469-P5-HI-A20-E The performance of the modular system once again enhances the complete COM-HPC ecosystem

PICMG developed and approved the new COM-HPC computer module standard to meet the performance and bandwidth requirements of computer modules for digital transformation. Com-hpc offers superior performance compared to COM Express and provides a highly sustainable foundation for current and future applications. The COM-HPC Mini standard facilitates the migration of existing designs to this new high-performance standard.



First of all, it is important to emphasize that the COM Express standard is also continuously upgraded and new modules are added to win more customers. After all, not all applications need higher performance requirements than PCIe Gen 4 and GbE, and not all applications need additional interfaces. Only applications that require these new features will need to migrate to the standard, as the new standard was created to accommodate the introduction of PCIe Gen 5. In addition, the new standard supports the latest 13th-generation Intel Core processor technologies, delivering long-term design security while cost-effectiveness while maximizing the potential of these processors.



Smaller and more suitable

The new COM-HPC Mini standard has been fully approved in the first half of 2023, making it relatively easy to migrate from the existing COM Express design to COM-HPC Mini. Compared to the COM Express Compact, the COM-HPC Mini is smaller and flatter in design, and offers 400 high-performance pins via a single connector, while the COM Express requires two pins to provide the same number of pins. Therefore, from a structural point of view, it is not difficult to integrate the COM-HPC Mini module into the existing system design, as long as the carrier board is adjusted.



OEM customers designing next-generation systems need to consider the question: Is 13th intel COM Express Compact specification module also available? That way, they only need to integrate new computer modules. Or, they need to use the new features of the 13th intel system that COM Express does not support. At the end of the day, beyond long-term strategic decisions, OEM customers need to consider whether the current performance range can meet new design requirements or facilitate subsequent product upgrades.



More powerful interface

One of the reasons for choosing COM-HPC for high performance is that it supports two 32 GT/s PCIe Gen 5 buses. This allows it to apply the latest Gpus and SSDS as well as the latest processor technologies, such as 13th generation Intel Core processors, for optimal performance. Increasing bandwidth is particularly important as AI and high-performance computing data sets continue to grow, and loading these data is critical to the end-to-end performance of applications.



If the system is networked as an edge node on a large scale, it is necessary to support two high-bandwidth Ethernet interfaces on board. Upgrading from one GbE to two TSN-enabled 10GbE is a huge leap, and the two 10GbE can also implement a linear or ring network through Serdes, rather than a star network.



Another great feature of COM-HPC is support for 4 USB 4.0 ports, 4 USB 3.2x1 / USB 3.2x1, and 8 USB 2.0 ports for a large expansion of the number of ports or easy implementation of Thunderbolt 4. These numerous interfaces enable the transmission of power, user input, and high-resolution video signals to the human Machine interface (HMI) via a single cable, as well as up to five external devices including: docking stations, hubs, external PCIe devices, external graphics, and up to two 4k displays. Rich interfaces and other upgrade features make COM-HPC an excellent standard to meet future needs. With the COM-HPC Mini, the application of the series is more simple and convenient, only need to adjust the carrier board and module cooling scheme can be.



Innovation highlights in the embedded field: COM-HPC Mini

COM-HPC Mini is the flagship product launched by Congatet in the embedded field. PICMG has approved the COM-HPC1.2 specification in October, which introduces the COM-HPC Mini specification size. Congatet will officially launch its first high-performance COM-HPC Mini modules. Powered by a new 13th-generation Intel Core processor (codenamed Raptor Lake), the module sets a new standard for high-end embedded and edge computing at the Client level.
In addition, Congatet also introduced the COM-HPC Client Size A and Size C high-performance computer modules with 13th generation Intel Core processors. Developers now have the flexibility to utilize the full range of COM-HPC module products based on the new generation of processors. Thanks to its superior connectivity capabilities, the COM-HPC standard opens a new world of innovative design for developers to achieve data throughput, I/O bandwidth and performance density that was not supported by COM Express before. On the other hand, Congate COM Express 3.1 modules with 13th-generation Intel Core processors contribute to cost savings in existing OEM designs, such as: higher data throughput through upgrades via PCIe Gen 4 interfaces.

Additional services and training designed to simplify design

So how can Oems quickly implement COM-HPC? The solution provided by manufacturers such as Congatet is to set up a dedicated training academy to offer carrier design courses to provide developers with design-related best practices so that system designers can quickly, simply and efficiently learn the design rules of the new PICMG standard. Congatet's training courses guide developers through all mandatory and recommended design fundamentals and computer module best practice principles, ultimately ensuring that developers can design their own board projects. The focus of the course is on how to achieve a standards-compliant carrier design, which is critical to building a custom embedded computing platform that is operable, scalable, and has a long service life. Congatet Academy operates globally and offers online and offline courses to developers of Oems, value added distributors (VAR) and system integrators (SI).



For customers who wish to apply COM-HPC but do not have the resources to integrate modules themselves, Congatet can also provide design services. In addition, Congatet can also provide customers with carrier design, cooling solution optimization design and complete system integration services. With these diverse products and services, Congatet will continue to fulfill its mission of "simplifying the use of embedded technologies."



Through a wide range of products such as modules, cooling solutions, application evaluation, application carrier board and design training, complete design services and other intimate services, Congatet is building a complete and comprehensive COM-HPC ecosystem to make it easier and smoother to migrate designs from COM Express to COM-HPC Mini.


In addition to computer modules, COM-HPC also provides server modules for edge applications. In the Server module, Congate offers five COM-HPC Server Size D (160×160 mm) server modules based on Intel Xeon D-2700 processors. These product launches highlight the huge demand for small, rugged edge server modules for outdoor environments and push Intel Xeon D-2700 processors, which offer up to 20 cores, further into demanding hybrid critical real-time applications. Compared to the larger COM-HPC Server E (200×160 mm) Server module introduced earlier, the number of DRAM modules supported by COM-HPC Server Size D has been reduced from eight to four. But it comes with an impressive 512 GB DDR4 RAM (2,933 MT/s). The advantage of limited memory is that it can further reduce the space occupied by modules, and the space occupied by COM-HPC Server Size D is reduced by 20% compared to COM-HPC Server E. The new COM-HPC module powered by Intel Xeon D-2700 processors is targeted at deeply embedded, space-constrained edge server deployments that require higher data throughput but less memory-intensive workloads and are typically used in real-time networking environments for industrial iot such as smart factories and critical infrastructure.