PICMG Bolsters New COM-HPC “Mini” Form Factor with Release of Carrier Design Guide Revision 2.2

COM-HPCIndustry NewsNews

Highlights:

  • Carrier Design Guide helps hardware engineers design application-specific carrier boards for COM-HPC-based systems.
  • Revision 2.2 of the Carrier Design Guide introduces new diagrams, figures, and design notes for COM-HPC Mini.
  • Document contains technical materials such as interface schematics and practical guidance on design rules.

WAKEFIELD, MA. PICMG, a consortium for open hardware specifications, has released revision 2.2 of the COM-HPC Carrier Design Guide. This comprehensive document contains interface schematics, diagrams, design rules and requirements, and more for PCB layout engineers and hardware developers looking to create application-specific carrier boards that pair with COM-HPC modules.

Revision 2.2 of the Design Guide includes updates to address the new COM-HPC 2.1 specification, nicknamed COM-HPC Mini, which is the 95 mm x 60 mm platform that uses one less 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.

“Designing a carrier board can be a complex and time-consuming process, but the COM-HPC Design Guide helps streamline that process” says Peter Hunold, head of hardware engineering at Kontron Europe GmbH and editor of the COM-HPC working group. “It serves as an excellent complement to the COM-HPC base specification, as well as, for revisions like COM-HPC 2.1 that introduced the new “Mini” form factor and vendor documentation.”

What’s New in COM-HPC Carrier Design Guide Revision 2.2

Revision 2.2 of the Carrier Board Design Guide primarily focuses on the COM-HPC Mini, a small form factor expansion of the COM-HPC standard first announced in 2022. This new guide clarifies the differences between COM-HPC Client and COM-HPC Mini carrier board requirements, with examples that illustrate modifications necessary to move from Client- to Mini-compatible designs.

The Design Guide 2.2 release also introduces information on the Intel JHL9040R USB4 Retimer, which replaces the JHL8040R in Rev 2.1. In addition to updated references, the document includes Intel JHL9040R block diagrams for both COM-HPC Client and COM-HPC Mini designs.

“Designing hardware to support new and emerging workloads is becoming progressively more challenging. Open standards such as COM-HPC help businesses overcome those challenges,” says Christian Eder, director of market intelligence at congatec. “They considerably reduce time-to-market for even the most sophisticated applications, especially with documentation to streamline the design process.”

Learn More

The COM-HPC Carrier Design Guide revision 2.2 can be downloaded free of charge from PICMG’s website. For more information on the Design Guide, the COM-HPC standard, and other related specifications, visit:

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, process control and automation, military & aerospace, telecommunications, test & measurement, medical, and general-purpose embedded computing applications. There are more than 150 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, CompactPCI Serial, MicroTCA, AdvancedMC, AdvancedTCA, InterEdge, ModBlox7, HPM (Hardware Platform Management), MicroSAM, and SHB Express. For more information, visit https://www.picmg.org.