UK Digital Signage
Tranquil PC March 2012
Case Study (DS-G6) – To design and deliver a high performance
Digital Signage solution for a national UK chain.
Our client required a thin, powerful, reliable and cost effective
hardware solution to replace ageing PCs being used to deliver
customer facing digital signage, as well as broadcast back office
staff training etc. The current estate was failing, mainly due to
dust and debris fouling the fan cooled PCs – replacing the failed
units with the same technology (fanned units) was not deemed wise,
and an alternative had to be investigated. Tranquil were contacted
and invited to propose the alternative.
The estate of current installations numbers many thousands, and
therefore the hardware had to be optimised for transport, ease of
installation and robust operation.
Initially Tranquil offered a customised version of an Intel Atom CPU
powered unit, but this proved not powerful enough for the multiple
flash video decoding operations required. The second solution, based
on an Intel i3 CPU proved exceptionally able, but the cost was
considered too high, and the product was rejected. The third and
final offer was based on the same customised chassis design of the
i3 system, but was powered by a lower cost Intel G630T CPU, which
proved more than powerful enough to handle the multiple video
decoding requirements.
Not only did the custom design have to cool down the CPU and Intel
Sandy Bridge chipset without fans, it also had to ensure the
internal 2.5" spinning HDD remained cool and stable too. This proved
to be a further challenge, as the chassis was used to sink heat from
the hot CPU – the same chassis is used to cool the HDD. The answer
was relatively simple, and after newly designed 3D CAD models were
subjected to thermal flow simulations an ‘air wall’ was introduced,
effectively separating the two halves of the chassis, with only the
minimal amount of material between them. The resulting unit can
safely cool down the Intel CPU even when running at high load levels
for many hours at a time, whilst not affecting the stability of the
HDD.
The render
on the right shows the extensive CPU cooling fins, with the 2.5”
HDD bay to the right (separated by the ‘air wall’)
So the chassis was completed, and was accepted by the client. It met
performance, thermal, cost and MTBF targets.
Then followed final customisations, including the fitting of simple
LEDs to the front surface, along with model and serial number
markings to the front too. As the unit is mounted behind a large
screen, viewing the status LEDs and being able to see the serial
number too, without removing the unit, or the screen was a real
benefit. The rear plate/ chassis were also customised with 4 mount
points, so that the systems could be installed to existing wall/
mount plates easily and safely.
Additionally each unit was electronically serial numbered (in BIOS)
along with other customised BIOS features to ensure fast deployment
by the field as well as reliable asset tracking and servicing.
The units are finished in our own specialised anodising department
to ensure the surfaces are not only excellent at transferring heat
from the units, but also are very tough and will withstand years of
use. The super matt black surfaces and heat fins are specially
designed and finished to ensure 100% product effectiveness.
The finished item was extremely close to the render shown
above
Timescale from initial enquiry to delivery of the first shipment
(100′s) was 10 weeks.
After an initial order of a few hundred units, further orders have
been received, confirming the success of the project.
