PICMG Consortium Releases New COM Express Design Guide

Summary:
Version 1.0 of the design specification originally introduced in 2007 has been completed under the auspices of congatec AG

Full Text:
Press Release 07/2009

PICMG Consortium Releases New COM Express Design Guide

Version 1.0 of the design specification originally introduced in 2007 has been completed under the auspices of congatec AG

Deggendorf, Germany, April 15, 2009 * * * congatec AG, a leading supplier of embedded computer modules, announces the immediate availability of Version 1.0 of the COM Express Design Guide for developers of COM Express modules.
The Design Guide was revised by the PICMG (PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group, Inc.) over the last 18 months with the active collaboration of 15 companies. In addition to draft editor congatec AG, the following companies were involved: Adlink, Continuous Computing, Diversified Technology, Foxconn, GE Fanuc, Intel Corp., Kontron AG, MSC Vertriebs GmbH, NMS Communications, Nokia Siemens Networks, RadiSys, Trenton Technology, Tyco Electronics and VIA.
The COM Express Design Guide provides information on how to design custom system carrier boards for COM Express modules. The vendor independent, 160-page Design Guide includes a multitude of circuit examples which illustrate the correct implementation of all COM Express interfaces. Carrier boards designed on the basis of this guide enable greater interchangeability between COM Express modules from different vendors.
The COM Express Design Guide is available for free download from the PICMG website at http://www.picmg.org/pdf/PICMG_COMDG_100.pdf.

About PICMG
PICMG (http://www.picmg.org/) is a consortium of over 450 companies who collaboratively develop open specifications for high performance telecommunications and industrial computing applications. The members of the consortium have a long history of developing leading edge products for these industries.
Founded in 1994, PICMG's original mission was to extend the PCI standard, from the PCI Special Interest Group for use in non-traditional computer markets such as Industrial Automation, Medical, Military and Telecom. With the advent of fabric based transports PICMG specifications have continued to evolve. This has resulted in a series of specifications that include CompactPCI®, AdvancedTCA®, AdvancedMC™, CompactPCI Express™, COM Express™ and SHB Express™. Each specification has a unique PICMG identifier. Details on each specification, including those under development, can be found in our Specifications Directory. These specifications are represented by many leading edge products from PICMG member companies, details of which can be found in our Product Directory.

About COM Express
COM Express modules are highly integrated off-the-shelf building blocks based on a PCI Express bus architecture that plugs into custom made, application-specific carrier boards. COM Express basic modules measure just 95 mm x 125 mm and include generic functions such as video, audio, Ethernet, storage interfaces and USB ports that are needed for most applications. A custom designed carrier board complements the COM Express core module with the additional functionality required for specific applications.
COM Express, a PICMG specification, is a result of the convergence of the latest technology standards based on serial differential signaling such as PCI Express, USB 2.0, Serial ATA, LVDS and Serial DVO implemented on an extremely compact Computer on Module. Moving from parallel buses such as PCI and IDE to serial buses such as PCI Express and SATA is a change on a scale of which has not been seen since PCI replaced ISA.

About congatec AG
Based in Deggendorf, Germany, congatec AG (www.congatec.com) is an innovative and experienced manufacturer of Qseven, COM Express, XTX and ETX embedded computer boards, with more than 200-manpower years of experience in the fast growing embedded computer industry. The company´s objective is to engineer and market industrial computer modules based on standard form factors, including an embedded BIOS, excellent driver support as well as full-featured board support packages. Customers receive complete product lifecycle support starting early during the design-in stage. All congatec products are manufactured by specialised contract manufacturers who fulfil the latest quality standards.
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info@congatec.com

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