Full-featured rugged vehicle mobile terminal with optional GPS, cellular and WiFi
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

Many mobile applications require a small, rugged vehicle-mount computer for a variety of data entry and lookup, fleet management, reporting, decisionmaking, and other custom applications that need various wired and wireless communications options. Such computers must be simple to use and operate, ultra-reliable, and small enough to never get in the way. The QSI TREQ-DX mobile data terminal was designed for such tasks, and it comes with a 7-inch display that's significantly larger than those of handheld terminals.

The TREQ-DX measures 7.9 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches and weighs just over three pounds in a typical configuration, still small enough to easily mount in any vehicle via standard RAM Mount hardware. The fairly large 7-inch touchscreen display with wide-format 800 x 480 pixel resolution offers enough screen real estate even for complex applications. The display has an LED backlight, and operation is via touch or seven lighted, programmable function keys and a lighted 9-way cursor key.

The TREQ-DX runs Windows CE 5.0 Professional on an ultra-frugal AMD Geode GX 500 processor (as opposed to the Marvell PXA270 chip in the lower-end TREQ-L). The device comes with 128MB of RAM and 2GB of non-volatile memory. The TREQ-DX has two USB host ports, a third USB port wired in a cable, as well two serial ports (one RS232, one RS232/422). Optionally available are a J1708/J1939 CANbus interface, a 4-line digital I/O block, and RJ45 LAN.

On the wireless side, the TREQ-DX comes with an integrated 50-channel USB receiver, and it can also be ordered with 802.11b/g WiFi and a PTCRB-certified quad-band GSM/GPRS modem.

This being a vehicle-based terminal there is no battery; instead, the TREQ-L uses 8 to 32 Volt DC vehicle power (usually the 12 or 24-Volts that are available).

QSI designed the TREQ-DX to withstand the type of handling and environmental conditions encountered in vehicle use. The device is rugged, with the housing made of a blended polycarbonate and polyester resin. It can operate within a very wide temperature range from -4 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, which is probably more than a driver can handle. It is virtually immune to shock and vibration as well.

With its many wireless connectivity options, the TREQ-DX is designed as in-cab hardware for fleet management, dispatching, messaging, reporting, mapping, navigation and similar applications.

QSI began operations in 1983 as a manufacturer of low-power bus board computers. Today, the Salt Lake City, Utah based company designs and manufactures operator interface terminals for industrial, commercial and vehicle applications.