Nexcom’s rugged “VTC 7251-7C4” in-vehicle PC runs Linux or Win 10 on an 8th or 9th Gen Coffee Lake CPU and offers 4x GbE ports with PoE, 4x mini-PCIe slots, plus GPS, HDMI, USB, serial, and isolated CAN.

Nexcom announced its second Coffee Lake based, VTC-branded in-vehicle system after the VTC 7250-7C8. The new VTC 7251-7C4 supports Intel’s 9th Gen Coffee Lake Refresh chips in addition to the 8th Gen models available on the earlier VTC 7250-7C8. (We may have skipped that system because it defaults to Windows, with Yocto Linux available only “on request.”) Earlier, Linux-ready VTC models that we have covered include last month’s Apollo Lake based VTC 6222.

VTC 7251-7C4, front and back
(click images to enlarge)

The VTC 7251-7C4 has 4x GbE ports with 802.3af/at compliant Power-over-Ethernet, compared to 8x PoE-enabled GbE ports on the VTC 7250-7C8. Yet, here the ports are promoted as being “independent.” There’s also a standard Intel I219 based GbE port with iAMT and WoL. The PoE ports are primarily designed to drive surveillance cameras and other devices on buses and other mass transit systems.

The VTC 7251-7C4 defaults to the 8th Gen, 6x core/12x thread Core i7-8700T clocked at 2.4GHz/4GHz, equipped with Intel UHD Graphics 630 and accompanied by an Intel Q370 chipset. Other 8th and 9th Gen variants are also available.

The system provides up to 64GB of dual-channel, 2666MHz DDR4 RAM. For storage, there are dual 2.5-inch SATA 3.0 SSD connectors with RAID 0/1 support.

Two of the 4x full-size mini-PCIe slots support mSATA along with USB 2.0 and PCIe 3.0. The other two mini-PCIe slots are USB 2.0-only and can be swapped out for M.2 B-key sockets with USB 2.0/3.0 support. In addition to these optional M.2 sockets there’s also a standard M.2 B-key slot and a U-blox NEO-M8N GNSS chip.

It’s unclear if the mini-PCIe and M.2 slots are the same as the “3x WWAN” modules, which can be swapped for a BOM optional 4x WWAN package with two additional SIM slots. All this wireless firepower is backed up on the standard model by 6x externally accessible SIM card sockets and 11x SMA antenna holes.

VTC 7251-7C4
(click image to enlarge)

For displays you get an HDMI 1.4b port for up to 4096 x 2160 @ 30Hz plus a VGA port at up to 1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz. Other features include 4x USB 3.1, 2x RS232, and single RS232/422/485 and DB15 ports. The latter supports isolated CANbus 2.0B, 4x-DI/4x-DO, and an optional GPS DR (Dead Reckoning) module for continuously updated location and driving condition information. Dual audio jacks, 20x LEDs, and optional TPM 2.0 are also available.

The 260 x 256 x 83.5mm, 4.2 kg system has a 9-36VDC terminal block input with various power protections and delays. There’s a watchdog timer plus power and reset buttons.

The VTC 7251-7C4 supports -30 to 60°C temperatures with 90% (non-condensing) humidity tolerance. Shock and vibration resistance are compliant with MIL-STD-810G, Method 514.6, Category 4 (vibration) and Category 24 (shock), and there’s also E13 compliance.

 
Further information

No pricing or availability information was provided for the VTC 7251-7C4. More information may be found in Nexcom’s announcement and product page.