It has become apparent that not all users are familiar with Advantech’s unique components and peripherals required to successfully configure a fully assembled and operational Industrial PC. I have decided to address what I believe to be the 10 most important things to consider when doing so. Since I have quite a bit to say on successful industrial PC configuration, this will be split up into a three-part series. Today, I will address PC Form Factor, Power Supply Options and ISA/PCI/PCIe Cards.
Part 1: PC Form Factor, Power Supply Options and ISA/PCI/PCIe Cards:
1. PC Form Factor
Understanding your space and application requirements will enable you to select the appropriate chassis, Embedded PC or HMI display. Most chassis are available in rack mount/wall mount/desktop form-factor and provide 5 to 20 slots for I/O expansion. There are also Embedded PCs, which are I/O-intensive, small form-factor fanless PCs. If you require a display with your PC, you can select a fanless Touch Panel Computer (TPC). For a display with a bit more I/O, a Panel PC (PPC) or Industrial Panel PC (IPPC) are great options. The form-factor you select will dictate the peripherals and internal/external I/O options available for configuration. At the board level, if you require a lot of I/O, you will want to utilize a PICMG 1.0/PICMG 1.3 single board computer (SBC) with a PICMG 1.0/PICMG 1.3 passive backplane. If you don’t require a ton of I/O, a chassis with an ATX, microATX or mini-ATX motherboard will work just fine for you. If you select an Embedded Automation Computer, TPC, PPC or IPPC, the embedded board is already included, so there won’t be as much configuration flexibility.
2. Power Supply Options
It’s important to select a power supply that has enough “juice” to not only support your PC but also any additional internal I/O or external I/O/peripherals. Most industrial power supplies are available in ATX form factor and range from 300W to 700W. There are also redundant models available for those that require them. For Embedded PCs and HMI Displays, 120V AC power supplies are also available if 12-24V DC won’t work for you.
3. ISA/PCI/PCIe Cards
If you have an application that will interface with I/O cards installed in your PC, you will want to make sure that you select a platform with enough I/O slots to not only accommodate the amount of cards but the type of cards. Since legacy ISA is still very prevalent, there are PICMG 1.0 passive backplanes available to support your needs. Please keep in mind that PICMG 1.0 backplanes will only include ISA & PCI slots. The single board computer utilized with the passive backplane will also be PICMG 1.0. You can’t mix a PICMG 1.0 SBC with a PICMG 1.3 passive backplane or vice versa. If you require a mixture of PCI and PCIe slots, you would be looking at a PICMG 1.3 passive backplane and single board computer or any ATX/microATX/mini-ITX motherboard form-factors. Unfortunately, there are no longer any motherboards that support ISA, but that does make it a bit easier to determine what you have available to work with. One other variable you will want to keep in mind is that not all PCIe cards are the same. Whether they are x1, x4, x8 or x16, you will need to reference the product data sheet of the motherboard or passive backplane you are considering to see if it will accommodate all of the cards and types you require.
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Hopefully, I was able to shed some additional light on PC Form Factor, Power Supply Options and ISA/PCI/PCIe Cards. Part II will address Board Level I/O & Video, CPU/CPU Fan Selection and Memory Requirements. If you have any questions about what was mentioned or would like to discuss one of your projects, feel free to contact me via email at jeremy.miller@l-tron.com or via phone at (800) 830-9523 ext. 126.
About the Author:
Jeremy Miller is L-Tron’s Industrial Automation and Advantech Product Specialist. Jeremy is highly trained and brings over 10 years of experience in the industrial control, data acquisition and test & measurement markets. Jeremy holds Advantech certifications in: Industrial Platform, Industrial Operator Panel, Automation Controller & I/O, Industrial Communication, & Automation Software. Jeremy can be reached at (800) 830-9523 ext 126; jeremy.miller@L-Tron.com