congatec conga-SA8 Amston Lake SMARC modules are targeted at industrial edge applications

Congatec’s new conga-SA8 SMARC modules are powered by the Intel Atom x7000RE “Amston Lake” processors. With twice the processing cores and similar power consumption to the previous generation, congatec’s new credit-card-sized modules are “intended for future-facing industrial edge computing and powerful virtualization.”

An Intel Core i3‑N305 Alder Lake-N processor is also offered as an alternative to the Intel Atom x7000RE series for high-performance IoT edge applications. The conga-SA8 modules support up to 16GB LPDDR5 onboard memory, 256GB eMMC 5.1 onboard flash memory, and offer several high-bandwidth interfaces such as USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe Gen 3, and SATA Gen 3. The integrated Intel UHD Gen 12 graphics processing unit has up to 32 execution units and can power three independent 4K displays.

The conga-SA8 is described as virtualization-ready and has a hypervisor (virtual machine monitor) integrated into the firmware. The RTS hypervisor takes complete advantage of the eight processing cores supported by the SA8 module and can enable the development of consolidated systems for multiple applications without introducing extra costs.

In related news, ADLINK had previously announced two Intel Atom x7000RE “Amston Lake” modules in the COM Express and SMARC form factors.

congatec conga-SA8 specifications:

• SoC (one or the other)
  • Intel Core i3-N305 Alder Lake-N (8x 1.8 GHz, 6MB, 9W) –
  • Intel Atom x7425E Amston Lake (4-core processor with 1.5GHz core frequency up to 3.4GHz (Turbo)
  • Intel Atom x7433RE Amston Lake (4 x 1.5 GHz, 9W)
  • Intel Atom x7835RE Amston Lake (8 x 1.3 GHz, 12W)
  • All with integrated Intel UHD Graphics with up to 32EUs
• Memory – 16GB max. onboard LPDDR5 (up to 4.800 MT/s)
• Storage
  • eMMC 5.1 onboard flash up to 256 GB (optional)
  • SATA Gen 3.2
  • NVMe SSD via 4x PCIe Gen3
• Video
  • Dual channel LVDS transmitter (support for flat panels with 2 x 24 bit data mapping up to a resolution of 1920×1200 @60Hz) | shared with eDP(option) or MIPI-DSI 1.3 x4 (option)
  • HDMI 2.0b: 4K x 2K @ 60Hz
  • eDP 1.4b: 4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz HBR3
  • DP 1.4: 4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz
  • 3 independent display pipes, up to 3x 4Kp60 resolution
• Ethernet – 2x 2.5 GbE with TSN support via Intel i226 Ethernet controller series, Supporting Time Sensitive Networking (TSN), 2 Software Definable Pins (SDPs) to be used for IEEE 1588
• Wireless – Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210, BT 5.3 (optional)
• USB – 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 6x USB 2.0
• Other Peripherals
  • I2C – 3x I²C bus, 2 x I²C CSI, GP I²C
  • SPI, eSPI, 4x UART, SM-Bus
  • 12x GPIOs
• Power Management – ACPI 5 .0 compliant, Smart Battery Management
• Security – TPM 2.0, Intel PlatformTrust Technology, Intel BootGuard, Intel OS Guard
• Hypervisor – RTS Real-Time Hypervisor
• congatec Board Controller – Multistage watchdog, non-volatile user data storage, manufacturing and board information, board statistics, fast mode and multi-master I²C bus, power loss control
• Dimensions – 82 x 50 mm (SMARC 2.1 form factor)
• Temperature Range
  • Embedded SKUs: Operating 0°C to 60°C | Storage -20°C to 80°C
  • Industrial SKUs: Operating -40°C to 85°C | Storage -40°C to 85°C
•  Humidity
  • • Operating: 10 to 90% r. H. non-condensing
    • Storage 5 to 95% r. H. non-condensing
• Operating Systems – Windows 11, Windows 11 IoT Enterprise, Windows 10, Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, Linux

Certain variants of the conga-SA8 SMARC modules are designed for industrial environments, with an operating temperature range of -40°C to 85°C. The modules also feature in-band error correction code (ECC) and soldered DRAM for increased resilience in harsh environments.

Expected applications include stationary and mobile control systems for manufacturing and logistics, including AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots), AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles), and medical technology. Other application areas are rail, transportation, construction, agriculture, and forestry.

The conga-SA8 SMARC module also comes in congatec’s application-ready computer-on-module format, aReady.COM. They offer configurations that include a pre-installed ctrlX OS (an industrial Linux operating system from Bosch Rexroth) and virtual machines for real-time control, HMI, AI, IIoT data exchange, and other tasks. Furthermore, congatec’s design-in services, evaluation boards, documentation, and training aim to simplify application development and reduce time to market.

The press release and product page contain more information about the modules. You can get a price quote by requesting it on the product page.

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