Typical applications
The target markets for the device are all those in the area of mobile computing where a rugged and fully self-contained handheld unit are required -- mainly related to mobile sales, transportation logistics, and field service.
Here are some of the ways the DAT500 is already being used . . .
- In-flight duty free sales -- on several major commercial airlines, the DAT500 is used to scan product bar codes, read credit cards for payments, and print customer receipts. The DAT500 is certified to safely operate onboard aircraft, in accordance with RTCA DO-160C/EUROCAE ED-14C, Section 21.
- Door-to-door frozen food sales -- several European retail food distributors use the DAT500 as a mobile inventory management and point-of-sale system for door-to-door frozen food sales. Delivery personnel use device to scan product bar codes, accept credit card payments, and print customer receipts. Purchased products are immediately delivered from the stock inside a refrigerated van. In this application, the device contains a full sales and inventory management application program, which is linked to a corporate database.
- Parcel tracking -- the DAT500 is ideal for use as an aid in tracking security bags and boxes carrying money, checks, and other valuables that are individually bar coded and transported in armored vehicles. Pickups and deliveries are traced by scanning each bag's bar code, and printing a double copy receipt which must be signed by both driver and recipient.
What's inside the box?
The current version of the DAT500 is based on a three-level CPU architecture . . .
- Main CPU -- at the top level, an AMD Elan SC300 CPU (equivalent to a 386 CPU) running at 33 MHz, controls the system. Memory resources consist of 4 MB static RAM and 512 KB Flash. I/O ports controlled by the SC300 are one RS232, one IrDA, and two PCMCIA slots. The SC300's parallel port is not externally available.
- Auxiliary CPU -- an auxiliary CPU, communicating with the Elan SC300 via its built-in parallel port, manages all other peripherals. These include printer, laser bar code scanner, magnetic card reader, double smart card reader, and the battery charging circuitry.
- Peripheral CPUs -- at the lowest level, the printer and laser bar code scanner are managed by their own dedicated microcontrollers. All of the Embedded software required to manage these functions resides in Flash memory and is field upgradeable without requiring the device to be opened.
- The DAT500 is currently offered with a choice of DOS or Linux OS. The device boots from internal Flash memory and divides its SRAM memory into a pair of 2 MB blocks: 2 MB as operating memory, and 2 MB as a RAM disk. The Flash disk cannot be written to by customer applications. Additional disk devices are installed by means of PCMCIA ATA Flash cards. An internal rechargeable Lithium battery backs up the SRAM and the real-time clock when the main battery is not present or is discharged, allowing the RAM disk data and clock to be maintained for up to two months of non-operation.
- A next generation of the DAT500, based on a 206 MHz Intel StrongARM SA1110 system-on-chip RISC processor with 64 MB DRAM, is in development and is expected to become available during the first quarter of 2001. Other ongoing developments are in the areas of built-in wireless communication (GSM-GPRS, CDPD, CDMA) and multimedia capabilities.
