Looking at industrial and medical application there are constantly growing demands on modern embedded systems. Selecting the right sub-elements is the key to success for a high performance embedded system.
Together with our partners Magic Power Technology, Avalue Technology Inc. and ADATA Technology Co. TRS-STAR is offering optimized bundles consisting of power supply, motherboard and storage elements.
TRS-STAR acts as a system and solution provider which is providing a fully tested embedded system consisting of special selected single components which match the customer demands regarding performance, price and availability.
Besides of the hardware solution TRS-STAR is also able to support special request concerning software and BIOS adaptions as well as the support of special cables and connectors.
The selection of mainboard and chipset is based on the common form factors and standards in the market which are necessary to fulfil the specific application demands. Special attention should be paid to the required interfaces (VGA, HDMI, DP, LVDS), slots and the chipset, which should of course meet the required functionality of the system. For future extensions and adaptions of next generation system it´s good to have a performance margin with a CPU with high base frequency and powerful graphic driver. For future extensions and adaptions of the next generation system it´s good to have a performance margin with a CPU with high base frequency and a powerful graphic driver. The selection of the suitable storage elements depends also on different specific factors and is always a compromise between system requirement and costs. In general the choice should be a storage element with fix BOM longevity, low latency and high transmission bandwidth with low power consumption.
In general all selected components should be rated for extended (industrial) temperature range to ensure high reliability in industrial application.
But apart from all technical aspects the key issue is the long-term availability for all industrial customers. Therefore TRS-STAR is offering high quality memory and storage components as well as comprehensive and professional advice to support the end user with the right solution.
Selecting the right power supply is another key point for setting up a professional embedded system. Especially the need of using power supplies with higher output power will often bring the difficulty to decide which topology is the best: Single -or Multi-rail Power Supply.
In general using a multi-rail power supply in an optimized system with matched components will enhance the operating safety and reliability of the whole application.
The power requirement of every output can be regulated very tight and therefore overload conditions of every single rail can be detected and controlled very fast and easily before any damage occurs. Additionally because of the current distribution in the single rails there is lower current flow per channel which can result in better EMI.
A single rail topology has the advantage that there is only one rail which has to be controlled and protected. This means less circuit complexity realizing protection functions e.g. overcurrent protection for every string which will result in lower system costs. Also the end user is less limited in using components with higher output power because there is always the total output power of the power supply available.
At the end, the individual requirements of the application are important for making the decision and the evaluation requires very special knowledge. Even if there are experienced people involved in the project there is often not enough time to evaluate every important parameter or there is no appropriate laboratory equipment available to do the examinations.
Especially for ATX power supplies the required tests are very extensive and time consuming. Besides the manual of the motherboard the Intel Design Guide “Desktop Platform Form Factors Power Supply Design Guide” is a very important reference. In this design guide there are important information described regarding power supply timing, signals and the sequential processes of the output voltages during the operation of the power supply.
Slightly shortened there are the two main topics “Booting“ and “Power Failure“:
After applying mains voltage there is initially generated a 5V standby voltage to supply the motherboard. After turning on the system the power supply is starting shorting the On/Off Pin to ground and providing the main voltages 3.3V/5V/12V und -12V.
For stable operation during the startup it is necessary that the 12V output is higher than the 3.3V and 5V outputs.
As soon the output voltages have reached their defined values the PG/PF signal turns from low to high and the board gets the signal to continue with the startup sequence. Then the system has achieved stable operation conditions.
In case of a brownout - means the complete failure of the input side- the power supply will send a power fail signal to the board with a reaction time of minimum 1ms before the output voltages will fail to ensure safe shutdown and buffering data.
In case of short-term failure of the grid (e.g. failure of a full wave) the power supply must be able to maintain the output power until they can be buffered e.g. by an UPS.
In addition to the stated requirements for save operation the designer must select the power supply with the matching output performance.
Using a single-rail power supply the determination of the right power supply is much easier because since the maximum output power requirements of the single components are fixed it just must be added or it can also be defined experimentally in the lab by using current probe and oscilloscope.
Using an ATX power supply the calculation is more complicated because the power consumption of the single board components can vary during operation not running in steady-state condition. This means adding just the single component power requirements is often leading in an oversizing the power supply which has a negative impact on form factor and the price.
To define the real power requirement there is the need to do a simultaneous analysis of the power demand of every single output during all possible operating conditions. As a general rule each channel should be able to provide a higher output power in case other outputs are less loaded.
Another important point is the EMI compatibility of the embedded system in industrial environment. As a result of using pre-tested bundles which are built-up with matching and functionally tested components there are rarely complications with EMI during the qualification. In case there is the need for rework of the system because of EMI problems the customer has a contact who is already familiar with the system solution and is able to solve problems much more efficient than talking with lots of different contact person in different companies working in parallel.
Together with our partner and power supply manufacturer Magic Power, TRS-STAR is offering customized embedded system solutions. The bundles consisting of power supply, motherboard and memory solution are selected by product experts at the beginning of the project planning phase according to the special requirement of the customer.
On request the service includes also BIOS adjustments or customized software solutions. Purchasing various components from only one source (one-stop-shop) brings an advantage regarding process costs, supplier management and logistics. Also delivery problems can be avoided.