October 2015
26
E
mbedded
C
omputing
cameras with 1080p at 30Hz. Photos with res-
olutions of up to 5 megapixels are supported.
The main advantages of the integrated MIPI-
CSI2 interface are the extremely low costs
and space-saving integration in comparison
to USB cameras, as both image signal pro-
cessors as well as sensor and camera control
functions are integrated directly into the pro-
cessor graphics. The availability of this simple
camera technology opens up completely new
scenarios for a host of applications. The main
application areas could be not only webcam
and video telephony functions but also intel-
ligent vision systems that thanks to the two
cameras could even provide 3D image and
video data. Application areas can be found in
video surveillance and access control in build-
ing, or include quality management systems
in manufacturing right up to vision-based
control of autonomous vehicles.
The I/Os integrated in the processors experi-
enced some small but effective improvements.
For instance, now even more native support
for USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports is available. Further
to this, up to two SATA data storage units with
up to 6.0 Gbps can be connected up to twice
as fast (SATA Revision 3.1). Fast DDR3L 1600
modules are also now used for the memory. In
addition to these new features, further func-
tions are available which are familiar from the
Intel Atom processors of the Bay Trail gener-
ation, such as PCIe Gen2 interfaces for indi-
vidual extensions or security features like the
Intel AES-NI Encryption Instruction Set or
Secure Boot.
congatec has made the new high-end class in
the low-power area available on the Qseven
modules conga-QA4 that will initially support
three of these new processor variants (Pen-
tium N3700 and Celeron N3150 and N3050).
They are designed to conform to SGET Spec.
2 Addendum and, among other things, will
consequently include the MIPI-CSI2 inter-
face. According to performance requirements,
these modules are equipped with up to 8GB
of onboard RAM and up to 64GB of eMMC
flash. Industry-grade extensions such as I²C
Bus (400 kHz Fast Mode, Multi-Master), SPI
or Power Loss Control have also been imple-
mented. Other features which are integrated
via the embedded controller board such as
Multi-Stage Watchdog, non-volatile storage
of user data, unique manufacturing and board
information, readable board statistics, data
backup functions or customer-specific data
are not only available for onboard use. Poten-
tially, they also provide an important basis for
big data in innovative IoT apps to, for example,
optimize maintenance management. How this
data could be provided in a standardized way
and how an IoT connection should look seen
from the perspective of embedded computer
technology is currently being worked on in
the very active SGET (Standardization Group
for Embedded Technologies e.V.) after the
V2.0 Carrier Board Design Guide for Qseven
was completed at the beginning of the year.
These specifications are a crucial basis for fur-
ther developments in embedded computer
technology and the reason why congatec has
opted for the SGET Standard Qseven for its
first implementation. Even more significant,
however, was the form factor itself with its
dimensions of 70x70mm which was devel-
oped especially for the low-power segment
Average Geekbench Scores
Processor
Freq.
[MHz]
Cores Single-‐Core
Score
(SCS)
SCS/TDP Multi-‐Core
Score
(MCS)
MCS/TDP TDP
[W]
Burst
Freq Cache
Intel Core i5-‐
5350U
1800
2
2482
165
4881
325
15
2,90
3
Intel Core i3-‐
5010U
2100
2
1994
133
4108
274
15
2,10
3
Intel Pentium
N3700
(Braswell)
1600
4
961
160
3243
541
6
2,40
2
Intel Celeron
J1900 (Bay Trail)
2000
4
926
93
2863
286
10
2,42
2
Intel Celeron
N3150(Braswell)
1600
4
842
140
2629
438
6
2,08
2
Intel Atom
E3845 (Bay Trail)
1900
4
804
80
2617
262
10
1,91
2
Intel Celeron
N2930 (Bay
Trail)
1800
4
819
109
2566
342
7,5 2,16
2
Intel Celeron
N3050(Braswell)
1600
2
884
147
1672
279
6
2,16
2
Intel Atom
E3827 (Bay Trail)
1750
2
782
98
1402
175
8
1,75
1
Source :
Table 1. The Intel Pentium N3700 processor achieves absolute peak values in the multicore
score per TDP and takes on a leading role in high-end low-power processors.
Figure 2. Intel Braswell SoC block diagram
Figure 3. Coming soon: the congatec IoT Star-
terkit for Braswell processors which simplifies
entry into IoT applications.
