Avalue EMX-APLP Intel Apollo Lake Celeron Thin Mini-ITX Motherboards with 12 to 24 V DC Input and Dual 2.5GbE

Plenty of kiosks, signage players and control panels were designed around Intel Apollo Lake and its DDR3L memory, and changing processor would mean revalidating software, drivers and OS images that already work in the field. The Avalue EMX-APLP series keeps the Intel Celeron J3455 available on a 170 x 170 mm Thin Mini-ITX board, now with dual 2.5GbE, fanless heatsink cooling and a 12 to 24 V DC input.

The single build, EMX-APLP-3455-B1R, uses the Intel Celeron J3455, a quad-core Apollo Lake processor at up to 2.3 GHz with a 10 W TDP, which suits signage playback, kiosk software, HMI and simple control. Two DDR3L 1600 MHz SO-DIMM slots take up to 16 GB. Intel HD Graphics drives a DP++ output, a second output that works as HDMI or DisplayPort, and an internal dual-channel LVDS connector, with up to three independent displays. A hardware watchdog restarts the board if the application hangs, and Avalue lists Windows 10 and Linux.

Networking is two 2.5GbE ports on Intel I226LM controllers, so a content network and a device network stay separate. Four rear USB 3.0 Type-A ports and five internal USB 2.0 connections take touch controllers, printers and scanners. Six COM headers, one RS-232/422/485 and five RS-232, connect card readers, payment terminals and PLCs, and 16-bit DIO handles sensors and relays. HD audio with line-out, mic-in and an on-board amplifier suits announcements and kiosk prompts.

For storage and wireless, a full-size Mini PCIe slot with PCIe, USB, SATA and a SIM slot takes an mSATA SSD or a 4G module, two SATA ports add drives, and a PCIe x1 Gen 2 slot takes an expansion card. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be added for sites without cabled networking, and the 4G option gives a remote kiosk or signage player its own backhaul without a separate router.

Power is 12 to 24 V DC on a lockable barrel jack, with AT or ATX modes set by jumper. The EMX-APLP operates from 0 to 60 °C with 0.5 m/s airflow under its fanless heatsink. For newer processors on the same board size, see the EMX-TWLP series on Intel Twin Lake and the EMX-ASLP series on Intel N97 and Atom x7433RE.