Sapphire has announced its Edge+ VPR 5050 motherboard series with AMD’s Embedded+ architecture. It combines AMD’s Ryzen processor and Versal AI Edge adaptive SoC on a single integrated platform, offering developers a solution for real-time sensor data processing. All in a compact and low-power envelope that boasts varied connectivity.
The Sapphire Edge+ VPR 5050 series leverages the Versal AI Edge VE2302 SoC deterministic and low-latency processing while offloading non-time critical functions to the Ryzen Embedded R2748 CPU. This makes it an optimised solution for AI-driven industrial control, smart security, AI vision, autonomous robotics, and medical imaging. Better yet, the Edge+ VPR 5050 series can do these tasks while sipping power with possible configurations as low as 30W, making for a cost-effective computing platform.
Sapphire is planning two slightly different models: Edge+ VPR 5050 and Edge+ VPR 5050A. The biggest difference between the two is in the Versal AI Edge chip, which comes bundled with 2x8GB of LPDDR4 memory plus 64GB of eMMC storage on the VPR-5050A instead of 2x4GB and no storage on the VPR-5050. Other than some small internal layout changes, both versions feature 1Gbit of NOR-Flash for local boot, TPM 2.0, and a 160-pin IO expansion socket. Same for the CPU portion, both carry a Ryzen Embedded V2748 supporting up to 2x32GB of DDR4-3200 (ECC and non-ECC) memory.
On the I/O side, these Mini-ITX (170x170mm) motherboards boast a variety of connections, including one PCIe x8 slot, two Gen 3 M.2 slots (one for storage and the other for Wi-Fi/Bluetooth adapters), two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, two audio jacks, one RS232/422/485 COM port, one DisplayPort, one HDMI, plus a fast 2.5GbE LAN. Add to that a bunch of internal headers offering USB 2.0, SATA 3, and COM ports to sweeten the deal. And if that’s still not enough, there is always the possibility to install I/O expansion boards with more LAN ports or an Octo GMSL2 camera serial link.
The entire system can be powered via a 12-19V barrel jack or ATX 2×2 power header, requiring active cooling for optimal operation. Lastly, operating system support includes RHEL/CentOS 7.9, RHEL 8.2 – 8.6, and Ubuntu 22.04.
Sapphire Edge+ VPR-5050 and VPR-5050A embedded motherboards are available now for developers and OEMs at an unspecified price.
