Along with custom cooling solutions, motherboards, and design services, congatec now offers everything designers need for their next generation of high-end embedded and edge computing platforms. And with the new COM-HPC Mini standard, even the most space-constrained solutions can now benefit from increased performance and a significantly larger number of new high-speed interfaces. Entire product families can thus migrate to the new PICMG standard without requiring substantial changes to the internal system design or enclosure.
The most noteworthy innovations: COM-HPC Mini.
The flagship of the Embedded World exhibition at congatec are the first samples of the COM-HPC Mini designs. Officially launched after the final ratification of the new specification by the PICMG, the first high-performance COM-HPC Mini modules will be equipped with the new 13th generation Intel Core processors (codenamed Raptor Lake), representing the latest benchmark for high-end embedded systems and client-side edge computing.
Together with congatec's recently introduced high-performance COM modules with 13th Gen Intel Core processors in COM-HPC Client Size A and Size C, developers now have the full bandwidth of this new generation of processors at their disposal in COM HPC. Thanks to next-generation connectivity, the COM-HPC standard opens new horizons for developers of innovative designs in terms of data throughput, I/O bandwidth, and performance density that cannot be achieved with COM Express. Furthermore, congatec's COM Express 3.1-compatible modules with 13th Gen Intel Core processors primarily help secure investments in existing OEM designs, for example, by providing upgrade options for increased data throughput through PCIe Gen 4 support.
The COM-HPC Mini form factor is primarily aimed at high-performance, ultra-compact designs, such as DIN rail PCs or rugged handhelds and tablets. However, COM-HPC Mini also solves the Gordian knot faced by developers of ultra-compact COM Express systems when they wanted to switch to COM-HPC to take advantage of the latest interface technologies. The COM-HPC Size A, the smallest form factor to date, didn't allow for this: At 95 x 120 mm (11,400 mm²), it's almost 32% larger than the COM Express Compact form factor, which measures 95 x 95 mm (9,025 mm²). In terms of footprint, this is 25 mm too wide for migrating existing COM Express designs to COM-HPC. Since COM Express Compact is the most widespread COM Express form factor, and only the high-end market still uses the even larger COM Express Basic form factor, many developers faced considerable challenges, if only in terms of system design dimensions. But smaller is always possible. That's why the COM-HPC Mini, at just 95 x 60 mm, is a true game-changer, opening up entirely new high-performance possibilities, particularly for the numerous ultra-compact system designs.
