DFI AL553-TN-E3950 Quad-Core Intel Atom x7-E3950 3.5″ Industrial Motherboard with 9 to 36 V DC Input and Extended Temperature

A roadside or utility cabinet combines the hardest conditions for an embedded board: no heating or cooling, a supply that may come from batteries or a solar controller, and a cellular link as the only way home. The AL553-TN-E3950 is the extended temperature build in the DFI AL553 series of 3.5″ industrial motherboards, rated for -40 to 85 °C with a 9 to 36 V DC input.

Its Intel Atom x7-E3950 (Apollo Lake) runs four cores at 1.6 GHz, bursting to 2.0 GHz, within a 12 W TDP, which suits edge logging, protocol conversion and local analysis before data goes over a metered link. One DDR3L 1866 MHz SO-DIMM slot takes up to 8 GB, and a wide temperature module is worth specifying to match the board. Intel HD Graphics drives HDMI, VGA and dual-channel 24-bit LVDS for a maintenance screen.

A full-size Mini PCIe socket with an optional SIM slot takes a cellular modem and an M.2 E-key (2230) takes Wi-Fi, while an M.2 B-key (2242) with PCIe, USB 2.0 and SATA takes an SSD. Two GbE ports on Intel I210AT controllers connect cameras or local controllers, and one RS-232/422/485 COM port and an 8-bit DIO reach meters, detectors and door contacts. USB is two USB 3.1 Gen 1 and two USB 2.0 Type-A ports and two USB 2.0 on headers.

The AL553-TN-E3950 runs from 9 to 36 V DC on a 4-pin or barrel connector, cooled by a fanless heatsink, and carries CE, FCC, UKCA and RoHS compliance. Firmware TPM 2.0 and a watchdog timer programmable from 1 to 255 seconds suit unattended sites. Where -20 to 70 °C is enough, AL553-EN-E3950 is the wide temperature version, and AL553-BN-E3930 is the low-power choice for heated cabinets.