Amfeltec M.2 PCIe Gen 3 SSD with Batteryless System Logger and Watchdog Timer to Arowana and PocketShark Families

Amfeltec Corporation announced the release of the latest addition to its Arowana PCIe SSD board family and its PocketShark product family.

PocketShark M.2 PCI Express Gen 3 SSD with Batteryless System Logger and WatchDog Timer

The M.2 PCI Express Gen 3 SSD with Batteryless System Logger and Watchdog Timer is in production (hereafter referred as the device).

“The main considerations for creating any embedded systems are cost, size and robustness of operation. The nature of embedded applications often requires operation without human interaction, sometimes in the field and with limited access to technical support,” said Michael Feldman, president and CTO, Amfeltec. “With this new product, we are targeting two market segments: IoT and embedded applications.”

Arowana PCIe SSD board

Device combines 3 independent components:

• PCIe Gen 3 SSD is for data and program code storage.
• Batteryless System Logger is for recording both system and environmental data of the host and its surroundings.
• Watchdog Timer is for automatically rebooting or performing ‘cold’ restart of the system.

The implementation of this 3-components device is in the standard M.2 22110 (M-key) form factor.

• PCIe Gen 3 SSD
  This 1st component is a single-chip solution with x4 PCIe upstream interface, providing embedded systems 128GB of NVM; and offering maximum performance, including a read transfer rate of 2,013MB/s and write transfer rate of 1,822MB/s.
• Batteryless System Logger
  This 2nd component captures system information through a USB port; and gathers environmental information via multiple internal sensors that measure ambient temperature, air pressure, humidity, shock and vibration. All data is continuously recorded to the logger’s NVM during normal operation. In the event of a system crash or power outage, the logger preserves the data, ensuring it remains accessible for troubleshooting or analysis.
• Watchdog Timer
  This 3rd component can automatically reboot a computer, embedded appliance, or IoT device, in the event of freezing or system crash. This is achieved by sending a RESET signal. If the system remains unresponsive, the system’s power supply is toggled OFF-ON to initiate a ‘cold’ restart – without affecting the logger’s operation.

“Integrating all three key components into single device makes any embedded system more compact. The M.2 form factor allows for easy integration into any motherboard; supports recovery in the event of operation-critical disruptions; and enables monitoring of the system performance and environmental data for future failure analysis,” added Feldman. “All these functions operate 24/7 without requiring any additional power, such as a battery, and without human interaction. This is a cost-effective solution that significantly increases the reliability of any system.”

The device requires no driver for operation and can be configured using a Linux software utility. It operates at industrial temperature rates (-40°C to +85°C) and requires no service or maintenance throughout its lifetime (over 10 years).