ARM
Single Board Computers
for Embedded Systems

Our ARM single board computers are also identified as TS-7000 series. The following belong to this series:

• TS-7800 series - Marvell 500Mhz ARM9 embedded computers
• TS-7200 series - Cirrus 200Mhz ARM9 embedded computers
• Other ARM Designs - Other ARM9 embedded computers

The TS-7800 series of single board computers provide 3 times the performance of the TS-7200 series with the same footprint, using a Marvell 500MHz ARM9 SoC. Through its internal PCI bus, the Marvell SoC provides high end features like gigabit ethernet, dual high-speed USB 2.0 host/slave ports, and dual SATA II ports. With a minimum of 128MB DDR-RAM and 512MB on-board NAND flash, these embedded computers run Linux 2.6 kernel with a full Debian distribution.

The TS-7800 boards feature a high-density user-programmable FPGA. It provides extra peripherals including GPIO lines, SD card sockets and a NAND flash controller. A unique feature of the TS-7800 series is the connection of all PC/104 connectors pins straight to the FPGA, giving the computer the flexibility to add external hardware and physical/transceiver layers. For example, the FPGA on the TS-7800 SBC can either use the PC/104 connector as an ISA bus or as GPIO lines. The FPGA on the TS-7800 series enables simple, inexpensive customization that requires no physical hardware modifications. Should you need a special configuration or a custom load, contact Technologic Systems for FPGA design services.

On the software side, these computers use a recent Linux kernel 2.6 and have a complete Debian distribution installed by default on on-board Flash or SD Card. Our default boot mechanism, "Linux-boot-Linux", boots to a shell prompt in less than 2 seconds. The Eclipse IDE is also available for the computers in the TS-7800 series, making it easier to develop your embedded application with C, C++ or Java.

The TS-7800 series are computers built to be resistant, maintaining the same ruggedness features as the TS-7200 series. Temperature range is from -20°C to +70°C and operation is fanless. In addition, the TS-7800 series SBCs are backward compatible with the TS-7200 computers in terms of hardware, meaning that the same footprint and connector layout is used. Also, because it is an ARM9 platform, customers will find it easy to port their ARM Linux applications to a faster and more advanced platform. Contact Technologic Systems for information on TS-72xx to TS-7800 upgrades.

The TS-7200 series run on a 200 MHz Cirrus ARM9 processor with power as low as 1/2 Watt. Low board complexity, low component count, and low power/heat makes for an extremely reliable embedded engine. The TS ARM products were described in an article by the Linux Journal as "built like a brick outhouse" and performed exceptionally well under extreme stress in a recent HALT test. This Single Board Computer is available in thousands of configurations, many of which are Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) and available to ship today.

These feature-rich SBC’s are ready to meet your needs. In a programmable hibernation state the TS-7260 can draw less than ½ Watt of power, allowing it to be powered by solar or inexpensive batteries. Even with the standard power consumption of 2 Watts, these SBC’s run without fans or heat sinks in the temperature range of -20° to +70°C (Optional Extended Temperature -40° to +85°C ). TS-7200 series SBC’s come standard with 32M of SDRAM and 32M Flash (Optional 128M of Flash). The 10/100 Ethernet connection puts your solution on the network. Two USB host ports enable the use of USB flash, WiFi and a myriad of USB hardware devices. Digital Signal Processing (DSP) is enabled through a standard 5 channel, 12bit A/D converter (Optional 8 channel, 12 bit A/D converter), 20 DIO lines and 2 standard serial ports. To compare features on ARM SBC’s visit our ARM Product Feature Matrix.

Our rugged ARM9 SBC’s have found their way into many embedded applications. Customers are using the TS-7200 series SBC in energy generation, manufacturing process control, traffic management, printing system management, communication infrastructure, website hosting, data gathering and laboratory test equipment. We use TS-7200 boards to prepare and test your SBC prior to shipping.

If the standard features are not enough, the 8/16 bit PC/104 interface provides for adding functionality through Technologic Systems’ broad product line of PC/104 peripheral daughter boards. For example, the TS-7KV adds video, CAN, Com Ports, and A/D conversion. The TS-POE100 provides a 10/100 Ethernet port integrated with a Power-over-Ethernet splitter circuit. The TS-NVRAM2 provides up to 2MB of battery-backed non-volatile high-speed RAM.

The Other ARM Designs are single board computers which were modified to meet specific customer needs. They feature custom hardware and software solutions. Customization can involve significant improvements such as the ultra-fast bootup to Linux, the Linux-boots-linux bootup mechanism, the inclusion of a user-programmable on-board FPGA, the integration of on-board video interface, and the high-security features provided by the SD Card.

Both TS-7300 and TS-7400 SBCs use the Cirrus ARM9 CPU, maintaining software compatibility with the TS-7200 series and taking advantage of all the development already done with Linux for ARM. Like the 7200, they are reliable from -40° to +70°C, or up to 85°C at 166MHz. Like the TS-7200 and TS-7800 series, our custom ARM boards represent a safe choice for embedded systems requiring reliability and ruggedness.

Technologic Systems engineers are experienced in all aspects of embedded system design. Many of our products originated when our existing product line didn't meet a customer's real world project requirements. If our line of single board computers do not meet the requirements of your embedded application, check our custom design services. Our engineers can modify existing products or design a custom embedded computer or peripheral board, often at a lower total cost than an in-house design. Contact an engineer for more information.