Avalue’s EMX-APLP and EMX-SKLUP are thin Mini-ITX boards that tap Intel’s Apollo Lake and Skylake-U CPUs, respectively, each with triple displays and 4K.

Avalue has launched a pair of “thin” Mini-ITX boards supporting Intel processors. The company never mentions the vertical dimension on the 170 x 170mm EMX-APLP and EMX-SKLUP motherboards, but the photos suggest they fit the general description. No OS support is listed, but Linux and Windows should run with no problems.

EMX-APLP (left) and EMX-SKLUP
(click images to enlarge)

The EMX-APLP runs on a quad-core Intel Pentium N4200 from the recent Apollo Lake generation, featuring a 1.1/2.5GHz clock rate and a 6W TDP. The board is designed for embedded applications including gaming, retail, digital signage, ATM machine, surveillance, and parking management. Other Apollo Lake thin Mini-ITX boards include Adlink’s AmITX-AL-I, DFI’s Ali17x, Aaeon’s EMB-APL, Advantech’s AIMB-217, Congatec’s Conga-IA5, and Kontron’s mITX-APL.



EMX-APLP (upper) and EMX-SKLUP (lower) portside views
(click images to enlarge)

The EMX-SKLUP is aimed at industrial, automation, small retail store POS, portable medical Point-of-Care, vehicle PC, DVR, and set-top box applications. It appears to be Avalue’s first thin Mini-ITX board based on an Intel Core processor. Avalue has already released a full-height EMX-H110P Mini-ITX board, which similarly runs on 6th Generation “Skylake” processors.

The new EMX-SKLUP focuses on the dual-core, 15W TDP U-Series parts, including the up to 2.6GHz Core i7-6600U. Other Skylake thin Mini-ITX boards include the Adlink AmITX-BW-I, Advantech AIMB-285, Congatec Conga-IC170, and Eurotech CPU-521-17.

Signaling just how close Intel’s low-end Core and high-end Atom/Pentium/Celeron product families have aligned, both boards offer triple display support, with individual DP and HDMI ports going up to 4K resolution, and LVDS connections up to 1920 x 1080. The extra-effort audio support is also almost identically spec’d, with analog and digital (S/PDIF) connections and built-in speaker amplifiers. Both boards provide dual GbE ports and wide-range 12-24V power, but are limited to 0 to 60°C environments.

 
EMX-APLP

The EMX-APLP with Pentium N4200 supports up to 16GB DDR3L, and provides 2x SATA interfaces, with one of the SATA ports available as mSATA 3.0 at the available mini-PCIe slot. There’s also an M.2 Type A with a WiFi module offered as a default, which can be swapped out for a PCIe slot. A SIM card slot is also available. The EMX-APLP is further equipped with triple display support, audio I/O, 9x USB interfaces, and 6x serial interfaces, among other features.

EMX-APLP, front view and block diagram
(click images to enlarge)

Specifications listed for the EMX-APLP include:

• Processor — Intel Pentium N4200 (4x Apollo Lake cores @ 1.1GHz/2.5GHz); 6W TDP
• Memory — Up to 16GB of DDR3L (1600.1333MHz) via 2x sockets
• Storage:
  • 2x SATA 3.0 channels (with power), with one available as mSATA 3.0 at mini-PCIe slot
• Display:
  • DisplayPort at up to 4096 x 2160 @60Hz (HDMI/DP or DP++)
  • HDMI/DP port at up to 3840 x 2160 @30Hz
  • LVDS (dual-channel, 18/24-bit) at up to 1920 x 1080 @60Hz or BOM-optional eDP @ 4096 x 2160
  • Triple display support
• Audio:
  • Audio mic-in, line-out jacks (Realtek ALC892)
  • S/PDIF interface
  • 2x stereo class-D 3W amplifier
• Networking — 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports (I211AT)
• Other I/O:
  • 4x USB 3.0 ports
  • 5x USB 2.0 headers
  • RS-232/422/485 header
  • 5x RS-232 headers
  • 16-bit GPIO
• Expansion:
  • Mini-PCIe (full size) slot mSATA support
  • M.2 Type A 2230 slot with WiFi module or PCIe x1 “by control EC”
  • SIM card slot
• Other features — Watchdog; hardware monitoring
• Power — 12-24V DC input (AT/ATX)
• Operating temperature — 0 to 60°C
• Dimensions — 170 x 170mm (Mini-ITX)
• Weight — 0.4 k

 
EMX-SKLUP

The EMX-SKLUP with Skylake-U is notable for offering up to 32GB DDR4 RAM, as well as 2x SATA interfaces. The board provides an SD slot, PCIe expansion, a SIM card slot, and both M.2 Key B (storage) and M.2 Key A (PCIe/USB) slots. You also get 8x USB, 6x serial, and both digital and analog audio, among other features.

EMX-SKLUP front view and block diagram
(click images to enlarge)

Specifications listed for the EMX-SKLUP include:

• Processor — Intel 6th Gen Core U-Series with 2x Skylake cores and 15W TDPs: Celeron 3955U @ 2.0GHz, Core i3-6100U @ 2.3GHz, Core i5 6300U @2.4GHz/3.4GHz, Core i7 6600U 2.6GHz/3.4GHz
• Memory — Up to 32GB of DDR4 (2133MHz) via 2x sockets
• Storage:
  • SD slot
  • 2x SATA 3.0 (with power)
  • M.2 Type B 3042/2242/2260/2280
• Display:
  • DisplayPort at up to 4096 x 2160 @60Hz (HDMI/DP or DP++)
  • HDMI port at up to 3840 x 2160 @30Hz
  • LVDS (dual-channel, 18/24-bit) at up to 1920 x 1080 @60Hz or BOM-optional eDP @ 4096 x 2160
  • Triple display support
• Audio:
  • Audio mic-in, line-out jacks (Realtek ALC892)
  • S/PDIF interface
  • 2x stereo class-D 6W amplifier
• Networking — 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports (I211AT + I219LM)
• Other I/O:
  • 4x USB 3.0 ports
  • 4x USB 2.0 headers
  • 2x RS-232/422/485 interfaces
  • 2x RS-232 headers
  • 16-bit GPIO
• Expansion:
  • PCIe slot
  • M.2 Type A slot
  • SIM card slot
• Other features — Watchdog; hardware monitoring
• Power — 12-24V DC input (AT/ATX)
• Operating temperature — 0 to 60°C
• Dimensions — 170 x 170mm (Mini-ITX)
• Weight — 0.4 k

 
Further information

The EMX-APLP and EMX-SKLU Mini-ITX boards are available now, with pricing undisclosed. More information may be found in Avalue’s announcement, as well as its EMX-APLP and EMX-SKLU product pages.