Kishan Jainandunsing
(February 2006)
Embedded World, February 2006, Nurnberg, Germany – Several manufacturers of COM Express modules launched their dual core modules at this month’s Embedded World 2006 show, including incumbents Kontron and RadiSys. In addition there were several new COM Express suppliers, such as Portwell and Lippert Automationstechnik GMBH.
Although all new products are based on the Type-2 pin-out and Basic footprint, the general concensus seems to be that the need for larger numbers of Ethernet ports and PCI Express links will drive popularization of COM Express modules with the pin-out types that support these.
With the new entrants in the market and the incorporation of the latest dual core CPUs from Intel, COM Express is keeping up its momentum and is rapidly becoming a major standard in the embedded computing world. COM Express Source had exclusive discussions with incumbents Kontron and RadiSys and newcomer Portwell about their dual-core COM Express module launches.
Kontron – The company’s new ETXExpress COM Express modules are of the Basic footprint type with Type 2 pin-out and are based on the Intel 945GM or “Calistoga” chipset with support for Intel’s Core Duo (dual core) and Core Solo (single core) processors. The modules support one 1Gb Ethernet port, two SATA links, one x16 PCI Express Graphics link, five x1 or three x1 PCI Express links depending on chipset), dual channel LVDS links, dual SDVO links, eight USB 2.0 links, a PCI bus, one IDE channel and a maximum of 2GB expansion memory on a single SO-DIMM. The company also has plans for a dual DIMM version in an Extended footprint, with support for dual channel memory and up to 4GB memory expansion. Its modules will support the company’s proprietary JILI-3 architecture for LCD panel configuration, backlight and brightness control and electro-mechanical interfacing, in addition to EDID. The modules will also support the company’s JIDA BIOS extensions for support of watchdog timer among other functions, with driver support for Linux and Microsoft Windows and Windows CE operating systems. The company is primarily targeting applications in storage, network security, medical and industrial imaging with its new modules and will start sampling its new modules in March, with mass production following in late Q2. The modules will be priced between $400 and $800 depending on processor and quantity. Read more in the company’s press release.
Lippert Automationstechnik – The company’s new Toucan COM Express modules are of the Basic footprint with type 2 pin-out and are based on the Intel 945GM or “Calistoga” chipset with support for Intel’s Core Duo (dual core) processors. The modules support one 1Gb Ethernet port, two SATA links, one x16 PCI Express Graphics link, four x1 PCI Express links, dual channel LVDS links, dual SDVO links, eight USB 2.0 links, a PCI bus, one IDE channel and a maximum of 2GB expansion memory with support dual SO-DIMM configurations. The Toucan modules have built-in Intel Active Management Technology for remote management and are available with a 1.66GHz or 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor. The company offers these modules in extended operating temperature ranges of –20°C – +60°C and –40°C – +85°C. Read more on the company’s web site.
Portwell – The company’s modules are based on the latest Intel 945GM or “Calistoga” chipset with support for Intel’s Core Duo (dual core) and Core Solo (single core) processors and on the Intel 915GM or “Alviso” chipset with support for the Intel Pentium M and Celeron M processors. Both product lines consist of Basic footprint modules with Type 2 pin-out. The company released its dual and single core products under the name PCOM-B211 and PCOM-B210, respectively. The modules support one 1Gb Ethernet port, one SATA link, one x16 PCI Express Graphics link, four x1 PCI Express links, dual channel LVDS links, dual SDVO links, eight USB 2.0 links, a PCI bus, one IDE channel and a maximum of 1GB of SO-DIMM expansion memory. Support for processor speeds starts at 600MHz. The company offers services for fast custom-carrier board development to help OEMs get to market quicker. Portwell is targeting applications in the medical, communications, gaming and transportation markets with these new modules and will start shipping the PCOM-B210 and PCOM-B211 worldwide starting April and June of this year, respectively. The company plans to expand its COM Express portfolio aggressively to offer customers a wider choice of modules.
RadiSys – The company’s new Procelerant CE945GM COM Express modules are of the Basic footprint type with Type 2 pin-out and are based on the Intel 945GM or “Calistoga” chipset with support for Intel’s Core Duo (dual core), Core Solo (single core) and the Intel Celeron M and Pentium M processors. The modules support one 1Gb Ethernet port, two SATA links, one x16 PCI Express Graphics link, five x1 PCI Express links, also configurable as one x4 and one x1 link, dual channel LVDS links, dual SDVO links, eight USB 2.0 links, a PCI bus, one IDE channel and a maximum of 2MB expansion memory on a single SO-DIMM. The company is also planning the release of a version with 4GB of SO-DIMM expansion in a dual channel configuration. This will benefit OEMs in terms of higher performance through higher memory bandwidth per processor core in a dual core processor configuration and in terms of cheaper memory, according to the company. RadiSys is also introducing a 5Vcc option on its low-power COM Express modules and its own all-in-one active thermal solutions for the higher-performance modules. The company is primarily targeting medical imaging, industrial imaging and high-end test & measurement applications with its new modules and will start sampling its single and dual SO-DIMM versions end Q1 and end Q2, respectively, with production early Q2 and early Q3, respectively. Pricing starts at $586 in small quantities, depending on configuration. Read more in the company’s press release.
