DFI AL253-TN-40E40 Intel Apollo Lake Atom x5-E3940 4″ EPIC Single Board Computer with 9 to 36 V DC Input and -40 to 85 °C

Traffic controllers, rail signaling cabinets and utility substations need a board that holds its temperature rating without relying on a fan. The AL253-TN-40E40 is the quad-core Atom x5-E3940 build for extended temperatures in the DFI AL253 series of 4″ EPIC single board computers, rated for -40 to 85 °C and giving four cores at a lower TDP than the x7-E3950 build.

Its Intel Atom x5-E3940 (Apollo Lake) runs four cores at 1.6 GHz, bursting to 1.8 GHz, within a 9.5 W TDP, which can leave more thermal margin in a sealed enclosure at the top of the range. 4 GB of DDR3L is soldered to the board, and one DDR3L 1866 MHz SO-DIMM slot takes the total to 8 GB. Intel HD Graphics drives a DP++ output at up to 4096 x 2160 at 60 Hz and a VGA output at up to 1920 x 1200 for dual displays.

Four GbE ports on Intel I211AT or I210IT controllers separate the field network from the backhaul, and four RS-232/422/485 COM ports plus an 8-bit DIO reach controllers, detectors and relays. USB is two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports and two USB 2.0 on headers. A full-size Mini PCIe socket with SIM takes a cellular modem, an M.2 E-key (2230) takes Wi-Fi and one SATA port takes an SSD. Firmware TPM 2.0 and a watchdog timer, programmable from 1 to 255 seconds, are on board.

The AL253-TN-40E40 runs from 9 to 36 V DC on a barrel connector and carries CE, FCC, UKCA and RoHS compliance. AL253-TN-40E50 offers the Atom x7-E3950 at the same temperature range for heavier workloads, and AL253-TN-20E30 the dual-core Atom x5-E3930 where power matters more than cores.