This year PICMG celebrates thirty years of developing open computing specifications. And despite three decades of open hardware specs that are used by thousands of companies and countless engineers worldwide, the organization is still largely an unknown—even in our own industry.

But from behind the scenes, PICMG is responsible for billions of dollars of business. It has reduced time to market in virtually every electronics-driven industry. It has empowered companies to innovate by adopting off-the-shelf technologies, giving them space to focus on their core competencies. It has built markets based on coopetition, where companies collaboratively develop open, interoperable specifications then go toe-to-toe once they are ratified.

Even less recognized are the individuals who donate hundreds if not thousands of hours to the creation of PICMG specifications. These engineers are rarely acknowledged for their contributions. They are truly unsung heroes, and PICMG specifications wouldn’t exist without them.

One of these unsung heroes is Stefan Milnor, who recently retired from his role as VP of Engineering at Kontron. In parallel, he stepped down as the long-time editor of COM Express and COM-HPC specifications. 

Stefan has been involved in PICMG since the beginnings of COM Express, which is undeniably the most successful computer-on-module in a billion-dollar COMs market. As editor, Stefan incorporated input from numerous technical subcommittees over the years and implemented it into specifications that have been adopted by thousands of organizations building embedded systems. It’s a difficult job that requires a rare mix of technical acumen and attention to detail, and his skill and efficiency will be missed by us all—including some who never knew he was the hand behind their downloaded spec.

Stefan has always been a very private individual. In fact, by the time we could reach out to him for comment he had already left. In some ways, it’s a fitting conclusion for someone who performed yeoman’s work for decades without reward. And although he probably isn’t reading this, his contributions to PICMG and the embedded computing industry deserve to be acknowledged.

Thank you, Stefan, for helping make PICMG what it is today: 30 years strong and counting.

— Jessica Isquith, President, PICMG

Admin Note: Contact Doug Sandy, PICMG CTO, at [email protected] to learn how you can get involved in PICMG’s technical working groups. Contact me, [email protected] if you are interested in joining PICMG or have any questions about our organization.

Latest MicroTCA revision adds high-bandwidth interfaces and increased TDP to prepare the specification for demanding next-generation edge and server workloads

WAKEFIELD, MA. PICMG, a leading consortium for the development of open embedded computing specifications, has ratified Revision 3.0 of the MicroTCA.0 (µTCA.0) specification. This new release addresses urgent bandwidth requirements by defining 100 GbE and PCIe Gen 5 fabrics that improve system performance by 4x while also expanding platform thermal design power (TDP), enabling the use of higher performance processors. Users can now select from a range of specification-compliant building blocks and solutions that allow for more power per slot for higher transfer rates within µTCA chassis and to external systems and server clusters. It also lays the foundation for building next-generation MicroTCA proofs of concept.

Revision 3 of MTCA.0 addresses the current and future demands of applications such as machine vision, AI, defense, research, instrumentation, wireless communication, and emerging applications like quantum computing. “Revision 3 of MTCA.0 addresses urgent requirements and thus enables companies to now provide specification-compliant solutions rather than proprietary or custom approaches,” says Heiko Korte of NAT Europe and lead of PICMG’s MicroTCA Technical Working Group. “The fact that so many MicroTCA ecosystem suppliers have joined the working group shows the importance of the changes and also underlines the strong interest to make these part of an open specification.

“The broad spectrum of participants also ensured that every single agenda item got reviewed from different angles and properly discussed,” he adds.

MicroTCA.0 Revision 3.0-compliant solutions will be available shortly, including chassis, MicroTCA Carrier Hub (MCH), Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC), Rear Transition Module (RTM), and power modules (PM) products from VadaTech, NAT, AIES Sp z o.o., nVent SCHROFF, and others. The commitment of existing vendors to continuing the development of µTCA products is joined by increased interest from players in emerging fields like quantum computing, projecting a healthy lifecycle for the open computing specification for years to come.

“VadaTech is proud to have been part of the development and ratification of revision 3 of the uTCA specification,” says Alex Malcom, Managing Director of VadaTech Ltd. “Its release secures the continued adoption of the standard by commercial, scientific and defense organizations around the world.”

The MicroTCA.0 Revision 3.0 specification can be accessed at www.picmg.org/product/micro-telecommunications-computing-architecture-base-specification. For more information on the MicroTCA family, visit https://www.picmg.org/openstandards/microtca.

About PICMG

Founded in 1994, PICMG is a not-for-profit 501(c) consortium of companies and organizations that collaboratively develop open standards for high performance industrial, Industrial IoT, military & aerospace, telecommunications, test & measurement, medical, and general-purpose embedded computing applications. There are over 130 member companies that specialize in a wide range of technical disciplines, including mechanical and thermal design, single board computer design, high-speed signaling design and analysis, networking expertise, backplane, and packaging design, power management, high availability software and comprehensive system management.

Key standards families developed by PICMG include COM-HPC, COM Express, CompactPCI, AdvancedTCA, MicroTCA, AdvancedMC, CompactPCI Serial, SHB Express, MicroSAM, and HPM (Hardware Platform Management). https://www.picmg.org.

Next-generation AI computing for the edge 

Deggendorf, Germany, 20 December 2023 * * * congatec – a leading vendor of embedded and edge computing technology – is introducing its latest range of COM Express Compact modules based on the Intel^® Core™ Ultra processors. Providing a unique combination of heterogeneous compute engines, including CPU, GPU and NPU, the new modules are an ideal fit to run demanding AI workloads at the edge.

Next to the powerful P-cores and efficient E-cores for general computing and the high-performance Intel^® Arc™ GPU for graphics-intensive tasks, the integrated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) called Intel^® AI Boost contributes advanced neural processing capabilities to the overall computational architecture. The integrated NPU enables highly efficient integration of advanced artificial intelligence workloads at lower system complexity and costs than discrete accelerators. This makes the new Intel Core Ultra processor-based Computer-on-Modules especially beneficial for combining high-performance real-time computing with powerful AI capabilities in surgery robots and medical imaging and diagnostic systems, where automatically generated critical findings can support medical personnel. Other application targets are situational awareness in industrial applications such as inspection systems, stationary robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), and autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), to name just a few.

“The new conga-TC700 COM Express Compact Computer-on-Modules provide application-ready AI capabilities in a plug-and-play form factor. Its ecosystem of customer solution-focused products and services significantly improves the time-to-market for implementing the latest state-of-the-art x86 with powerful AI capabilities as required in industrial process control, microgrid controller, medical ultrasound and x-ray, automated check-out terminals, powerful AMRs, and many more,” says Tim Henrichs, VP Global Marketing & Business Development at congatec. “OEMs can simply upgrade existing applications by exchanging the module and instantly gain access to cutting-edge AI technologies. It has never been easier to integrate artificial intelligence in x86-based systems.”

The feature set at a glance

The new conga-TC700 COM Express Compact Computer-on-Modules with Intel Core Ultra processors (code named Meteor Lake) are among the most power-efficient x86 client SoCs available on the market. Up to 6 P-Cores, up to 8 E-Cores, and 2 Low Power E-Cores support up to 22 threads, making it possible to consolidate distributed devices onto a single platform for the lowest total cost of ownership. The SoC-integrated Intel Arc GPU with up to 8 Xe Cores and up to 128 EUs can handle stunning graphics up to 2x 8K resolution and ultra-fast GPGPU-based vision data (pre)processing. The integrated NPU Intel AI Boost executes machine learning algorithms and AI inferences particularly efficient. Up to 96 GB DDR SO-DIMM with in-band ECC at 5600 MT/s contributes to power-efficient high data throughput and low latency.

The modules are supported by congatec’s OEM solution-focused high-performance ecosystem, including highly efficient active and passive cooling solutions and ready-to-use evaluation carrier boards. Customers can order the modules with pre-evaluated real-time hypervisor technology from Real-Time Systems for virtual machine deployments and workload consolidation in edge computing scenarios. Service offerings include shock and vibration tests for custom system designs, temperature screening, and high-speed signal compliance testing, along with design-in services and all required training sessions to simplify the use of congatec’s embedded computer technologies to round off the ecosystem.

The new conga-TC700 COM Express Compact Type 6 modules support the embedded temperature range from 0 °C to 60 °C and are available in the following standard configurations:

All features of the new Intel Core Ultra processor-based conga-TC700 COM Express Compact modules can be found here: https://www.congatec.com/en/products/com-express-type-6/conga-tc700/

For more information on the innovative Intel Core Ultra processor platform please visit https://www.congatec.com/en/technologies/intel-meteor-lake-h-based-computer-on-modules/

You can experience these and other innovations at embedded world from 9-11 April 2024: https://www.congatec.com/en/congatec/events/congatec-at-embedded-world-2024/

Visit congatec in Hall 3 at Stand 241

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About congatec 

congatec is a rapidly growing technology company focusing on embedded and edge computing products and services. The high-performance computer modules are used in a wide range of applications and devices in industrial automation, medical technology, robotics, telecommunications and many other verticals. Backed by controlling shareholder DBAG Fund VIII, a German midmarket fund focusing on growing industrial businesses, congatec has the financing and M&A experience to take advantage of these expanding market opportunities. congatec is the global market leader in the computer-on-modules segment with an excellent customer base from start-ups to international blue chip companies. More information is available on our website at www.congatec.com or via LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and YouTube.