The PC Engines WRAP board is a Single Board Computer (SBC) designed specifically for cost-effective development of wireless routers and other network devices. The Wrap.2E board, shown below, has the following features
Speed
233 MHz Geode SC1100 CPU
Memory
64 MB or 128 MB RAM
Storage
Compact Flash card or Microdrive
Power
7-18V DC external power supply or passive Power over Ethernet (not 802.3af compliant). Uses about 3 to 5W at 12V DC (excluding miniPCI cards)
Connectivity
1 ethernet port, 2 miniPCI slots, 1 serial port (console)
Size
100W x 166L (mm)
Weight
128g
Software Supported
GNU/Linux – OpenWrt, DD-Wrt, EmbCop, GNAP, Metrix Pyramid, Voyage Linux, GNAP and other distributions
FreeBSD – m0n0wall, pfSense
NetBSD
OpenBSD
Commercial – StarOS and others
These WRAPs are popular amongst Air-Stream members and are ideal for a customised “up the mast” application, that is with the wireless router sitting next to the antennas at the top of the mast. The two miniPCI slots allow two different wireless cards to be controlled by this one small board. A common application this allows for is using one card connected to a directional antenna for the “backbone” link to the Air-Stream Network and the second card connected to an omni-directional or sectored antenna for further node connections.
Software
The architecture is supported by various different open source operating systems and there are many ready made distributions for the PC Engines WRAP. The operating system is stored on a compact flash card (not supplied with the board.)
Weatherproofing
The boards are conveniently sized just right to fit inside the well priced sealed diecast aluminium enclosures* available at Dick Smith and Jaycar, which are designed to IP65 and NEMA4 standards.
Power Supply
Power is supplied through a DC jack or via power over ethernet – directly into the ethernet port on the board. Power supplies must be purchased seperately.
Purchasing
PC Engines WRAPs are supplied by Yawarra Information Appliances
[i]*Note: To comply with Australian emissions regulations these boards need to be enclosed in a metal case.[/i]
[i]Note (8/6/2007) on SC1100 based WRAPs: Experience shows there is not enough internal bandwidth to support two high speed backbone connections. SC1100 is in End of Life status now and newer WRAPs will be powered by Geode LX800 or ARM9 CPUs which will hopefully resolve this[/i]