Diamond Systems ATHENA IV : ATH4-E3845-8G064A Fanless Rugged PC/104 SBC with COM Module and Heat Sink Cooling

PC/104 products in long service often need a processor refresh long before the rest of the system is due for redesign. The ATH4-E3845-8G064A is the 8 GB, 64 GB eMMC build with data acquisition in the Diamond Systems ATHENA IV series: the fourth Athena generation, which keeps the board shape and most connectors of earlier Athena boards while moving the processor onto a replaceable COM Express module.

Diamond lists this 8 GB and 64 GB eMMC configuration with an Intel Atom E3940, a quad-core Apollo Lake processor at 1.6 GHz, on a COM Express Type 10 mini module with the RAM soldered on the module. The integrated eMMC holds the operating system without a separate drive, and because the module sits on a carrier, a later COM can replace it with little re-engineering. Graphics output covers VGA and single-channel 24-bit LVDS.

The data acquisition circuit gives 16 single-ended or eight differential 16-bit analog inputs at up to 150 kHz with programmable gain, four 12-bit analog outputs, 24 digital I/O lines and two counter/timers, with autocalibration through Diamond’s Universal Driver software. System I/O covers two Gigabit Ethernet ports, one USB 3.0 and four USB 2.0 ports, four RS-232/422/485 ports and HD audio on an ALC262 codec, with an M.2 2230 SATA socket and a 7-pin SATA connector for extra storage. The ATH4-E3845-4GA is the 4 GB Atom E3845 build, and the ATH4-E3845-8G128A has 128 GB of eMMC.

Power is 5 V DC. The ATH4-E3845-8G064A runs fanless from -40 to 85 °C under a heat sink, and I/O modules stack on the PC/104 ISA bus from the top or, preferably, the bottom so they do not block airflow. An on-board RTC battery and an external battery connector keep time through power loss, and Windows 10 and Ubuntu Linux are supported. Diamond Systems names three uses for ATHENA IV: extending earlier Athena products, replacing an obsolete PC/104 SBC, and new long-life PC/104 systems.