VGA port colays with eDP.

The AIMB-217 has rear panel ports including dual GbE, 4x USB 3.0, and an audio jack. Internal I/O includes 4x USB 2.0 and 5x RS-232, plus RS-232/422/485, PS/2, and 8-bit GPIO.

Optional AIMB-217 enclosure

Additional features include a watchdog and 12V DC input. Options include an enclosure, AC100-240V adapters, and a -20 to 70°C model.

 
PCM-9563

The PCM-9563 uses the rarely seen, 203 x 146mm EBX form factor, which does not use real-world coastline ports. Other EBX boards include Perfectron’s OXY5638A SBC.

PCM-9563

The PCM-9563 appears to support all five Apollo Lake options, and runs Linux, Windows 10, WEC32, QNX, and VxWorks. Up to 16GB of RAM is supported. You can purchase the SBC with up to 3x GbE ports. Triple displays are supported with HDMI 1.4, DP, eDP, VGA, and 48-bit LVDS, and the DP and eDP interfaces support up to 4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz resolution. A Realtek ALC888 codec provides audio I/O.

The PCM-9563 is further equipped with 2x SATA 3.0, full-size mSATA, 2x USB 3.0, 6x USB 2.0, 2x RS-422, and 2x RS-422/485. You also get 16-bit GPIO, SMBus, I2C, Parallel, and PS/2. The old-school board even supports floppy disks via an optional LPT interface. Judging from the Taiwan Excellence Award 2011 icon shown in the detail view below, this may well be an older EBX board, updated with the new Atoms.

PCM-9563 detail view (left) and block diagram
(click images to enlarge)

Expansion features include a mix of old and new: PCI, PCI-104, full-size mini-PCIe with SIM holder, and an M.2 E-key interface. The 12V AT/ATX board is available with an optional heatspreader and wiring kit.

 
Further information

Advantech’s Apollo Lake SBCs will be available in Q1 or Q2 2017. More details may be found in the following product pages:

• MIO-2360 — Pico-ITX (100 x 72mm)
• MIO-5350 — 3.5-inch (146 x 102mm)
• PCM-9366 — 3.5-inch (146 x 102mm)
• AIMB-217 — Mini-ITX (170 x 170mm)
• PCM-9563 — EBX (203 x 146 mm)