Product of the Week: The DFA 1163M Professional uCPE from NEXCOM International

By Embedded Computing Design Staff

February 13, 2023

Enterprises looking to expand local networking capabilities immediately find that the hardware appliances they need are expensive and difficult to integrate.

uCPE is a general-purpose networking platform that addresses both issues. Built from open hardware, uCPE runs software-defined networking workloads at the edge to reduce complexity, cost, and vendor lock-in. The DFA 1163M Professional uCPE from NEXCOM International Co., Ltd. provides the aforementioned features and others for 5G security gateway, edge computing, SDWAN, VPN, and more.

The DFA 1163M mmWave-enabled uCPE covers 5G frequency ranges between 24 and 300 GHz for wireless connectivity improvements in uplink and downlink speeds. Featuring Intel®'s Atom® C3758R processor, the uCPE provides BGA type 8 cores operating at 2.4 GHz. Additionally, Intel®’s Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT) works with the processor to enable more computing capacity for virtual machines and overall system access.

NEXCOM’s DFA 1163M uCPE in Action

The DFA 1163M is equipped with 2x DDR4-2400 DIMM ECC as the main memory component, with a max of 64 GB. For storage, the solution provides 8G of onboard eMMC and a PCIe3x 4 M.2 2280 Key M SSD. The solution features a 90W 12V AC power adapter, and offers an optional 310W 54V PoE power adapter.

The DFA 1163M features internal interfaces like one mini-PCIe slot for a Wi-Fi 6 module, as well as an M.2 3042/3052 Key B slot for a 4G LTE/5G module. External interfaces include 1x 10GbE SFP+ port and 12x RJ45 ports, with optional PoE+ support, for bi-directional communication and Ethernet or serial connections.

For networking on the mmWave spectrum, the professional uCPE offers support for 4G LTE and 5G FR1 non-standalone and standalone modes, and support for 5G FR2 non-standalone mode. To accelerate networking functions, the DFA 1163M features the embedded Intel® QuickAssist Technology which is designed to offload compute-intensive workloads, enabling more space for data encryption and compression.

The DFA 1163M features an onboard TPM 2.0, is verified by iGWS (Intelligent Generative Wireless System) software, and is CE/FCC class B certified. Most suitable for enterprise environments, the uCPE operates comfortably at an operating temperature of 0°C~40°C, a storage temperature of -20°C~80°C, and relative humidity of 10%~90% non-condensing.

Getting Started with NEXCOM’s DFA 1163M uCPE

For more information about the DFA 1163M professional uCPE, you can visit the product page and view the links for the User Manuel and Quick Guide. Additionally, NEXCOM International provides more information about the uCPE and its mmWave capabilities in the YouTube video below.