UP Xtreme – High Performance SBC Features 8th Gen Whiskey Lake

Aaeon has recently announced specifications for a Linux-ready “UP Xtreme” SBC with a 15W TDP, 8th Gen Intel Whiskey Lake-U CPU, up to 16GB DDR4 RAM and 128GB eMMC, 2x GbE, 6x USB, SATA, and optional AI Core X modules via M.2 and mini-PCIe. Aaeon first launched their UP board family back in 2015 with the original board featuring an Atom X5 Cherry Trail processor. Aaeon’s UP project is completely community-backed and open spec.  The UP Xtreme hacker board built around Intel’s 8th Gen Whiskey Lake U-series Core processors, so, this is likely the fastest open-spec, community-backed SBC around.

Aaeon seems to support all five Core i7/i5/i3 models. All of them are dual-threaded, except only one. The models range from the 1.8GHz (4.6GHz in Turbo mode) quad-core Core i7-8565U to the 1.8GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) dual-core Core i3-8145U. Congatec, another SBC manufacturer, clocks the latter’s base speed at up to 2.1GHz, but Aaeon lists only 1.8GHz base frequency for all the UP Xtreme models.

At 120 x 120mm dimension, this is the largest UP board yet. The UP Xtreme SBC supports up to 16GB DDR4 RAM and up to 128GB eMMC storage. In addition to a powered SATA interface, there’s a SATA option on the M.2 “B/M” key slot, and mSATA is available via the similarly multi-purpose mini-PCIe slot, along with a SIM slot. An M.2 Key E slot is also onboard.

The UP Xtreme is further equipped with 2x GbE (Gigabit Ethernet) and 4x USB 3.0 ports, plus additional USB and RS232/422/485 headers. There’s also a pair of STM32 I/O headers, which may offer GPIO related to the STM32 MCU. Like other UP boards, further expansion is available via a 40-pin “HAT” GPIO connector, which implies the UP Xtreme can run some Raspberry Pi HATs.

The important features are:

• Processor:
  • Intel 8th Gen “Whiskey Lake” U-series – 2x or 4x Whiskey Lake @ 1.8GHz (up to 3.9GHz or 4.6GHz Turbo) with Intel Gen9 UHD Graphics 620 (24 EU) at the 300MHz base and 1GHz max dynamic
  • Intel 300 series chipset
• Memory: up to 16GB of DDR4 via dual sockets
• Storage:
  • 16GB to 128GB eMMC 5.1
  • SATA with SATA power
  • M.2 Key B/M with support for 2x SATA, and mini-PCIe with support for mSATA (see expansion below)
• Networking: 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports (Intel i210/i211 and 1219LM)
• Media I/O:
  • DisplayPort
  • HDMI port
  • eDP with backlight header
  • I2S audio and audio out/mic in with ALC887 codec
• Other I/O:
  • 4x USB 3.0 host ports
  • 2x USB 2.0 headers
  • 2x RS232/422/485 (10-pin Fintech F81801 connectors)
  • HSUART
  • 2x STM32 I/O Headers
• Expansion:
  • 40-pin “HAT” header — By MAX5: 28x GPIO, 2x SPI, 2x I2C, ADC, I2S, 2x PWM, UART, 3V3, 5V, GND
  • 100-pin docking connector for 1) 12V, GND; 2) 3x PCIe x1; 3) 2x PCIe x1 or USB 3.0; 5) 2x USB 2.0
  • M.2 Key B/M (2242/2280) with 2x PCIe/2x SATA
  • M.2 Key E (2230) with PCIe/USB 2.0)
  • Mini-PCIe slot for mSATA/USB 2.0 with SIM slot
• Other features:
  • RTC with battery
  • heatsink
  • humidity resistance
  • optional AI Core X modules via M.2 or mini-PCIe
• Power:
  • Lockable 12-65V DC input
  • power button
• Operating temperatures: 0 to 60°C
• Dimensions: 120 x 120mm
• Operating system:
  • Linux (Ubuntu, Yocto)
  • Android
  • Windows 10

More information regarding price and availability can be found at Aaeon’s community UP Extreme product page. The product datasheet is available here.