Advantech EPC-R4710 User Manual page 41

Thermal Solution Services
Advantech provides thermal solution services — including modularized thermal solu-
tions and customized thermal solutions — for quicker and more flexible thermal
design integration.
Standard Thermal Solutions

Customized Thermal Solutions

Embedded Software Services
Supports driver, software integration or customized firmware, root file-system, and
Linux image.
Embedded Linux/ Android OS

Advantech boot loader customization

With the spread of industrial computing, a whole range of new applications have
been developed, resulting in a fundamental change in the IPC industry. In the past
System Integrators (SI) were used to completing projects without outside assistance.
Now, the situation has improved. Due to diverse market demands and intense com-
petition, cooperation for (both upstream and downstream) vertical integration has
become a much more effective way to create competitive advantages. ARM-based
CPU modules came out of this trend. Concentrating all necessary components on the
CPU module and placing other parts on the carrier board in response to market
requirements for specialization provides greater flexibility while retaining its low
power consumption credentials.
Advantech has been involved in the industrial computer industry for many years and
found that customers usually have the following questions when implementing modu-
lar designs.
General I/O design capability
Despite having the ability and knowledge to vertically integrate in professional appli-
cation fields, a lack of general expertise and experience in power and I/O design
causes challenges. This is especially true when integrating CPU modules into carrier
boards.
The acquisition of information
Even if an individual client is able to obtain enough information to make the right deci-
sion for the specialized vertical application, some customers encounter difficulties
when dealing with platform design and communication with CPU/chipset manufactur-
ers. This increases carrier board design difficulties and risk. It can also result in
increased time-to-market and lost market opportunities.
Software development and modification
Compared to x86 architectures, RISC architectures use simpler instruction sets. As
such, the software support for x86 platforms cannot be used on RISC platforms. Sys-
tem integrators need to develop software for their system and do the hardware and
software integration themselves. Unlike x86 platforms, RISC platforms have less
support for Board Support Packages (BSP) and drivers. Even though driver support
is provided, SIs still have to work to integrate these platforms into their system core.
Moreover, the BSP provided by CPU manufacturers are usually for carrier board
designs — therefore it's difficult for SIs to have an environment for software develop-
ment.
35 EPC-R4710 User Manual