Simplifying COM-HPC designs

congatec welcomes the publication of the COM-HPC Carrier Board Design Guide by the PICMG with the launch of a full specification compliant ecosystem for engineers of COM-HPC Client and Server module-based designs. From now on, engineers can dive right in and start developing fully compliant designs by selecting their appropriate Computer-on-Module, adding a COM-HPC Server or COM-HPC Client evaluation carrier and suitable cooling solution, installing their application, and running programming, debugging and test routines on this new high-performance embedded computing standard.

The ecosystem is fully compliant to the entire range of new PICMG COM-HPC specifications, namely the COM-HPC Module Base Specification, the new Carrier Board Design Guide, the Embedded EEPROM specification and the Platform Management Interface specification. Supported by all leading embedded computing vendors, this set of PICMG standards provides engineers the benefits of best-in-class design security.

“The launch of the COM-HPC Carrier Design Guide was the last building block of the COM-HPC specifications that has been eagerly awaited by engineers. It is essential to build interoperable and scalable customised embedded computing platforms on the basis of this powerful Computer-on-Module standard, which is optimised for edge servers and high-performance embedded clients. So here we go! The design race for best-in-class high-end embedded and edge computing solutions can now begin,” says Christian Eder, director marketing at congatec, delighted that the COM-HPC committee has reached the final milestone of PICMG’s fundamental standardisation process under his chairmanship.

The ecosystem for COM-HPC Server and Client designs will be complemented by personal integration support and design verification and test services to attack all challenges, from initial carrier board design verification to mass production testing. Carrier board and system design services will also be provided by the company together with cooperation partners. A carrier board design training program is offered to round off the ecosystem where OEMs, VARs and system integrators can get a swift, easy and efficient deep dive into the design rules. The training program will direct engineers through all the mandatory and recommended design essentials and best practice schematics of COM-HPC carrier boards and accessories, such as fanless high-end cooling solutions for server designs up to and beyond 100W. The reference platform will be COM-HPC Client carrier boards furnished with COM-HPC Client modules based on 12th Gen Intel Core processors (codenamed Alder Lake). COM-HPC Server training courses will start with the availability of corresponding Intel Xeon modules and evaluation carriers, which are expected to be launched later this year.