Computer Motherboards

Computer motherboards are the foundation of all computers.  They are essentially printed circuit boards (housing the computer’s basic circuitry and vital components), into which other boards, or cards, are plugged.  They manage all transactions of data between the CPU (computer processing unit) and the peripherals. The main components that comprise industrial motherboards include the memory, the CPU, the microprocessor and coprocessors, BIOS, interconnecting circuitry, controllers, mass storage, parallel and serial ports, and expansion slots.  Other component devices and peripherals can be added to computer motherboards through its expansion slots, including the monitor screen, the keyboard, disk drives, etc.

The electronic interface between computer motherboards and smaller boards or cards in the expansion slots is called the bus.  Industrial motherboards communicate with and control peripheral devices via buses or other communication standards.  Some of the most common buses are ISA (Industrial Standard Architecture), ESA (Extended Industrial Standard Architecture), PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect), PISA (PCI and ISA) CompactPCI, PXI (PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation), VME (VersaModule Eurocard), and VXI /MXI (VME eXtensions for Instrumentation).

Form factor describe the shape of computer motherboards, as well as, what types of casing is needed to contain them, and what types of power supplies are appropriate for use with them. Most form factors are divided into four main types, defined by their size: Size A (3U height x 160mm length), Size B (6U x 160mm), Size C (6U x 340mm), and Size D (9U x 340mm).  In other cases, the company that originally designed them, for a specific purpose, determined the name of the motherboard.   These include AT, Baby AT, LPX, mini LPX, ATX, mini ATX, and NLX.

Computers and computer boards are intended for use on factory floors or in other harsh environments. Unlike home or office computers (PCs), these systems are designed to withstand shock, vibration, humidity, EMI, RFI, dust, mist, and splash. Computers are available in many configurations with a variety of CPUs, displays, and I/O interfaces. Computer boards generally refer to single board computers (SBC) and to a lesser degree, the systems they control. Computer motherboards need to be rugged and powerful. They are used in wide ranging, critical function and applications, such as industrial control, in the military and aerospace industries, medical fields, and business.

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Part Numbers for Computer Motherboards