Vecow’s rugged “ECX-3000” runs Linux on a 12th Gen Alder Lake processor. The fanless embedded system has up to 8x 2.5G LAN with 4 PoE+, optional 2x 10GigE LAN, 4x front-access M.2 SSD trays, DC 9-50V and -40 to 75°C extended temperature support.

Vecow has launched its ECX-3000 series fanless embedded system that runs Linux or Win 10 on the latest 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake–S Core processor. The system features support for 9V to 50V wide range power input, an extended temperature range of -40°C to 75°C and ignition power control. Like its previous ECX series system, Vecow calls the ECX-3000 a “workstation grade” box and targets it for machine vision, in-vehicle computing, public security, factory automation, robotic control, and any edge AI applications.

ECX-3000 front (left) and rear view
(click images to enlarge)

We’ve seen a slew of board-level announcements, many this past week, based on Intel’s 12 Gen Alder Lake CPUs. However, this is the first box-level level Alder Lake product we’ve covered so far. The most recent Vecow ECX series system we covered, in September, was its ECX-2400 AI computer that blends a 10th Gen CPU with a Blaize Xplorer AI PCIe card. At 260.0 x 175.0 x 79.0mm, the ECX-3000 is bit more compact than the ECX-2400 AI.

The 12th Gen Alder Lake uses a 10nm fabrication process, just like Intel’s 11th Gen Tiger Lake processors. But the Alder Lake is an “Enhanced SuperFin” design called Intel 7. The 12th Gen CPUs debut a hybrid architecture somewhat like Arm’s Big.Little with DynamIQ multi-core orchestration.

Alder Lake uses a combination of “Golden Cove” Performance-cores (P-cores) and lower power “Gracemount” Efficient-cores (E-cores). Like Tiger Lake, Alder Lake features high-end, up to 96EU Iris Xe graphics, as well as DL-Boost and Intel AVX2 for AI acceleration across CPU and GPU cores. The 12th Gen platform advances to up to 4800 MT/s DDR5 RAM and up to 16-lane PCIe Gen5, which boasts up to twice the throughput over PCIe 4.0.

The ECX-3000 is available with a variety of Alder Lake-S 12th Gen processor versions— the i9, i7, i5, i3 — running with the Intel 600 series chipset and up to 65W TDP CPU supported. Memory includes up to 64GB DDR4 @ 3200MHz SO-DIMM (either ECC or non-ECC).

The system has 2x external 2.5-inch SSD trays, with optional support for 4x front-access M.2 SSD trays. Additional storage is available via an M.2 M-key 2280 socket with PCIe x4, along with 2x mini-PCIe slots, which support mSATA storage.

ECX-3000 detail view

The ECX-3000 supports multiple 5G/WiFi/4G/LTE/GPRS/UMTS for wireless communication with a SIM card socket. The ECX-3000 is outfitted with high-speed connectivity including up to 8x 2.5G LAN ports with 4x PoE+, optional 2x 10GigE LAN ports. Other features include 6x USB 3.2, 4x RS-232/422/485, and 8-in/8-out isolated DIO.

For display interfacing, the ECX provides 2x DisplayPort for up to 7680 x 4320 @60Hz/5120 x 2880 @60Hz displays. There’s also 1x DVI-I for up to 1920 x 1080 @60Hz displays and 1x HDMI for up to 4096 x 2160 @60Hz displays. Audio support (Realtek ALC888S-VD) is included with 1 mic-in, 1 line-out.

The ECX-3000 has a 9-50V DC terminal block with ignition control and remote power switch. Other features include TPM 2.0, a watchdog, HW monitoring, and LEDs. Wall mounting is supported using a mounting bracket, while DIN-rail and 2U rackmount are optional. Other features include support for TPM 2.0 and Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN).

The system has a -40 to 75°C operating range, but the 10G LAN SKU has tighter range of 0 to 75°C. Other ruggedization features include 95% at 75°C relative humidity tolerance, EMC certifications, and shock and vibration resistance per IEC 60068-2-27 and IEC 60068-2-64.

Further Information

No pricing or availability information was provided for the ECX-3000. More information may be found in Vecow’s announcement and product page.