The advent of low power embedded Intel® processors opens the door to a new generation
of small form factor remote computing and communications devices that benefit from
the processing performance, connectivity and software compatibility of Intel® architecture
(IA).
To explore the innovative possibilities, engineers at the Intel Embedded and Communications
Group (ECG) recently created a proof of concept (POC) wireless gateway platform
based on the Intel® Atom™ processor and Intel® System Controller Hub US15W, a validated
processor and chipset combination with a total thermal design power (TDP) of about
4.5 watts1.
“Intel ECG engineers designed this wireless solar gateway with open source
building blocks in about two weeks. It is intriguing to imagine what the industry
could do.”
Edwin Verplanke
Platform Architect
Intel Embedded and Communications Group
Since such devices must by definition operate beyond the reach of power lines and
wired communications infrastructure, remote computing and communications nodes must
meet two fundamental requirements. The first is adequate electrical power to operate
the computing system. The second requirement is wireless connectivity.
Intel’s POC is designed to deliver robust IA computing performance while addressing
remote power and connectivity requirements. In addition to its extremely low power
consumption in active mode, the Intel Atom processor supports advanced power management
capabilities that drop power consumption in sleep mode to as low as one-tenth of
a watt.
Such an extremely low power draw would enable the system to run off solar photovoltaic
power, with battery backup for night-time operation. Add a wireless communications
software stack, and you enable an intriguing range of remote computing and communications
devices, says ECG Platform Architect Edwin Verplanke.
- Radio frequency identification (RFID)- sensors on rail cars could help track the
progress of freight shipments in real time.
- Multiple ‘picocells’ connected to the base station controller of a wireless
broadband network, such as WiMAX, could be used to bring IP phone communications
to remote villages, without the need to extend wireless infrastructure.
- In the event of a natural disaster that brought down the electrical grid and communications
lines, similar wireless devices could be used to quickly replace the damaged communications
network infrastructure.
“The Atom processor-based platform is a two-chip solution, and the CPU is
actually smaller than its chipset,” Edwin explains. “These two small
components can be integrated in very small circuit board that supports USB, PCI
Express* and DDR2 memory, which gives the system designer a great deal of flexibility.
The use of open source building blocks allowed Intel’s engineers to design a wireless
solar gateway in about two weeks.
“The prototype is completely solar powered with a battery backup. The Atom
processor consumes 2 watts, and the chipset requires about 2.5 watts. This 4.5 watts
can be managed and tuned down through the power management capabilities, which means
that the programmer can use an API to drive the thermal management all the way down
to approximately one-tenth of a watt.”
Edwin adds that ECG engineers designed the prototype as a security gateway that
integrates open source components, such as a Linux-based Wi-Fi TCP/IP stack and
a video capture and streaming application called Motion*. The processing performance
of the Intel Atom processor is just part of the story.
When using an embedded IA processor in these remote environments, design can reuse
pre-existing software.
“This means that development time for similar devices will definitely be reduced.”
