Single Board Computer
A single-board computer (SBC) is a complete computer that is built on a single circuit board, with a self-sufficient microprocessor, memory, input/output (I/O) that is usually present in any functional computer.
A computer-on-module is a type of single-board computer made to plug into a carrier board, baseboard, or backplane for system expansion.
SBCs offer Cost, time and risk lowering benefits – some tangible benefits of using a SBC in a system is listed below:
- SBCs allow the development work to start very quickly
- SBCs can support many different applications/sub systems in an IMA framework
- For Safety Certifiable COTS boards, the selection of component is rigorous to meet the required DAL. Hence SBCs can be considered in safety critical Avionics.
- Safety Critical Avionics Integrators prefer the use of older technologies/older SBCs as they will have a service history
- COTS boards can have the facility of “turning off” HW components/functions that are not needed and reducing Certification burden, reduces SLOC for certification
- COTS SBC artefacts can be reused in multiple programs for Certification
- In Avionics, SBCs support open architecture designs that can include a set of SBCs, I/O cards, Graphics Processors that can be placed in a modifiable chassis
- Proven Design of SBCs and of avionics using SBCs reduces program risk
- Some sample applications that use SBCs in Avionics are
a. Graphics processing applications
b. Flight Control Computers
c. Mission Computers
d. In Flight Entertainment
e. Supplement to display in a degraded visual environment using sensor data fusion
