ICP Release Two New Products

Within a week, ICP, the German manufacturer of industrial computer products, has released a new embedded PC, as well as an indoor LoRaWAN gateway for SMART applications.

The LoRaWAN^® specification is a Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking protocol designed to wirelessly connect battery operated ‘things’ to the internet in regional, national or global networks, and targets key Internet of Things (IoT) requirements such as bi-directional communication, end-to-end security, mobility and localization services.

With 8 simultaneous channels, more than 2000 LoRaWAN nodes, a high-performance quad-core processor and an affordable entry-level price, the company says the new UG65 LoRaWAN gateway from ICP Germany is “on the come up”. Designed for indoor use, the UG65 can process data from sensors at a distance of up to 10km. The LoRa protocol V1.0 and V1.0.2 of class A and C are also supported.

Inside, a 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 with a clock speed of 1,500 MHz does its job. Furthermore, the UG65 has 512MB DDR RAM, 8GB eMMC memory, a 10/100/1000 Base-T network connection, WLAN according to IEEE 801.11 b/g/n standard and optional 2G/3G/4G mobile network reception(/access). The UG65 offers an IP65 protected housing measuring 180x110x57 mm and can be mounted directly at the workstation, on the wall or on a pole. The temperature range of -40 °C to +70 °C also allows operation in protected outdoor installations.

The UG65 can be operated either with a voltage of 9 to 24 volts DC, or alternatively via the PoE 802.3 af-enabled LAN connection. Common network functionalities, for protocols like MQTT, TCP, UDP, VPN tunnels like OpenVPN, DMVPN, access authentication like CHAP, PAP, firewall functionalities and management options are inherent to the UG65. From the sensor to the cloud, the UG65 offers system integrators a wide range of options for bringing their data to the cloud.

A related piece of kit, the FLEX series from ICP is a modular industrial PC series in which an embedded system and an optional display can be combined as required. The new embedded PC FLEX-BX100 selection is extended by a passively cooled variant and supports the 8th generation of Intel® CoreTM processors. A high-performance variant with the Intel® CoreTM i5-8365UE, a quad-core processor with a maximum clock frequency of 4.1 GHz, and a less expensive variant with the Intel® Celeron® 4305UE, a dual-core processor with a clock frequency of 2.0 GHz, is available.

The two DDR4 SO-DIMM sockets support up to 32GB of RAM with a clock rate of up to 2400MHz, whereby 4GB of memory is already installed as standard. The Intel® HD graphics unit in the 9th generation supports HD in 4K and offers both an HDMI port for all common displays and LVDS for connection to the FLEX display kit series. The embedded system offers Tripple GbE LAN, two ports of which can gain PoE functionality with the optional PoE-PD module. Also available are four second-generation 10 Gbps USB 3.2 ports, one RS-232/422/485 port and one RS-232 port for connecting peripherals.

In addition, the FLEX-BX100 offers a 2.5″ SATA drive bay, an NGFF M.2 2230 A-key socket with PCIe x1 and USB signal, and an NGFF M.2 2280 M-key socket with PCIE 3.0 x4 signal for NVMe™ modules. The metal enclosure measures 357x222x44 mm and is designed for an operating temperature range of -10°C ~+60°C. On customer request, ICP Germany delivers the embedded PC pre-loaded with suitable industrial work and mass storage devices. Compatible displays are available from 15 to 24″.

ICP Germany’s motto is, “by people who care”. The product portfolio ranges from individual components to complete systems, featuring industrial design and long availability. In addition to common industry requirements, trends such as miniaturization, high computing power and IoT influence the development of ICP products. Founded in 1995, the company is headquartered in Reutlingen and supplies the European market.

You can find more information about ICP Germany on its website.

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