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by jason mcdonald, senior editor | read other blog posts

COM Express, as a standard, has reached maturity for many vendors. Indeed, the PICMG announced in August the adoption and availability of the COM Express® Revision 2.0 specification. The original Computer-On-Module (COM) specification was adopted by PICMG in 2005, and was designed to reduce time-to-market on specialized platforms used in industrial, medical, military, scientific and telecommunication applications. Here's a look at what's new in COM Express plus the best Internet resources to learn more!

contents of this post:

1. COM Express News
2. COM Express - Top Internet Resources
3. Computers-on-Module and COM Express
4. feedback - read it
5. feedback - give it

COM Express News

The biggest news, of course, in the land of COM Express, is the August announcement by the PICMG that COM Express Revision 2.0 specification had been adopted. (Full details, here .). The COM Express Revision 2.0 specification allows developers to focus on their specialized I/O requirements, without worrying about the complex interactions of CPUs, RAM, Chipsets and other basic elements that occur on the module. This recent revision helps to ensure that COM Express modules are prepared for future computer architectures while accommodating backward compatibility with older modules. Some of the more important changes include:

• Smaller size
• Enhanced display support
• Faster Generation 2.0 PCI Express ports
• High definition audio
• USB client support

One of the early vendors out of the box supporting COM Express was Kontron. That company announced on September 1, 2010, a comprehensive COM Express Computer-on-Modules portfolio that adds smaller footprint and future-oriented pin-outs to leverage development of new applications. "With the new compact form factor and pin-outs defined in the COM Express COM.0 R 2.0 specification, we accomplished the implementation of all the features offered by the new processors into future-proof connector types. Customers can fully benefit from the enhanced graphics capabilities and on-board support for three dedicated digital display interfaces, plus the projected USB 3.0 interface, upgrade to PCI Express Gen 2, as well as from new serial interfaces. This accelerates the development of even more dedicated embedded platforms," explained Dirk Finstel, CTO of Kontron. (Details, here ).

COM Express - Top Internet Resources

The PICMG is your starting point on the Internet for the best learning and shopping resources for COM Express. Start, here , which is a one-stop-shop by the PICMG on the COM Express specification / standard. They also produce a robust product shopping guide, here .

If you'd like a more objective overview to the standard, don't miss the robust Wikipedia entry on COM Express, here . Another good alternative is the upcoming AdvancedTCA Summit, where many COM Express vendors will show their wares and strut their stuff, here .

Radisys has long been a backer of the standard, and they funded a free Dummies guide to COM Express. Get your free copy here .

Computers-on-Module and COM Express

Of course, COM Express is but one flavor of the 'Computer-on-module' trend. Nonetheless, it is one of the strongest variants, and numerous vendors, such as Advantech and Congatec have a wide range of products supporting this trend. The Advantech explanation is typical -

Advantech Computer On Module series supports fanless operation in very small form factor while supporting CPUs ranging from GX1 to Intel Pentium M. Scalable COM solutions are available: COM-Express, ETX, XTX, SOM-144 and RISC-based SOM. Not only does Computer On Module allows quick design turnover, it also provides the benefits of easy installation, maintenance and upgrades.

You can find more information, here .

Congatec, in addition, introduced three new modules to its congatec-AG COM Express family in May, 2010. The smallest version in this product family is the conga-CS45 COM Express Compact module with an Intel® Celeron® M 723 processor and an Intel® GS45 chipset. With 1.2 GHz and a 1 MB L2 cache, this ultra low voltage processor model provides sufficient performance for a range of applications. (More information, here ).

All in all, both the COM Express and related computer-on-module are trends that are well worth watching!

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