OnLogic introduces a new fanless system featuring Intel's Elkhart Lake 10nm processor

     Earlier this year, Intel said it was on the verge of launching its all-new Jasper Lake platform, which uses a 10nm manufacturing process with the latest Tremont Atom at its core. While Jasper Lake is aimed at consumer and business use cases, Intel has a similar line of processors for the industrial and iot markets, also using the 10nm Tremont, called Elkhart Lake. Onlogic, a company built around supplying the industrial and iot markets, is launching a new fanless design built around Elkhart Lake.

     Onlogic's four new fanless industrial designs - Helix 310, Helix 330, Karbon 410 and Karbon 430 - are customizable passive cooling systems for Industry 4.0, powered by Elkhart Lake variants. The Helix model's processors are mainly dual-core Celeron N6211 or quad-core Pentium J6425, while the Karbon model's processors are dual-core Atom x6211E and quad-core Atom x6425E, the main difference between the latter two models is the wider range of thermal support. From -40ºC to 70ºC.

     OnLogic's main selling point is the coupling of its ModBay extension technology, which allows customers to make additional connections to Intel's Programmable service Engine (PSE) via M.2 and PCIe slots (effectively making M.2 a simple PCIe x4 link). Intel's PSE is described by OnLogic as an iot dedicated offload engine built on an armcortex-M7 microcontroller that supports real-time computing and data tracking. Combined with the computing power of the Atom core, the aim is to provide a complete real-time monitoring and communication system for various industrial deployments. OnLogic provides solution services that support custom operating system deployment, branding, graphics, implementation, and lifecycle support.

     Helix 310 and Helix 330 are built on the same platform, but offer different levels of customization. Both models support 32 GB DDR4, at least one M.2 slot, three USB 3.2 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, three DisplayPort outputs, and two COM ports. The difference is that the Helix 310 is the base model with 1-2 gigabit Ethernet interfaces and two M.2 slots with optional 4G/DIO/COM/CAN support, but by default the Helix 330 uses one of the M.2 slots for dual attached gigabit Ethernet.

     The Karbon 410 and 430 are also built on a single platform for a wider temperature window as well as the MIL-STD-810H shock and vibration standard. Base platform with up to 32GB DDR4, support for M.2 and mSATA storage, dual Gigabit Ethernet, 2 USB 3.2 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 Display Port, 1 CAN bus, 1 micro-SIM slot, dual M.2 slots, 1 mPCIe slot, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 2 USB ports, 2 USB ports 4G/DIO/COM/PoE/TPM is optional. The Karbon 410 is the basic model, and the Karbon 430 adds another pair of M.2 slots, a second micro-SIM slot, and allows for additional networking or USB.

     In the last few years, when Intel's demand for its chips hit new highs, the main market area it lost was the low-end computing market, namely Intel's Atom portfolio. Now that Intel has enough capacity to meet its needs, coupled with increased production from its 10-nanometer manufacturing nodes, it is refocusing its efforts on this embedded computing market with product lines such as Jasper Lake and Elkhart Lake. It also means that Oems like OnLogic can redesign their portfolio with the latest updates like PSE, as well as the latest technologies for low power consumption, enabling a new generation of fanless designs.