DFI ADN173-CB-N97 Intel N97 Mini-ITX Embedded Motherboard with 9 to 36 V DC Input and Dual 2.5GbE

Edge gateways on production lines often run a protocol converter, a local database and a dashboard side by side, and they draw power from whatever the cabinet provides. The ADN173-CB-N97 is built for that in the DFI ADN173 range: a quad-core embedded motherboard with 32 GB memory support and a 9 to 36 V DC input.

The Intel Processor N97 runs four Alder Lake-N cores at up to 3.6 GHz in a 12 W TDP, with Intel UHD Graphics for display and hardware decode of HEVC, VP9, AV1 and AVC. One DDR5 4800 MHz SO-DIMM of up to 32 GB leaves room for containerised services and data buffered during network outages. The ADN173-CB-N50 is the 6 W choice when the load is light, and the ADN173-CB-i3-N305 steps up to eight cores at 15 W, with memory capped at 16 GB.

Two Intel I226V 2.5GbE ports can keep a machine network and an uplink on separate interfaces, and six COM ports (two RS-232/422/485, four RS-232) plus an 8-bit DIO connect serial devices and discrete signals. Two DisplayPort outputs sit on the rear with three USB 3.2 Gen 2 and one USB 2.0 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 headers stay inside. The M.2 B-key with Nano SIM suits a cellular module, the M.2 E-key a Wi-Fi card with CNVi support, and two SATA 3.0 ports and a PCIe x4 slot at x2 Gen3 cover storage and expansion.

The ADN173-CB-N97 takes 9 to 36 V DC on a barrel jack or 4-pin connector and runs from -5 to 65 °C, cooled by a passive heatsink. DFI lists CE, FCC, UKCA, RoHS and KC compliance, and the board supports Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB, Windows 11 and Linux, with a dTPM and a watchdog timer programmable from 1 to 255 seconds.