February 2015
38
E
mbedded
C
omputing
How to get to the
tailored industrial PC fast?
By Christian Lang,
MSC Technologies
On the basis of standardized
building blocks, MSC Technologies
has developed the first embedded
system from the new NanoServer
family under the brand DSM Compu-
ter. The flexible Box IPC is based on a
fourth-generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7
processor and the Intel Q87 Express
chipset from the desktop series.
A modular design plays an ever more
important role for compact industrial com-
puters, to satisfy the current expectations that
many OEM customers have for flexibility cou-
pled with short development times. To comply
with these requirements, MSC Technologies
presents new NanoServer embedded systems
under the label DSM Computer. The pow-
erful N1-Q87 box industrial PC integrates
the Intel Q87 Express desktop chipset and a
fourth-generation (desktop series) Intel Core
i3/i5/i7processor.
Embedded solutions for the industrial mar-
ket are characterized more than ever by their
individual and flexible configurations. Even
for small batch sizes, most OEM develop-
ers desire customer-specific computers on
the same terms as standard systems, and are
normally not prepared to pay high design
costs. The price pressure, even for technically
sophisticated products, and the requirement
to market the system after ever shorter design
times are increasing. Furthermore, many cus-
tomers require the products to be delivered
quickly even without existing blanket orders.
The robust industrial systems must also oper-
ate reliably without service calls and remain
available for more than five years.
How can the specific requests of the custom-
ers be fulfilled? Customer-specific embed-
ded systems can only be successfully realized
through a wide dedicated range of standard
products and a consistent platform concept.
To achieve this, MSC Technologies focuses on
predefined building blocks, which are scalable
in their performance. The versatile building
blocks were developed by MSC according to
customer-specific requirements and quickly
made available. The modular system includes
standardized computer-on-modules (COMs),
various baseboards, flexible industrial hous-
ings, sophisticated cooling solutions, memory
modules, solid state disks (SSDs) and displays
with or without touch technologies - every-
thing from one source.
The system design includes, among other
things, the integration of a mainboard or a
computer-on-module with baseboard, the
integration of HDDs/SSDs, the power sup-
ply and cabling. A cooling solution optimized
for the application is of high importance for
most of the projects. In many applications, the
industrial PC with a display including touch
is combined to a HMI terminal. 3D CAD sys-
tems and a temperature simulation are used
during the design phase. The complete system
goes through a functional test, compatibility
verification and tests that simulate various
harsh environments depending on the appli-
cation. Approvals according to CE, FCC, UL,
EN 60601, etc are routine. Manufacturing of
the complex industrial systems takes place at
the MSC site in Freiburg, Germany. The pro-
duction site is specialized in flexible, efficient
and timely manufacturing of small and large
series in lot sizes of several hundred pieces per
week. The factory is certified according to ISO
9001:2008 and ISO 13485 (medical devices).
To integrate different CPU boards easily
and flexibly in accordance with the building
blocks concept, the new NanoServer family
is equipped with an IO Shield. This allows
identical housings to be used for all computer
models of the same installation height, irre-
spective of the plug connector variants of the
individually installed Mini ITX boards. The
larger number of units allows the price of the
industrial housing to be reduced significantly.
Like the predecessor family, the NanoServer
is offered in the three variants NN, N1 and N2
that differ in the number of free slots. In addi-
tion to the N1-Q87 with a PCI Express slot
and an installation height of 79 mm, the slim-
line 58mm NanoServer NN without slots and
N2 with two slots will be available soon.
Because all embedded systems are based on an
industrial mainboard, thanks to their identi-
cal footprint and standard fastening solutions,
they can be replaced with other models of the
series if required. For example, to extend a sys-
tem, the customer can insert a CAN bus card
