The term "Single Board Computer" now generally applies to an architecture where the single board computer is plugged into a backplane to provide for I/O cards. Embedded SBCs are much smaller than the ATX-type motherboard found in PCs, and provide an I/O mix more targeted to an industrial application, such as on-board digital and analog I/O, on-board bootable flash memory (eliminating the need for a disk drive), no video, etc. Applications are typically gaming (slot machines, video poker), kiosk, and machine control automation. Single board computers are now commonly defined across two distinct architectures: no slots and slot support.Įmbedded SBCs are units providing all the required I/O with no provision for plug-in cards. Connectors are a frequent source of reliability problems, so a single-board system eliminates these problems. By putting all the functions on one board, a smaller overall system can be obtained, for example, as in notebook computers. A single-board configuration reduces a system's overall cost, by reducing the number of circuit boards required, and by eliminating connectors and bus driver circuits that would otherwise be used. Single board computers were made possible by increasing the density of integrated circuits. Plug-in cards are now more commonly high performance graphics cards (really graphics co-processors), high-end RAID controllers, and specialized I/O cards such as data acquisition and DSP (Digital Signal Processor) boards.Ī socket 3 based 486 SBC with power supply and flatscreen Most PC motherboards now offer on-board support for disk drives including IDE, SATA, NVMe, RAID, integrated GPU, Ethernet, and traditional I/O such as serial port and parallel port, USB, and keyboard/mouse support. The recent availability of advanced chipsets providing most of the I/O features as embedded components allows motherboard manufacturers to offer motherboards with I/O traditionally provided by daughterboards. The main components were assembled on a motherboard, and peripheral components such as hard disk drive controllers and graphics processors were located on daughterboards. Other early examples are the Ferguson Big Board, the Ampro Little Board, and the Nascom.Īs the PC market became more prevalent, fewer SBCs were being used in computers. Other typical early single board computers like the KIM-1 were often shipped without enclosure, which had to be added by the owner. SBCs also figured heavily in the early history of home computers, for example in the Acorn Electron and the BBC Micro. The dyna-micro was re-branded by E&L Instruments of Derby, Connecticut, in 1976 as the " MMD-1" (Mini-Micro Designer 1) and was made famous as the example microcomputer in the very popular 8080 " BugBook" series of the time. The first true single-board computer (see the May 1976 issue of Radio-Electronics) called the "dyna-micro" was based on the Intel C 8080A, and also used Intel's first EPROM, the C1702A. History Īn early MMD-1, the world's first true single board computer Other types, such as blade servers, would perform similar to a server computer, only in a more compact format.Ī computer-on-module is a type of single-board computer made to plug into a carrier board, baseboard, or backplane for system expansion. Simple designs, such as those built by computer hobbyists, often use static RAM and low-cost 32- or 64-bit processors like ARM. Single board computers have been built using a wide range of microprocessors. Unlike a desktop personal computer, single board computers often do not rely on expansion slots for peripheral functions or expansion. Many types of home computers or portable computers integrate all their functions onto a single printed circuit board. Single-board computers are commonly made as demonstration or development systems, for educational systems, or for use as embedded computer controllers. Ī single-board computer ( SBC) is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor(s), memory, input/output (I/O) and other features required of a functional computer. The Raspberry Pi is a low-cost single-board computer often used to teach computer science.
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