The Athena II SBC from Diamond Systems combines the low-power Pentium-III class VIA Mark CoreFusion™ processor with on-board memory and data acquisition into a new compact form factor measuring only 4.2" x 4.5". The result is a small, low-heat-dissipation, and extremely rugged embedded CPU that fits in tight spaces and survives harsh environments. On-board 256MB RAM, LCD+CRT video, AC97 audio, 4 USB ports, 4 serial ports, a 16-bit low-noise data acquisition circuit, and extended temperature operation make Athena II an all-in-one, complete embedded solution for demanding applications.

Athena II can be customized for increased ruggedness. Options include latching connectors, hardwired configuration settings, rugged heat sink mounting, conformal coating, and BIOS modifications.

An enhanced set of I/O ports is provided to support any application's requirements, including 10/100Mbps Ethernet, UDMA-33 IDE, parallel port, PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, and 4 USB 1.1 ports. The board also has 4 16450-compatible RS-232 serial ports. The watchdog timer provides protection from software crashes and is programmable for delays up to 2 seconds.

The built-in PC/104 expansion bus enables Athena II to work with almost all Diamond Systems data acquisition and communications modules, as well as hundreds of I/O boards from other vendors. The board can be provided with either stackthrough PC/104 connectors (standard) or non-stackthrough connectors for a slim baseboard application. The new compact 4.2" x 4.5" form factor, slightly larger than PC/104, enables Athena II to include more features on a single board and still fit inside our Pandora enclosure system.