Over the last five years, the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG), a not-for-profit consortium of companies and organizations that develop open specifications, worked on a COM-HPC project to address current and future technology requirements. According to PICMG COM-HPC Working Group Chair Christian Eder, twenty-six industry-leading companies collaborated on the project.
CTimes reported that COM-HPC defines five-module sizes to deliver edge server performance for small, rugged data centers, including the embedded and edge computing market. The consortium developed open standard products to include the COM-HPC Client Module Type and COM-HPC Server Type, which target two classes of modules.
The Client Module Type targets high-end embedded client products that need one or more displays, a full set of low, medium, and extremely high bandwidth I/O, powerful CPUs, and modest size. Typical uses of this module type are medical equipment, industrial equipment, transportation, and defense systems, and much more reported CTimes.
The second, Server Type, targets high-end headless (no display) embedded servers that require intensive CPU capability, large memory capacity, and lots of high bandwidth. Uses for this module type include embedded server equipment ruggedized for use in field environments and applications, like cell tower base stations.
“The new open standard will enable multiple AI and Industry 4.0 applications…to be realized by bringing server-level computing to the edge,” said Jess Isquith, President of PICMG. “Adopting the specification provides a necessary standard to reduce time to market and stabilize costs for hundreds of solutions providers.”
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