White Paper
COM Express: The Next Generation Computer on Module Standard
Author: Bob Pebly Principal Systems Engineer
Abstract:
This White Paper outlines Computer on Module advantages and discusses the ripple effect movements from legacy and parallel bus interfaces to high-speed differential serial interconnects have had on standard form factors. The concept of a Computer on Module, or COM, is not new within the embedded computer industry. Various COM solutions and implementations have been around for years, but none ever took hold as a dominant or de facto standard within the embedded computer industry. Conceptually, the function and benefits of a COM are straightforward. Modularize the processor, North bridge, South bridge, memory, and Flash of a typical PC in a compact, highly integrated fashion and you have a COM. The key advantage of the COM in a typical embedded design is that the most rapidly changing part of the design, the portion riding along on Moore’s law, is modularized and decoupled from the rest of the system design. By segmenting the processor complex onto a COM module, embedded designers can focus on the key features and devices within their systems and design an embedded COM carrier board free from the rigors of keeping pace with the continuous board turns of the commercial PC industry.
Taking advantage of a fragmented embedded market and technological disruptions within the PC industry, the PICMG COM Express specification defines a standard COM form factor that brings modularity and standardization to unite embedded COM designs in the future.