FlexATX Board with 20 USB Ports Natively Filling the Need for Greater Integration

Summary

Technology has a voracious appetite that is constantly whetted by users’ demands for newer, faster, safer and more versatile applications and peripherals that feed hardware and software using I/O connections such as the most-favored USB ports. The demand for USB ports has increased exponentially due to the sheer number of these peripheral devices and gadgets, each of which requires the ubiquitous USB ports for communication and connection.

In the past, companies have fulfilled their needs by using an additional USB hub or splitter. Unfortunately, this is merely a patch and not a long-term solution since there are disadvantages to this method, such as latency because the hub shares bandwidth with its ports, which, along with the constant need for bandwidth allocation, ultimately affects the hub’s performance. This often results in a slower system, with less flexibility and unhappy users.

The key to solving these issues lies in the ability of a vendor to find new ways to fix old problems.

Portwell’s new industrial FlexATX Board more than meets the demand

To meet the demand for greater USB ports without latency, American Portwell Technology recently announced PEB-9783G2AR, a new industrial FlexATX board based on the latest 10th Generation Intel® Xeon® W/Core™ processors (formerly Comet Lake-S Platform) with W480E/Q470E chipset that features up to 10 cores/20 threads in LGA 1200 socket.

This device resolves the latency and bandwidth allocation problems because it ensures that each of the 20x USB ports it supports is configured for maximum performance by using separate chips and PCIe lanes, with one PCIe x16 slot still available for other expansion, such as a GPU card.

PEB-9783G2AR can enhance connectivity for applications such as Industrial Automation: automated guided vehicle (AGV); supporting multiple USB cameras for robot sorting; vehicle navigation; manufacturing robots; factory process control; and smart transportation. It meets the demands of chiropractic examiners in the Medical/Healthcare Market; the Networking/IoT demands of the datacenter, software-defined USB radios and IoT security devices; and entertainment within the Machinery/ Manufacturing industry.

PEB-9783G2AR takes inherent bandwidth limitation in stride

While PEB-9783G2AR is designed to support 20x USB ports, and 16x ports support speeds up to the USB 3.0 specification, there are some inherent bandwidth limitations with the chipset that limits some of the port’s ability to operate at maximum speed when fully loaded. The new FlexATX board helps alleviate this problem by arranging the ports into a three-tier system to maximize bandwidth so the user can prioritize the usage based on their application. (See Figure 1 below.)

PEB-9783G2AR: The first of its kind

PEB-9783G2AR is the first embedded motherboard with 20x USB I/O ports on the market and provides flexibility and enhances connectivity, communication and control of peripheral devices.

Among the board’s many features is the ability to support 20x USB ports, 16 of them support USB 3.0 in various specification, 6 of them (Tier 1) maintain USB 3.2 Gen 1 speed all the time, and 10 of them will provide USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Tier 2) and Gen 1 (Tier 3) speed depends on loading and bandwidth availability, 4 are reserved for legacy USB 2.0 ports for Keyboard/ Mouse and other low speed devices which are separated to allow competing with the high speed devices. This arrangement allowing users to connect to many peripheral devices such as cameras that can be used for robot and vehicle navigation. Please see details in Table 1 below.