Diamond Systems ZETA : ZETA-E3950-8G128D Wide Temperature Mini COM Express Single Board Computer with PCI Expansion

Gateways and controllers on vehicles tend to collect software over their service life, as protocol stacks, logging and diagnostics all take storage. The ZETA-E3950-8G128D is the Atom E3950 digital I/O build in the Diamond Systems ZETA series, a COM Express SBC with 128 GB of eMMC, built from a COM Express Mini Type 10 module, a same-size carrier board and a heat spreader supplied as one assembly.

The Intel Atom E3950 is a quad-core Apollo Lake processor at 1.6 GHz with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of eMMC on the module. The COM follows the COM Express standard, so a newer module can replace it in the same form factor with little or no hardware redesign, which Diamond positions for long-life military, medical and transportation products. Graphics drive VGA and single-channel 24-bit LVDS, and a watchdog timer resets the system after a programmable interval.

Digital I/O comes from a PCA9535 expander with 16 lines, user-selectable 3.3 or 5 V logic and pull-up or pull-down resistors. System I/O covers two Gigabit Ethernet ports, four RS-232/422/485 ports with programmable protocol and termination, four USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 port, a MiniCard/mSATA socket and a Micro SD socket. The ZETA-E3950-8G128A adds the full 16-bit data acquisition circuit to the same processor and storage, and the ZETA-E3940-8G064D offers digital I/O with an Atom E3940 and 64 GB of eMMC.

Input is 6 to 36 V DC. The ZETA-E3950-8G128D runs fanless from -40 to 85 °C, measured at the external surface of the bottom heat spreader, which conducts heat to the enclosure and leaves the top side free for a daughterboard. The expansion connector carries two PCIe x1 links, SATA, HD audio and USB 2.0 to Diamond’s ZETA-DB-01 or ZETA-DB-02, which add a MiniCard socket and an M.2 2242 SATA socket. Diamond supports Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB.