COM Express

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 do**@pi***.org to learn how you can get involved in PICMG’s technical working groups. Contact me, je**@pi***.org if you are interested in joining PICMG or have any questions about our organization.

By Jessica Isquith, President, PICMG

The end of every calendar year provides an opportunity to reflect on our achievements and shortcomings. But as 2023 draws to a close, I’m nothing short of astonished with what our membership has accomplished.

Seven specifications have reached significant milestones this year alone:

1. COM-HPC 1.2. The latest and most advanced COM on the market was upgraded (to a smaller size) with the release of the COM-HPC 1.2 spec revision. Dubbed COM-HPC “Mini”, the 95 mm x 60 mm platform loses a connector compared to its fellow COM-HPC form factors, but still delivers 400 pins for carrying high-speed signals from the processor module to carrier boards.
2. COM Express 3.1. The established leader in the computer-on-module (COM) market upgraded interfaces to provide increased speed and bandwidth over the previous generation. This will keep the specification compatible with leading-edge processor technologies.
3. MicroTCA R3.0. MicroTCA continues its 15-year evolution, as Revision 3.0 of the specification add 100 GbE and PCIe Gen 5 interfaces to cement the open platform in high-energy physics and scientific research, communications, and medical applications for years to come. MicroTCA is also a favorite of Quantum Computing startups, many of whom have already adopted the standard in their R&D efforts.
4. ModBlox7. The first open standard Box PC, ModBlox7, is in its final review phase and expected to be ratified by Q1 2024. It’s modularity, flexibility, and scalability is poised to address the demands of today’s industrial and transportation use cases.
5. IoT Specs. PICMG’s IoT specification efforts continue to expand as work with Redfish APIs was formally adopted by the DMTF. With continued effort and adoption, the IoT.x family of specifications will enable sensor-to-controller-and-beyond data transparency that will drive the need for and application of compute intelligence at the edge.
6. CompactPCI Serial Extension. CompactPCI, one of the original PICMG specifications, lives on in the form of CompactPCI Serial. A specification extension adds PCI Express Gen 4, 100 GbE, and support for other modern serial signals. The upgraded performance will allow CompactPCI Serial Extensions to keep targeting industry and transportation platforms where it has been successful for decades.
7. InterEdge. InterEdge defines a set of specifications for process and automation control for the rugged far edge. This effort is a collaboration between PICMG and OPAF of the OpenGroup and backed by leaders in the energy and industrial markets. It is scheduled for release in early Q1.

All these accomplishments set PICMG up for an exciting 2024, which also happens to be the consortiums 30^th anniversary of developing open embedded computing standards. With multiple new specifications primed to enter the industry, we’re looking forward to keeping up the momentum we’ve built over the last calendar year thanks to the hard work and determination of our member companies.

In addition to thanking existing members for their consistent contributions, we invite non-member companies to become part of the specification development process by joining and participating in PICMG. Through collaboration, significant problems are being solved that are reshaping multiple industries with open, interoperable solutions that enable thousands of embedded solutions to reach the market in an efficient and timely fashion.

New state-of-the-art Computer-on-Modules – The feature set in detail. congatec supports the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processor, known under the code name Tiger Lake UP3, on COM Express conga-TC570 based on the new low-power high-density SoCs the new modules offer significantly greater CPU performance and nearly 3x higher GPU performance along with state-of-the-art PCIe Gen4.